Semiconductor Burn-In Supplier Antares Develops New Chamber-less Room Temperature Burn-In (RTBI) System for Slot-by-Slot Management of Low-Volume Qualifications, Mixed-Device Testing
Antares Integrates Its Thermal Management Technology With Burn-In Drivers From Aehr Test Systems; Antares to Demonstrate RTBI at SEMICON West Booth 7211, West Hall - Level 1
PHOENIX and SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Thermal engineers from semiconductor test supplier Antares Advanced Test Technologies have recently examined the effects of chamber-less room temperature burn-in (RTBI) on small-lot qualifications and mixed-device reliability testing as part of their latest product-development initiative, according to Chris Lopez, the company’s manager of thermal solutions.
Thermal engineers at Antares report that when IC test engineers employ entire burn-in chambers for slot-by-slot qualifications of low-volume lots and high-mix testing, they generally experience pronounced reductions in true chamber capacities, inflated equipment service costs and chamber downtime for development work, according to Lopez.
Lopez said that Antares recently integrated its iSocket DUT-level thermal-management technology with the drivers of Aehr’s MAX4 burn-in chamber to effectively allow IC test engineers to migrate qualifications of low-volume lots and testing of dissimilar devices from large production burn-in chambers to a small form factor RTBI system operating in an ambient room environment.
“RTBI is all about being efficient and putting capital investments to good use,” Lopez said. “When you’re using chambers to qualify a queue of devices with test parameters all over the map, you’re basically doing it at the expense of product throughput.”
Antares’ team at SEMICON West will demonstrate how the RTBI system allows qualification and reliability engineers to test dissimilar devices with various burn-in boards, debug ICs outside of production and swap out boards without disrupting nearby lots. The RTBI will be located at Antares’ booth, 7211, in the West Hall, Level 1.
Lopez added that Antares designed the RTBI system largely to give integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- as well as startups and test-house engineers -- a cost-efficient way to conduct on-demand, quick-turn qualifications with a dedicated system that’s scalable.
The system primarily consists of four slots, variable thermal resistance burn-in boards and iSocket host thermal controls integrated with Aehr’s system software, as well as Aehr drivers and Antares’ iSocket Racks.
Each iSocket, or intelligent socket, includes an integrated heater, heat sink, variable-speed fan and thermal sensor, which calculates the precise amount of heat or cooling needed to maintain a device at a programmed temperature.
