MPI Corporation has introduced a new 300 mm thermal chuck designated PRIME™ technology for wafer probe stations with full temperature range thermal testing while delivering unsurpassed performance and flexibility.
Continuing the innovative leadership within the engineering probe system market, MPI Corporation has co-developed with ERS Electronic GmbH, the leader of wafer thermal solutions, a new 300 mm thermal PRIME™ technology. Capability enhancements include the fastest transition time in the industry, unmatched electrical performance, higher application flexibility, wider thermal range and easy field upgradability. Incorporated with the Dynamic Thermal Shield (DTS) from ERS, soak times are shortened by a factor of 60 percent. Within the complete test cycle of -60°C to +300°C, the PRIME™ technology chucks are ready for the test. Furthermore, the DTS continuous dew point controlled environment reduces tedious maintenance requirements.
The PRIME™ technology platform not only enhances performance, but includes a multi-application modular design concept for the ultimate in flexibility. Options include a dedicated top surface for RF and mmWave, singular IC probing, inert-gas atmospheric testing for Wafer Level Reliability, high-power with 3 kV isolation, 30 µT residual ferromagnetism and ultra-low-noise down to fA range with more application specific configurations to be released in the coming months. In parallel, the 300 mm (12 in.) wafer probe station can be configured with temperature starting points of -60°C, -40°C, -10°C, +20°C or +30°C and at end points of +200°C or +300°C. All of this is easily configurable to specific test requirements and budgets.
“Unsurpassed flexibility in temperature range for applications from RF, mmWave, ultra-low noise, 1/f, to high-power applications and combine with unique field upgrade paths, the PRIME™ technology is the most advanced thermal chuck systems on the market today. PRIME™ technology enables the users to become more effective and efficient in thermal wafer probing applications,” says Stojan Kanev, general manager of MPI Corporation’s Advanced Semiconductor Division. “Adjusting to the current budgets, reducing cost of test, footprint size, significant CDA consumption and soak times for the entire system is the power behind the latest customer oriented solution.”
“We have managed to leverage the core competencies of both companies, and the result is our PRIME™ technology. We believe that PRIME™ will meet the demand of the fast-growing market for high voltage and high-frequency chips,” says Klemens Reitinger, CEO of ERS electronic GmbH. “Our partnership with MPI has been extremely valuable in terms of gaining better understanding of the analytical probing market and its customers’ challenges. Being able to identify the future needs of growth markets such as the IoT, electro-mobility and sensors is essential to ERS and we believe that our new PRIME™ chucks will enhance challenging IC characterization and overall enable faster development time.”