Parametric testers add probe card support

FormFactor's probe cards will be used with Keithley S600 Series parametric testers to measure very low-level DC currents.

Keithley Instruments has qualified California-based FormFactor to manufacture high-performance parametric test probe cards for its semiconductor parametric testers.

FormFactor's probe cards will be used with Keithley S600 Series parametric testers to measure very low-level DC currents as well as standard DC parametric tests on pins that contact a semiconductor wafer.

Wafer fabricators and foundries employ S600 Series testers to qualify wafers for assembly and packaging as well as process monitoring.

FormFactor's Takumi probe cards are well suited to applications involving Keithley's most advanced parametric tester, the Model S680 DC/RF parametric test system.

The Model S680 is designed for wafer-level parametric testing of advanced logic, memory, and analogue ICs.

In a single test system, it combines parallel testing capability, high DC sensitivity, femtoamp-level resolution, and RF S-parameter measurements up to 40GHz.

This provides the industry's highest throughput and a lower cost of ownership for measurements at the 65nm node and beyond.

The Model S680 is ideal for sensitive, high speed testing.

Its signal preamplifiers, located in the test head, boost low level signals within centimetres of the probe needles, then transmit the boosted signals over cables to the measurement instruments in the system cabinet.

This approach eliminates the speed and sensitivity losses that typically result from cable and switch matrix effects.

External instruments can be directly connected to the probe needles using the eight general-purpose pathways.

Keithley considers FormFactor's technology to be a leading edge design for demanding, small pad size, small pitch applications that must support high performance measurements in ever-shrinking test structures and scribe lines.

"Qualification of FormFactor demonstrates Keithley's continuing drive to offer the latest technologies for probe cards and parametric test metrology, and to expand the number of probe card options available to our customers", says Mark Hoersten, Keithley's Vice President, Business Management.

"FormFactor probe cards represent a critical high performance technology that meets the precision measurement challenges posed by the shrinking components used in today's electronic equipment".

"Expanding our Takumi parametric platform for Keithley testers is important for the customers of both of our companies", says Benjamin N Eldridge, FormFactor's Senior Vice President - Research and Development and Chief Technology Officer.

"Semiconductor manufacturers must rely on test companies to provide the very latest measurement technologies as they migrate to devices at the 65nm node and below, particularly as part of a tightly integrated solution".

"Working closely with Keithley, with its long history as an innovative leader in low level DC semiconductor test, has allowed us to optimise our combined technologies".

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