Keysight Introduces Electrical Structure Tester - A Wire Bond Inspection Solution

Keysight's wire bond inspection solution for semiconductor manufacturing, the Electrical Structure Tester (EST), addresses the most pressing challenges in wire bonding, enabling chip manufacturers to improve production efficiency by quickly identifying wire bond defects and ensuring superior quality and reliability in high-volume production.

The semiconductor industry is faced with testing challenges due to the increasing density of chips in mission-critical applications such as medical devices and automotive systems. Current testing methodologies often fall short in detecting wire bond structural defects, which lead to costly latent failures. In addition, traditional testing approaches frequently rely on sampling techniques that do not adequately identify wire bond structural defects.

The Keysight electrical structural tester is a capacitive-based testing solution designed to identify wire bond defects accurately. Leveraging the advanced part average test (PAT) analysis, the tester establishes a baseline from known-good units to swiftly detect deviations like near-shorts, stray wires, wire sweeps, and sags within integrated circuits (ICs). This capability ensures robust product quality management and significantly enhances manufacturing efficiency. 

Key benefits of the EST include:

Advanced defect detection – Identifies a wide range of wire bond defects, both electrical and non-electrical, by analyzing changes in capacitive coupling patterns to ensure the functionality and reliability of electronic components.

High volume manufacturing ready – Enables throughput of up to 72,000 units per hour through the ability to test up to 20 integrated circuits simultaneously, which boosts productivity and efficiency in high-volume production environments.

Big data analytics integration: Captures defects and enhances yield through advanced methods like marginal retry test (MaRT), dynamic part averaging test (DPAT), and real-time part averaging test (RPAT).

Carol Leh, Vice President, Electronic Industrial Solutions Group Center of Excellence, Keysight, said: “Keysight is dedicated to pioneering innovative solutions that address the most pressing challenges in the wire bonding process. The Electrical Structural Tester empowers chip manufacturers to enhance production efficiency by rapidly identifying wire bond defects, ensuring superior quality and reliability in high-volume manufacturing.”

The Electrical Structural Tester will be showcased at the Keysight booth (K3283) at SEMICON Taiwan 2024, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1, September 4-6, 2024.

Previous: AMD Plans To Challenge Industry Leader Nvidia With New AI Chips

Next: FuriosaAI Launches RNGD, Which May Revolutionize The AI Hardware Landscape