Automating Semiconductor Parametric Analysis

Author(s):
Paul Tan Seng Poh - TekMark Systems Sdn Bhd

Industry:
Semiconductor

Products:
Digital I/O, High-Speed Digital I/O, Instrument Connectivity, LabWindows/CVI

The Challenge:
Characterizing semiconductor devices for research and development prototyping.

The Solution:
Implementing test executive software either as a complement to an existing system or with a new solution.

Advantest System Simplifies R&D Prototyping
Characterizing semiconductor devices for research and development prototyping is tedious due to quantitative and qualitative requirement testing for which the engineer must collect a large amount of data. Engineers must invest many man-hours in carrying out these routine tests before a new product can be released for production, which indirectly slows down the product manufacturing cycle process and the product's competitiveness.

Even with the PC-based architecture of the parametric analyzer, the engineer must manually configure and export setups and measurement results to a spreadsheet program for further statistical analysis. As a result, the lack of automatic test executive tools and reporting has led to the idea of implementing ICSPro (interactive characterization software with test executive functions) software as a complement to existing systems or with a new solution from TekMark Systems, the PA100/200 Advantest Parametric System.

Integrating NI Hardware and Software for Speed and Flexibility

• A Pentium-IV controller that interfaces with the Advantest source and monitor unit (SMU) and device under test (DUT) via the National Instruments GPIB and digital I/O card controls the operation of the measurement system.
• A low-current test fixture with four SMUs with Kelvin sense, two voltage sources, two voltage monitors, and one ground connection is specially designed for the system.
• ICSPro is the interactive characterization software that takes control of the entire system, including switching the relay on the DUT via the digital I/O and configuring the SMU assignment to respective DUT pins. Temperature cycling of the temptronic thermo streamer, as well as rise-time and delay measurement from Tektronix oscilloscopes, are simultaneously controlled during the characterization process.
• TekMark Systems chose National Instruments LabWindows/CVI for system development due to its flexibility in controlling a wide range of instruments, regardless of the existence of instrument drivers. We developed the system much faster with the superb graphical user interface library than with other programming languages, such as Microsoft Visual C/C++, Visual Basic, or Borland C, that we had implemented before.
  
  

Testing Wide-Ranging Requirements at a Lower Price
The Advantest Parametric System, PA100/200 Series, delivers the competitive advantage of testing semiconductor device requirements ranging from 1 uV to 200 V voltage source, 10 fA to 20 A current source, and 10 fA and 10 uV measurement resolution at a much lower price than a conventional parametric analyzer. In addition to its range, it can achieve high-speed measurement of 20 ms per reading at an extremely low current measurement range of 10 nA. With no compromise, the system accuracy rating can achieve 20 PLC integration time, which tremendously improves the measurement at all ranges.

ICSPro is dedicated for PA100/200 testing of semiconductor devices that combines the flexibility of swappable benchtop instruments and the IC analysis power of parametric tester functions. Engineers can add or remove each individual SMU from the system without interrupting its operation. We incorporated arithmetic and graphical analysis functions into the system for ease of mathematic calculation and assignment. For instance, the engineer can manipulate the characteristic curve of a device in both graphic and list (spreadsheet data) display, as well as the curve comparison overlay method and advanced analytical tools of line, point, and zoom cursor mode. Ultimately, the engineer can fully automate the entire characterization process from IC data capture to final reporting through user-defined interactive test script programming.

The PA100/200 system has the capability of integrating other test and measurement or process equipment into the test scenario by simply compiling the SCPI commands into an ASCII file format driver that is compatible with ICSPro software. This approach reduces integration time and provides better control by the end user for long-term upgrading needs. It has built-in intelligence to perform auto scan of all connected equipment on the NI GPIB platform and the related driver for remote control. Engineers also can integrate an oscilloscope, digital I/O for relays switching, or thermo streamer (temperature control for semiconductor test) for the characterization process without any programming efforts. Furthermore, for characterization purposes, they can create a complete test library for different packages of DUTs, including If, Vf, Idd, Vio, Vdd, Vol, and Isink. The reusability and repeatability of this approach make it suitable for a wide range of applications from research and development to quality control and the production environment.

Shortening the Characterization Process with Reusable Tests
TekMark customers such as Renesas Semiconductor (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Penang, FairChild Semiconductor Penang, UiTM Kulim in the education field, and Texas Instruments Malaysia have shortened their characterization process from two weeks to two days, including documentation for prototyping approval. Along the way, they have created more and more reusable test sequences for different types of semiconductor devices, such as diode, transistor, and op-amp. The entire test sequence is structured in explorer format and stored as an ICSPro test library for distribution of our future baseline semiconductor characterization test development.

For more information, contact:
Paul Tan Seng Poh
Practice Manager
TekMark Systems Sdn Bhd
No. 2, Jalan Radin Anum 2, Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: 03-90578999
Fax: 03-90573999
E-Mail: paul.tan@tekmark.com.my

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