Aehr Announces New Customer for FOX-XP™ Test and Burn-in System
Aehr receives order for FOX-XP test and burn-in system for singulated bare die testing and burn-in of photonics devices
FREMONT, Calif., (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, today announced it has received an initial order from a new customer for its FOX-XP test and burn-in system for singulated bare die testing and burn-in of integrated silicon photonics devices for data communications applications. The over $2 million order includes a FOX-XP system and a set of custom DiePak® carriers that enable burn-in and aging of integrated lasers and special circuitry on the silicon photonics devices. The order includes down payments per Aehr Test’s standard terms and conditions of sale and shipment is expected during the second calendar quarter of 2018.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are excited to add this fourth and very important new customer to our list of customers for the FOX-XP system. This order, from an industry leader in the photonics market space, represents an additional application for our FOX-XP test cell with our singulated die/module test configuration. We believe their selection of the FOX-XP system to address the unique challenges of their burn-in/test requirements reflects the proven capabilities our solutions have delivered to our other customers in the photonics market. The FOX-XP system enables a significantly lower overall cost of test due to the system’s unique capability of proving device quality and removing infant mortalities before a device is assembled into the end product.
“The challenges of this application include handling high power density and designing custom DiePak Carrier fixtures to ensure the required electrical contacts for burn-in, and optical access for test. In addition, the application requires individual constant current supplies to power the modules and identify individual module characteristics or failures while under burn-in and test.
“The FOX-XP system is capable of burn-in and test of thousands of lasers simultaneously to enable very high production throughput, while ensuring 100 percent validation and assurance of the burn-in and test results. The customer will utilize Aehr Test’s FOX-XP system and its DiePak carriers as an integral part of its final test and reliability process for their singulated bare die. The DiePak Carriers include features to integrate this solution into their test process more efficiently, reducing costs and improving quality.
“We believe the silicon photonics and photonics sensors markets will be significant growth drivers for Aehr Test. The rapid growth of integrated optical devices in mobile and computing applications as well as the automotive market is driving substantially higher requirements for initial quality and long-term reliability. Integrated optical devices in mobile devices, high-performance servers and data centers, and automotive applications are increasing with every new product generation. We believe these new applications are driving an entirely new level of quality and reliability expectation for these systems and pose a significant long-term growth opportunity for the Company.”
The FOX-XP system, available in multi-wafer and singulated die/module test configurations, is capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of integrated optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, magnetic sensors, flash memories, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs. The ICs can be burned in and tested on the FOX-XP system either in full wafer or singulated die form before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages or after being assembled into module panels or singulated modules. A single FOX-XP test system may be configured with up to 18 Blades of test resources, enabling up to 18 blades to test and burn in full wafers simultaneously at up to 1 kW per Blade or up to 9 Blades configured to test wafers or singulated die and modules with up to 2 kW per Blade. Each Blade may be configured with up to eight Universal Channel Channel Modules (UCCMs), High Current Channel Modules (HCCMs), or High Voltage Channel Modules (HVCMs) to supply device stimulus to burn-in, cycle, and test the individual die or modules. The footprint of the 18-wafer test system is similar to the footprint of typical semiconductor Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) that can only test one wafer at a time.
The FOX-XP system utilizes Aehr Test’s custom FOX WaferPakTM contactors and DiePak carriers to provide cost-effective solutions for making electrical contact in a multi-Blade environment. FOX WaferPak contactors contain up to tens of thousands of probes to contact all die simultaneously on wafers and substrates up to 300mm. The optional WaferPak Aligner provides fully automatic alignment of the customer’s wafers to the WaferPak contactor. DiePak carriers are capable of routing up to 2048 unique resource channels from the Blade electronics to the singulated die or modules under test. The optional DiePak Loader enables volume production loading/unloading and sorting of the customer’s modules to the DiePak carrier.
About Aehr Test Systems
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a worldwide provider of test systems for burning-in and testing logic, optical and memory integrated circuits and has an installed base of more than 2,500 systems worldwide. Increased quality and reliability needs of the Automotive and Mobility integrated circuit markets are driving additional test requirements, incremental capacity needs, and new opportunities for Aehr Test products in package, wafer level, and singulated die/module level test. Aehr Test has developed and introduced several innovative products, including the ABTSTM and FOX-PTM families of test and burn-in systems and FOX WaferPak Aligner, FOX-XP WaferPak Contactor, FOX DiePak Carrier and FOX DiePak Loader. The ABTS system is used in production and qualification testing of packaged parts for lower power and higher power logic devices as well as all common types of memory devices. The FOX-XP system is a full wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in system used for burn-in and functional test of complex devices, such as leading-edge memories, digital signal processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and integrated optical devices. The WaferPak contactor contains a unique full wafer probe card capable of testing wafers up to 300mm that enables IC manufacturers to perform test and burn-in of full wafers on Aehr Test FOX systems. The DiePak Carrier is a reusable, temporary package that enables IC manufacturers to perform cost-effective final test and burn-in of both bare die and modules. For more information, please visit Aehr Test System’s website at www.aehr.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to Aehr Test as of the date hereof and actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied due to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Aehr Test’s expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the FOX products, including statements regarding future market opportunities and conditions, expected product shipment dates and customer orders or commitments. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, acceptance by customers of the FOX and WaferPak Contactor technologies, acceptance by customers of the FOX-XP system, WaferPak Aligners, DiePak Loader/Unloaders, WaferPak Contactors and DiePak Carriers shipped upon receipt of a purchase order and the ability of new products to meet customer needs or perform as described, as well as general market conditions, customer demand and acceptance of Aehr Test’s products and Aehr Test’s ability to execute on its business strategy. See Aehr Test’s recent 10-K, 10-Q and other reports from time to time filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed description of the risks facing Aehr Test’s business. Aehr Test disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
| Contacts: | |
| Aehr Test Systems Vernon Rogers EVP Sales and Marketing (510) 623-9400 x215 vrogers@aehr.com |
MKR Investor Relations Inc. Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers Analyst/Investor Contact (213) 277-5550 aehr@mkr-group.com |
