Aehr Announces Order from New Customer for FOX-XP™ System for High Volume Production Test and Burn-In of Silicon Carbide (SiC) Devices

Fremont, CA (September 26, 2019) – Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and reliability qualification equipment, today announced that it has received an initial order from a new customer for its FOX-XP Wafer Level Test and Burn-in system and WaferPak™ Contactors for production test and burn-in of the customer’s line of silicon carbide (SiC) devices. This new customer is a leading supplier of semiconductor devices with a significant customer base in the automotive semiconductor market.

The FOX-XP system is configured to test 100% of the devices on eighteen silicon carbide wafers in parallel. The FOX-XP system and WaferPak contactors order totals more than $3 million and is expected to ship within Aehr’s next fiscal quarter.

Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are delighted that this new customer, a Fortune 500 semiconductor supplier company, has selected the unique high voltage and high power capabilities of our FOX-XP system to enable wafer level production test and burn-in of their silicon carbide devices. We believe our customers are able to save significant costs by burning-in entire wafers at a time versus the high costs associated with burning-in modules. Also, there are significant cost savings as a result of detecting burn-in yield losses at wafer level compared to yield losses detected at the more expensive module level.

It is our understanding that the higher defect density inherent in today’s silicon carbide devices presents an additional test and burn in challenge to achieve the initial quality and long-term reliability needed by many industries and, in particular, the automotive market. This is a new and very exciting market opportunity for Aehr and our FOX-P™ family of products as our wafer level test and burn in systems are optimal for reliability qualification in the emerging silicon carbide device market that is expected to grow significantly.”

According to research reported by HiTech News in July 2019, the advantages of silicon carbide based compound semiconductors over silicon-based technology, the rise in demand of power electronics modules across various industry verticals, the increase in installation of solar photovoltaic panels for electricity generation, and the surge in demand of electric vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles are the major factors driving the growth in the global silicon carbide power semiconductors market.

In a Silicon Carbide Market Size, Share & Trend analysis published in July 2019 by Grand View Research, “Silicon carbide is reported to have three times the thermal conductivity, three times the band gap, and ten times the critical electric field strength than that of silicon. Semiconductor devices manufactured from silicon carbide exhibit tremendous speed, exceptional toughness, and therefore are considered to be a more efficient alternative to silicon, particularly for higher voltage applications. Future demand is predicted to be substantially driven by SiC power semiconductor applications in aerospace, automotive, energy, and electronics and those applications require a very high level of quality and reliability.”

Aehr’s FOX-XP system is the Company’s next-generation multi-wafer and singulated die/module test solution that is capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of integrated photonics devices, flash memories, microcontrollers, sensors, power, and other leading-edge integrated circuits (ICs) in wafer form before they are assembled into single or heterogenous stacked packages. The FOX-XP system is designed for high-volume production and can be configured to test and burn in up to 18 wafers simultaneously. The resulting known-good die (KGD) can then be used for high quality and reliability applications such as enterprise solid state drives, automotive devices, highly valuable mobile applications, and mission critical integrated circuits and sensors.

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 over 2,500 systems installed 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 WaferPakTM 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 both lower power and higher power logic devices as well as all common types of memory devices. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are full wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems 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 FOX-CP system is a new low-cost single-wafer compact test and reliability verification solution for logic, memory and photonic devices and the newest addition to the FOX-P product family. 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 Systems’ 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 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’s expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding its products, including statements regarding future market opportunities and conditions, expected product shipment dates, customer orders or commitments and anticipated cost savings. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, customer demand and acceptance of Aehr’s products, the ability of new products to meet customer needs or perform as described, as well as general market conditions and Aehr’s ability to execute on its business strategy. See Aehr’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’s business. Aehr 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