Wafer probe card tests 253 DRAM die in a single touchdown

LIVERMORE, CA – Aug. 4, 2003 – FormFactor, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORM), a leading provider of advanced wafer probe cards, today announced the volume production release of its large-area array probe card that tests an industry leading 253 devices under test (DUTs) per touchdown on dynamic random access memory (DRAM) wafers. Utilizing FormFactor’s PH100 large area capability and MicroSpringTM contacts, the 253 DUT wafer test solution, which was first shipped to a beta customer in December 2002, enables 300 mm DRAM manufacturers to reduce the capital investment required for test, while increasing capacity.

“300 mm wafers more than double the number of DRAM die produced per wafer. Wafer test methodologies must make a leap in efficiency to handle this higher die volume without stretching capital equipment budgets,” said Dan Hutcheson, President of VLSI Research. “FormFactor’s high parallelism wafer test solutions continue to enable 300 mm DRAM manufacturers to test more die in fewer touchdowns, increasing test cell throughput cost effectively.”

FormFactor’s large-area array probe cards are currently available for both DRAM and Flash memory wafer test. The cards’ extremely high DUT counts are made possible by FormFactor’s proprietary MicroSpring interconnect technology and design tools and large-area substrate products with thermal compensation capabilities. MicroSpring contacts on FormFactor’s PH100 and PH150 large area substrates enable testing of a 300 mm wafer in as few as six touchdowns. The PH100 and PH150 probe cards take advantage of mechanical designs incorporating material-matching techniques to achieve precise and repeatable matching of probe tips to die pads over a wide temperature range, ensuring high-quality electrical contact and minimal probe damage.

The company’s high volume, precision manufacturing of the MicroSpring interconnect accurately places probe tips at high density over a large area, resulting in pin counts that support testing of hundreds of DUTs simultaneously. The 9,867 individual MicroSpring contacts on the current 253 DUT design is the highest number of probes FormFactor has assembled on a single wafer probe card.

“FormFactor’s 253 DUT solution offers the industry’s highest parallelism for DRAM wafers, and furthers our vision of providing superior wafer test solutions for 300 mm manufacturers,” said Frans van Wijk, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development of FormFactor. “The superior accuracy, reliability, speed and signal integrity of our MicroSpring interconnect technology will enable even larger DUT counts as 300 mm wafer manufacturers continue to expand wafer test parallelism in search of even lower cost of test.”