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Product Briefing Outline: Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) has announced the release of the company's new Probing Accuracy Diagnosis System, TELPADS-O. Integrated with TEL's 300mm fully automatic wafer prober, the P-12XLm, the new system provides users with off-line, high speed probe mark inspection analysis.

Problem: Trends in the wafer probing market have led to an increasing number of DUT's tested in parallel for memory applications, as well as an increasing number of device pins per die in SOC applications. Inspection and analysis of the probe marks made during and after testing at the wafer level is crucial in maintaining the quality of back-end processing due to the fine pitch of bonding pads and multiple test steps.

Solution: TELPADS-O provides throughput improvements of 50-100x compared to current probe mark inspection (PMI) capabilities. Integration with TEL's fully automatic wafer prober creates an automated PMI solution that allows customers to maximize uptime of the test cell. Furthermore, TEL's automated PMI methodology eliminates the need for manual inspection with a microscope, thereby reducing the need for operator interaction. TELPADS-O is also capable of providing quantitative data analysis of many probe mark parameters, resulting in enhanced process control and optimal wafer testing efficiency, including probe card quality control.

Applications: High speed probe mark inspection analysis on 300mm, 200mm and 150mm wafers.

Platform: The P-12XLm wafer probers retain the on-axis alignment feature of previous models, while handling a reduced pad size. The system assures high-accuracy probing under both high and low temperature conditions. In addition, the P-12XL's rigid deflection resistant stage can handle higher pin counts with lower mechanical deflection, according to the company.

Availability: July 2006 onwards.