Hprobe, a provider of automatic test equipment for magnetic semiconductor devices, has announced what it says is a breakthrough magnetic test head revolutionizing magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) wafer sort in mass production. The new module, the H3DM-XL, is at the heart of the latest addition to the company’s IBEX line, depicted above, the IBEX-WS.
The system integrates 3D magnetic field capabilities, while increasing field area and uniformity for wafer probing large MRAM arrays. The test equipment platform integrating the new head is the only available commercial product designed to address the magnetic specificities of MRAM compared to traditional back-end testing in high volume manufacturing, says Hprobe.
“We introduced this new test head as a result of close collaboration with MRAM technology and device engineers. We aim to enable our customers to implement new and specific test protocols dedicated to MRAM wafer sort and to successfully tackle ramp-up in high-volume manufacturing. The new-generation test head is designed to operate with the same test cell used for traditional logic probing and is key for STT-MRAM product yield management,” said Siamak Salimy, CTO and co-founder.
The test head enables the probing of large MRAM arrays under a magnetic field to accelerate per-bit retention testing and non-persistent bit failures in a production environment. Featuring a high magnetic field and uniformity over a large surface, the system operates on single or multiple sites. It can also be used in product development, validation, and qualification phases. It is specially designed for testing MRAM arrays with bit cells based on Spin Transfer Torque (STT-MRAM) and Spin Orbit Torque (SOT-MRAM) magnetic tunnel junctions.
Earlier, Hprobe introduced what it said was the first turnkey testing equipment dedicated to 3D magnetic sensors used in both automotive and industrial applications, a system based on its 3D magnetic field generator technology. Integrated into test equipment, the generator can establish a 3D magnetic field in which each spatial axis is driven independently and has multiple configurations to maximize the field strength or surface coverage in specific 1D, 2D or 3D orientations.
“Our new equipment addresses the crucial step of chip sorting for the new generation of magnetic sensors tested at wafer-level, under high field intensity, and on a large area coverage,” explained Salimy. To validate products for end applications, it is required to test the magnetic sensors under a magnetic field. Founded in March 2017 and based in Grenoble, France, Hprobe is a spin-off company of Spintec, a leading spintronics research laboratory located in Grenoble.
