Tektronix Offers S530 Series Parametric Test System to Address Wide-Bandgap Devices

Tektronix released the Keithley S530 Series Parametric Test System with KTE 7 software and other enhancements, enabling semiconductor fabs to add parametric test capacity while minimizing CAPEX investment and maximizing wafers-per-hour efficiency. New semiconductor products based on emerging wide-bandgap (WBG) technologies such as GaN and SiC offer faster switching speeds, wider temperature ranges, and better power efficiency, among other benefits.

To meet testing needs for these products, the KTE 7-based S530 platform boasts lab-grade measurement performance with minimal set-up and test time. High-speed, flexible configurations up to 1100V can evolve as applications emerge and requirements change. This allows chip manufacturers to cost-effectively and efficiently expand with minimal test/set-up time, on a single system, and with minimal investment.

Innovations to the S530 Series maximize tester utilization over a wide product mix, and easily migrate existing test software, probe cards, and other items, while offering full data correlation along with significant speed improvements. The S530-HV model enables testing up to 1100V on any pin to boost throughput by 50 percent or more over competitive systems in power and WBG applications. Chip manufacturers can test a wide mix of products with a single system, including automotive products per the IATF-16949 quality management standard. 

The KTE7-based platform offers semiconductor manufacturers the easiest and most cost-effective migration path from legacy S600 and S400 systems, preserving full data correlation along with throughput improvements up to 25 percent faster than the S600.  KTE software compatibility greatly simplifies and speeds up the migration path from legacy systems such as the S600, achieving full correlation with up to 25 percent faster throughput.

An optional Testhead for the S530-HV eliminates the operator time needed to change the instrumentation, probe card, and cabling test setup when moving from low voltage (<200V) to high voltage (>200V) wafer-level tests. The testhead enables probe card compatibility with multiple models from multiple vendors for faster probe card changing and to-the-pin calibration per ISO-17025, while maintaining backward compatibility. This minimizes migration costs and protects customer investment, while supporting new requirements such as automotive standard IATF-16949.  

The S530-HV enables testing up to 1100V on any pin, to boost throughput by 50 percent or more over competitive systems in power and WBG applications. Operators can connect any test resource to any test pin in any sequence to quickly and easily support production requirements without reconfiguring or re-tooling signal paths. Built-in transient over-voltage / over-current protection prevents accidental damage to probe cards, needles, and instrumentation - which is especially critical in high speed WBG applications. 

During system calibration, the new 5880-SRU System Reference Unit automatically switches all DC and AC reference standards, thus eliminating the need to manually connect, disconnect, and reconnect. This fully automated process greatly reduces system downtime and resulting support costs when performing calibration, resulting in a lower COO profile.