1149 results about "Burn-in" patented technology

A semiconductor component includes a thinned semiconductor die having protective polymer layers on up to six surfaces. The component also includes contact bumps on the die embedded in a circuit side polymer layer, and terminal contacts on the contact bumps in a dense area array. A method for fabricating the component includes the steps of providing a substrate containing multiple dice, forming trenches on the substrate proximate to peripheral edges of the dice, and depositing a polymer material into the trenches. In addition, the method includes the steps of planarizing the back side of the substrate to contact the polymer filled trenches, and cutting through the polymer trenches to singulate the components from the substrate. Prior to the singulating step the components can be tested and burned-in while they remain on the substrate.

This invention generally relates to methods, apparatus and computer program code for improved OLED (organic light emitting diode) display drive systems, in particular to compensate for burn-in.

A method of compensating an OLED display device for burn-in of pixels of the OLED display, the method comprising: measuring a first voltage drop across at least one test pixel of the display; measuring a second voltage drop across at least one other pixel of the display; determining, from said first and second voltages and a from value (V₁) representing a drive voltage increase for a loss in efficiency of said display due to burn-in, an estimated reduction in efficiency of said display due to burn-in; and compensating a drive to said display using said estimated efficiency reduction.

A method of manufacturing a disk drive and a disk drive made with such method where the width of the read element and the width of the write element are both measured at servo-writing time and the track pitch of the disk drive is set on the basis of those measurements. Disk drives with superior head width combinations are servo-written with a narrower track pitch in order to have a higher storage capacity. Disk drives with inferior head width combinations are detected before servo-writing so that the disk drive may be servo-written with wider track pitch rather than with a nominal track pitch that results in a subsequent drive failure during initial burn-in (IBI). The heads are used more efficiently in that heads that are more capable are used to their ability and less capable heads that would otherwise be disposed of are used at all. Fewer disk drives are required to be reworked and returned to the servo-writing process.

An optimization and control system for a utility plant that uses fan based air cooled condensers controls the operation of the power generation system at the plant in conjunction with the operation of the air cooled condensers so as to run the power plant at an optimum operating point associated with minimizing or reducing the cost of each kilowatt-hour of energy or other useful energy produced by the plant. The optimization and control system includes an optimizer having a numerical solver that determines values for a set of control variables associated with an optimal operating point of the plant and an expert system that oversees and modifies the control variable settings prior to providing these settings to a plant controller. The numerical solver uses an objective function and one or more models of plant equipment to determine the operating point of the plant that minimizes the cost per unit of useful energy generated by the plant. As part of determining the optimal plant operating point, the numerical solver may determine the number of fans to run within the air cooled condensers of the plant and/or the speed of the fans to use in the air cooled condensers in conjunction with the amount of fuel to burn in the boiler, the desired temperature of the steam at the input of the steam turbine, etc., all required to produce a given amount of power (load demand) at the particular environmental conditions currently experienced at the plant. The expert system may modify these outputs by determining which fans to actually use at any particular time based on, for example, the availability of or the operational status of the fans, the wear of the fans and fan motors, etc.

A microcode programmable built-in-self-test (BIST) circuit and method for testing a multiported memory via multiple ports, either simultaneously or sequentially, as directed by a microcode instruction word. The microcode instruction word contains a plurality of executable subinstructions and one bit of information that controls whether the test operations prescribed in the plurality of subinstructions shall be executed in parallel or in series. The executable subinstructions are dispatched by a primary controller to subcontrollers which perform test operations at each port according to the subinstructions. The microcode programable BIST architecture flexibly facilitates the testing of multiple devices, multiported devices, including multiported memory structures and complex dependent multiported memory structures. The BIST supports in-situ testing of the functionality of the memory at wafer, module, and burn-in, as well as system-level testing.

Solid state drive (SSD) testing processes and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, the SSD testing process comprises: specifying a set of test parameters of firmware, operating system and flash memory for a plurality of SSDs under test (DUTs) in an SSD test system, the set of test parameters includes a model number, a serial number, a desired defective or bad block ratio and a size of the firmware, wherein the model and serial number are configured onto each of the DUTs; performing an initialization test of all of the DUTs based on the specified test parameters to determine a pre-qualified group of the DUTs that passed the initialization test; conducting at least one level of burn-in test for each SSD in the pre-qualified group; conducting at least one level of burn-in test for each SSD in the pre-qualified group; and assigning a quality grade to said each SSD based on which level of the at least one level of burn-in test said each SSD has been tested and passed, wherein the quality grade includes a commercial grade SSD made using at least one Multi-Level Cell flash memory.

A method for testing a DDR DRAM having a test mode and an operational mode is described. The method including in the order recited: (a) placing the DDR DRAM in test mode; (b) issuing a bank activate command to select and bring up a wordline selected for write of the DDR DRAM; (c) writing with auto-precharge, a test pattern to cells of the DDR DRAM; (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until all wordlines for write have been selected; (e) issuing a bank activate command to select and bring up a wordline selected for read of the DDR DRAM; (f) reading with auto-precharge, the stored test pattern from cells of the DDR DRAM; and (g) repeating steps (e) and (f) until all wordlines for read have been selected.

An apparatus to heat and test a semiconductor wafer includes a probe card and tests a plurality of die simultaneously at the wafer level. In the present invention, the apparatus heats the wafer to sufficient temperatures to perform burn-in and a speed test. A method of testing the semiconductor allows certain die to be repaired that would otherwise be scrapped in a conventional process where bun-in and other tests are performed on packaged die. The method also eliminates steps associated with handling individually packaged parts, reduces burn-in space and consolidates certain test steps.

Methods and structures of in-situ wafer scale polymer stud grid array (ISWS-PSGA) contact formation on integrated circuit devices, wherein a separate pre-manufactured PSGA substrate is not needed. The methods include injection molding of thermoplastics, transfer-molding of thermoset materials, lamination of polymer films with subsequent in-situ molding/embossing, and forming the PSGA structure directly on the semiconductor wafer. The ISWS-PSGA structure extends across the entire semiconductor wafer, with ISWS-PSGA metallized input/output studs disposed across each of the integrated circuit devices on the wafer. The polymer formed on the wafer surface to create the stud field is extended beyond the perimeter of the wafer, and the polymer film extension is used for temporary connection to an integrated circuit tester, or an integrated circuit test/burn-in system. The extension may further include studs for contacting the tester.

Systems and methods for reducing temperature dissipation during burn-in testing are described. Devices under test are each subject to a body bias voltage. The body bias voltage can be used to control junction temperature (e.g., temperature measured at the device under test). The body bias voltage applied to each device under test can be adjusted device-by-device to achieve essentially the same junction temperature at each device.

An infrared sensor is provided in a burn-in chamber. The surface temperatures of two or more semiconductor devices are measured by the sensor. A control unit calculates the internal temperatures of the semiconductor devices based on the thermal resistance values of the semiconductor device packages and controls the temperature inside the burn-in chamber so that the average of the internal temperatures is brought to a desired temperature by using a temperature controller. Further, an acceleration coefficient is obtained based on the internal temperatures, a burn-in time is determined based on the acceleration coefficient and a preliminarily given accelerated period, and a burn-in acceleration test is conducted. Moreover, when a defective semiconductor is found, the defective portion of the defective semiconductor device is specified based on the surface temperature distribution of the semiconductor device measured by the infrared sensor.

A stop range changing unit changes an engine stop range, which is a cruise range in which an operation of an engine is stopped, based on a type of fuel that is burned in the engine and that is determined by a fuel type determination unit. Therefore, the engine is stopped or started up under a cruise condition that suits the fuel type. Accordingly, even if start-up performance of the engine varies due to variation of the fuel type, unfavorable effects of the variation in the start-up performance of the engine on a smooth motion of a hybrid vehicle is alleviated.

Disclosed is a burn-in reduction device capable of favorably reducing burn-in on a screen. The burn-in reduction device comprises luminance level distribution detecting means for detecting a statistical distribution with respect to luminance levels of pixels of an image based on an input image signal; and luminance changing means for changing a luminance level of the input image signal in accordance with the statistical distribution detected by the luminance level distribution detecting means.

A method and structure for a solder interconnection, using solder balls for making a low temperature chip attachment directly to any of the higher levels of packaging substrate is disclosed. After a solder ball has been formed using standard methods it is reflowed to give the solder ball a smooth surface. A layer of low melting point metal, such as, bismuth, indium or tin, preferably, pure tin, is deposited on the top of the solder balls. This structure results in localizing of the eutectic alloy, formed upon subsequent low temperature joining cycle, to the top of the high melting solder ball even after multiple low temperature reflow cycles. This method does not need tinning of the substrate to which the chip is to be joined, which makes this method economical. It has also been noticed that whenever temperature is raised slightly above the eutectic temperature, the structure always forms a liquid fillet around the joint with copper wires. This liquid fillet formation results in substantial thermal fatigue life improvement for reduced stress at interface; and secondly, provides an easy means to remove chip for the purpose of chip burn-in, replacement or field repairs.

An apparatus is described for burn-in and/or functional testing of microelectronic circuits of unsingulated wafers. A large number of power, ground, and signal connections can be made to a large number of contacts on a wafer. The apparatus has a cartridge that allows for fanning-in of electric paths. A distribution board has a plurality of interfaces that are strategically positioned to provide a dense configuration. The interfaces are connected through flexible attachments to an array of first connector modules. Each one of the first connector modules can be independently connected to a respective one of a plurality of second connector modules, thereby reducing stresses on a frame of the apparatus. Further features include for example a piston that allows for tight control of forces exerted by terminals onto contacts of a wafer.

A burn-in tester that provides independent control of the devices under test. The various operating parameters such as temperature, voltage, frequency of operation or test pattern being applied can be independently changed on one device without affecting the operating parameters of the other devices. Thus, e.g., the amount of cooling applied to one device is independent of the amount of cooling applied to another device. In addition, the testing being done on each device may be independently controlled. Thus, a test can be changed on one of the devices under test without affecting the tests being run on any of the other devices. Similarly, the voltage and frequency of operation can be controlled independently to allow for changes to the voltage and/or frequency of one device without affecting those parameters on other devices being tested.