Series-Connected Test Modules for Semiconductor Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing test apparatuses for semiconductor devices face high costs when operating at high speeds to test multiple devices simultaneously, as they require a large number of channels, which increases the cost per channel.
Innovation Solution
A test board with a series-connected plurality of test modules, each capable of storing and generating control signals and error judgment signals, allowing for efficient testing of multiple semiconductor devices with reduced channel requirements by using internal clock signals and error detectors to compare data signals from devices under test.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a test apparatus includes a large number of channels to test multiple semiconductor devices simultaneously, then the testing capacity and speed are improved, but the cost per channel becomes extremely high
Solution Approach 1:
The test board is divided into multiple test modules (first test module, second test module, etc.), each capable of independently testing one or more DUTs. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high testing capacity without requiring a single complex high-channel-count apparatus, thereby reducing the cost per channel while maintaining productivity.
2Device complexity
If test modules are connected in series to reduce channel requirements, then the cost per channel is reduced, but the total test time may increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each test module includes a latch unit that stores control signals and data signals in advance before testing. This preliminary action allows the test modules to operate in a pipelined manner where subsequent modules can begin processing while previous modules are still completing their tests, thereby reducing the total test time despite the series connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The series connection of test modules enables continuous testing flow where the output of one module becomes the input of the next. The error judgment signals are passed sequentially through the modules, allowing the testing process to continue without interruption once initiated, maintaining high utilization of all modules and minimizing idle time.
Data Source
AI summary
A test board includes a plurality of test modules. Each test module stores a first control signal, a data signal, and a second control signal in response to a clock signal, and tests a corresponding device under test (DUT) using the first control signal and the stored data signal in response to the second control signal to generate an error signal indicating whether the DUT is defective. Each test module outputs the first control signal, the data signal, and the second control signal to a test module in a next stage, and each test module of a subsequent stage receives the error signal stored generated by a test module in a previous stage in response to the clock signal.