Freescale and Kinesys announce breakthrough
Freescale and Kinesys Test Advantage announced today that they have implemented breakthrough technology that removes the historical "wall" between in process wafer manufacturing data and die electrical test data in order to target hybrid automotive quality requirements Automotive device supplier Freescale Semiconductor located in Toulouse, France is driving quality and reliability levels to ever higher standards in its manufacturing operations by employing Streetwise, an innovative software technology from Arizona-based Kinesys Test Advantage. Streetwise is a unique software platform that provides advanced multi process flow data analysis capabilities for exposing semiconductor device performance marginalities, thereby dramatically improving overall device quality and reliability.
Zero defect programs have become a norm in the automotive industry where quality is critical to the safety and reliability of a company's products.
Freescale and Kinesys Test Advantage have combined their respective expertise and technology to extend statistical post processing analysis to include wafer sort electrical test screenings, final outgoing inspection and in-process wafer fab parameters. Automatic multi-flow and across flow analysis of these new data sources generated from as many as ten wafer manufacturing process flows will allow achievement of unprecedented quality levels for next generation automotive applications.
Historically, there have been incredible amounts of wafer fab parametric data (average ratio 1/10; one electrical test for ten in process wafer fab measurements) that have been used solely to monitor the wafer manufacturing processes. This same wafer fab data is a rich source of information that has not been leveraged to its full potential. Typically, in-process wafer fab measurements are stored into a database for lot processing traceability and process control. Freescale and Kinesys Test Advantage have implemented unique smoothing algorithms in order to translate sampled data from in-process wafer fab measurements into in-process die measurements without adding extra controls in the wafer fab. This development allows die level screening and detection of potential marginal device performance through multi-flow analysis classification rules based on statistical post processing.
"Freescale is now post processing twenty-four (24) wafer lots in a matter of minutes with up to ten flows of in-process and electrical test die data per wafer in a single pass using Streetwise (see chart), whereas historically if this same comprehensive analysis were performed, it could take up to two weeks," stated Frederic Tilhac, Kinesys Test Advantage Technical Program Manager.
"By incorporating wafer fab data using Streetwise advanced multi-flow analysis and device classification strategies, we are confident in our ability to meet our customers' demands for the next generation automotive quality standards demanded by our hybrid application markets and improve our manufacturing processes," said Alain Deram, Technical Director of Power Technology at Freescale Semiconductor."
"Freescale's deployment of Streetwise for their leading edge product applications is a tribute to our advanced technology that enables our customers to achieve next generation quality levels demanded by future automotive applications," commented Fabrice Dechoux, CEO of Test Advantage. "Streetwise is a unique, production-proven platform that enhances any device manufacturer's competitive advantage."
