Leveraging production output through index-parallel testing technology

Index-Parallel testing technology is a relatively new concept in semiconductor testing that can be used to leverage production output and reduces the cost of testing. This study explains the methodologies of single site and multisite testing and introduces the concept of Index-Parallel testing. With the implementation of Index-Parallel testing high production throughput as a result of reduced test time and required resources can be achieved, thus increasing production output and lowering the Cost of Test (COT) with a significant overall savings over time. The reduction in total test time significantly improved the throughput of the test system and lowered the Average Test Cost. The implementation of Index-Parallel produced a 24% increase in throughput for transistor testing and a 20% increase for integrated circuit (IC) testing compared to Multisite. As a result, the Costs of Test were reduced by an average of 0.13¢ for transistor testing and an average of 0.31¢ for IC testing. The increase in throughput coupled with the reduction of Cost of Test verified the advantages of Index-Parallel technique for transistor device testing and successfully applied the same principle to the relatively more complex IC device. The findings not only confirmed its effectiveness in production, but also confirmed the economic advantages of using Index-Parallel technology in semiconductor manufacturing.