Keithley to Supply Multiple Parametric Test Systems to X-FAB


Systems Ensure Process and Device Quality at the Foundry’s Production Line in Malaysia



CLEVELAND, OH – Keithley Instruments, Inc., a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems, today announced it had received orders for additional S530 Parametric Test Systems from X-FAB Silicon Foundries. X-FAB, a Germany-based foundry for analog/mixed-signal devices and micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), ordered low power versions of the S530 tester for installation on the main production line at its facility in Kuching, Malaysia, where high voltage S530 systems are already in place.



Dr. Manfred Riemer, the chief operating officer at X-FAB, said, “The strategic cooperation and excellent support our management teams have enjoyed through working with Keithley personnel made the decision an easy one. The compatibility of the S530 systems with X-FAB’s manufacturing automation systems and the high correlation with our existing test equipment have been excellent.”



Steffen Richter, X-FAB’s group manager for process control monitoring, will present a paper on the joint X-FAB/Keithley effort involving the initial S530 correlation and speed optimization project at the 16th European Manufacturing Test Conference (EMTC), to be held during SEMICON® Europa 2014 in Grenoble, France, October 7–9, 2014. The paper, “Optimizing Automatic Parametric Test (APT) in Mixed Signal/MEMS Foundry,” is co-authored with Alex Pronin, Ph.D., a lead applications engineer at Keithley.



In announcing the sale, Keithley general manager Mike Flaherty noted, “X-FAB has relied on Keithley parametric test systems for many years. Based on their experience with our S530 high voltage systems, X-FAB decided to add Keithley low power systems to their main production line.”



Flaherty continued, “Keithley’s personnel worked closely with the engineering teams to ensure the results correlated well with those from their existing testers. Our applications team converted thousands of lines of original test system code and then performed correlation tests, matching more than 1200 parameters to within 3 percent of the original vendor’s data.”



Keithley S530 Parametric Test Systems provide an exceptional low cost of ownership, mainly for semiconductor fabs requiring high throughput testing across a broad mix of products or wherever wide application flexibility and fast test plan development are critical. The low power (200V) system configuration is typically used for standard CMOS, bipolar, MEMS, and other relatively low voltage semiconductor processes. The high power (1kV) version is optimized for the difficult breakdown and leakage tests that GaN, SiC, and Si LDMOS power devices demand.



For More Information

More information on Keithley S530 Parametric Test Systems is available at: http://www.keithley.com/data?asset=52643.  To learn more about Keithley, contact the company at:



Telephone: 888-534-8453

440-248-0400

FAX: 440-248-6168

E-mail: publisher@keithley.com

Internet: www.keithley.com



Address: Keithley Instruments, Inc.

28775 Aurora Road

Cleveland, OH 44139-1891



About Keithley Instruments, Inc.

With more than 60 years of measurement expertise, Keithley Instruments has become a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems. Our customers are scientists and engineers in the worldwide electronics industry involved with advanced materials research, semiconductor device development and fabrication, and the production of end products such as portable wireless devices. The value we provide them is a combination of products for their critical measurement needs and a rich understanding of their applications to improve the quality of their products and reduce their cost of test. In 2010, Keithley Instruments joined Tektronix as part of its test and measurement portfolio.



Keithley Instruments

28775 Aurora Road

Solon, Ohio 44139

USA



Contact: Laurel Brennan

Keithley Instruments, Inc.

440-498-2567

lbrennan@keithley.com

Reader Inquiries: 1-888-534-8453

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