FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 26, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aehr Test Systems (Nasdaq:AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, today announced it has received an order for an ABTS Burn-in and Test System from a Chinese semiconductor foundry. The order includes a down payment for this specialized hot/cold configuration. Shipment is expected before the end of Aehr Test's third quarter of fiscal 2014.
"We are pleased to receive this order from a new customer in China," said Mark Allison, vice president of sales at Aehr Test Systems. "This order from a semiconductor foundry shows how increased reliability and quality needs for automotive and mobility devices are driving new requirements in the test and burn-in market. Our selection was based on our ability to provide a state-of-the-art system to fill their needs both now and for the foreseeable future, and we were able to provide that to them at an attractive price."
The order is from a specialized semiconductor foundry with a strong focus on high quality services and advanced value-added technologies, including embedded nonvolatile memory, high voltage and low leakage processes. The ABTS system will be used in the qualification and on-going process monitoring of various types of memories, including Flash and SRAM. Qualification tests typically utilize a high-temperature operating life (HTOL) test, where failure mechanisms are accelerated by burning-in the devices for 1000 hours to confirm that the basic design and fabrication process of a device will meet the reliability targets over an extended period of normal use. On-going process monitoring involves selecting samples from production lots and burning them in at high or low temperature to ensure that the process continues to hit its reliability targets.
"In this case, the system will also perform a low-temperature operating life (LTOL) test, where the devices are subjected to temperatures as low as -40C for an extended period," Allison continued. "In addition to being a more rigorous screen for various failure mechanisms, LTOL is important for identifying failure modes for automotive applications, since automobiles are often subjected to extremely low temperatures."
The ABTS family of products is based on a new hardware and software platform that is designed to address not only today's devices, but also future devices for many years to come. It can test and burn-in both logic and memory devices, including resources for high pin-count devices and configurations for high-power and low-power applications. The ABTS system can be configured with up to 72 burn-in boards with up to 320 I/O channels each and 32M of test vector memory per channel. The ABTS offers the option of high voltage Device Power Supplies configurable with programmable voltage ranges to 60 or 230 volts, which are needed for automotive and power-line applications. The ABTS system is optimized for use with the Sensata iSocket* and VTR Thermal Management Technologies, which provide a scalable cost-effective solution using individual device temperature control for ICs up to 75 watts or more. Individual temperature control enables high-power devices with a broad range of power dissipation to be burned-in simultaneously in a single burn-in chamber while maintaining a precise device temperature. The ABTS system also uses N+1 redundancy technology and hot-swap capability for many key components in the system to maximize system uptime.
*iSocket is a trademark of Sensata Technologies, Inc.
About Aehr Test Systems
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a worldwide provider of test systems for burning-in and testing logic and memory integrated circuits and has an installed base of more than 2,500 systems worldwide. Increased quality and reliability needs of the Automotive and Mobility integrated circuit markets are driving additional test requirements, capacity needs and opportunities for Aehr Test products in package and wafer level test. Aehr Test has developed and introduced several innovative products, including the ABTS and FOXTM families of test and burn-in systems and the DiePak® carrier. The ABTS system is used in production and qualification testing of packaged parts for both lower-power and higher-power logic as well as all common types of memory devices. The FOX system is a full wafer contact test and burn-in system used for burn-in and functional test of complex devices, such as leading-edge memories, digital signal processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers and systems-on-a-chip. The DiePak carrier is a reusable, temporary package that enables IC manufacturers to perform cost-effective final test and burn-in of bare die. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.aehr.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to Aehr Test as of the date hereof and actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied due to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding expected shipping dates of our ABTS systems and uses of our ABTS systems. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, general world economic conditions and events, the state of the semiconductor equipment market, our ability to maintain sufficient cash to support operations, acceptance by customers of the ABTS technology, acceptance by customers of the ABTS systems shipped upon receipt of a purchase order and the ability of new products to meet customer needs or perform as described. See Aehr Test's recent 10-K and other reports from time to time filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed description of the risks facing our business. Aehr Test disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
Aehr Test Systems Carl Buck V.P. of Marketing (510) 623-9400 x381 Financial Relations Board Marilynn Meek Analyst/Investor Contact (212) 827-3773
