TI Employs Keithley Parametric Test System
The decision comes after a thorough TI evaluation of available solutions that weighed all facets of measurement capability, cost of ownership, technical support, ease of use and long term product strategy. Evaluation Methods
TI said it considers the measurement settling time of the S600 a competitive advantage, allowing the highest throughput performance without sacrificing measurement accuracy. The system's RC settling time was found to be significantly faster than all other available solutions. All low current measurements are performed faster as a result, including isolation, diode and transistor testing. Therefore, TI said it anticipates the purchase of fewer testers to support a given wafer capacity. "The stellar throughput advantage of Keithley's S600 allows us to recover cleanroom floor space while simultaneously increasing measurement capability and decreasing our cost of ownership," concludes Jeff Daniels, Parametric Engineering Manager for TI's Dallas MOS 5 Wafer Fab. "It's the best possible situation."
The quantitative analysis TI performed showed that the S600 had the lowest training requirements for both operators and engineers, thereby reducing the cost of ownership. TI also found the S600 to have lower operational support requirements, lower hardware replacement expenses and more robust software. Combined with higher throughput, TI said these factors provide the best ownership value for its measurement needs. Measurement Capability
TI reported that, due to a super-clean, noise-free hardware environment, the S600's low current and low capacitance measurement capability exceeded the competition and previous generations of parametric testers used by TI. The S600's VXI-C meter, with nearly zero stray capacitance and higher noise rejection, is a key part of that solution. Unlike other systems evaluated, the S600 probe card design has low leakage, low noise and is not limited by dielectric absorption. Automation Interface
The SECS-II/GEM interface of the S600 allows full integration into TI's factory automation system. User Access Points for interfacing with data analysis tools, C-programming backbone and Solaris networking are additional features that separate the S600 from other, less effective tools that TI evaluated.