Case Study: imec triples wafer test throughput with National Instruments PXI and LabVIEW

Next-Generation Semiconductor Technology Parametric Test

imec, a leading independent nanotechnology research center, faced challenges in its semiconductor R&D fabrication process. Their previous setup required taking wafers out of the clean room for electrical testing, which led to significant wafer loss due to contamination and caused major delays in their research cycle and project deliverables. They needed an in-line test solution to detect process issues early.

National Instruments provided a solution using the NI PXI platform and PXIe-4135 source measure units (SMUs) to build a highly parallel, in-fab automated test system. This setup, programmed with LabVIEW, eliminated the need to remove wafers for testing. The results were a 3x reduction in fab cycle time, a dramatic decrease in wafer loss, and a significantly shorter learning cycle, allowing imec to accelerate its research and development of next-generation chip technologies.

imec

Bart De Wachter

imec