Enhanced Parallel Test Support

Among the most significant enhancements to the KTE V5.2 release are improvements in parallel test support. Parallel test has become a prime method for improving throughput and reducing cost of semiconductor test by allowing users to acquire more data in the same test time during process development or the same amount of data in less time during volume fabrication. New features included in the KTE V5.2 release include fully audited support for PT_Execute, a software routine that allows quick evaluation of parallel versus serial test. Older evaluation methods involved complicated user guidebooks that consume time and engineering resources. PT_Execute can be run in a few short keystrokes, which drastically shorten engineering development time and reduce overall cost of ownership. Another enhancement is FMI (Force-Measurement Interlock), a combined firmware/software solution that reduces crosstalk, noise, and measurement variability of test results.

Enhanced RF Test

The RF test enhancements in the new KTE V5.2, which include improved LRM calibration, are much more useful than existing techniques and unlike any comparable offering in the market today, because they enable correlated measurement and calibration in a production environment. These enhancements complement Keithley's S680 Parametric Test System with RF measurements, which can take precise DC and RF measurements simultaneously, making it suitable for both lab and production use.

Improved error message descriptions help simplify troubleshooting. Another enhancement involves the tracking of calibration site touchdowns for predicting probe tip wear-out. The RF test browser software package allows massive and rapid data reduction of large data sets to determine key RF parameters of interest, an enabling capability for RF device engineers for performing process control in real time.

Powerful New Subsystem Support

Keithley's KTE V5.2 also features improved support for embedded instrument sub-systems in ways designed to boost overall system test throughput. The system optimizes a variety of new sub-systems, including a new LCR meter that improves capacitance measurement throughput by up to 2X, a spectrum analyzer (increasingly being used for benchmark circuit analysis), and Keithley's Series 3400 Pulse/Pattern Generators. The Series 3400 Pulse/Pattern Generators meet the increasing need for pulse testing in advanced semiconductor device characterization and material research. These applications are driven mainly by the ongoing reduction in device size and increase in operating speeds of many electronic components and materials.