1. ATE = Automatic Test Equipment. ATE is a machine that is designed to perform tests on different devices referred to as a devices under test (DUT). An ATE uses control systems and automated information technology to rapidly perform tests that measure and evaluate a DUT.
2. DUT = Device Under Test.
3. PIB = Prober Interface Board: goes between the tester prober and the semiconductor wafer or die.
4. DIB = Device Interface Board: goes between the tester and a device.
5. PDP = Prober docking plate
6. Handler = IC pick up and place handler, The Handler must be connected to the tester (docking) and connected to the interface to perform the test. The action process is that the handler's arm puts the DUT into the socket, and at this time the contact chuck is pressed down to make the DUT's foot correctly contact the socket, and then send a start signal. Through the interface tester, after the test, the tester sends back binning and EOT signals, and the handler performs classification actions. The size and number of feet of the customer's products are different, and the handler provides different molds.
8. Prober, often referring to wafer prober, is a system used for electrical testing of wafers in the semiconductor development and manufacturing process.
In an electrical test, test signals from a measuring instrument or tester are transmitted to individual devices on a wafer via probe needles or a probe card and the signals are then returned from the device. A wafer prober is used for handling the wafer to make contact in the designated position on the device. In semiconductor development, a wafer prober is used mainly for evaluating the characteristics of prototype ICs, reliability evaluation, and defect analysis.
9. Pogo Tower: The pogo tower or probe tower is a mechanically precise arrangement of spring contacts, top and bottom, with controlled-impedance connections in-between. Since the mechanics and electronic characteristics of the tower are well known, the test system can compensate for insertion losses and signal.
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10. Direct docking: No Pogo Tower interface schemes, Compare to conventional system, direct docking system features as this:
► Direct Docking System
►Conventional System
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11. PCB = Printed Circuit Board, A printed circuit board (PCB) is an electronic circuit used in devices to provide mechanical support and a pathway to its electronic components. It is made by combining different sheets of non-conductive material, such as fiberglass or plastic, that easily holds copper circuitry.
PCB is also known as printed wiring board (PWB) or etched wiring board (EWB).
12. PC = Probe Card: A PCB with probe needles mounted that contact the unmounted/unbonded semiconductor die or wafer to interface to a tester.
13. Wafer – A wafer is also known as a slice or substrate, is a thin piece of semiconductor material, in the shape of a very thin disc that is used as a base for fabricating electronic integrated circuits (ICs) and silicon-based photovoltaic cells. The wafer serves as the substrate for most microelectronic circuits and goes through many processes, such as doping, implantation and etching, before the final product of an integrated circuit is completed.
14. Die - Silicon die or bare-die is a fully functional chip that has not yet been packaged. A wafer consists of many dies that are separated during the dicing process.
15. Chip – An integrated circuit (IC) is basically an electronic circuit that integrates many different devices onto one single piece of silicon. It is also often called a microchip or simply chip. Generally the word chip refers to a small and very thin piece of material, sometimes broken from a larger piece of material. When a chip is not yet packaged, we call it a die. So, most integrated circuits are produced as dies on very thin (less than 1 mm thick) silicon wafers.