News: Microelectronics
15 March 2023
Aehr receives $6.7m order for FOX WaferPak full-wafer contactors
Semiconductor production test and reliability qualification equipment supplier Aehr Test Systems of Fremont, CA, USA has received a $6.7m order from its lead silicon carbide (SiC) test & burn-in customer for multiple WaferPak full-wafer contactors to meet its increased production capacity needs for silicon carbide power semiconductors for the electric vehicle (EV) market. This customer is a leading Fortune 500 supplier of semiconductor devices with a significant customer base in the automotive semiconductor market.
“We are excited about this customer’s continued production ramp and new design wins using our wafer-level test & burn-in systems and WaferPaks,” says president &CEO Gayn Erickson. “This WaferPak order is about half of the total WaferPak contactors needed for the FOX-XP wafer-level test & burn-in systems previously ordered by this customer and announced in January.” The WaferPaks are expected to be delivered beginning this current fiscal quarter and through the fiscal first-quarter 2024, ending 31 August.
“FOX-XP system orders are required to increase general manufacturing capacity, while our WaferPak contactors are unique to each new design win. As our customers win new designs from their customers, Aehr secures orders for new WaferPak contactors to fulfill these new wins,” says Erickson. Over time, Aehr expects to see follow-on WaferPak business grow both in absolute dollars and also as a percentage of overall revenue.
“Based on feedback and forecasts from current and prospective customers in the last several months and particularly in recent face-to-face visits with current and prospective customers in the US, Europe and Asia, we are seeing increased market momentum and continued adoption of silicon carbide MOSFETs by electric vehicle automobile manufacturers that will require wafer-level burn-in. We also see upside growth potential for silicon carbide usage in electrification infrastructure, electric trains and other high-power DC-to-AC inverter applications,” Erickson continues.
Aehr is increasing its inventory and adding additional manufacturing capacity of systems and WaferPaks in anticipation of the potential significant upside of the broad-based move of silicon carbide suppliers to wafer-level burn-in. “Future orders of our FOX-XP multi-wafer test & burn-in systems and WaferPak full-wafer contactors are anticipated to grow to meet the anticipated growth of SiC MOSFET test & burn-in requirements for electric vehicle DC-to-AC traction inverters and electric vehicle chargers, as well as other power conversion applications such as solar inverters,” says Erickson.
“Aehr Test’s unique solutions allow our customers to test and burn-in their devices with 100% confidence and traceability, which are needed to address the reliability, safety, security and confidence for mission-critical applications such as semiconductors used in motor controllers and power conversion in electric vehicles,” he adds. “We are very well positioned to capitalize on the long-term growth opportunities such as these silicon carbide devices within the electric vehicle as well as the infrastructure to support the electric vehicle market.”
Available with multiple WaferPak contactors (full-wafer test) or multiple DiePak carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, the FOX-XP system is capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of integrated devices such as silicon carbide power devices, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, gallium nitride (GaN), magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single- or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.
New customer selects Aehr’s FOX system for wafer-level test and burn-in of SiC devices for EVs
New silicon carbide device-making customer chooses Aehr’s FOX-XP for wafer-level test and burn-in
Aehr enhances FOX-P wafer-level test & burn-in systems for SiC and GaN
