QRT announced on the 22nd that it will strengthen its reliability services for electrostatic discharge (ESD) and latch-up (circuit operation error due to excessive voltage) through the 'MK4' system, which can test up to 2304 pins.
The MK4 is 10 times faster on average than conventional machine-driven ESD test equipment. Existing equipment is able to test up to 768 pins. For semiconductors exceeding that, several sets of ESD evaluation boards had to be manufactured and each board was inspected.
The MK4 can test up to 2304 pins with just one set of boards, which is 3 times more efficient. It can provide quick results to clients. Seven power supplies were also installed to test latch-ups that cause damage to devices. It supplies power to individual semiconductor power pins that require reliability evaluation and enables stable testing.
The MK4 supports both the human body model (HBM) test, that simulates and reproduces the ESD phenomenon that occurs when touching electrical and electronic products, and the mechanical model (MM) test that is generated by static electricity in metal. Artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor fabless companies with a high number of pins, more than 1500, can also perform ESD evaluation.
The MK4 can be upgraded to meet changes in ESD-related regulations and quality standards and has a fast test speed, so it is being used by major semiconductor manufacturers and integrated circuits (ICs) around the world. QRT is the only semiconductor testing laboratory in Korea with expensive equipment worth more than 2 billion won per unit.
Dong-seong Kim, senior researcher at QRT, said, “Recently, as high-integration semiconductors are being used in smartphones as well as wearable devices and automotive electronic devices, there are many cases where ESD has become a major threat,” adding that, “QRT will fully satisfy the qualification requirements of the ESD field by combining state-of-the-art equipment and accumulated expertise.”
By staff reporter Yoon-sub Song (sys@etnews.com)