Common Challenges Encountered When Testing IC Chips and How to Overcome Them

Testing is an integral element in the IC manufacturing process. It is through testing that a manufacturer can determine the functionality, performance, and reliability of semiconductor chips.  Most manufacturers have a separate testing unit that carries out all the activities that are related to testing the chips. The results of the tests will determine whether the IC chip should be delivered to the market or should be taken back to the manufacturing.

While the testing process may sound simple, and straightforward, this is not always the case. There is a broad array of challenges that manufacturers have to face when testing the chips. The nature of challenges varies depending on the chip, and parameters to be tested, among many other factors. The good news is most of these challenges have solutions. In this article, we are going to review some of the most common challenges that are encountered when testing IC chips.  We will also look at tips for overcoming these challenges.

Lack of testing tools and equipment

Minimal access to the right IC testing tools and equipment is one of the major challenges that most IC chip manufacturers are facing.  There are many reasons why most manufacturers don’t have direct access to the tools and equipment that are used for testing semiconductor chips. At the top of the list is the cost.

Most semiconductor chip testing equipment and quite expensive. Due to the high cost of acquiring them, some chip manufacturers choose to opt for manual testing equipment. The high cost of the testing equipment can be attributed to the fact that there are very few in the market since it is hard to build a complete testing platform.

Beyond the cost of buying, some manufacturers are worried about the cost of maintaining these IC testing tools. Most of these tools have sophisticated features and in case of a breakdown, it can be quite a task to  repair them.

What about the cost of training technicians on how to use the testing equipment? Well, this can also account for the high cost of using IC testing equipment and tools.

Solution

How can I reduce the cost of using IC chip testing tools and equipment? One of the solutions is collaboration. Manufacturers within the same locality consider collaborating and sharing their testing tools. In doing so, they end up lowering the total cost of buying the equipment.

Also, the advancement of technology has made it possible for more testing equipment to be introduced to the market. This has improved the affordability of the tools. You can easily find testing equipment that is within your budget.

Difficult to identify complex defects

 One of the core purposes of testing IC chips is to identify defects and flaws in the product. From there, you will decide on what to do with the chip. You can choose to rectify the product or discard it. But here comes the challenge, some defects can be too complex to be easily identified during the testing process.  

Complex or sophisticated defects make it hard for the manufacturer to decide what to do with the product. First, if you don’t isolate the flaw due to its complexity, you can easily pass it to the next stage of the production process. The defect may then resurface when the chip is used in a real-world application and this will end up tainting the name of the manufacturer.

Solution

An ideal solution for dealing with the complexity of a chip is upgrading your testing techniques. Get better tools and software applications for testing your semiconductor chips. Most advanced tools have the full capability of pinpointing the exact flaw on a semiconductor chip.

Even as you get better testing tools, you should also consider upgrading the testing capabilities of the testers.  Hire testers that are well-trained and have adequate experience in conducting all types of tests. Testers are also encouraged to undergo regular retraining so that they can update their knowledge of emerging IC defects and flaws.

 Inaccurate test data

IC testing is a data-driven process. Testers rely on the collected data to determine the results of the test. What if the data is wrong? Well, the test results will be misleading. Several factors make it difficult to get accurate data when conducting IC testing. They include the wrong choice of the testing methodology, defects in the testing equipment, unfavorable environmental conditions, and even incompetency by the testers.

Solution

In this case, all your solutions should be geared toward getting accurate test data. It all starts with choosing a conducive environment in which you are conducting the tests. This will improve the accuracy and consistency of the data that you collect. Using the latest tools and even software applications will improve the accuracy of the test data. 

High volume testing

This is one of the major challenges that manufacturers are facing when it comes to testing IC chips. Since there is a generally high demand for electronic products, IC chip manufacturers are forced to produce the chips in large quantities to meet this demand. All these chips that are manufactured have to be tested. This is where the biggest challenge comes in.

It takes immense effort and resources to test all these IC chips that have been manufactured. While at it, we also have to be aware that during testing, each IC chip is fully given attention.  Doing this on thousands of IC chips can be quite a tedious process. Sometimes the testers may be overwhelmed and end up doing a shoddy job.

Solution

The best solution to mass testing is automation. With automated systems in place, it will be easy to test large volumes of semiconductor chips within a short period. Well-established manufacturers use automatic test equipment to speed up the testing process. It ensures that they can handle mass testing of the IC chips within a short period.

Who is in charge of testing IC chips?

All the IC chip testing procedures are conducted by engineers, technicians, and other professionals in the field of semiconductor chips. These are experts who are well-trained on the matters of electronics, specifically on IC chips. Backed with advanced tools and equipment, they have what it takes to carry out different types of tests on the IC chips.

In most IC chip factories, there is a special department that is in charge of testing the IC chips that have just been manufactured. Some IC chip manufacturers prefer outsourcing the testing process to external parties.

Automatic test equipment (ATE) in a nutshell

One of the solutions that has prominently appeared in most of the problems related to IC chip testing is automation. Instead of manually conducting the testing, you should consider automating the whole process and procedures. A specially designed automated testing equipment (ATE) is used for carrying out these tests.

In recent years, most IC chip manufacturers have embraced the use of ATE in their production processes. They appreciate the benefits that come with using automated systems. In fact, according to reliable reports, the Automated Test Equipment market size is predicted to grow at the rate of 3.1% from the years 2024 to 2030.

ATE  is used for testing all the key aspects of an integrated circuit and other electronic components. It has the capability of collecting essential data that are used for determining various performance and functional parameters of integrated circuits. It fully automates the traditional manual testing processes. This implies that there is minimal human interaction during the testing process.

Speed is one of the reasons why IC chip manufacturers are using ATE. They can do all the critical testing faster than if you would have opted for the manual testing procedures. Accuracy is another reason. They are quite accurate especially when the testing methods entail data collection and analysis. It is also safer to use ATE than using manual testing methods.

A typical ATE encompasses hardware systems, software, signal sources, test instruments, and test probes. This means that it can cover all the essential aspects of IC chips. Just get the right equipment and you will be able to automate your IC testing procedures. 

Conclusion

Testing IC chips is a mandatory requirement in any IC chip manufacturing process. However, the process is not devoid of challenges. You will be forced to deal with many bottlenecks when testing the chips. The good news is with each challenge that we have mentioned, there are many solutions that you can implement. Getting the right testing tools, deploying the best testing methods, and enriching your knowledge are just some of the many ways of overcoming the testing challenges.

In case you are in the market looking for semiconductor chips that have been fully tested, we are the right people that you should work with. At Rantle East Electronic, we work with the best manufacturers who are vigorous with their IC chip testing methodologies. By doing this, we ensure that our customers get quality semiconductor chips that have been fully tested and verified.