Instrumentation • Electronics
Fig. 1. Q-Star’s compact and advanced instruments offers improved measurement resolution, better measurement repeatability and much shorter test times in comparison to using ATE-based solutions.
instruments (also referred to as IDDT modules) serve a wide range of applications: dynamic and transient (IDDT) current tests; power profiling of circuits and systems; active current consumption; E-fuse programming validation. Instruments embedded in ATE equipment typically are
offering a measurement resolution/repeatability which is about 0-0.2 per cent of the measurement range, limiting the detection of small defects in the presence of large background currents. Q-Star instruments in contrast offer a measurement
resolution/repeatability of 0.01 to 0.001 per cent of the measurement range, enabling the detection of subtle defects even in the presence of large background currents. As an example, customers applying Q-Star instruments have demonstrated the capability of being able to reliably detect variations of 20µA on top of 10A of current in a production test environment. ATE embedded current measurement instrumentation is also impacted by the IDDQ settling time needed to assure reliable and repeatable measurements. As a result ATE instrument based current measurements
typically require 10-100ms/measurement, limiting the number of measurements/tests that can be deployed from an economic perspective considering a given test time budget. In contrast deploying Q-Star measurement instruments
only requires 100 to 150µs to make the same measurements with even much higher precision. Making use of Q-Star’s compact and advanced
instruments offers improved measurement resolution, better measurement repeatability and much shorter test times in comparison to using ATE-based solutions. In addition to that, their on-board data processing capabilities easily support advanced IDDQ strategies and data storage. Having the ability to make fast and reliable current
measurements allows rethinking test strategies and to make optimal use of combined and simultaneously deployed voltage and current based test strategies. Experiments have shown that combining a proper vector generation strategy with add-on measurement equipment yields test programmes that in average offer a 0.6 per cent to 3 per cent total fault coverage increase, require only 24 per cent of the ATPG time needed, require only 40.5 per cent of the stuck-at only vectors needed and yield up to 48 per cent test time reduction when compared with the ‘standard’ approach deployed today. As of today, IDDQ serves as a quality guarantee and has
a widespread use in the medical and automotive domains supporting 0ppb targets. When used in combination with stress screens it also serves as a replacement for burn-in and, in addition, offers a way to considerably reduce costs and augment the value of test, yielding more effective test programmes with fewer vectors despite growing device complexity when proper measurement tools are deployed. l
Enter 33 or ✔ at
www.engineerlive.com/ede
Hans Manhaeve is with Q-Star Test NV. Brugge, Belgium.
www.QStar.be
www.engineerlive.com 33
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