The new three new IC Test Handlers models (the NS8160MS, NS8080MS, and NS8080SH) will enable chip manufacturers to greatly reduce their back-end testing costs.
The new IC test handlers boast significantly improved performance compared to Epson’s NS-8000 series of IC test handlers, whose high throughput and wide range of options made them a particularly popular choice among chip manufacturers.
Equipped with Epson’s Smart Motion Control technology, the agile new IC test handlers move at high speed yet with very little vibration. As a result, the new handlers can transfer, test, and sort up to 13,500 chips per hour (at ambient temperature), a dramatic leap up from the 8,000 chips that the standard model in the NS-8000 series was capable of processing.
Two of the new handlers provide a standard contact force of 2,400 N. The contact force is high enough to enable the high-speed transfer, testing, and sorting of chip packages, even those with high pin counts.
The new models have a heating plate that enables tests to be performed at temperatures up to 155°C. In fact, these handlers even support the demanding testing required of automotive semiconductor chips, which have to be tested in extreme temperature environments.
IC test handlers transfer finished chips to inspection equipment for final electrical, visual, and other performance tests and then sort them into good, bad and other bins based on the test results. Seeing robust demand for smartphones, tablet PCs and automotive devices in recent years, semiconductor manufacturers have expressed a growing interest in high-speed and high-precision IC test handlers to boost production of high-performance logic ICs. Epson, responded to these customers by redesigning its handlers to achieve even better performance.
‘Going forward, Epson will continue to develop and provide products and services that exceed customer expectations,’ said Hideo Hirao, chief operating officer of Epson’s Industrial Solutions Operations Division. ‘In the industrial field, we will offer fast, accurate IC test handlers that offer the ultimate in performance.’
