A real time process control system for IC testing

In IC manufacturing, testing plays an important role. Once a wafer completes fabrication, each individual die on the wafer must pass a battery of tests before assembly. This testing process produces a large amount of data that must be converted into useful information, accessible in the right format, to be useful to yield engineers, test engineers, design engineers, process engineers, and production operators. The main goals of the Test Productivity System (TPS) are to apply real-time statistical process control the techniques to IC testing in order to reduce failures, shorten the yield improvement learning curve, and increase the overall efficiency of the production operation, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while producing a higher quality product.<>