DEVELOPMENT OF A HARDNESS ASSURANCE THROUGHPUT OPTIMIZED TESTER

INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) PRODUCTION LINES OPERATING UNDER MIL-I-38535 HAVE RADIATION HARNESS ASSURANCE (RHA) AND RELIABILITY DESIGNED AND BUILT INTO THEIR TECHNOLOGY. HARDNESS AND RELIABILITY ARE MAINTAINED BY APPLYING STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROLS (SPCS) TO TEST STRUCTURES FABRICATED ALONGSIDE PRODUCT MICROCIRCUITS. MEASUREMENT AND DATA REDUCTION TECHNIQUES PRESENTLY EMPLOYED ARE SLOW AND COSTLY AND CREAT A BOTTLENECK IN TEST FACILITIES. SEVERAL PARAMETERS IMPORTANT TO CERTAIN RADIATION EVNIRONMENTS ARE NOT PRESENTLY TESTED BECAUSE THE REQUISITE TEST CAPABILITIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE. UNDER THIS EFFORT, WE WILL DEVELOP A HARDNESS ASSURANCE THROUGHPUT OPTIMIZED TESTER (HATOT) WHICH WILL PROVIDE HIGH-SPEED PARAMETRIC TESTING AND PARAMETER EXTRACTION, TEST CRITICAL RHA PARAMETERS NOT PRESENTLY BEING MEASURED, AND REMOVE THE RHA TESTING BOTTLENECK.