PurePulse

A flexible and efficient ESD tester capable of testing devices and wafers

PurePulse ESD Testing

Electro-Tech Systems, Inc. (ETS) and Grund Technical Solutions (GTS) are proud to partner in establishing a premier ESD test laboratory for device and wafer level testing. 
 
For over 40 years, ETS has been a world leader in designing, manufacturing, and supplying electrostatic test instruments, along with ISO 17025 accredited ESD testing services. Since 2008, GTS has established itself as a trusted partner for leading industry players, offering cutting-edge ESD testers and pioneering 2-Pin testing methodologies. The combination of leading industry players provides a level of testing capability and resources unmatched by any other ESD test facility.
 
The ETS Testing Center utilizes a fully automated, flexible, and efficient GTS PurePulse 2-pin ESD Tester designed from the ground up to enable customized testing to meet your device and wafer testing needs. PurePulse 2-pin style setup reduces testing parasitics, captures waveform data, and can be automated to test thousands of pins.Testing capabilities include fully automated Human Body Model (HBM) and Transmission Line Pulsing (TLP).
  • HBM (Human Body Model)
  • TLP(Transmission Line Pulse)
  • Wafer Level Testing
  • Unlimited Pin Count
  • Low Parasitic 2-Pin Testing
  • Manual & Automated Testing
  • Report and Data Generation

HBM (Human Body Model)

Electro-Tech Systems, Inc. (ETS) is one of the few labs in the world with 2-pin HBM test capabilities. Others are limited to manual 2-pin testing which is slow and, therefore, expensive as many lab hours are needed.  As the only fully automated tester in the US, we offer testing capabilities and data unmatched by others.  Typical HBM testing ranges from +/- 250V to 4000V and can be stepped in increments as small as 1V.
  • Human Body Model testing up to 4,000 volts exactly following JEDEC/ESDA JS-001. We use Table 2A pin combinations, the preferred method, or custom test requirements. Our equipment is calibrated to ISO standards.
  • Our automated two-pin tester can test large packages. There is no limit on DUT pin count as in relay testers.
  • In addition to testing ICs in full compliance with JEDEC/ESDA JS-001 we can test specific pin pairs to fully evaluate sensitive devices that may have failed using the simple “go/no go” relay-based test.
  • Eliminates pre- and post-pulse stresses: No pre-pulse voltage ramp and no leakage current post-pulse.
  • Two-pin or two-channel testers don't suffer the parasitics of having wires (PCB traces) hanging on every pin which act like little antennas talking to each other. This added tester parasitics is eliminated by mechanical probing so pins that are required to be floating by JEDEC/ESDA JS-001 are really floating.
  • We can extend HBM testing and DC curve tracing with TLP studies for a complete engineering evaluation.
  • We test packaged parts, bare die, and even wafers.
  • We don’t use custom sockets or test fixture boards so that cost and setup delay is avoided.
  • All pin combinations are identically stressed. We use only one pulse generator (rather than the 8 or 24 in relay testers) and always the same pulse delivery path wiring. The overhead of multiple pulse generator verification is removed.
  • More real world stressing as ESD handling events normally occur between two individual pins and not one pin to a group of pins like on relay-based testers. (The “one-to-a-group” was adapted years ago to speed the testing. Actually, “every pin to every other pin” is the most complete way to test, but is not practical for packages with more than 24 or 36 pins in most cases).
  • Test documentation is provided that relay-based testers can’t offer. An oscilloscope records the DUT current and DUT voltage during each pulse and all this data is preserved. This provides evidence that proper applied stress was used and can detect and document some protection structure failures.
  • Two-pin or two-channel testers don’t suffer the parasitics of having wires (PCB traces) hanging on every pin which act like little antennas talking to each other. 
  • They don’t require custom sockets or test fixture boards as they use two adjustable probes and hold the DUT dead-bug style.
  • They have identical stress to all pin combinations as they use only one pulse generator (rather than 8 or 24) and always the same pulse delivery path.
  • More real world stressing as ESD handling events normally occur between two individual pins and not one pin to a group of pins like on relay-based testers.  (The “one-to-a-group” was adapted years ago to speed the testing.  Actually, “every pin to every other pin” is the most complete way to test, but is not practical for packages with more than 24 or 36 pins in most cases).
  • They can be instrumented with an oscilloscope to record the DUT current and voltage during each pulse.  This provides evidence that proper applied stress was used and can detect and document some protection structure failures.
  • They can be a low-cost manual tester used to evaluate small devices or specific pin pairs.
  • Automated two-pin tester can test large packages.  There is no limit on DUT pin count as in relay testers.
  • They are slower than relay testers, but often more cost effective.
  • They can be combined with TLP, MM, HMM for a more capable engineering workstation. 
  • You can test exactly to JS-001 with a two-pin tester following Table 2A, the preferred method.  When using a two-pin tester to JS-001, supply pin groups are broken into subsets of individual pins as it describes, and each IO pin is tested against every pin of the supply group.  This fully complies with JS-001 and therefore meets the requirements of being repeatable and reproducible.
  • Yes.  Each has its own advantages.
    • Relay-based testers are well known and fast testing.
    • Two-pin testers can more accurately test the performance of sensitive pin pairs.
  • Some users test first on a relay-based tester if the a failure is found then secondly on a two-pin tester.

TLP (Transmission Line Pulser)

Electro-Tech Systems, Inc. (ETS) have experienced people to setup and review tests.  We can provide analysis of test results in addition to complete test reports. Typical TLP testing ranges from +/- 0.5V to 1000V and can be stepped in increments as small as 0.05V.
  • Using TLP we provide evaluations of production parts and test structures
  • 100 ns pulses with 2 or 10 ns rise times are used which correlate with HBM stress testing.
  • Currents from 10 mA to 20 A
  • We provide DUT current vs DUT voltage (I-V) curves over specified voltage ranges from 0.5 V to 1000 V in steps as small as 0.1 V
  • Reports that show ESD protection operation
    - Parameters displayed, such as turn-on voltage, holding current, on resistance, and maximum current
    - All waveforms stored for later review.
  • DC leakage measurements
    - Determine DUT failure point by DC testing before and after every TLP pulse.
    - Operates from 100 pA to 1 A and up to 200 V
    - Single point and multiple point measurements, and region scans
    - Forcing current or voltage with source and sink (four-quadrant) measurements
    - Flexible pass/fail user defined limits
  • Expert advice on TLP results available