Advantest T5835 Tester System for DRAM Core and NAND Devices

Advantest Corp. announced a cost-efficient, high-volume memory tester in its T5800 product family.

With its 5.4Gb/s operating speed and massive parallelism, the system is a wide-coverage test solution for current and next-gen DRAM core and high-speed NAND devices.

Interface speeds on both volatile and nonvolatile memory ICs are continuing to accelerate. Market trends indicate that mid-speed final testing of DRAM cores is increasing to achieve an optimal balance of reliability, test coverage and cost efficiency. Interface speeds for testing NAND memories can be more than 2Gb for today’s high-speed devices and are projected to exceed 4Gb/s for upcoming nonvolatile memories. IC makers need a test solution that can keep pace with escalating performance requirements while also maintaining or improving the overall cost of test.

The T5835 has testing functionality for any memory ICs with operating speeds up to 5.4Gb/s, including all next-gen memories from NAND flash devices to double-data-rate (DDR) and low-power double-data-rate (LPDDR) DRAM chips. In addition, the system’s built-in dedicated hardware functions allow it to reach high throughput levels, lowering the cost of test. It can handle 768 devices simultaneously for final package-level testing.

System capabilities include known-good-die (KGD) wafer-level testing of DRAMs, an enhanced programmable power supply (PPS) for advanced mobile memories, and a real-time DQS vs. DQ function to improve yield.

The T5835 is designed on the modular enhanced T5800 series platform to optimize scalability, flexibility and performance for both wafer sorting and final testing. It can be configured as either an engineering station for use in R&D environments or as a production-volume tester equipped with a small, medium or large test head.

All system configurations are inherited from the company’s existing memory test system and leverage the ‘Future Suite OS’ to provide continuing test program compatibility. These features allow users to seamlessly transition from previous gens of the T5800 series while maintaining production efficiency.

“On the strengths of its high performance and versatile capabilities, our new T5835 is truly today’s best-in-class memory tester and a first-class extension of the T5800 series,” said Masayuki Suzuki, EVP, memory test business unit. “It continues the legacy of our T5800 product family, which has been acknowledged as the global standard in the market.“

The first T5835 systems are scheduled for delivery to key customers by the end of this year.