Chapter 10: Handlers

10.1 Introduction

When production testing of any packaged semiconductor device is performed, one of the major capital investments is the handler. The handler is a robotic tool for placing the DUT into position to be tested [personal communication with Kevin Brennan, Delta Design, 2006]. It communicates with the tester and provides the temperature stimulus and the means to handle the DUT while it is being tested.

To demonstrate the significance of the handler, consider that today a test system can cost up to a few million dollars. Although the test handler may cost less than 10% of this amount, it is the handler that determines production test cell utilization. Expressed differently, if a handler could offer twice the productivity, then only half the number of multimillion-dollar testers would be needed [1].

While the handler communicates with the tester, it also provides signals that inform the tester when the DUT is ready for test and it receives binning information from the tester after the DUT is tested. The communication between handler and tester is controlled by specific software, sometimes known as a driver. After the test is performed, the handler then places the DUT into an appropriately selected "pass" bin or "fail" bin.

Modern test systems offer enhanced and plentiful resources to enable multisite, parallel, and concurrent testing. Modern handlers have to follow in their footsteps to be able to handle these architectures. Otherwise, the multisite-capable tester is useless.

Until recently, capital investments for semiconductor manufacturers primarily focused on improving...