Technology Development Frontier: Integrated Circuits for Testing (Wafer Chip Testing)

Integrated Circuit Industry Chain Introduction

Integrated circuit industry chain mainly includes China's chip technology design, manufacturing, packaging and testing and other links, each important link has now been studied and developed separately has become an independent, mature sub-industry. According to the formation of chip products learning process, integrated circuit structure design of different industries is the upstream of the integrated circuit industry. Integrated circuits can be designed to require corporate culture design product solutions, through foundry production mode by the wafer foundry manufacturers,wafer test packaging manufacturers, test manufacturers to complete the chip manufacturing, packaging and testing, and then the chip finished product as a component sold to electronic information equipment manufacturers.

Integrated circuit professional development trend and mode shift

①IDM Mode

The traditional IC industry first adopted the IDM business model, i.e., integrated circuit design, wafer manufacturing, packaging and testing within the enterprise,wafer level testing covering almost the entire IC industry chain.

②Fabless Mode

With the rapid upgrading of IC technology and the diversification of downstream applications, the investment cost of the IC industry is rising, the window period for new product development is shortening, the proportion of product customization is increasing, and the traditional IDM model is facing the challenges of diversified investment risks, rapid response to changes in market demand, and product diversification, which drives the IC industry to develop in the direction of specialization. Under the specialized division of labor mode, fabless manufacturers independently carry out chip design, foundries provide wafer manufacturing services,failure analysis then entrust OSAT manufacturers to carry out packaging and testing, and finally deliver chip products to end-application manufacturers. At present, the specialized division of labor mode is gradually becoming the mainstream management mode in the industry with its high R&D efficiency and good industry chain coordination.

Chipless mode

With the technology application for diversification and product customization demand for continuous development and enhancement, in recent years China's integrated system circuit realization industry also appeared to Apple, Huawei as the representative of the Chipless mode, that is, the terminal application research market brand management company enterprise independent study to carry out the relevant supporting chip R & D activities design, while students master the front-end chip design and back-end application of the two key Important links, and the middle of the wafer manufacturing, chip packaging, chip testing work links entrusted to specialized foundries to complete the business economic model. With China's Apple, Huawei and other manufacturers mastering a wide range of terminal applications and product information needs to vigorously build input chip independent innovation design and promote synergies with other IC industry chain, the trend of IC professionals division of labor is expected to be further strengthened, and continue to strive to enhance the IC professional social division of labor manufacturers in the market environment needs.

IC Testing

(1) Wafer Testing

Wafer probing (CP for short) is to test the function and electrical parameters of bare chips on wafers through the cooperation of probes and testers, and the testing process is as follows: the probe table automatically transfers wafers one by one to the testing location, the end of the chip is connected to the functional module of the tester through the probes and the special connecting wires, and the tester applies the input signals to the chip, collects the output signals, and determines whether the function and performance of the chip comply with the The tester applies the input signals to the chip and collects the output signals to determine whether the function and performance of the chip meet the requirements of the design specifications. The test results are transmitted to the test station through the communication interface. The test station marks the chip according to the test results and forms the wafer mapping, i.e. the electrical test results of the wafer.

The wafer test system usually consists of a stand, a tester, a probe station and a probe card.

(2) Finished chip test

The last test (FT) is the use of sorting machines and testers to test the function and electrical parameters of the chip after the completion of the package, the test process is as follows: Sorting machines automatically transfer the chip under test to the test station, one by one, the pins of the chip under test through the test station on the base and the special connection line and the tester's function module connection, the tester will be the input signals to apply to the chip, and to collect the output signals, in order to determine whether the chip function and performance meets the design specifications. The tester applies the input signals to the chip and collects the output signals to determine whether the function and performance of the chip meet the design specifications. The test results are transmitted through a communication interface to a sorter, which marks, sorts, collects or records the chip under test. A chip test system usually consists of a tester, a sorter and a test base.

Development of China's IC Industry

China's economy has been able to become one of the most influential integrated system circuits conducting market factors globally. In recent years, China's information integrated control circuits technology industry structure has realized a great deal of development. From the perspective of market transaction size, China's traditional integrated circuits industry, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.26% from 2002 to 2021, has expanded from 26.840 billion yuan in 2002 to 1,045.830 billion yuan in 2021. In addition to the enhancement of the company's scale, China has made many research and innovation teaching achievements in the design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment, materials, the whole industry chain, the level of innovative thinking ability of enterprises through independent learning has been continuously improved, the accelerated emergence of the supermolar field, and the interdisciplinary, cross-field, cross-regional collaborative work and innovation is becoming increasingly active. In the future, driven by emerging industry application data such as 5G, intelligent connected cars, artificial intelligence, ultra-high-definition video and so on, the market environment demand of China's integrated circuit industry will still continue to grow rapidly.

According to China's semiconductor industry statistics, in 2021, China's integrated circuit industry sales revenue of 1045.830 billion yuan, an increase of 18.2% , of which 451.9 billion yuan of sales revenue in the design industry, an increase of 19.6% ; Packaging and testing industry sales revenue of 3 million yuan, an increase of 17.63 billion yuan, an increase of 24.1% , an increase of 276.3 billion yuan, an increase of 10.1% . China's integrated circuit design industry sales grew from 52.6 billion yuan in 2011 to 451.9 billion yuan in 2016, an increase of 38% , surpassing the sealing and testing industry to become China's largest industry, and in recent years has continued to expand its leading edge in the total market size of the integrated circuit design industry in 2021, the proportion of the total market size of the integrated circuit design industry rose to 43.21% . 2021, China's IC manufacturing industry accounted for the global market share of more than 50%, accounting for 30.37% of the global market share. This shows that China's IC manufacturing industry has a weak foundation and relatively slow development.

The sealing and testing industry is a strong industry in China's semiconductor field, and its scale has been in the leading position until 2016. However, due to the rapid expansion of the market scale of the design industry, the proportion of the sealing and testing industry in the total scale has declined, and will be adjusted to 26.42% in 2021.

Wafer Chip Testing Technology

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