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KEITHLEY ANNOUNCES ADVANCED PARAMETRIC
PROBE CARD AVAILABILITY
Cleveland, Ohio – July 18, 2007 -
Keithley Instruments, Inc. (NYSE:KEI), a leader in solutions for emerging measurement needs,
announced that it has qualified FormFactor, Inc., (Nasdaq:FORM), Livermore, California, to
manufacture high performance parametric test probe cards for Keithley’s semiconductor parametric
testers. FormFactor’s probe cards will be used with Keithley S600 Series parametric testers to
measure very low-level DC currents as well as standard DC parametric tests on pins that contact a
semiconductor wafer. Wafer fabricators and foundries employ S600 Series testers to qualify wafers
for assembly and packaging as well as process monitoring.
FormFactor’s Takumi probe cards are well suited to applications involving Keithley's most
advanced parametric tester, the Model S680 DC/RF Parametric Test System. The Model S680 is designed
for wafer-level parametric testing of advanced logic, memory, and analog ICs. In a single test
system, it combines parallel testing capability, high DC sensitivity, femtoamp-level resolution, and
RF s-parameter measurements up to 40GHz. This provides the industry's highest throughput and a lower
cost of ownership for measurements at the 65nm node and beyond.
The Model S680 is ideal for sensitive, high speed testing. Its signal preamplifiers, located in
the test head, boost low level signals within centimeters of the probe needles, then transmit the
boosted signals over cables to the measurement instruments in the system cabinet. This approach
eliminates the speed and sensitivity losses that typically result from cable and switch matrix
effects. External instruments can be directly connected to the probe needles using the eight
general-purpose pathways.
Keithley considers FormFactor’s technology to be a leading edge design for demanding, small pad
size, small pitch applications that must support high performance measurements in ever-shrinking
test structures and scribe lines.
“Qualification of FormFactor demonstrates Keithley’s continuing drive to offer the latest
technologies for probe cards and parametric test metrology, and to expand the number of probe card
options available to our customers,” said Mark Hoersten, Keithley’s vice president, business
management. “FormFactor probe cards represent a critical high performance technology that meets the
precision measurement challenges posed by the shrinking components used in today’s electronic
equipment.”
“Expanding our Takumi parametric platform for Keithley testers is important for the customers of
both of our companies,” said Benjamin N. Eldridge, FormFactor’s senior vice president – research &
development and chief technology officer. “Semiconductor manufacturers must rely on test companies
to provide the very latest measurement technologies as they migrate to devices at the 65nm node and
below, particularly as part of a tightly integrated solution. Working closely with Keithley, with
its long history as an innovative leader in low level DC semiconductor test, has allowed us to
optimize our combined technologies.”
For More Information. For details on Keithley's Model S680 DC/RF parametric testers, visit
http://www.keithley.com/products/semiconductor/?mn=S680, or contact the company at:
Telephone: 800-688-9951 440-248-0400
FAX: 440-248-6168
E-mail:
publisher@keithley.com
Internet: www.keithley.com
Address:
Keithley Instruments, Inc.
28775 Aurora Road
Cleveland, OH 44139-1891
For information on FormFactor products, contact the company at:
Telephone: 925-290-4000
FAX: 925-290-4010
E-mail:
info@formfactor.com
Internet:
www.formfactor.com
Address: FormFactor Inc.
7005 Southfront Rd.
Livermore, CA 94551
About Keithley. With more than 60 years of measurement expertise, Keithley Instruments has
become a world leader in advanced electrical test instruments and systems from DC to RF (radio
frequency). Our products solve emerging measurement needs in production testing, process monitoring,
product development, and research. Our customers are scientists and engineers in the worldwide
electronics industry involved with advanced materials research, semiconductor device development and
fabrication, and the production of end products such as portable wireless devices. The value we
provide them is a combination of precision measurement technology and a rich understanding of their
applications to improve the quality of their products and reduce their cost of test.
About FormFactor. Founded in 1993, FormFactor, Inc. is the leader
in advanced wafer probe cards, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to electrically test
ICs. The company’s wafer sort, burn-in and device performance testing products move IC testing
upstream from post-packaging to the wafer level, enabling semiconductor manufacturers to lower their
overall production costs, improve yields, and bring next-generation devices to market. FormFactor is
headquartered in Livermore, California with operations in Europe, Asia and North America.
Products and
company names listed are trademarks or trade
names of their respective companies.
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