Agilent, Mentor claim to speed high-volume 'yield learning

Agilent Technologies Inc. and Mentor Graphics Corp. Monday (Nov. 7) announced an integrated solution enabling high-volume diagnosis for logical and physical failure analysis in the semiconductor manufacturing test flow.

Agilent (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Mentor (Wilsonville, Ore.) said the integration between Agilent's 93000 pin scale test system and Mentor's YieldAssist diagnostics software enables fast online data collection in high-volume manufacturing.

The companies said they have demonstrated and validated the solution through work with a mutual customer, an unnamed communications IC manufacturer.

"As manufacturers go into volume production with 90nm designs and below, the initial yield ramp and the detection and isolation of design-specific systematic defects is a key challenge," said Robert Hum, vice president and general manager Mentor's Design Verification and Test division, in a statement. "The open third-party interface of the 93000 pin scale system enabled smooth collaboration based on a standardized exchange format."