Verigy Redefines the Semiconductor Memory Test Market with Introduction Of V6000 For Both Flash And DRAM

Verigy (NASDAQ:VRGY), a premier semiconductor test company, today announced the V6000 for testing both flash and DRAM memory on the same automated test equipment (ATE) platform, at breakthrough cost-of-test. The V6000 is versatile and scalable across the entire semiconductor memory test process, including engineering, wafer sort and final test. After competitive benchmark evaluations, Numonyx, a leading manufacturer of a full range of memory technologies, has confirmed its selection of the V6000 for high-volume wafer sort of its NAND devices and known good die (KGD). The selection was based on the platform’s parallelism, performance and low cost-of-test.

The V6000 family of testers includes:

• V6000e, for memory test program development and device characterization in the office or lab environment. This optimizes return on invested capital (ROIC) and ensures an economical ramp to volume production with a low-cost alternative to using production testers offline.
• V6000 WS, wafer sort test solution, with 300 mm one-touchdown probing for both flash and DRAM applications. It optimizes both capital and operating expenditures through industry-leading throughput.
• V6000 FT, final test on one platform for flash, DRAM or multi-chip packages (MCPs). It performs single-insertion testing of MCPs that include both flash and DRAM memory.

All V6000 systems include Verigy’s patent-pending Active Matrix™ technology and sixth-generation Tester-Per-Site® architecture, which combine to deliver the industry’s lowest cost-of-test. The Active Matrix technology provides massive parallelism, with over 18,000 I/O pins and over 4,000 programmable power supplies, and industry-best signal integrity due to a dramatically shortened signal path to pin electronics. The V6000 delivers four times the parallelism at half the cost per pin compared to conventional memory ATE architectures. The V6000 offers scalable AC performance at 140, 280, 560, and up to 880 Megabits-per-second (Mbps).

”Until now, memory manufacturers were forced to compromise performance or utilize separate, dedicated testers for flash and DRAM . Now with the V6000 it’s possible to switch between both memory types on one platform without compromise,” said Gayn Erickson, vice president of Memory Test Solutions, Verigy. "We’ve listened to our customers and applied Verigy innovation to produce a high-performance, versatile platform with by far the highest parallelism and signal integrity in the industry. We believe the V6000 positions Verigy very well for the next upswing in the memory market.”

V6000 - Versatile, Scalable Platform

The V6000 can test either flash or DRAM memory by simply changing to a new test program and probe card. This offers manufacturers the flexibility to shift production volumes quickly and effortlessly between the memory types to meet market conditions and maximize profits.

System performance and pin count can be upgraded easily by adding test site modules or Active Matrix modules, without the need to purchase new testers. This scalability makes it easy to adapt to evolving technology over an extended tester lifetime.

The V6000 WS uses low-cost, connectorless probe cards, accommodates different size probe cards (450 mm or 560 mm) and interfaces to all major probers.

All the V6000 testers also share the same operating system software, hardware and interface, allowing users to develop, share and move test programs between testers as devices go from engineering and characterization to wafer sort and final test. With minor modifications, test programs from Verigy’s popular V5000 family of testers can be used with the V6000 platform. The V6000 is water-cooled, requiring a smaller footprint and using less energy than air-cooled systems.

For more information visit www.verigy.com/go/memory.

About Verigy

Verigy provides advanced semiconductor test systems and solutions used by leading companies worldwide in design validation, characterization, and high-volume manufacturing test. Verigy offers scalable platforms for a wide range of system-on-chip (SoC) test solutions, and memory test solutions for flash, DRAM including high-speed memories, as well as multi-chip packages (MCP). Advanced analysis tools accelerate design debug and yield ramp processes for Verigy’s customers. Information about Verigy can be found at www.verigy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Verigy's position in the next upswing in the memory market and expected release of the V6000 FT. These forward-looking statements are based on current information and are not guarantees of future performance or events. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including the timing and strength of any recovery in the memory market and changes in the demand for current and new products and technologies. Additional factors that may cause results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are discussed in our most recent Form 10-Q and 10-K filings. These forward-looking statements are only valid as of this date, and Verigy undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements.