Vicor Automatic Test Equipment Application Products

High-density, high-efficiency Vicor power modules enable ATE system design engineers to utilize new power delivery network (PDN) architectures, which enable increasing test head pin count in the same or smaller size test head. The latest data center, military, automotive, and industrial ICs consume growing amounts of power and have varied voltage levels. The Vicor modular approach to PDNs allows ATE manufacturers to readily scale power levels and support a range of voltages that enable rapid development and fast time-to-market.

High Density, Modular Testing for CPUs, GPUs, and SoCs
Semiconductor manufacturers depend on high-density test systems to support their expanding portfolios of increasingly complex products. AI processors, CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, and mobile processors are all adding greater functionality, including RF connectivity, mixed-signal processing, and power management. To support these IC functions, ATE systems need advanced PDNs to handle the wide range of power and voltage levels.

The modularity of these testers is also becoming more important, as testers switch from testing AI processors that draw 1000A at 1V to mixed-signal SoCs, at a fraction of the current of processors, that are extremely sensitive to EMI. The Vicor-patented Sine Amplitude Conversion (SAC) topology is inherently low-noise due to its soft switching at high frequency and greatly reduces false test results caused by high EMI.

Instead of attempting the hard task of increasing the tapped-out efficiency of a front-end ATE power supply, a PDN architecture was designed to use an intermediate 48V bus for better efficiency from 48V to the point-of-load (PoL). An array of two Vicor DCM3623 isolated, regulated DC-DC converter modules provide more than 600W of power at 92.7% efficiency at full load. In the same PDN, the Vicor fixed-ratio DC-DC modules transform 48V to a broad variety of PoL requirements from 1V to 12V at 96% efficiency. Vicor’s inherently low-noise SAC topology and advanced packaging technology - combined with planar magnetics and a low profile - significantly simplify and improve thermal management.

Increasing Capacity of Semiconductor Burn-in Thermal Chambers
Burn-in thermal chambers are more and more prevalent as high-reliability end markets require quality semiconductor ICs that offer reliability and stability. Simply increasing the size and number of power supplies and burn-in systems is not a desirable solution because of similar floor space limitations as traditional ATE test systems.

Both IC performance and complexity have increased in all end markets, especially the automotive and data center markets where stringent quality and reliability requirements are typical and zero PPM failure rates are expected. To meet these requirements, device burn-in is growing. Vicor can help achieve higher burn-in throughput with more compact, modular power solutions, enabling rapid development with reduced test and burn-in cost.

To meet the demands of high efficiency, high power density, and effective thermal management, burn-in equipment benefits from a PDN with a 48V distributed bus. Low-voltage Vicor BCMs in full- and half-chip packages provide fixed-ratio conversion with increased power density and current at the load under burn-in stress. The integrated planar magnetics of the BCM feature a low-height profile, typically less than 8mm, to simplify cooling methods and thermal management.

Available in a wide range of fixed-ratios, BCMs offer the flexibility and modularity to simplify burn-in board development. Another Vicor fixed-ratio converter is the NBM series of bidirectional non-isolated bus converters. The NBM high efficiency, high power bus converter is specially designed for ATE manufacturers that adopt a distributed 48V bus and need to provide 12V at high current with more than 96% efficiency in a small, thermally adept package (as small as 23mm x 17mm x 5.2mm).