"Test yield becomes better through proactive Fab improvement"

Q&A

TDK is a leading Japanese semiconductor company that commercialized ferrite technology.

The Integrated Device Manufacturer's (IDM) specialty includes magnetic sensors, passive components, and small batteries that are seen in products from drones to microphones.

TDK has worked with yieldHUB for almost two years as their chosen semiconductor yield analysis solution. They use yieldHUB's cloud option which gives them access to the platform through a web browser.

In a Q&A interview with their Asama-based Chief Project Engineer, Mr Hirotaka Gomi, they share details about their experience.

How  has  yieldHUB  made  a  difference  to  you  and  your  company?

Mr Gomi: Our test yield has become better through proactive Fab improvement and shorter feedback time from the Fab and test house. This has led to faster Fab improvement and higher accuracy.

What  do  you  use  yieldHUB  for  daily?

Mr Gomi: yieldHUB allows us to set Statistical Yield Limits (SYL) and Statistical Bin Limits (SBL), as well as, investigate the wafer map distribution and trends of the alarmed wafers so we can request the Fab to analyze the root cause.

With yieldHUB, we can compare and investigate the characteristics of the abnormal dies, compare and confirm test programs and create datalogs.

As  your  volume  grows,  how  has  the  scalability  of  the  yieldHUB  platform  helped  you?

Mr Gomi: It saves us engineering time and human resources.

What  are  your  favorite  features  in  yieldHUB?

Mr Gomi: I would say SYL, SBL, test program comparison, and bin combine of multiple wafer test stages.

Does  yieldHUB  save  you  time?

Mr Gomi: Yes, it absolutely saves us time.

What  features  do  you  use  in  yieldHUB?

Mr Gomi: We use automated alerts for the early detection of abnormalities.

What  do  you  think  about  the  platform's  design?

Mr Gomi: If we understand the meaning of the words in English, we can often obtain the desired results, intuitively.

How  has  yieldHUB  helped  you  when  you  were  under  pressure  or  when  you  had  a  deadline  to  make?

Mr Gomi: It allows us to react urgently to abnormal elements (dies) through quick analysis data creation.

Does  yieldHUB  help  you  to  collaborate  more  efficiently  with  colleagues  in  a  different  country,  or  when  working  from  home?

Mr Gomi: We create data in Japan and request data analysis in Belgium on the same platform, so that’s very beneficial.

How  would  you  rate  our  customer  service  out  of  5?

Mr Gomi: Five, no doubt.