Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR), a worldwide
supplier of semiconductor test and reliability qualification
equipment, today announced it has received orders for its
proprietary WaferPak consumables totaling over $1.3 million from
existing customers for their installed base of FOX multi-wafer test
systems. The orders are for multiple new designs and ramp of volume
production test of silicon carbide power semiconductors for
electric and hybrid electric vehicles and silicon photonics devices
for data center and 5G infrastructure fiber optic transceivers.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems,
commented, “We are pleased to report these orders for our WaferPak
full wafer test and burn-in contactors, which include new designs
as well as added production capacity from customers in the silicon
carbide and silicon photonics segments.
“These orders reflect multiple new WaferPak design wins for
volume production test of silicon carbide power semiconductors for
electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Our WaferPaks, in
combination with Aehr’s FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in
systems, have now been in production and qualified by automotive
suppliers for full wafer test of silicon carbide power devices used
in electric and hybrid electric vehicle power trains since early
2020. Multiple WaferPak designs that were previously shipped have
now been qualified and are ramping in production. We anticipate new
production capacity orders over the next year for systems and
WaferPaks from our existing as well as new customers for production
test and burn-in of silicon carbide devices.
“The silicon carbide semiconductor device market is growing very
rapidly and is a new and exciting market opportunity for Aehr and
our unique FOX wafer level test solutions. Silicon carbide is
exceptionally well suited for high power and particularly high
voltage power applications such as the needs of electric and hybrid
electric vehicles power trains, electric vehicle charging
infrastructure, IT/data center power supplies, and renewable energy
power conversion such as wind and solar. Silicon carbide based
power transistors used in the power conversion are much more
efficient than other semiconductor materials and are extremely
reliable. Many companies are making significant investments in
silicon carbide and most car manufacturers making electric
vehicles/hybrid electric vehicles are expected to use silicon
carbide power devices in the near future.
“Interestingly, while silicon carbide is known for its high
reliability, it is also well known in the industry to have high
infant mortality rates. However, these defects can be completely
removed after a reliability burn-in screening to provide extremely
reliable devices for mission critical applications such electric
vehicle power conversion. A critical capability that only Aehr’s
solution can provide on the market today is the ability to test
100% of the die on a wafer in a single insertion before it is put
into a single or multi-die package or module while providing 100%
traceability of pass/fail results of each device including exactly
what time during the test and burn-in cycle the devices failed.
This is a critical feature that provides confidence to customers
that they are removing all early life failures prior to shipment.
Our systems are not only able to test 100% of their devices on 4”,
6”, 8” and 12” wafers, but we can test and burn-in 18 wafers at a
time in a single FOX-XP system. By moving these tests to wafer, it
saves the significant cost and impact of yield loss at the package
or module level.
“We are also excited to see this new wave of capacity needs from
our silicon photonics customers, and to see the resumption of
orders to these customers for devices for data center and 5G
infrastructure expansions that is driving the increased test
capacity need. We continue to be very optimistic about the silicon
photonics market, which is seeing increasing deployment of devices
used in the expansion of bandwidth and infrastructure to meet the
explosive growth of data center and 5G. Silicon photonics devices
are highly integrated silicon based semiconductors that have
embedded or integrated the non silicon based laser transmitters and
receivers to enable a smaller, lower cost, higher reliable
alternative to traditional fiber optic transceivers currently used
in data center and telecommunication infrastructure.
“Silicon photonics devices all need to have their photonics
transmitters stabilized under high power and temperature and
customers also use our systems to screen for infant mortality of
these devices to ensure high initial quality and long-term
reliability. This is a manufacturing step done on 100% of the die,
and in the case of silicon photonics we provide a much more cost
effective and scalable solution for this step than doing this
equivalent stabilization and screening after the die are put onto
the final PCB substrate and package. Market research company Yole
Dévelopement predicts the silicon photonics market will grow at a
CAGR of 42% between 2019 and 2025 to a $3.6 billion annual market
and we believe that the industry will transition to wafer level or
singulated die for this critical manufacturing step, which is where
our FOX-P products stand alone as the most cost effective solution
for this and a portfolio of patents and IP in this area.
“We believe the electric vehicles market, the data storage and
network infrastructure market, as well as multiple devices related
to the worldwide 5G build-out are substantial new opportunities for
our test and burn-in systems, where these end markets and customers
require devices to have extremely high levels of quality and
long-term reliability.
“Our customers purchase our proprietary WaferPak contactors not
only with new systems orders, but also for their installed base of
systems each time they have a change in their device design or add
new devices to production. As we increase our installed base of FOX
systems with current and new customers, particularly with our
FOX-XP™ multi wafer systems, our consumables business will
continue to grow in absolute value and as a percentage of our total
sales. Over the long term, we expect to see as much as 50 percent
of our total annual revenue to come from consumables as our systems
business continues to grow,” Mr. Erickson concluded.
The FOX-XP system, available with multiple
WaferPak™ Contactors (full wafer test) or multiple
DiePak™ Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations,
is capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of integrated
devices such as silicon carbide power devices, silicon photonics as
well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories,
Gallium Nitride (GaN), magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and
other leading-edge ICs in either wafer formfactor, before they are
assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in
singulated die or module formfactor.
About Aehr Test Systems
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a
worldwide provider of test systems for burning-in and testing
logic, optical and memory integrated circuits and has installed
over 2,500 systems worldwide. Increased quality and reliability
needs of the Automotive and Mobility integrated circuit markets are
driving additional test requirements, incremental capacity needs,
and new opportunities for Aehr Test products in package, wafer
level, and singulated die/module level test. Aehr Test has
developed and introduced several innovative products, including the
ABTS™ and FOX-P™ families of test and burn-in systems and
FOX WaferPak™ Aligner, FOX-XP WaferPak Contactor, FOX DiePak®
Carrier and FOX DiePak Loader. The ABTS system is used in
production and qualification testing of packaged parts for both
lower power and higher power logic devices as well as all common
types of memory devices. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are full
wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems
used for burn-in and functional test of complex devices, such as
leading-edge memories, digital signal processors, microprocessors,
microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and integrated optical
devices. The FOX-CP system is a new low-cost single-wafer compact
test and reliability verification solution for logic, memory and
photonic devices and the newest addition to the FOX-P product
family. The WaferPak contactor contains a unique full wafer probe
card capable of testing wafers up to 300mm that enables IC
manufacturers to perform test and burn-in of full wafers on Aehr
Test FOX systems. The DiePak Carrier is a reusable, temporary
package that enables IC manufacturers to perform cost-effective
final test and burn-in of both bare die and modules. For more
information, please visit Aehr Test Systems’ website at
www.aehr.com.
Safe Harbor StatementThis press release
contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements
generally relate to future events or Aehr’s future financial or
operating performance. In some cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements because they contain words such as
"may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,” “going
to,” "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates,"
"believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or
the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions
that concern Aehr’s expectations, strategy, priorities, plans, or
intentions. Forward-looking statements in this press release
include, but are not limited to, Aehr’s ability to generate
bookings and revenue increases in the future, including the second
half of fiscal 2021; future requirements and orders of Aehr’s new
and existing customers; bookings forecasted for proprietary
WaferPak™ and DiePak consumables across multiple market
segments; the temporary nature of customer pushouts; shipping
timelines for products and follow-on capacity orders; the growth of
Aehr’s systems and consumables, including as a percentage of total
sales; financial guidance for fiscal 2021, including related to
revenue and profitability; Aehr’s ability to expand its number of
customers using its FOX-P™ solutions; the ability to secure
potential customer engagements; expectations related to long-term
demand for Aehr’s productions and the attractiveness of key
markets; the belief that Aehr will be stronger after the current
worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, including expectations related to
greater production, more customers, more applications, and higher
value products. The forward-looking statements contained in this
press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties,
including those more fully described in Aehr’s Form 10-K for fiscal
2020, Form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter of fiscal 2021 and
other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Aehr disclaims any obligation to update
information contained in any forward-looking statement to reflect
events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press
release.
Contacts:
Aehr Test Systems
Vernon Rogers
EVP Sales and
Marketing
(510)
623-9400 x215
vrogers@aehr.com
|
MKR
Investor Relations Inc.Todd Kehrli or Jim
ByersAnalyst/Investor Contact (323) 468-2300aehr@mkr-group.com |
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