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FormFactor Qualifies Industry's First One-Touchdown 300-mm Wafer Probe Solution for DRAM Sort Test
Probe Card Employs FormFactor's Advanced TRE(TM) Technology to Extend Available Test Capacity
| Source: FormFactor
LIVERMORE, CA--(Marketwire - November 10, 2009) - FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ : FORM ) today
announced a major milestone for the semiconductor test industry
-- production qualification of the industry's first one-touchdown probe
card for 300-mm DRAM wafer sort testing. FormFactor achieved the milestone
with its Harmony eXP full-wafer contact probe card employing advanced
TRE™ technology to simultaneously test all die on the DRAM wafer. The
proprietary technology allows the multiplication of existing tester
resources; in this case to an industry-leading x11 parallelism
(simultaneously testing 11 devices per tester channel). The advanced probe
card also allows the testing of the entire wafer at two temperatures,
enabling sort testing at both hot and cold extremes. This dual-temperature
capability helps IC manufacturers meet their reliability and performance
requirements at the lowest cost of test.
FormFactor shipped the first Harmony eXP one-touchdown sort card to Elpida
Memory, Inc. for testing of leading-edge DRAM devices. Because FormFactor's
proprietary TRE technology can amplify the number of die simultaneously
tested with existing tester resources, device manufacturers can use
FormFactor's Harmony eXP cards to leverage their existing test equipment to
increase total available test capacity. In this way, not only does test
cell throughput increase significantly, but Harmony eXP also allows memory
manufacturers to reduce their need for capital investment.
"Our Harmony eXP probe card solution enables maximum throughput, which is
critical to help our customers reduce their time-to-market," stated Stefan
Zschiegner, senior vice president and general manager of FormFactor's DRAM
Product Business Group. "FormFactor's long-standing commitment to R&D has
allowed us to intercept the goal of one touchdown testing. We continue to
push the limits of probe testing to ensure that both we and our customers
remain on the cutting-edge of the test technology roadmap."
One-touchdown testing of the entire wafer is enabled by advanced
electronics and FormFactor's proprietary MEMS MicroSpring® contactor,
which is designed to withstand the rigors of production testing and
minimize cleaning -- further increasing probe card availability and test
cell productivity.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature
are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities
laws, including statements regarding business momentum, demand for our
products and solutions and future growth. These forward-looking statements
are based on current information and expectations that are inherently
subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual
events or results might differ materially from those in any forward-looking
statement due to various factors, including, but not limited to: customer
adoption of the company's Harmony one-touchdown probe cards; the ability of
the company's Harmony one touchdown cards to operate at dual temperature,
to minimize necessary cleaning and increase probe card availability and
test cell productivity, to enable device manufacturers to leverage their
existing test equipment to increase total available test capacity, to
increase manufacturers test cell throughput and to provide device
manufacturers the flexibility to postpone new test equipment purchases
thereby reducing their need for capital investment; and the ability of the
company to remain on the cutting edge of test technology roadmaps.
Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement is
contained in the company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27,
2008 and Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 27, 2009 as filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and subsequent SEC filings.
Copies of the company's SEC filings are available at
http://investors.formfactor.com/edgar.cfm. The company assumes no
obligation to update the information in this press release, to revise any
forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could
differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.
About FormFactor
Founded in 1993, FormFactor, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORM) is the leader in advanced
wafer probe cards, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to
electrically test ICs. The company's wafer sort, burn-in and device
performance testing products move IC testing upstream from post-packaging
to the wafer level, enabling semiconductor manufacturers to lower their
overall production costs, improve yields, and bring next-generation devices
to market. FormFactor is headquartered in Livermore, California with
operations in Europe, Asia and North America. For more information, visit
the company's web site at www.formfactor.com.
FormFactor, Harmony, Harmony eXP, TRE and MicroSpring are trademarks or
registered trademarks of FormFactor, Inc.