Electroglas Introduces the EG6000, the World's Most Accurate 300mm, High-Volume, Production Prober.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Electroglas, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLS), a leading supplier of wafer probers and prober-based test handling solutions for the semiconductor industry, today announced the introduction of the EG6000, a 300-mm production wafer prober designed for high-volume manufacturing that fuses advanced automation with the highest caliber of prober technology. The EG6000 is the only 300mm prober that utilizes precision direct-drive technology to achieve the highest accuracy available today. Two versions are available: the base system, with accuracy of +/- 2.5 microns; and the "S" version, with an optional ultra-high accuracy package that increases the accuracy to +/-1.5 microns. The EG6000 also delivers the fastest throughput as measured from lot-start to lot-end and has a very low maintenance design for dependable performance.

"The EG6000 is the new flagship prober for Electroglas, representing a major advancement in prober design, control systems, and automation," said Tim Boyle, Electroglas CTO and VP of Marketing. "With the EG6000, manufacturers can have the dependable production prober they need that is, at the same time, an advanced system with the highest accuracy and throughput available."

About the EG6000

The EG6000 uses proprietary motion control that yields up to a 30% improvement in stepping time, while virtually eliminating any negative effects on test from typical external stimuli encountered in the production environment.

The EG6000's "one-button" probing automation, combined with improved robustness of critical prober functions, greatly simplifies setup and operation in a high-volume manufacturing environment. Operators can efficiently start probing then walk away while the prober automatically completes all necessary tasks to setup and align the probe card and wafers. A unique embedded statistical modeling engine determines prober changes needed due to temperature variations. Adjustments to the probe-to-pad contact position are made, as required, to automate handling of temperature changeover. This means that during a temperature change, probing operations can begin immediately after the chuck reaches the set point. The EG6000 does all this with the wafer on the chuck and without alignment tools or operator intervention, providing a significant increase in tester utilization and throughput, which helps customers lower the cost of test.

Intended to be portable, the EG6000 allows customers to easily move the machine and rapidly resume test operations with no recalibration required. This capability permits customers, such as test houses that move machines often, to eliminate costly setup delays.

The EG6000 is designed to handle advanced devices with copper interconnects and low-k dielectrics, and to avoid pad damage or substrate damage that is common when probing these devices. Using a proprietary, ultra-high precision, chuck position sensor with 100-nanometer resolution, the new MicroTouch feature allows user-configurable deceleration of the Z-stage just as the probe pins contact the bond pads, greatly decreasing the impact force. The EG6000 also uses a combination of optical profiling and pin finding with new higher precision algorithms for improved accuracy and robustness. Overall, the EG6000 provides more than twice the Z-accuracy than is available from other prober designs.

According to Bob Fenton, Director of Marketing at Electroglas, "The EG6000 is the best choice for probing advanced 300mm SOC and memory wafers or for the high flexibility needs of test houses and foundries that must regularly run 150mm to 300mm wafers, change temperatures, and move the prober from one tester to another."

About Electroglas

Electroglas is a supplier of innovative probers, prober-based test handlers, test floor management software and services that improve the overall effectiveness of semiconductor manufacturers' wafer and device testing. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company has been a leading equipment supplier to the semiconductor industry for over four decades, and has an installed base of more than 15,000 systems worldwide. Electroglas' stock trades on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "EGLS." More information about the company and its products is available at www.electroglas.com.