IN Brief:
- Titan HP can now perform reliability burn-in while each device runs a representative workload at a controlled junction temperature.
- The platform combines kilowatt scale power delivery with thermal control for individual test sites and independently operating slots.
- Titan HP is available with the enhanced burn-in capability and is already deployed in production.
Teradyne has added reliability burn-in to its Titan HP semiconductor test platform, allowing high power processors to run representative workloads while the system controls the junction temperature of each device under stress.
Traditional burn-in commonly places groups of semiconductor devices in temperature controlled ovens for several hours before they move to later functional tests. The oven controls the surrounding air, but devices within the same batch can dissipate different amounts of heat as their electrical behaviour varies. That makes ambient temperature an imperfect proxy for the temperature reached inside each semiconductor.
Titan HP instead applies thermal control at each test site while a workload runs on the device. Teradyne says the system holds each processor at its target junction temperature during reliability stress, allowing the test condition to follow the silicon temperature rather than relying solely on the environment around it. The platform also provides kilowatt scale power delivery for each device, reflecting the electrical demands of large AI accelerators and cloud processors.
Junction temperature matters because several semiconductor ageing and failure mechanisms depend strongly on the temperature reached in the active device and its interconnects. Two processors exposed to the same oven temperature can reach different internal temperatures if they draw different currents or have different thermal resistance through the package. Controlling each device separately gives the test engineer a more direct way to reproduce the intended stress condition.
The enhanced capability sits on a platform originally developed for system level test. Titan HP can therefore run reliability stress and functional workloads using the same underlying equipment rather than requiring an oven stage followed by transfer to a separate system. That does not make the two test objectives identical. Burn-in is intended to expose early failures under sustained stress, while system level testing checks device operation under representative functional conditions.
Teradyne’s architecture allows the individual slots in the system to operate independently. A long stress programme on one device does not require the other slots to remain idle until it finishes, and an individual site can be serviced while the rest of the platform continues operating. That arrangement is particularly relevant where devices have different test durations or where reliability stress takes substantially longer than a normal production test.
Test programmes run through the company’s Atlas software environment. Engineers can import existing programmes, develop new ones and move compatible programmes between Teradyne system level test platforms. Keeping burn-in and subsequent workload testing within the same software environment can also simplify the association between a particular device and the conditions it experienced during production screening.
AI processors create an unusually demanding thermal problem because modern packages can contain large compute dies, advanced memory and complex package interconnects while consuming substantial power. The package may not heat uniformly, and the thermal control system has to remove enough heat to prevent uncontrolled temperature rise while still maintaining the stress level required by the test plan.
Teradyne already uses active thermal control in Titan HP, with thermal settings tailored to individual sites. Adding burn-in extends the duration and purpose of that control rather than introducing thermal management for the first time. The company is positioning the capability for AI data centre devices, automotive semiconductors and other products where reliability screening has to accommodate high power consumption.
The economics differ from conventional oven burn-in. Ovens can stress many devices simultaneously and remain appropriate where power density, thermal control and functional workloads do not require individual handling. Using a system level tester for a long reliability sequence consumes more capable equipment for longer periods, so manufacturers will have to balance test quality, utilisation, floor space and capital cost for each device family.
Titan HP with enhanced burn-in is available now and Teradyne says it is already deployed in production. Its engineering case is strongest where the device cannot be represented adequately by one chamber temperature and a passive stress condition, particularly as individual AI accelerators move towards kilowatt scale power consumption.
