Stat. Proc. Control of Wireless Device Mfg. Needs Prod-Worthy S-Parameter Measurements

by: Carl Scharrer Whether you are manufacturing RFICs for cell phone modules on III-V wafers or DSPs on silicon-based technology, predicting final product performance and reliability requires s-parameter measurements at the wafer level to complement DC data. This is only practical with automated processes for calibrating and de-embedding s-parameters, which should also be supported by automatic probe cleaning. Cost of consumables and overall cost of test must also be comparable to the traditional DC process monitor operation. The ideal case is to have a single test operation collect the DC and s?parameter data.