Tokyo Electron announced today that it has begun sales of the P-12XLn+, its newest 300mm wafer prober. It is an evolution of TEL’s current P-12XL wafer prober, which has an install base of more than 1,200 units worldwide. This new model targets multi-die memory probing and high force, high-speed logic device applications.

Built on advances in TEL's proprietary on-axis alignment technology, the P-12XLn+ offers 1.8μm overall accuracy, making it the first in the industry to break the 2μm barrier. Optional features include: thermal systems with operating temperatures from –65ºC to 300ºC, cart-style probe card changers capable of semi-automatically handling 440mm-diameter probe cards, and in-situ, independent Z-Wide Area Probe Polish (WAPP). To allow seamless integration into existing test areas, the software is compatible with the P-12XL platform.

The new P-12XLn+ wafer prober addresses the industry challenges of pitch and pad-size reduction, high pin count multi-die memory probing, and high force advanced logic probing. It ultimately enables advanced testing methodologies for characterization and functional validation of leading edge process geometries.

The company began accepting orders in October 2003, with an estimated 250 units to be shipped in the first year.