01 Aug 05Cascade Microtech's Pureline™ Wafer Probing Systems purchased by world's top semiconductor manufactures

Beaverton, Ore.—August 1, 2005—Cascade Microtech (NASDAQ: CSCD), a leader in advanced electrical metrology systems and production probe cards, today announced that its Pureline™  wafer probing systems have been purchased by five of the world’s top 20 semiconductor manufacturers in the United States, Asia, Japan and Europe.

Launched in April 2005, Pureline™ wafer probing systems allow semiconductor manufacturers to model, characterize and test the latest generation of integrated circuits (ICs) required for today’s demanding applications. These applications include advanced logic and memory devices and wireless RFICs that are sensitive to noise, and automotive ICs that must be characterized at temperature extremes.

Circuit elements in the next generation of advanced ICs are much smaller and denser than ever before and operate at much lower current and voltage levels. This makes it increasingly difficult to accurately test without the effect of external disturbances. They are extremely sensitive to radio-frequency interference (RFI) transmitted from wireless devices, electromagnetic interference (EMI) at low frequencies from facilities and lab equipment, and variations in temperature that were much less of a concern in past generations of ICs. In order for these new devices to operate properly, noise, power dissipation and operating voltages must be reduced to a bare minimum. Before Pureline, there was no effective way to test these new ICs for the new demanding requirements.  Pureline wafer probing systems provide the testing capability to satisfy the demands of next generation devices.

Cascade Microtech’s Pureline™  product line includes the tools to provide superior low-level, on-wafer measurement capability in device characterization and modeling, wafer-level reliability and yield enhancement. Key integrated features of Pureline systems include the MicroChamber® shielded wafer enclosure for reduced EMI and RFI interference, AttoGuard® active guard for reduced stray capacitance and noise reduction, low-noise triaxial thermal chucks for suppressed noise injection, and low impedance grounds for improved bypass of broadband transmissions.

Designed to provide measurement immunity from electrical background transmissions, Pureline allows precise low-level measurements on increasingly sensitive semiconductor devices.