Aehr Receives New Order for Four FOX-NP™ Test & Burn-in Systems for Characterization and Product Qualification of New Photonics Based Devices

FREMONT, Calif., Dec. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and reliability qualification equipment, today announced it has received an order from a current silicon photonics customer for four additional FOX-NP™ systems to support the characterization and product qualification of new photonics based devices. The FOX-NP systems are expected to ship over the next six to seven months.

Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “This customer, one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, continues to use Aehr for wafer level burn-in and stabilization of their silicon photonics wafers and is adding these FOX-NP systems for a new photonics based device application. Configured with two blades, each of these new FOX-NP systems allows two wafers to be tested in parallel using our proprietary WaferPak Contactors and enables testing either two of the same wafers or two different wafers with different test plans. This customer is expected to purchase new sets of WaferPaks to be used with these systems. As the applications and market for silicon photonics based devices continue to grow, we expect this customer to continue to increase their capacity in the future.

“The production of integrated silicon photonics devices requires a stabilization process which is a critical manufacturing step where the devices are subjected to high temperatures and power to stabilize the output power of the transceivers. Our FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems allow this to be done on wafers up to 300mm for a more cost-effective and highly parallel process compared to packaged parts or modules.

“We continue to be excited about the growth of the integrated silicon photonics market, and the broadening of deployment in a wide range of applications. The integration of photonics into electronic circuits allows the improvement of cost performance, lower energy consumption, and increased speed. Applications of silicon photonics include AR, VR, AI, biosensing, data communications, automotive LiDAR and ADAS systems, consumer health, photonics computing, and even agriculture and astronomy automation systems. We are very optimistic about the silicon photonics and photonics sensors markets. Yole Research forecasts the silicon photonics market to grow at a 49% cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) from 2021 through 2026. The adoption of silicon photonics into everyday consumer, commercial, and industrial electronics is driving higher quality and longer reliability. We believe this is a significant long-term growth opportunity for Aehr.”

The FOX-NP and FOX-XP systems, available with multiple WaferPak Contactors (full wafer test) or multiple DiePak^TM Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, are capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of integrated devices such as silicon carbide power devices, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, Gallium Nitride (GaN), magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.

About Aehr Test Systems
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a worldwide provider of test systems for burning-in and testing logic, optical and memory integrated circuits and has installed over 2,500 systems worldwide. Increased quality and reliability needs of the Automotive and Mobility integrated circuit markets are driving additional test requirements, incremental capacity needs, and new opportunities for Aehr Test products in package, wafer level, and singulated die/module level test. Aehr Test has developed and introduced several innovative products, including the ABTS™ and FOX-P™ families of test and burn-in systems and FOX WaferPak™ Aligner, FOX-XP WaferPak Contactor, FOX DiePak^® Carrier and FOX DiePak Loader. The ABTS system is used in production and qualification testing of packaged parts for both lower power and higher power logic devices as well as all common types of memory devices. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are full wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems used for burn-in and functional test of complex devices, such as leading-edge memories, digital signal processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and integrated optical devices. The FOX-CP system is a new low-cost single-wafer compact test and reliability verification solution for logic, memory and photonic devices and the newest addition to the FOX-P product family. The WaferPak contactor contains a unique full wafer probe card capable of testing wafers up to 300mm that enables IC manufacturers to perform test and burn-in of full wafers on Aehr Test FOX systems. The DiePak Carrier is a reusable, temporary package that enables IC manufacturers to perform cost-effective final test and burn-in of both bare die and modules. For more information, please visit Aehr Test Systems’ website at www.aehr.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Aehr’s future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,” “going to,” "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Aehr’s expectations, strategy, priorities, plans, or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, future requirements and orders of Aehr’s new and existing customers; bookings forecasted for proprietary WaferPak™ and DiePak consumables; and expectations related to long-term demand for Aehr’s productions and the attractiveness of key markets. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Aehr’s recent Form 10-K, 10-Q and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aehr disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.