Hprobe Announces First Automated Test Equipment Dedicated to 3D Magnetic Sensors for Automotive and Industrial Applications

Grenoble, France, October 1, 2020 – Hprobe, a provider of semiconductor Automated Test Equipment (ATE) for magnetic devices, today announced the first industry turnkey testing equipment dedicated to 3D magnetic sensors used in both automotive and industrial applications. The equipment is based on Hprobe’ s unique 3D magnetic field generator technology for single and multi-site testing at wafer-level, under magnetic field. Operating with automated wafer probing stations and external electrical testers, it offers significant throughput performances, with high flexibility, and compatibility with end-user existing platforms.

“Our new equipment addresses the crucial step of chip sorting for the new generation of magnetic sensors tested at wafer-level, under high field intensity, and on a large area coverage. It offers fully controllable 3D static and variable magnetic field capability allowing the use of a single platform to test different types of products,” said Siamak Salimy, founder and CTO of Hprobe. “This is key for our customers and a major milestone for the industry as evidenced by orders already received from a number of major sensor manufacturers,” he added.

Magnetic sensors are used for various automotive and industrial applications to sense physical parameters using a magnetic field and to transmit an electrical response for further process. To validate products for end applications, it is required to test the magnetic sensors under a magnetic field. The outcome of the measurement is data related to the motion of a part or sensing of a current flowing. The sensors are used to extract positioning, angular, strength, and direction information.

The new Hprobe equipment consists of a test head with a robotized 3D magnetic generator, which includes a field calibration and monitoring system. It is built for interfacing with an already available electrical tester or provided with a full tester as a turnkey solution. It comes with dedicated software for customers to implement their own tests and to generate a custom 3D magnetic field pattern. A wide range of field configurations is available.

About Hprobe: Founded in March 2017 and based in Grenoble (France), Hprobe is a spin-off company of SPINTEC (one of the leading spintronics research laboratories worldwide). The company designs, manufactures, and markets equipment for wafer-level testing of magnetic devices in the semiconductor industry, which serves consumer, communication, industrial and automotive customers.