Grenoble (France), Mars 28, 2019 – Hprobe, a provider of turnkey semiconductor Automatic Test Equipment for magnetic devices based on a patented magnetic generator with unparalleled field sweeping performance, announced today entering into a new phase of advanced magnetic tester development for the next generation of Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) devices based on the Spin Orbit Torque (SOT) effect. Hprobe has begun to optimize the test flow for SOT-MRAM devices in order to bring the characterization and testing to an industrial level as they have already done for the Spin Transfer Torque (STT) MRAM technology with the primary objective to reduce the testing time while maximizing yield.
SOT-MRAM technology has demonstrated stellar performance in terms of writing speed using pulsed voltage with pulse widths down to 200 picoseconds. It has all the advantages of the STT-MRAM technology including size scalability for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) integration and absence of data refreshment, and will become the technology replacement for Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) in the coming years.
Hprobe’s test equipment allows users to test STT-MRAM at the wafer level under a magnetic field and using electrical pulsing with ultra-competitive testing-time. Hprobe is now collaborating with IMEC research institute on a Joint Development Program to extend its fast testing protocols for the SOT-MRAM technology.
“We have seen a lot of commercial traction in wafer level magnetic ATE for emerging memories as STT-MRAM technology is now entering into mass production. IMEC will help us develop the test regimes and protocols to enable Hprobe to release new test equipment able to control STT and SOT-MRAM devices with outstanding throughput and sorting performance,” said Laurent Lebrun, CEO of Hprobe.
Initially, Hprobe will deliver their leading-edge tools to IMEC for performing wafer tests under a magnetic field. Jointly, IMEC and Hprobe will contribute to the definition and validation of the new testing protocols for both STT and SOT technologies. “The collaboration with Hprobe will help us to bring the technology closer to the industrial level,” said Kevin Garello, SOT-MRAM Lead Engineer at IMEC.
About Hprobe: Founded in March 2017 and based in Grenoble (France), Hprobe is a spin-off company of SPINTEC (jointly operated by CEA, CNRS, and UGA). The company markets equipment for wafer level testing of magnetic devices in the semiconductor industry.