Boston Semi Equipment (BSE), a global leader in advanced automation solutions for the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries, introduces a new test site module for its Zeus gravity feed test handler to support high-voltage and partial discharge (HVPD) applications in power electronics manufacturing. The new test site module uses a micro-chamber design that allows customers to test up to an industry-leading 24kV peak (package dependent) during isolation testing. The module is also backwards compatible with existing Zeus high-voltage handlers via a field upgrade kit.
“We’ve doubled our high-voltage testing capabilities in response to our customers’ changing needs to support power semiconductor manufacturing,” said Colin M. Scholefield, BSE’s Director of Product Marketing. “The shift towards GaN and SiC makes competitive test-handling technologies obsolete for high-voltage applications. Our new test site module will help our customers meet their evolving requirements in this high-growth market.”
According to a recent Yole Group article[1], the total power electronics market is expected to rise to $33.3 billion by 2028, driven in part by new materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). BSE continues to invest in this market by developing new technologies for isolation and partial discharge test applications on its Zeus gravity feed handler.
Zeus is a tri-temperature gravity feed handler that can be configured with up to eight test sites and features an index time as low as 650ms (application dependent). Cold temperature testing is achieved using an LN2 or an external non-LN2 chiller, the MR2.
[1]PCIM Magazine and Yole Group, Revolutionizing power semiconductors: transformation and trends. Issue 1, June 2024, p. 38