Aehr Test Systems Announces ABTS™ System Follow-On Order From Leading IC Manufacturer

FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aehr Test Systems (Nasdaq:AEHR), a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and burn-in equipment, today announced it has received a follow-on order for its Advanced Burn-in and Test System (ABTS) from a leading manufacturer of advanced logic integrated circuits (ICs) for automotive, embedded processing, digital signal processing and analog applications. The order includes down payments to lock in a delivery slot and volume pricing discount. This system shipped in the first quarter of Aehr Test’s fiscal 2015.

“We are pleased to receive and fulfill this order for an additional system from this customer, which is operating at full capacity for high volume production and needed to expand burn-in capacity quickly,” said Carl Buck, vice president of marketing at Aehr Test Systems. “This customer makes full use of the ABTS system’s high-dissipation 36 KW thermal chamber and Individual Temperature Control capabilities. Industry-leading processing nodes used by this customer, especially to implement new automotive safety and automated control capabilities, typically exhibit an increasing leakage current, resulting in a wide variation of power in the devices being burned-in. This variation results in the need for individual temperature control of the devices so that they all achieve the target burn-in stress without over-stressing the higher power devices. The higher-power devices and individual temperature control result in the need for a higher-power oven so that production volumes of devices can be cost-effectively burned-in in a single chamber.

The ABTS family of products is based on a new hardware and software platform that is designed to address not only today’s devices, but also future devices for many years to come. It can test and burn-in both logic and memory devices, including resources for high pin-count devices and configurations for high-power and low-power applications. The ABTS system can be configured with up to 72 burn-in boards with up to 320 I/O channels each and 32M of test vector memory per channel. The ABTS offers the option of high voltage Device Power Supplies configurable with programmable voltage ranges to 60 or 230 volts, which are needed for certain automotive and power-line applications. The ABTS system is optimized for use with the Sensata iSocket* and VTR Thermal Management Technologies, which provide a scalable cost-effective solution using individual device temperature control for ICs up to 75 watts or more. Individual temperature control enables higher-power devices with a broad range of power dissipation to be burned-in simultaneously in a single burn-in chamber while maintaining a precise device temperature. The ABTS system also uses N+1 redundancy technology and hot-swap capability for many key components in the system to maximize system uptime.

* iSocket is a trademark of Sensata Technologies, Inc.

About Aehr Test Systems

Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a worldwide provider of test systems for burning-in and testing logic and memory integrated circuits and has an installed base of more than 2,500 systems worldwide. Increased quality and reliability needs of the Automotive and Mobility integrated circuit markets are driving additional test requirements, capacity needs and opportunities for Aehr Test products in package and wafer level test. Aehr Test has developed and introduced several innovative products, including the ABTS and FOXTM families of test and burn-in systems and the DiePak® carrier. The ABTS system is used in production and qualification testing of packaged parts for both lower-power and higher-power logic as well as all common types of memory devices. The FOX system is a full wafer contact test and burn-in system used for burn-in and functional test of complex devices, such as leading-edge memories, digital signal processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers and systems-on-a-chip. The DiePak carrier is a reusable, temporary package that enables IC manufacturers to perform cost-effective final test and burn-in of bare die. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.aehr.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to Aehr Test as of the date hereof and actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied due to risks and uncertainties. These statements typically may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “estimated,” and “potential,” among others. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expected effect of orders on a customer’s burn-in capacity. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, acceptance by customers of the ABTS system technologies, acceptance by customers of the ABTS systems shipped upon receipt of a purchase order and the ability of new products to meet customer needs or perform as described. See Aehr Test’s recent 10-K and other reports from time to time filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed description of the risks facing our business. Aehr Test 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.

Contacts:
Aehr Test Systems
Vernon Rogers
EVP Sales and Marketing
(510) 623-9400 x215
vrogers@aehr.com
MKR Investor Relations Inc.
Todd Kehrli or Jim Byers
Analyst/Investor Contact
(213) 277-5550
aehr@mkr-group.com