Electronics Testing & IC Characterisation

2021-2023

Part of the team that charaterised the performance of new Firecomms ICs and evaluated the performance existing FOTs and connectors.

Main Roles

Mechanical Designer & Test Engineer

Responsible for the mechanical design of all test fixtures and running characterisation, DVT and EMI tests.

What I did

Testing Fixture Design.
Instrumentation Control & IC Characterisation.
Wafer Inspection Fixture Design.

Testing Fixtures Design.

Mechanical design & analysis, rapid protoyping & tooling.

I designed a variety of testing fixtures for connector and FOT level testing. The fixtures had to be designed to make solid & consistent electrical and optical connections to the parts. Once designs were signed off by the lead EOL test engineer they were manufactured by an external toolmaker. While working with the IC design team I redesigned the testheads to be 3D printable in-house. This reduced the cost of the test head by 95% when compared to the traditional expensive milled parts. It also gave the R&D team the flexibility to make adjustments to designs rapidly and at little to no cost.

Instrumentation Control & IC Characterisation.

Python scripts & microcontrolelr programming.

I was responsible for writing python scripts for controlling a variety of test equipment within the lab. I wrote programmes for both design verification testing and characterisation tests. These scripts interfaced with a variety of multimeters, oscilloscopes, signal generators etc. through an NI Max interface, stored the information in efficient data structures then organised the results into easy to read spreadsheets and reports. I also programmed microcontrollers to interface directly with prototype component builds. Using a custom PCB I could soft trim the parts and was able to tweak the performance to meet customer specification.

Wafer Inspection Fixture Design.

Microscope fixtures and inspection stages.

I designed several inspection fixtures for use on incoming wafers of components. Due to the tiny size of the components the fixtures had to be very stable and capable of very small incremental movement. Any small shake or misalignment were amplified as the operators had to be high magnification microscopes for the inspection. During the design phase I conducted extensive user testing with the operators to ensure that the design was comfortable to use for extended periods, and minimise the risk of repetitive strain injury.