Laser marking part identification and test results on semiconductor chips for CD drives. Target installations were highly automated semiconductor manufacturing lines located at numerous plants in Japan. A sister division of the customer was actually a major competitor for teh company, creating an even greater challenge for a US based supplier to win the business.

The throughput of the IC test lines was gated by the test, not by the throughput of the laser marker. Nothing could cycle until the test was complete, which meant that capital utilization was less than 25%. The customer had a mandate to implement highest quality performance with a preference for our mark quality and system reliability, but was faced with significant capital expense to make the change.

A high powered laser was multiplexed into four autonomous beam steering modules located up to 50m away with one module for each test line. A "round-robin" scheme was used to select the first test line available for marking and divert the full power of the laser to mark the chip as fast as possible. Special fiber and alignment techniques were required for robust performance on the plant floor.

Significant reduction in capital cost and cost of ownership (footprint, utilities, service, etc.) through system design by using one laser in the place of four. The fiber optics also gave the customer an added benefit of greater flexibility for locating the laser in the plant and integrating laser marking with compact testers.