Die level burn-in (DLBI) and wafer level burn-in (WLBI) are two technologies that are being investigated to address the growing industry demand for product shipped as ''known good die'' (KGD). Commercial DLBI technology is now in the prototype evaluation and development stages. WLBI technology is now being seriously discussed in the industry and will require significant development effort. The major development area for the WLBI process will involve the technology to do whole wafer probing. Potential whole wafer probe technologies are being evaluated and there are four that look promising. Detailed cost analysis for DLBI and WLBI has been performed, using the current package level burn-in (PLBI) cost for comparison. DLBI is an evolution from PLBI and is a viable near-term solution (i.e., technology availability, cost) that will support the development of a KGD product line. WLBI appears to offer a long-term solution for supplying both KGD and packaged product, although the development path is revolutionary, and will entail more risk and years to fully develop.
