An analysis of two-heater active thermal control technology for device class testing

A novel technology for controlling temperature rise in the class testing is described in this article. This technology is based on two active heater sources and is called a two-heater active thermal control (2H-ATC) system. From a point of control, a lumped analytical model for representing the whole class testing process is very important, and is developed in this article. The model was validated by comparing the simulated result with the measured result on a commercial tester. Based on this model, we have studied the issue of optimization of the performance of the testing process, in particular examining effects of test system parameters on system performance. We have also observed a concept called critical heater power, which is important in achieving a minimum overshoot at the transition from the preheating stage to the testing stage. The outcome of this study has already been applied in practical process control during the whole class testing.