FREMONT, CA / ACCESS Newswire / March 3, 2026 / Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR), a prominent provider of test and burn-in solutions for semiconductor devices utilized in artificial intelligence (AI), data centre, automotive, and industrial applications, has announced the receipt of a follow-on purchase order from its leading silicon photonics customer. This order pertains to the production wafer-level test and burn-in of silicon photonics integrated circuits, which are essential for data centre optical interconnects and the emerging optical I/O architectures for AI processors.
This order underscores the growing production volumes as demand for optical connectivity solutions accelerates, powering the next generation of AI training and inference infrastructure.
Order Details
The recent order encompasses:
- One new ultra-high-power FOX-XP™ wafer-level test and burn-in system featuring full 300mm SECS/GEM automation, and
- An upgrade of an existing FOX-XP system to the new ultra-high-power, fully automated configuration.
Each system is specifically configured to test up to nine 300mm wafers in parallel at power levels reaching up to 3500 watts per wafer, accommodating up to nine FOX WaferPak™ proprietary full-wafer contactors. Additionally, the systems are equipped with Aehr’s fully integrated FOX WaferPak AutoAligner™, facilitating hands-free, high-volume production.
Aehr anticipates shipping the systems in the latter half of calendar 2026.
Accelerating Demand for Silicon Photonics and Optical I/O
Silicon photonics is swiftly emerging as a crucial enabling technology in next-generation AI data centres. Here, performance and energy efficiency are increasingly constrained by electrical I/O limitations. Industry analysts and hyperscale operators consistently emphasise the rapid growth of optical connectivity within AI clusters, incorporating higher-speed optical transceivers (800G and 1.6T), linear-drive optics (LPO), packaged optics, and co-packaged optics (CPO) architectures. Recent industry reports and announcements from hyperscalers indicate multi-year growth in fibre-optic infrastructure and silicon photonics deployment directly linked to AI data centre expansions.
FOX-XP: Enhancing Wafer-Level Burn-In for Silicon Photonics Integrated Circuits
Aehr’s FOX platform is designed to facilitate accelerated burn-in, reliability qualification, and production screening at the wafer level. This significantly reduces costs and allows for earlier detection of infant mortality and latent reliability issues, which is particularly vital for silicon photonics ICs intended for deployment in high-volume data centre environments and high-uptime AI infrastructure.
Aehr asserts it is the first company to successfully demonstrate and ship a multi-wafer burn-in solution for silicon photonics transceivers, enabling earlier reliability screening and substantial cost savings compared to traditional package-part testing. The company is now experiencing increased volumes from its lead customer and others, driving new production capacity requirements.
Company Overview
Aehr Test Systems, headquartered in Fremont, California, stands out as a leading provider of test solutions for the testing, burning-in, and stabilising of semiconductor devices, whether in wafer level, singulated die, or packaged part form. The company has installed thousands of systems globally. The increasing need for quality, reliability, safety, and security in semiconductors across multiple applications—including electric vehicles, renewable energy sources, computing, and advanced AI processors—continues to drive additional testing requirements and new opportunities for Aehr’s products and solutions.
Aehr has developed several innovative products, including the FOX-P™ families of test and burn-in systems and the FOX WaferPak™ Aligner, among others. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are capable of testing, burning-in, and stabilising a wide range of devices, including cutting-edge silicon carbide-based semiconductors, memory semiconductors, and photonic devices.
As the AI market continues to grow, Aehr’s innovative reliability and burn-in test solutions position the company favourably within this rapidly expanding sector.