Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR), a prominent provider of testing and burn-in solutions for semiconductor devices utilised in artificial intelligence (AI), data centres, automotive, and industrial sectors, has announced a follow-on purchase order from its primary silicon photonics client. This order pertains to the production wafer-level testing and burn-in of silicon photonics integrated circuits that are essential for data centre optical interconnects and emerging optical I/O architectures for AI processors.
This order signifies an increase in production volumes, reflecting the growing demand for optical connectivity solutions that are integral to next-generation AI training and inference infrastructures.
Order Details
- One new ultra-high-power FOX-XP™ wafer-level test and burn-in system featuring complete 300mm SECS/GEM automation.
- An upgrade of an existing FOX-XP system to the new ultra-high power, fully automated configuration.
Each system is designed to test up to nine 300mm wafers concurrently at power levels reaching up to 3500 watts per wafer, and supports nine FOX WaferPak™ proprietary full-wafer contactors. The systems come equipped with Aehr’s fully integrated FOX WaferPak AutoAligner™, facilitating hands-free, high-volume production.
Aehr anticipates that the systems will be dispatched in the latter half of the calendar year 2026.
Rising Demand for Silicon Photonics and Optical I/O
Silicon photonics is swiftly becoming a pivotal enabling technology in contemporary AI data centres. The performance and energy efficiency in such environments are increasingly hindered by electrical I/O limitations. Industry analysts and major operators are underscoring the rapid growth of optical connectivity within AI clusters, which includes higher-speed optical transceivers (800G and 1.6T), linear-drive optics (LPO), packaged optics, and co-packaged optics (CPO) architectures. Recent industry analyses and announcements from hyperscalers indicate prolonged growth in fibre-optic infrastructure and the deployment of silicon photonics, directly correlated with expansions in AI data centres.
FOX-XP: Advanced Wafer-Level Burn-In for Silicon Photonics ICs
Aehr’s FOX platform is engineered to facilitate accelerated burn-in processes, reliability qualification, and production screening at the wafer level. This significantly reduces costs and enables earlier detection of infant mortality and latent reliability issues, particularly critical for silicon photonics ICs that are to be deployed in high-volume data centre environments and reliable AI infrastructures.
Aehr asserts that it is the first company to effectively demonstrate and deliver a multi-wafer burn-in solution for silicon photonics transceivers, allowing for earlier reliability screening and considerable cost savings compared to traditional package-part testing. The company is now observing increased volumes from its lead customer and others, which is catalysing new production capacity requirements.
Company Insights
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, remarked, “This follow-on order further validates the accelerating adoption of the FOX wafer-level burn-in (WLBI) platform for silicon photonics integrated circuits used in data centre optical connectivity and emerging optical I/O architectures for AI processors. Our FOX-XP systems deliver industry-leading power-per-wafer capability, enabling production screening of these high-power, high-current devices at scale. With expanding AI infrastructure deployments and our recent enhancements in manufacturing capacity, we believe we are well positioned to support significant growth in both our WLBI and packaged-part burn-in systems as customers ramp up production.”
About Aehr Test Systems
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a leading provider of testing solutions for semiconductor devices in wafer level, singulated die, and packaged part formats. The company has installed thousands of systems globally. The increasing demands for quality, reliability, safety, and security in semiconductors, which are used across various applications including electric vehicles, renewable energy, computing, and advanced AI processors, are driving additional testing requirements and new opportunities for Aehr’s products and solutions. Aehr has introduced several innovative products, including the FOX-PTM families of test and burn-in systems and various FOX WaferPak™ solutions, which cater to a wide range of semiconductor devices.