Apparatus for tracking integrated circuit devices

Abstract

A plurality of carriers for integrated circuit devices are each uniquely coded so as to be recognizable by an automatic decoding apparatus. The devices are tested and the test results accurately correlated with the appropriate devices by recording the test results for each device, reading the identification code for each carrier in the same sequence in which the devices are tested, and then correlating the test results with the device identifications. A prior art requirement of maintaining the carriers in the order in which they were tested is eliminated once the carriers have been thus identified. In a preferred embodiment the carrier body is provided with an array of perforations, the transmission of light through each perforation being blocked by a breakable membrane. Each carrier is coded by breaking a selected combination of its membranes to establish a unique binary identification code for each carrier. The carriers are identified during or immediately after testing by illuminating one side of the perforation array and sensing the pattern of light emitted from the opposite side of the array. In another embodiment the carriers are uniquely identified by bar code displays which are scanned by a decoding device to enable correlation of the carriers with the test results for their respective integrated circuit devices.