A semiconductor wafer is cut to singulate integrated circuit dice formed
on the wafer. A die pick machine then positions and orients the
singulated dice on a carrier base such that signal, power and ground pads
formed on the surface of each die reside at predetermined positions
relative to landmarks on the carrier base the die pick machine optically
identifies. With the dice temporarily held in place on the carrier base,
they are subjected to a series of testing and other processing steps.
Since each die's signal pads reside in predetermined locations, they can
be accessed by appropriately arranged probes providing test equipment
with signal access to the pads during tests. After each test, a die pick
machine may replace any die that fails the test with another die, thereby
improving efficiency of subsequent testing and other processing
resources.