| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080231305 | CONTACT CARRIERS (TILES) FOR POPULATING LARGER SUBSTRATES WITH SPRING CONTACTS - An interconnection apparatus and a method of forming an interconnection apparatus. Contact structures are attached to or formed on a first substrate. The first substrate is attached to a second substrate, which is larger than the first substrate. Multiple such first substrates may be attached to the second substrate in order to create an array of contact structures. Each contact structure may be elongate and resilient and may comprise a core that is over coated with a material that imparts desired structural properties to the contact structure. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080272794 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A PROBE CARD - A method of designing and manufacturing a probe card assembly includes prefabricating one or more elements of the probe card assembly to one or more predefined designs. Thereafter, design data regarding a newly designed semiconductor device is received along with data describing the tester and testing algorithms to be used to test the semiconductor device. Using the received data, one or more of the prefabricated elements is selected. Again using the received data, one or more of the selected prefabricated elements is customized. The probe card assembly is then built using the selected and customized elements. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20090085592 | PROBING A DEVICE - An electronic device is moved into a first position such that terminals of the electronic device are adjacent probes for making electrical contact with the terminals. The electronic device is then moved horizontally or diagonally such that the terminals contact the probes. Test data are then communicated to and from the electronic device through the probes. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090197484 | CARBON NANOTUBE SPRING CONTACT STRUCTURES WITH MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS - A composite spring contact structure includes a structural component and a conduction component distinct from each other and having differing mechanical and electrical characteristics. The structural component can include a group of carbon nanotubes. A mechanical characteristic of the composite spring contact structure can be dominated by a mechanical characteristic of the structural component, and an electrical characteristic of the composite spring contact structure can be dominated by an electrical characteristic of the conduction component. Composite spring contact structures can be used in probe cards and other electronic devices. Various ways of making contact structures are also disclosed. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090251162 | Wireless Test Cassette - A base controller disposed in a test cassette receives test data for testing a plurality of electronic devices. The base controller wirelessly transmits the test data to a plurality of wireless test control chips, which write the test data to each of the electronic devices. The wireless test control chips then read response data generated by the electronic devices, and the wireless test control chips wirelessly transmit the response data to the base controller. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090286429 | MICROELECTRONIC CONTACT STRUCTURES, AND METHODS OF MAKING SAME - Microelectronic contact structures are fabricated by separately forming, then joining together, various components thereof. Each contact structure has three components: a “post” component, a “beam” component, and a “tip” component. The resulting contact structure, mounted to an electronic component, is useful for making an electrical connection with another electronic component. The post component can be fabricated on a sacrificial substrate, joined to the electronic component and its sacrificial substrate removed. Alternatively, the post component can be formed on the electronic component. The beam and tip components can each be fabricated on a sacrificial substrate. The beam component is joined to the post component and its sacrificial substrate is removed, and the tip component is joined to the beam component and its sacrificial substrate is removed. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090291573 | PROBE CARD ASSEMBLY AND KIT, AND METHODS OF MAKING SAME - A probe card assembly includes a probe card, a space transformer having resilient contact structures (probe elements) mounted directly to (i.e., without the need for additional connecting wires or the like) and extending from terminals on a surface thereof, and an interposer disposed between the space transformer and the probe card. The space transformer and interposer are “stacked up” so that the orientation of the space transformer, hence the orientation of the tips of the probe elements, can be adjusted without changing the orientation of the probe card. Suitable mechanisms for adjusting the orientation of the space transformer, and for determining what adjustments to make, are disclosed. The interposer has resilient contact structures extending from both the top and bottom surfaces thereof, and ensures that electrical connections are maintained between the space transformer and the probe card throughout the space transformer's range of adjustment, by virtue of the interposer's inherent compliance. Multiple die sites on a semiconductor wafer are readily probed using the disclosed techniques, and the probe elements can be arranged to optimize probing of an entire wafer. Composite interconnection elements having a relatively soft core overcoated by a relatively hard shell, as the resilient contact structures are described. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20100049356 | REMOTE TEST FACILITY WITH WIRELESS INTERFACE TO LOCAL TEST FACILITIES - A central test facility transmits wirelessly test data to a local test facility, which tests electronic devices using the test data. The local test facility transmits wirelessly response data generated by the electronic devices back to the central test facility, which analyzes the response data to determine which electronic devices passed the testing. The central test facility may provide the results of the testing to other entities, such as a design facility where the electronic devices were designed or a manufacturing facility where the electronic devices where manufactured. The central test facility may accept requests for test resources from any of a number of local test facilities, schedule test times corresponding to each test request, and at a scheduled test time, wirelessly transmits test data to a corresponding local test facility. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100065963 | METHOD OF WIREBONDING THAT UTILIZES A GAS FLOW WITHIN A CAPILLARY FROM WHICH A WIRE IS PLAYED OUT - Contact structures for a variety of electronic components can be formed to have primarily elastic properties. The contact structures can be free standing, and can be coupled to a variety of different electronic components such as a probe card assembly, a semiconductor wafer or dies, an interposer, or the like. Tips of the contact structures can have a topology that facilities contact with another electronic component. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100093229 | MICROELECTRONIC CONTACT STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME - Spring contact elements are fabricated by depositing at least one layer of metallic material into openings defined on a sacrificial substrate. The openings may be within the surface of the substrate, or in one or more layers deposited on the surface of the sacrificial substrate. Each spring contact element has a base end portion, a contact end portion, and a central body portion. The contact end portion is offset in the z-axis (at a different height) than the central body portion. The base end portion is preferably offset in an opposite direction along the z-axis from the central body portion. In this manner, a plurality of spring contact elements are fabricated in a prescribed spatial relationship with one another on the sacrificial substrate. The spring contact elements are suitably mounted by their base end portions to corresponding terminals on an electronic component, such as a space transformer or a semiconductor device, whereupon the sacrificial substrate is removed so that the contact ends of the spring contact elements extend above the surface of the electronic component. In an exemplary use, the spring contact elements are thereby disposed on a space transformer component of a probe card assembly so that their contact ends effect pressure connections to corresponding terminals on another electronic component, for the purpose of probing the electronic component. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100104678 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING AND USING A TOOLING DIE - A method of making a tooling die can include depositing a plurality of layers onto a substrate using a printing process. Selected portions of the plurality of layers can be removed to expose a surface defining a desired shape of the tooling die. An electrically conductive material can be deposited to form a seed layer, and a structural material can be electrodeposited onto the seed layer to form the tooling die. The tooling die can be used to form contact structures on an electronic component. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100109688 | PRINTING OF REDISTRIBUTION TRACES ON ELECTRONIC COMPONENT - A probe substrate for use in testing semiconductor devices can include a base substrate that can have first electrical terminals at a first pitch. One or more redistribution layers on the base substrate can include droplets of a conductive material that form redistribution traces extending from the first terminals to second electrical terminals at a second pitch different from the first pitch. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100112828 | CARBON NANOTUBE CONTACT STRUCTURES - A carbon nanotube contact structure can be used for making pressure connections to a DUT. The contact structure can be formed using a carbon nanotube film or with carbon nanotubes in solution. The carbon nanotube film can be grown in a trench in a sacrificial substrate in which a contact structure such as a beam or contact element is then formed by metal plating. The film can also be formed on a contact element and have metal posts dispersed therein to provide rigidity and elasticity. Contact structures or portions thereof can also be plated with a solution containing carbon nanotubes. The resulting contact structure can be tough, and can provide good electrical conductivity. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100244873 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF TESTING SINGULATED DIES - An exemplary die carrier is disclosed. In some embodiments, the die carrier can hold a plurality of singulated dies while the dies are tested. The dies can be arranged on the carrier in a pattern that facilities testing the dies. The carrier can be configured to allow interchangeable interfaces to different testers to be attached to and detached from the carrier. The carrier can also be configured as a shipping container for the dies. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100323551 | SHARPENED, ORIENTED CONTACT TIP STRUCTURES - An apparatus and method providing improved interconnection elements and tip structures for effecting pressure connections between terminals of electronic components is described. The tip structure of the present invention has a sharpened blade oriented on the upper surface of the tip structure such that the length of the blade is substantially parallel to the direction of horizontal movement of the tip structure as the tip structure deflects across the terminal of an electronic component. In this manner, the sharpened substantially parallel oriented blade slices cleanly through any non-conductive layer(s) on the surface of the terminal and provides a reliable electrical connection between the interconnection element and the terminal of the electrical component. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20110057018 | METHOD OF WIREBONDING THAT UTILIZES A GAS FLOW WITHIN A CAPILLARY FROM WHICH A WIRE IS PLAYED OUT - Contact structures exhibiting resilience or compliance for a variety of electronic components are formed by bonding a free end of a wire to a substrate, configuring the wire into a wire stem having a springable shape, severing the wire stem, and overcoating the wire stem with at least one layer of a material chosen primarily for its structural (resiliency, compliance) characteristics. A variety of techniques for configuring, severing, and overcoating the wire stem are disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a free end of a wire stem is bonded to a contact area on a substrate, the wire stem is configured to have a springable shape, the wire stem is severed to be free-standing by an electrical discharge, and the free-standing wire stem is overcoated by plating. A variety of materials for the wire stem (which serves as a falsework) and for the overcoat (which serves as a superstructure over the falsework) are disclosed. Various techniques are described for mounting the contact structures to a variety of electronic components (e.g., semiconductor wafers and dies, semiconductor packages, interposers, interconnect substrates, etc.), and various process sequences are described. The resilient contact structures described herein are ideal for making a “temporary” (probe) connections to an electronic component such as a semiconductor die, for burn-in and functional testing. The self-same resilient contact structures can be used for subsequent permanent mounting of the electronic component, such as by soldering to a printed circuit board (PCB). An irregular topography can be created on or imparted to the tip of the contact structure to enhance its ability to interconnect resiliently with another electronic component. Among the numerous advantages of the present invention is the great facility with which the tips of a plurality of contact structures can be made to be coplanar with one another. Other techniques and embodiments, such as wherein the falsework wirestem protrudes beyond an end of the superstructure, or is melted down, and wherein multiple free-standing resilient contact structures can be fabricated from loops, are described. | 03-10-2011 |
