Abstract:
The probe card assembly (500) includes a probe card (502), and a space transformer (506) having resilient contact structures (524) mounted to and extending from terminals (522) on its surface. An interposer (504) is disposed between the space transformer and the probe card. The space transformer and interposer are stacked on the probe card and the resilient contact structures can be arranged to optimise probing of entire wafer.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
Semiconductor dies (101/104/106) are stacked offset from one another so that terminals (122/124/126) located along two edges of each die are exposed. The two edges of the dies having terminals may be oriented in the same direction. Electrical connections (130/132/134) may connect terminals on one die with terminals on another die and the stack may be disposed on a wiring substrate (112) to which the terminals of the dies may be electrically connected.
Abstract:
Resilient contact structures (430) are mounted directly to bond pads (410) on semiconductor dies (402a, 402b), prior to the dies (402a, 402b) being singulated (separated) from a semiconductor wafer. This enables the semiconductor dies (402a, 402b) to be exercised (e.g., tested and/or burned-in) by connecting to the semiconductor dies (702, 704) with a circuit board (710) or the like having a plurality of terminals (712) disposed on a surface thereof. Subsequently, the semiconductor dies (402a, 402b) may be singulated from the semiconductor wafer, whereupon the same resilient contact structures (430) can be used to effect interconnections between the semiconductor dies and other electronic components (such as wiring substrates, semiconductor packages, etc.). Using the all-metallic composite interconnection elements (430) of the present invention as the resilient contact structures, burn-in (792) can be performed at temperatures of at least 150 °C, and can be completed in less than 60 minutes.
Abstract:
The probe card assembly (500) includes a probe card (502), and a space transformer (506) having resilient contact structures (524) mounted to and extending from terminals (522) on its surface. An interposer (504) is disposed between the space transformer and the probe card. The space transformer and interposer are stacked on the probe card and the resilient contact structures can be arranged to optimise probing of entire wafer.
Abstract:
A test assembly (2000) for testing product circuitry (202, 302, 304) of a product die (2011, 300). In one embodiment, the test assembly includes a test die (2010, 400) and an interconnection substrate (2008) for electrically coupling the test die to a host controller (2002) that communicates with the test die. The test die may be designed according to a design methodology (100) for a test die and a product die that includes the step of concurrently designing test circuitry (202A, 402, 404) and product circuitry in a unified design (102). The test circuitry can be designed to provide a high degree of fault coverage for the corresponding product circuitry generally without regard to the amount of silicon area that will be required by the test circuitry. The design methodology then partitions (104) the unified design into the test die and the product die. The test die includes the test circuitry and the product die includes the product circuitry. The product die may contain some test circuitry. The product and test die may then be fabricated on separate semiconductor wafers. By partitioning the product circuitry and test circuitry into separate die, embedded test circuitry can be either eliminated or minimized on the product die. This will tend to decrease the size of the product die and decrease the cost of manufacturing the product die while maintaining a high degree of test coverage of the product circuits within the product die. The test die can be used to test multiple product die on one or more wafers.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
Techniques for performing wafer-level burn-in and test of semiconductor devices include a test substrate having active electronic components such as ASICs mounted to an interconnection substrate or incorporated therein, metallic spring contact element effecting interconnections between the ASICs and a plurality of devices-under-test (DUTs) on a wafer-under-test (WUT), all disposed in a vacuum vessel so that the ASICs can be operated at temperatures independent from and significantly lower than the burn-in temperature of the DUTs. The spring contact elements may be mounted to either the DUTs or to the ASICs, and may fan out to relax tolerance constraints on aligning and interconnecting the ASICs and the DUTs. A significant reduction in interconnect count and consequent simplification of the interconnection substrate is realized because the ASICs are capable of receiving a plurality of signals for testing the DUTs over relatively few signal lines from a host controller and promulgating these signals over the relatively many interconnections between the ASICs and the DUTs. The ASICs can also generate at least a portion of these signals in response to control signals from the host controller. Physical alignment techniques are also described. Micromachined indentations on the front surface of the ASICs ensure capturing free ends of the spring contact elements. Micromachined features on the back surface of the ASICs and the front surface of the interconnection substrate to which they are mounted facilitate precise alignment of a plurality of ASICs on the support substrate.
Abstract:
Interconnection elements (752) and/or tip structures (770) for interconnection elements (752) may first be fabricated upon sacrificial substrates (702) for subsequent mounting to electronic components (784). In this manner, the electronic components (784) are not 'at risk' during the fabrication process. The sacrificial substrate (702) establishes a predetermined spatial relationship between the interconnection elements (752) which may be composite interconnection elements (752) having a relatively soft elongate element (752) as a core and a relatively hard (springy material) overcoat (754). Interconnection elements (752) may be fabricated upon tip structures (770), or may first be mounted to the electronic component (784) and the tip structures (770) joined to the free-ends of the interconnection elements (752). Tip structures (770) formed as cantilever beams are described.
Abstract:
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.