Assembly structure for making integrated circuit chip probe cards

US6204674A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Probe Technology, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Krzysztof Dabrowiecki · Fremont, US
• January Kister · Menlo Park, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 31, 1997
• Grant date: Mar 20, 2001
• Expiry date: Oct 31, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R3/00
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

This disclosure proposes an assembly structure for building probe cards to test square integrated circuit chips. The test probe card assembly structure has one or more wings located at 90.degree. angles to each other upon which probes are laid in a parallel manner for attachment to a probe card. This allows 10 construction of the probe card so that probes touch contacts directly. The probe tips do not touch the contacts at an angle .theta., called the fan out angle. The probes also do not differ in their inclination angles .beta.. As a result, the force at which the many probe tips touch the contacts is relatively constant throughout. In addition, the probe tips are less likely to scrub past the surface of the contact onto the insulation surface of the chip and in doing so damage it. The test probe card assembly structure also contains an epoxy groove, which controls epoxy flow so that the position of the probes stays aligned in the correct plane. The epoxy groove also prevents variance in beam length. An alternative embodiment of the present invention can make probe cards for simultaneously testing multiple chips and includes a probe card for testing multiple chips.