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Article: Investigation Conquers Probe-Card Problems.
- Article from:
- Test & Measurement World
- Article date:
- November 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IC manufacturers use epoxy probe cards to test ICs in wafer form by probing the chips to determine whether the individual circuits meet design specifications. Probe cards must enable reliable, repeatable, and consistent electrical contacts between the tester and the chip pads. Components and materials used in epoxy probe cards can fail prematurely because of inherent defects, process-induced defects, design problems, or misuse. Failure analysis (FA) can determine the specific cause of probe-card failure.
A failure investigation must assess the factors that could have contributed to the failure and identify which factor was the primary cause. To conduct a ...