Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-17
2004-11-30
Zarneke, David A. (Department: 2827)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement
C174S267000, C361S772000, C361S776000, C439S081000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06825422
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical interconnection (contact) elements, and, more particularly, to interconnection elements and tip structures suitable for effecting pressure connections between electronic components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, interconnections between electronic components can be classified into the two broad categories of “relatively permanent” and “readily demountable”. An example of a relatively permanent connection is a solder joint. Once two electronic components are soldered to one another, a process of unsoldering must be used to separate the components. A wire bond, such as between a semiconductor die and the inner leads of a semiconductor package (or the inner ends of lead frame fingers) is another example of a relatively permanent connection.
One example is a group of rigid pins of one electronic component being received by resilient socket elements of another electronic component. The socket elements exert a contact force (pressure) on the pins in an amount sufficient to ensure a reliable electrical connection therebetween. Another type of readily demountable connection are interconnection elements (also referred to herein as springs, spring elements, spring contacts or spring contact elements) that are themselves resilient, springy, or mounted in and/or on a spring medium. An example of such a spring contact element is a needle of a probe card component. Such spring contact elements are typically intended to effect temporary pressure connections between a component to which they are mounted and terminals of another component, such as a semiconductor device under test.
Tip structures are often mounted (or affixed or coupled) to one end of an interconnection element. Tip structures provide a desired tip shape to the interconnection elements and are particularly useful in providing a small area contact with a controlled geometry that creates a repeatable high pressure. Tip structures become increasingly critical as the interconnection elements themselves become smaller and smaller. A tip structure may also have topological features on its surface to assist in providing an electrical contact between the two electrical components. For example, the purpose of the tip structure is typically to break through the non-conductive layer (often corrosion, oxidation products, or other types of contaminated films) on the terminals of the electrical component under test. As a contact force is applied, the interconnection element applies a pressure to the terminal of the electronic component under test and causes the tip structure to deflect across the terminal. This small horizontal movement of the tip structure across the surface of the corresponding terminal allows the tip structure to penetrate the nonconductive layer on the terminal, thereby establishing a good electrical contact between the two electronic components. For example, tip structure
10
mounted to interconnection element
12
(shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
) has a blade
14
that scrapes aside the non-conductive layer in order to achieve an electrical contact.
There are a number of problems associated with achieving the above-described electrical contact. First, as the terminal contact areas also get smaller, the horizontal movement of the tip structure
10
becomes an issue. Second, as the tip structure
10
is forced to deflect across the terminal (see FIG.
1
B), it may also be forced down and away from the terminal causing the blade
14
of the tip structure
10
to rotate away from the terminal. The rotation of the blade
14
away from the terminal of the electronic component under test reduces the chances of the tip structure achieving a dependable electrical contact with the terminal of the electronic component. Further, as the tip structure scrapes across the non-conductive surface of the terminal in an effort to penetrate the nonconductive surface and establish a good electrical contact, stray particles and buildup often occur along the blade
14
and upper surface of the tip structure
10
. This buildup may contribute to high contact resistance between the tip structure and the terminal, which may cause inaccurate voltage levels during device testing due to the voltage produced across the tip structure. The inaccurate voltage levels may cause a device to incorrectly fail, resulting in lower test yields when the contact is used in a device testing environment.
Thus, an interconnection element and tip structure that minimize buildup along the blade of the tip structure and maximize contact pressure between the tip structure and the terminal of the electronic component under test as the tip structure deflects across the surface of the terminal is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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.
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Eldridge Benjamin N.
Grube Gary W.
Khandros Igor Y.
Madsen Alec
Mathieu Gaetan L.
Buraston N. Kenneth
Formfactor, Inc.
Merkadeau Stuart L.
Patel I B
Zarneke David A.
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