Contact sensing for integrated circuit testing

Details Contact sensing for integrated circuit testing Contact sensing for integrated circuit testing

1990-05-21

1991-05-28

Wieder, Kenneth

Electricity: measuring and testing

Measuring, testing, or sensing electricity, per se

With rotor

324158F, 324158R, 324 731, 36455501, G01R 2704, G01R 3128

Patent

active

050197711

ABSTRACT:
A technique for detecting whether electrical contact between a probe tip and a device under test ("DUT") has been established. A contact sensing circuit has a ground that is isolated from the ground of the DUT (and remaining portions of the test equipment) during contact sensing. The contact sensing circuit has elements that operate to apply a characteristic signal to one of the DUT terminals, such as its ground terminal. This causes virtually all the DUT circuit traces to track the applied signal (relative to the contact sensing ground). The contact sensing circuit further includes elements, coupled to the probe, that operate to detect the presence of the characteristic signal (relative to the contact sensing ground) on the probe. Once electrical contact has been established, the characteristic signal output is disconnected from the DUT, the test equipment ground is connected to the contact sensing circuit ground, and the probe output is coupled to the relevant portions of the test equipment circuitry.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3979670 (1976-09-01), Vahaviolos
patent: 3996517 (1976-12-01), Fergason et al.
patent: 4175253 (1979-11-01), Pitegoff
patent: 4342957 (1982-08-01), Russell
patent: 4342958 (1982-08-01), Russell
patent: 4651088 (1987-03-01), Sawada
patent: 4714875 (1987-12-01), Bailey et al.
patent: 4780836 (1988-10-01), Miyazaki et al.
"Micromanipulator Vision for Wafer Probing"; IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing; vol. 2, No. 3 (Aug. 1989).

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