Test system and associated interface module

Details Test system and associated interface module Test system and associated interface module

2002-04-24

2003-02-18

Sherry, Michael (Department: 2829)

Electricity: measuring and testing

Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components

Of individual circuit component or element

C324S1540PB

Reexamination Certificate

active

06522162

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF USE
This invention relates to test equipment, especially automated test equipment for testing and examining electronic devices such as integrated circuits.
BACKGROUND ART
Integrated circuits (“ICs”) can be tested or/and examined in various ways. One testing/examining (diagnostic) technique is to electrically stimulate an IC and then monitor its electrical response, typically by comparing the actual response to a reference response. The stimulation/response-monitoring technique is commonly performed with automated test equipment connected to the external electrical leads, commonly referred to as pins, by which the IC interacts with the outside world. The test equipment stimulates the IC by providing electrical signals to the IC's pins and then monitoring the resultant electrical signals provided from the IC on its pins.
Another diagnostic technique involves probing an IC, especially when the IC has failed and it is desirable to determine the reason(s) for failure. The probing technique can be done in an intrusive manner by physically contacting the IC with a probe. The probing technique can also be done in a largely non-intrusive manner by directing radiation such as light, electrons, or ions toward parts of the IC. The test equipment which performs the stimulation/response-monitoring technique often includes a probting capability.
FIG. 1
illustrates an example of a conventional test system that combines a stimulation/response-monitoring technique with a non-intrusive electron-beam probing capability for testing/examining an integrated circuit
10
referred to generally as a device under test (“DUT”). The test system in
FIG. 1
consists of core automated test equipment
12
, manipulator
14
, test head
16
, tester load board
18
, interface module
20
, device-side board (or card)
22
, and device chamber
24
which contains an electron-beam probe (not separately shown). DUT
10
is situated in device chamber
24
and attached to device-side board
22
also situated in chamber
24
.
An example of a test system containing automated test equipment
12
, manipulator
14
, and test head
16
is the Schlumberger ITS 9000® automated test system. An example of an electron-beam probe system containing device chamber
12
is the Schlumberger 10000® probe system. Module
20
interfaces between the probe and test systems. Inasmuch as electron-beam probing needs to be done in a high vacuum, interface module
20
is configured to be airtight along device-side board
22
.
Interface module
20
consists of tester-side body
26
, device-side body
28
, and electrical interface conductors
30
which pass through openings (not shown here) in bodies
26
and
28
to connect tester board
18
to device-side board
22
. Tester board
18
, which electrically connects test head
16
to interface conductors
30
along tester-side body
26
, is customized to match head
16
. Different implementations of board
18
thereby permit interface module
20
to be utilized with different versions of head
16
. In the large majority of state-of-the-art test systems that provide stimulation/response-monitoring capabilities, head
16
and board
18
have outer lateral peripheries that are approximately circular in shape. Device-side board
22
which connects interface conductors
30
to the pins of DUT
10
, is similarly customized for testing DUT
10
. Different versions of board
22
enable module
20
to be employed with different implementations of DUT
10
.
During test operation, test equipment
12
generates electrical signals which are supplied through components
14
,
16
,
18
,
20
, and
22
to stimulate DUT
10
. The resulting electrical response from DUT
10
is then furnished in the other direction through components
22
,
20
,
18
,
16
, and
14
to test equipment
12
for evaluation. The electron-beam probe in device chamber
24
non-intrusively probes DUT
10
to form an image of a portion of DUT
10
. The probing may be done as test signals generated by equipment
12
are used to stimulate DUT
10
.
One conventional example of interface module
20
suitable for interfacing an electron-beam probe system, such as the Schlumberger IDS 10000 probe system, to a test system, such as the Schlumberger ITS 9000 test system, which provides a stimulation/response-monitoring capability is the Schlumberger 768 pin interface load module.
FIG. 2
a
perspectively illustrates the Schlumberger 768 pin load module.
FIG. 2
b
depicts tester-side body
26
of the load module.
FIG. 2
c
illustrates how the module connects tester board
18
to device-side board
22
.
FIG. 2
c
also depicts the generally circular outer lateral periphery of tester board
18
.
Tester-side body
26
in the Schlumberger 768 pin load module contains four physically separate tester-side portions
32
having tester-side openings through which interface conductors
30
pass. The tester-side openings are arranged in a pattern whose outer periphery is shaped generally like a square. See
FIG. 2
b.
Device-side body
28
similarly contains four physically separate device-side portions
34
having device-side openings through which conductors
30
also pass. As indicated in
FIG. 2
a,
the device-side openings are arranged in a pattern whose outer periphery is likewise shaped generally like a square. Although difficult to see in
FIGS. 2
a
and
2
b,
conductors
30
protrude sufficiently far out of these openings to contact electrical contacts, e.g., metal pads, on boards
18
and
22
.
Each device-side portion
34
is situated largely opposite a corresponding one of tester-side portions
32
to form a combination that utilizes one quarter of the total number, i.e., 768 , of interface conductors
30
in the Schlumberger 768 pin load module. Each combination of one tester-side portion
32
, corresponding device-side portion
34
, and the associated quarter of interface conductors
30
can be removed as a unit from the Schlumberger 768 pin load module. This facilitates repairing the load module should one of these units fail. However, the module has only 768 conductors
30
and thus is limited to use in testing implementations of DUT
10
having no more than 768 pins.
ICs having more than 768 pins are being fabricated now and are expected to become more prevalent in the future. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a module which can accommodate considerably more than 768 pins as it interfaces between a non-intrusive probe system and an automated test system having a stimulation/response-monitoring capability. It is also desirable that such an interface module be easy to repair.
GENERAL DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention furnishes an interface module which, when installed in a test system, enables the system to test or/and examine an electronic device, typically an integrated circuit, having a large number of external electrical leads, e.g., pins. The module of the invention is suitable for interfacing between a state-of-the-art non-intrusive probe system and a state-of-the-art test system that provides a stimulation/response-monitoring capability and, when utilized in such an overall test system, can readily accommodate an IC having considerably more than 768 pins. The present interface module is also typically configured to facilitate module repair.
More particularly, an interface module in accordance with the invention is intended to be situated between (a) a test mechanism having multiple electrical tester contacts for carrying test signals and (b) a device-side board (or card) having multiple electrical device-side contacts for connection to external electrical leads of an electronic device, such as an IC, under test. The test signals may include power supply signals. The interface module contains a tester-side body, a device-side body, and a group of electrical interface conductors.
The tester-side body of the present interface module normally contains at least five physically separate generally wedge-shaped tester-side portions laterally arranged so that their tips are directed generally toward one another.

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