Design and manufacture of noble probe card for testing 3D ICs with TSVs

This paper describes a novel design and manufacturing method for next-generation probe cards. This method consists of the following essential concepts: (1) universal assembly by a single method; (2) precise tip motion-controllable probe structure; and (3) fully automatic probe assembly system. This technology realizes a fine-pitch and high-pin-count area-array probe card to test 3D ICs by through-silicon vias (TSVs) and a discontinuous fine-pitch array probe card for parallel testing of high-end ICs such as liquid crystal display (LCD) drivers, using common design tools and equipment. In this study, a new probe card was realized using the three concepts for fine-pitch area-array testing with a minimum pitch of 40 μm and more than 1,200 pins. Consequently, low probe contact force was achieved, which was less than 10 mN with large overdrive of 60 μm and a scrub value of less than 1 μm.