WO2005057735A1 - Petit contact de grille matricielle possedant une gamme de fonctionnement precise - Google Patents

Petit contact de grille matricielle possedant une gamme de fonctionnement precise Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2005057735A1
WO2005057735A1 PCT/US2004/040867 US2004040867W WO2005057735A1 WO 2005057735 A1 WO2005057735 A1 WO 2005057735A1 US 2004040867 W US2004040867 W US 2004040867W WO 2005057735 A1 WO2005057735 A1 WO 2005057735A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
contact
array
base portion
working range
displacement
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2004/040867
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Dirk D. Brown
John D. Williams
Original Assignee
Neoconix, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US10/731,669 external-priority patent/US7244125B2/en
Priority claimed from PCT/US2004/011074 external-priority patent/WO2004093252A2/fr
Priority claimed from US10/960,043 external-priority patent/US20050227510A1/en
Application filed by Neoconix, Inc. filed Critical Neoconix, Inc.
Priority to BRPI0417379-1A priority Critical patent/BRPI0417379A/pt
Priority to JP2006542871A priority patent/JP2007535657A/ja
Priority to EP04813214A priority patent/EP1698024A1/fr
Publication of WO2005057735A1 publication Critical patent/WO2005057735A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/02—Contact members
    • H01R13/22—Contacts for co-operating by abutting
    • H01R13/24—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted
    • H01R13/2407—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted characterized by the resilient means
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R1/00—Details of instruments or arrangements of the types included in groups G01R5/00 - G01R13/00 and G01R31/00
    • G01R1/02—General constructional details
    • G01R1/04—Housings; Supporting members; Arrangements of terminals
    • G01R1/0408—Test fixtures or contact fields; Connectors or connecting adaptors; Test clips; Test sockets
    • G01R1/0433—Sockets for IC's or transistors
    • G01R1/0441—Details
    • G01R1/0466—Details concerning contact pieces or mechanical details, e.g. hinges or cams; Shielding
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/50—Fixed connections
    • H01R12/51—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/55—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures characterised by the terminals
    • H01R12/57—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures characterised by the terminals surface mounting terminals
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
    • H01R43/007—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for elastomeric connecting elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K3/00—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits
    • H05K3/40—Forming printed elements for providing electric connections to or between printed circuits
    • H05K3/4092—Integral conductive tabs, i.e. conductive parts partly detached from the substrate
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R3/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture or maintenance of measuring instruments, e.g. of probe tips
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L2924/00—Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
    • H01L2924/10—Details of semiconductor or other solid state devices to be connected
    • H01L2924/11—Device type
    • H01L2924/14—Integrated circuits
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K3/00—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits
    • H05K3/30—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor
    • H05K3/32—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor electrically connecting electric components or wires to printed circuits
    • H05K3/325—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor electrically connecting electric components or wires to printed circuits by abutting or pinching, i.e. without alloying process; mechanical auxiliary parts therefor
    • H05K3/326—Assembling printed circuits with electric components, e.g. with resistor electrically connecting electric components or wires to printed circuits by abutting or pinching, i.e. without alloying process; mechanical auxiliary parts therefor the printed circuit having integral resilient or deformable parts, e.g. tabs or parts of flexible circuits

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more specifically, to elastic electrical connectors used to join electronic components.
  • a particular problem encountered by today's interconnect systems is non- coplanarity of leads in the electronic components to be connected.
  • Coplanarity of elements in a planar package exists, for example, when those elements reside within a common reference geometrical plane.
  • factors that can contribute to non-coplanarity of connector elements (or leads) of the package include manufacturing variability and substrate warpage.
  • coplanarity variation across a package may exceed vertical tolerances for connector elements, resulting in failure of electrical connection in some elements.
  • Coplanarity problems are not limited to IC packages but may also exist in a printed circuit board (PC board) to which these IC packages are attached. Coplanarity problems may exist for land grid array pads formed as an area array on a PC board due to warpage of the PC board substrate. Typically, deviation from flatness in a conventional PC board is on the order of 75 to 125 microns or more per inch.
  • Figure 1 is a property graph for a contact of a connector element of the present invention.
  • Figure 2A is a schematic diagram that illustrates a plan view of an exemplary fully formed single sided rolling beam contact 200.
  • Figure 2B is a schematic diagram that depicts a cross-section of the contact of Figure 2A along line A-A'.
  • Figure 3A is a schematic diagram that illustrates the single sided rolling beam contact of Figure 2A, at an intermediate stage of processing.
  • Figure 3B is a schematic diagram that illustrates a perspective view of the contact of Figure 3 A.
  • Figure 4 is a plot of resistance and load versus displacement for an exemplary single sided rolling beam contact.
  • Figure 5 is a load-displacement plot applied to an exemplary extended rolling beam contact.
  • Figure 6 A is a schematic diagram of a plan view of an exemplary dual sided double flange contact.
  • Figure 6B is a plot of dB loss as a function of frequency for a contact configured for a 1.27 mm array pitch and having the contact structure according to Figure 6A.
  • Figure 6C is a plot of load and resistance versus displacement for a double sided flanged contact having a contact structure according to Figure 6A.
  • Figure 7 is a plot of load and resistance versus displacement for a contact having the shape of the contact structure of Figure 2A, arranged in an array of 0.5 mm pitch.
  • Figure 8 is a plot of load-displacement data for a "half-hard" contact arranged in an array of 127 mm pitch and having the structure disclosed in Figures 2A and 2B.
  • Figure 9A is a schematic diagram that illustrates an exemplary three flange contact designed to contact a solder ball.
  • Figure 9B is a load-displacement plot illustrating three load-unload cycles of the contact of Figure 9A.
  • Figure 10 illustrates exemplary steps involved in a process for forming array contacts, according to a configuration of the present invention.
  • FIGS 11A-11H illustrate exemplary steps involved in another process for forming array contacts according to another configuration of the present invention.
  • a feature of the present invention is the working range of one or more contacts of a connector element arranged in an array of connector elements in which the array spacing (also termed “pitch”, and referring to the distance separating the centers of nearest neighbor connectors) is within a range of about 0.05 mm to about 5 mm, and preferably within a range of about 0.05 mm to 2 mm.
  • the term "connector element” as used herein refers to any entity that can form an electrically conductive path between conductive elements.
  • Each connector element includes a contact that can further include a plurality of contact portions at least one of which is substantially elastically deformable over a range of displacement.
  • working range denotes a range over which a property or group of properties conform to predetermined criteria.
  • the working range is a range of distance (displacement) through which the deformable contact portion(s) can be mechanically displaced while meeting predetermined performance criteria including, without limitation, physical characteristics such as elasticity and spatial memory, and electrical characteristics such as resistance, impedance, inductance, capacitance and/or elastic behavior.
  • the contact is located in a connector element of a coplanar array of connector elements that comprises a planar connector.
  • each contact has a base portion comprising conductive material, in addition to an elastically deformable portion comprising conductive material that extends from the base portion and protrudes above the surface of the plane containing the array of connector elements.
  • a contact in which the deformable elastic portion is formed integrally with the base portion By fabricating a contact in which the deformable elastic portion is formed integrally with the base portion, using film coating, lithographic patterning, etching and forming technologies, many configurations of the present invention can form small contacts in arrays having pitches within a range of about 0.05 mm to about 5 mm, and as demonstrated herein, within a range of about 0.5 mm to 1.27 mm, while providing a working range unattainable by conventional technologies.
  • a lateral dimension of the contact is within a range of about 0.5 mm to about 100 n .
  • the deformable contact portion exhibits a suitable working range within a range of about 0.0 mm to about 1.0 mm.
  • the deformable contact portion exhibits a normalized working range within a range of about 0.20 to about 0.44 for a single sided contact and about 0.40 to about 0.88 for a double sided contact.
  • a double sided contact has contacts on opposed surfaces of a substrate.
  • Double sided connectors may be fabricated using the techniques described herein and may be formed into a circuit.
  • the term "normalized working range" is a dimensionless quantity that represents the working range of a contact divided by the array pitch of the connector array in which the contact is located.
  • Figure 1 is a property graph for a contact in a connector element of the present invention.
  • the graph plots electrical resistance and external force applied versus contact displacement for an electrical connector element.
  • a connector element may be required to meet a specified resistance value, which typically is characterized by an upper limit of tolerable resistance.
  • an applied displacement should not exceed a value above which the elastic contact portion does not behave in an elastic manner.
  • a working range can be defined as an absolute value of a range of applied displacement over which the connector element has a resistance below the tolerable resistance limit and over which the elastic portion maintains an elastic response to applied displacement or force.
  • the tolerable resistance limit is represented by Rmax.
  • the measured electrical resistance decreases with increasing displacement of the contact, and at Dmin, the resistance attains the value of Rmax. At higher displacement values, the measured electrical resistance remains below the Rmax value.
  • a lower limit of working range can be set at the displacement value Dmin above which the connector resistance is less than Rmax.
  • the force curve Forcel exhibits reproducible behavior with contact displacement over a range up to the value denoted as Dplastic.
  • Dplastic the value denoted as Dplastic.
  • displacement or force can be applied to a contact with complete elastic recovery of the deformable contact portion when the external displacement is removed.
  • increases in contact displacement occur with little or no increase in applied force, which indicates the onset of plastic deformation. Accordingly, a contact subject to deformation beyond Dplastic will exhibit permanent deformation that does not recover when the load is removed, thus reducing the elastic range of the contact portion.
  • the upper limit of working range WR1 is set at a displacement value below the point Dplastic, to ensure that the external displacement does not cause irrecoverable displacement in the elastic contact portion.
  • this limit might be set at a displacement value at some margin below the Dplastic value to ensure reliable contact performance.
  • an upper limit on working range Dmaxl may be set by a maximum clamping force available to be applied to a contact.
  • a maximum total clamping force may be specified for an array of connectors containing elastic contacts used to electrically connect a land grid array and a printed circuit board. The total maximum clamping force then corresponds to a maximum clamping force, Fmax, available per elastic contact of the connector array.
  • Figure 2A illustrates a plan view of an exemplary fully formed single sided rolling beam contact 200, according to a configuration of the present invention.
  • rolling beam contact 200 of Figure 2A is formed as part of a connector element (not shown) of a coplanar array of connector elements.
  • the plan view illustrated in Figure 2A is from a perspective normal to a plane containing coplanar contact elements.
  • Contact 200 includes base portion 202 that comprises a metallic material and is configured to lie in a plane, and has dimensions along mutually orthogonal "X" and "Y" axes of about 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm, respectively.
  • Elastically deformable portions (also generally referred to hereinafter as “elastic portions” or “spring portions”) 204 are formed integrally continuous with base portion 202 and comprise the same metallic material. JJI this configuration, elastic portions 204 comprise single sided metallic rolling beams each of whose actual dimension along a longest direction of the beam is about 1.5 mm.
  • rolling beams 204 form an upward curving_shape and extend above a plane containing base portion 202 such that, with respect to a line perpendicular to a plane containing base portion 202, a distal end 206 of rolling beams 204 lies at a height H, about 0.6 mm above the plane.
  • a projected beam length Lp of free standing rolling beams 204 in the direction of line A-A' is about 1.16 mm.
  • Figure 3 A illustrates a plan view of a partially formed single sided rolling beam contact 300 corresponding to fully formed contact 200 ( Figure 2 A) at an intermediate stage of processing.
  • base portion 302 and beam portions 304 are coplanar.
  • Figure 3A shows that a projected beam length Lp is 1.5 mm, equivalent to the actual beam length along its long axis.
  • the shape of beams 204, height H, and Lp are determined by a "forming" process in which initially planar beams 304 of Figure 3 A are deformed over a three dimensional body embedded in a planar surface. The deformation process serves to impart a shape illustrated in Figures 2A and 2B.
  • a 1.5 mm rolling beam having a 0.63 mm height can be formed in a contact of outer (base) dimensions of about 2.1x 2.1 mm.
  • contact 200 is formed using known lithographic and etch techniques that are effective in defining sub-micron sized features, a pitch in an array containing contact 200 can easily be set at a dimension only nominally larger than the contact size. This is because the sub-micron tolerances of lithography and etching techniques used to form contact 200 are much smaller than the actual contact size.
  • an upper limit on working range corresponds to a displacement corresponding to the onset of plastic deformation, a displacement limit of a contact, or a load value greater than 50 g.
  • a lower limit of working range is defined at a displacement value above which electrical resistance versus displacement traces a substantially unvarying curve in each measurement cycle, and above which value the electrical resistance varies much less rapidly than at low displacement values.
  • the lower limit of working range is defined by a "knee" in an L-shaped resistance versus displacement data typical of the electrical measurements (see point K in Figure 1).
  • Figure 4 is a plot of resistance and load versus displacement for a single sided rolling beam contact, formed according to an exemplary configuration of the present invention.
  • the rolling beam contact measured for Figure 4 had the structure of contact 200 disclosed in Figures 2A and 2B, and was formed as part of an array of connector elements whose pitch is 1.27 mm.
  • the data of Figure 4 represents 100 cycles taken from one contact.
  • the measuring apparatus was brought to within about 0 mils of a surface of beam portion 204, and a displacement of about 20 mils was achieved in the direction perpendicular to the plane of base portion 202.
  • resistance dropped rapidly as electrical contact was established through the connector element.
  • the resistance dropped below about 0.04 m ⁇ and remained below that value.
  • a working range comprising acceptable mechanical behavior, as well as acceptable resistance values for the rolling beam contact, can be defined.
  • Rmax value 0.04 m ⁇
  • F lower limit of a working range
  • F an upper limit of working range
  • an upper limit of working range corresponds the displacement limit of 20 mil.
  • a maximum allowable applied load of 50g is used as a criterion, the maximum has not yet been reached at 20 mil displacement.
  • an upper limit on working range corresponds to about 20 mil displacement.
  • a working range of about 14 mils (the range between 6+ mil and 20 mil displacement) exists for the contact of Figure 4 that is formed on an array of 1.27 mm (50 mils) pitch.
  • the desired working range characteristics persisted during at least 100 measurement cycles, as indicated in Figure 4.
  • the working range obtained for the contact measured for the data of Figure 4 can be alternatively expressed as a normalized working range.
  • a normalized working range refers to a displacement value obtained for a given contact divided by a pitch of an array in which the contact is designed to reside.
  • the normalized working range is about (14 mils)/(50 mils) or 0.28 for a single sided rolling beam.
  • Figure 5 is a load-displacement plot applied to an exemplary extended rolling beam contact of the present invention as illustrated in Figure 2B.
  • the rolling beam contact length is made greater than the pitch by interleaving two sets of beam elements.
  • the exemplary contact measured for Figure 5 was designed for an extremely high mechanical durability.
  • the extended rolling beam contact was arranged in a connector array of 1.27 mm pitch.
  • Figure 6A provides a plan view illustration of an exemplary dual sided flanged contact structure according to a configuration of the present invention.
  • Figure 6B plots dB loss as a function of frequency for a 1.27 mm pitch contact having a structure similar to that of the contact of Figure 6A.
  • Figure 6C plots load and resistance versus displacement for a contact having a contact structure according of Figure 6A.
  • contact 600 comprises two curved elastic portions 602 extending from a plane of a base 604.
  • Contact 600 is formed in an array of 1.12 mm pitch.
  • the elastic portions 602 are configured to have a short electrical path length defined as a length that current traveling through the elastic portion 602 travels when passing through a connector containing the contact. In the example shown, the electrical path length is about 1.14 mm.
  • contact 600 Because of the short electrical path length, contact 600 provides a very low dB loss at high frequencies to meet high frequency application requirements. As illustrated in Figure 6B, dB loss remained under a value of 0.8 at 10 GHz, indicating very low loss even for contacts operating at high frequencies.
  • a working range of about 5.5 mils exists for contact 600 of Figure 6 A formed on a 1.12 mm array pitch.
  • the present invention can therefore provide a contact element with low dB loss up to 10 GHz and working range of 5.5 mils for a 1.12 pitch.
  • Conventional contacts cannot achieve such a working range corresponding to the low resistance values and stable elastic behavior, while maintaining such a low dB loss at 10 GHz.
  • the normalized working range is about 0.13.
  • Figure 7 plots load and resistance versus displacement for a contact having the same general shapes of base portion 202 and elastic portions 204 of contact structure 200 (Figure 2A), but having smaller dimensions and being arranged in an array of 0.5 mmpitch. Two cycles of loading and unloading are plotted. Even at 0.5 mm pitch (equivalent to about 19.7 mils), this configuration obtained a working range of about 8.7 mils, corresponding to applied displacements to a contact of between about 5 mils and about 13.7 mils, in which an acceptable resistance and reproducible elastic behavior were observed.
  • a normalized working range for the contact of Figure 7 can be calculated, equal to approximately (8.7 mil)/(19.7 mil), or about 0.44 for a single sided contact and 0.88 for a double sided contact.
  • Figure 8 illustrates load-displacement data for a single sided rolling beam contact arranged in a 1.27 mm pitch array and having the structure disclosed in Figures 2A and 2B.
  • the contact comprised a "half-hard" metallic copper alloy that had not been subject to heat treatment before measurement.
  • Figure 8 more than 18,000 loading and unloading cycles were performed. A smooth, gradual, and systematic shift in the load required for a given displacement was observed. This behavior is due to work hardening of metallic material within the rolling beam contact that is caused by loading and unloading, which in turn results in a stiffer elastic property for the beam element.
  • Knowledge of the behavior exhibited in Figure 8 allows a contact to be tailored according to the application for a connector to contain the contact. For example, if an application does not entail multiple mechanical loading and unloading of a connector containing the contact, a more compliant contact can be achieved by refraining from heat treatment of the contact.
  • Figure 9A illustrates a three flange (elastic contact portions) contact 900 designed to contact a solder ball 901, according to another configuration of the present invention.
  • Flanges 902 are arranged at an approximately 120 degree separation along an arc of a circular opening.
  • contact 900 is arranged in an array of contacts having a 1.27 mm pitch.
  • Contact 900 comprises a thin metal having a thickness of about 1 mil.
  • a thickness of base portion 904 and flanges 902 is about 1 mil.
  • Figure 9B is a load-displacement plot illustrating three load-unload cycles of a contact having the structure and dimensions of contact 900.
  • the slope of the load-displacement curve of Figure 9B indicates a compliant spring "constant" for the three flange contact of Figure 9 A.
  • a compliance of the elastic portions of the contacts can be increased, thus affording a greater displacement (and therefore working range) for a given contact size. Discussion of working range
  • working range was illustrated for the case where the working range variable parameter of interest was displacement, or external force. Values of working range for exemplary contacts were shown based on displacement ranges in which resistance of the electrical contact was within an acceptable range. It was shown that for contacts in arrays having pitches 0.5 to 1.27 mm, large s working ranges of about 6-14 mils or greater can be achieved. In the example of Figure 6B, low dB loss at high frequency is illustrated for dual flange contacts. Thus, in configurations of the present invention, working range can encompass a contact displacement range through which several different properties are simultaneously satisfied (e.g., in Figures 6A-6C: elastic response, low resistance, applied force within a tolerable range, and low loss at high frequency).
  • Figure 10 illustrates exemplary steps of the invention in a process for forming an array of contacts.
  • a conductive layer or sheet is fabricated.
  • the conductive layer can be formed freestanding or on a substrate.
  • a conductive metal is chosen that can provide a desired elasticity to an elastic contact portion.
  • the conductive metal can include titanium (Ti) as a support structure that in additional substeps can be plated to obtain a desired electrical and/or elastic behavior.
  • the conductive metal contains a copper alloy (Cu-alloy) or a multilayer metal sheet such as stainless steel coated with a copper-nickel-gold (Cu/Ni/Au) multilayer metal sheet.
  • the conductive metal can comprise a first layer containing small-grained copper beryllium (CuBe) that is plated with electroless nickel-gold (Ni/Au) to provide a non-oxidizing surface.
  • CuBe small-grained copper beryllium
  • Ni/Au electroless nickel-gold
  • heat treatment of the conductive metal sheet is performed.
  • heat treatment of certain metallic materials transforms the materials from a half-hard state to a hard state.
  • a lithographically sensitive resist film is then applied to conductive metal sheet.
  • a dry film can be used for larger feature sizes ranging from one to 20 mils, and a liquid resist can be used for feature sizes less than one mil.
  • step 1008 the lithographically sensitive resist film is patterned according to a predetermined design for the contact. Specifically, ultraviolet (UV) light is used to expose the resist film through a mask containing the predetermined design, after which the resist is developed to define contact features in the photoresist. Portions that are intended to be etched are left unprotected by the mask.
  • UV ultraviolet
  • the mask contains an array of features that are spaced between each other according to a desired pitch. Preferably, the pitch is 1.5 mm or smaller.
  • the sheet is etched in a solution specifically selected for the conductive material being used.
  • Each particular material that can be selected for the sheet typically has a specific etch chemistry that provides an optimum etch characteristics, such as etch rate (i.e., how well and how fast the solution performs the etch).
  • Selection of an etchant also affects other characteristics like a sidewall profile of an etched contact feature, that is, the shape of an etch contour of a feature as seen in cross section.
  • Exemplary etchants include cupric chloride, ferric chloride, and sulfuric hydroxide.
  • the patterned conductive metal sheet containing contact features is subject to a forming process, for example, using a batch forming tool.
  • a batch forming tool can be designed according to the desired pitch of a contact array to be formed.
  • the batch forming tool includes of a plurality of ball bearings arranged into an array format, preferably by being set into an array of openings in a support surface.
  • the ball bearings can be of different sizes, to apply different forces to the contact features, thereby imparting different mechanical characteristics to contacts on the same sheet.
  • the curvature of the ball bearings is used to push the contact features (or flanges) away from the plane of the conductive sheet.
  • the flanges of the contacts are three dimensions by applying the forming tool to the sheet, to produce the desired elastic contact portions.
  • step 1014 the formed contact sheet is applied to a substrate, preferably a planar insulating material, such that the elastic contact portions protrude from the surface of the planar substrate.
  • step 1016 a singulation process is applied such that an array of individual (singulated) contacts is formed, so that the contacts are electrically isolated from one another.
  • FIGs 11 A to 11H illustrate exemplary processing steps for forming a contact, for example, contact 200 of Figures 2A and 2B, according to another configuration of the present invention.
  • a substrate 1100 on which the contact elements are to be located is provided.
  • the substrate 1100 can be a silicon wafer or ceramic wafer, for example, and may include a dielectric layer formed thereon (not shown in Figure 11 A).
  • the dielectric layer, of SOS, SOG, BPTEOS, or TEOS for example, can be formed on the substrate 1100 for isolating the contact elements from the substrate 1100.
  • a support layer 1102 is formed on the substrate 1100.
  • Support layer 1102 can be a deposited dielectric layer, such as an oxide or nitride layer, a spin-on dielectric, a polymer, or any other suitable etchable material.
  • Support layer 1102 can be deposited by a number of different processes, including chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma vapor deposition (PVD), a spin-on process, or when the substrate 1100 is not covered by a dielectric layer or a conductive adhesive layer, support layer 1102 can be grown using an oxidation process commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing.
  • a mask layer 1104 is formed on a top surface of support layer 1102.
  • Mask layer 1104 is used in conjunction with a conventional lithography process to define a pattern on support layer 1102 using mask layer 1104.
  • a mask pattern including regions 1104a to 1104c, is formed on the surface of support layer 1102 defining areas of support layer 1102 to be protected from subsequent etching.
  • an anisotropic etching process is performed using regions 1104a to 1104c as a mask.
  • portions of the support layer 1102 not covered by a patterned mask layer are removed. Accordingly, support regions 1102a to 1102c are formed.
  • the mask pattern including regions 1104a to 1104c is subsequently removed to expose the support regions ( Figure 1 ID).
  • Support regions 1102a to 1102c are then subjected to an isotropic etching process.
  • An isotropic etching process removes material under etch in the vertical and horizontal directions at substantially the same etch rate.
  • top corners of support regions 1102a to 1102c are rounded off as shown in Figure 1 IE.
  • the isotropic etching process can comprise a plasma etching process using SF 6 , CHF 3 , CF 4 , or other well known chemistries commonly used for etching dielectric materials.
  • the isotropic etching process is a wet etch process, such as a wet etch process using a buffered oxide etch (BOE).
  • BOE buffered oxide etch
  • a metal layer 1106 is formed on the surface of the substrate 1100 and the surface of support regions 1102a to 1102c.
  • Metal layer 1106 can be a copper layer, a copper alloy (Cu-alloy) layer, or a multilayer metal deposition such as tungsten coated with copper-nickel-gold (Cu/Ni/Au).
  • the contact elements are formed using a small-grained copper beryllium (CuBe) alloy, and are then plated with electroless nickel-gold (Ni/Au) to provide a non-oxidizing surface.
  • Metal layer 1106 can be deposited by a CVD process, electro plating, sputtering, PVD, or other conventional metal film deposition techniques.
  • a mask layer is deposited and patterned into mask regions 1108a to 1108c using a conventional lithography process. Mask regions 1108a to 1108c define areas of the metal layer 1106 to be protected from subsequent etching.
  • metal portions 1106a to 1106c are formed as shown in Figure 11G.
  • Each of metal portions 1106a to 1106c includes a base portion formed on substrate 1100 and a curved elastic portion formed on a respective support region (1102a to 1102c). Accordingly, when viewed in cross-section, the curved elastic portion of each metal portion assumes a shape substantially the same as that of the underlying support region, projecting above the surface of substrate 1100.
  • step 11H support regions 1102a to 1102c are removed, such as by using a wet etch, an anisotropic plasma etch, or other etch process. If the support layer is formed using an oxide layer, a buffered oxide etchant can be used to remove the support regions. As a result, free standing elastic contact portions 1110a to 1110c are formed on substrate 1100.
  • regular arrays of three dimensional bodies can be fabricated as small as 10 microns to form a template from which three dimensional elastic contact portions of similar overall dimensions can be fabricated.
  • large working range and large normalized working range can be realized for electrical contacts fabricated on sub-millimeter, micron- and sub-micron array pitches.
  • an elastic contact having enhanced working range includes an elastic contact portion having a shape that is tapered along a long direction of the contact portion within a plane of the contact.
  • a region of the elastic portion near a base portion has a first width, while a distal region has a second width, the second width being substantially narrower than the first width.
  • an elastic contact in another configuration of the present invention, includes an elastic contact portion having a thickness that is tapered along a long direction of the contact portion.
  • a region of the elastic portion near a base portion has a first thickness, while a distal region has a second thickness, the second thickness being substantially narrower than the first thickness, resulting in an increased compliance for the contact.
  • an elastic contact contains an elastic contact portion having a fillet beam shape.
  • the fillet beam shape comprises a fillet region of an elastic beam, the region located near a base region.
  • a base portion surrounds an elastic portion
  • the present invention is capable of operation in other configurations in which the elastic and base portions are arranged in any fashion that provides for electrical continuity between a planar base portion and a protruding elastic portion.
  • the specification may have presented the method and/or process of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps. However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps may be possible.

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un contact d'un élément de connexion disposé dans une grille matricielle d'éléments de connexion possédant simultanément des propriétés mécaniques et électriques voulues, tel que défini par une gamme de fonctionnement résistante. Un pas longitudinal se trouve de préférence dans une gamme comprise entre 0.05 mm et 1.27 mm environ, et de préférence dans une gamme de 0.05 mm à 1 mm environ. Ce contact comprend une partie de base et une partie élastiquement déformable qui fait saillie depuis un plan contenant la base et est configuré de manière à fournir une gamme de fonctionnement comprise 0.0 mm et 1.0 mm environ.
PCT/US2004/040867 2003-12-08 2004-12-07 Petit contact de grille matricielle possedant une gamme de fonctionnement precise WO2005057735A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
BRPI0417379-1A BRPI0417379A (pt) 2003-12-08 2004-12-07 contato elétrico em conjunto de contato e método para fabricar o mesmo, contato em conector elétrico, contato de feixe rolante de conjunto conector, contato esférico de solda de flanges múltiplos, contato de dois lados
JP2006542871A JP2007535657A (ja) 2003-12-08 2004-12-07 精密動作範囲を持つ小型アレイコンタクト
EP04813214A EP1698024A1 (fr) 2003-12-08 2004-12-07 Petit contact de grille matricielle possedant une gamme de fonctionnement precise

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/731,669 US7244125B2 (en) 2003-12-08 2003-12-08 Connector for making electrical contact at semiconductor scales
US10/731,669 2003-12-08
PCT/US2004/011074 WO2004093252A2 (fr) 2003-04-11 2004-04-09 Connecteur electrique et son procede de fabrication
USPCT/US2004/011074 2004-04-09
US10/960,043 2004-10-08
US10/960,043 US20050227510A1 (en) 2004-04-09 2004-10-08 Small array contact with precision working range

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2005057735A1 true WO2005057735A1 (fr) 2005-06-23

Family

ID=37429516

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2004/040867 WO2005057735A1 (fr) 2003-12-08 2004-12-07 Petit contact de grille matricielle possedant une gamme de fonctionnement precise

Country Status (4)

Country Link
JP (1) JP2007535657A (fr)
BR (1) BRPI0417379A (fr)
TW (1) TWI249273B (fr)
WO (1) WO2005057735A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP6036557B2 (ja) * 2013-06-04 2016-11-30 三菱電機株式会社 プローブ検査装置及びプローブ検査方法
US9974159B2 (en) * 2015-11-18 2018-05-15 Raytheon Company Eggcrate radio frequency interposer

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5802699A (en) * 1994-06-07 1998-09-08 Tessera, Inc. Methods of assembling microelectronic assembly with socket for engaging bump leads
US20020055282A1 (en) * 2000-11-09 2002-05-09 Eldridge Benjamin N. Electronic components with plurality of contoured microelectronic spring contacts
EP1280241A1 (fr) * 2001-07-27 2003-01-29 Hewlett-Packard Company Contact électrique
US20030129866A1 (en) * 2002-01-07 2003-07-10 Romano Linda T. Spring metal structure with passive-conductive coating on tip

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5802699A (en) * 1994-06-07 1998-09-08 Tessera, Inc. Methods of assembling microelectronic assembly with socket for engaging bump leads
US20020055282A1 (en) * 2000-11-09 2002-05-09 Eldridge Benjamin N. Electronic components with plurality of contoured microelectronic spring contacts
EP1280241A1 (fr) * 2001-07-27 2003-01-29 Hewlett-Packard Company Contact électrique
US20030129866A1 (en) * 2002-01-07 2003-07-10 Romano Linda T. Spring metal structure with passive-conductive coating on tip

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
TWI249273B (en) 2006-02-11
JP2007535657A (ja) 2007-12-06
BRPI0417379A (pt) 2007-04-17
TW200525826A (en) 2005-08-01

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