WO2018067267A1 - Test fixture - Google Patents
Test fixture Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2018067267A1 WO2018067267A1 PCT/US2017/050695 US2017050695W WO2018067267A1 WO 2018067267 A1 WO2018067267 A1 WO 2018067267A1 US 2017050695 W US2017050695 W US 2017050695W WO 2018067267 A1 WO2018067267 A1 WO 2018067267A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- electrical contacts
- substrate
- test fixture
- sections
- structures
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/28—Testing of electronic circuits, e.g. by signal tracer
- G01R31/2801—Testing of printed circuits, backplanes, motherboards, hybrid circuits or carriers for multichip packages [MCP]
- G01R31/2806—Apparatus therefor, e.g. test stations, drivers, analysers, conveyors
- G01R31/2808—Holding, conveying or contacting devices, e.g. test adapters, edge connectors, extender boards
-
- 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
- G01R1/0416—Connectors, terminals
-
- 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
- G01R1/06—Measuring leads; Measuring probes
- G01R1/067—Measuring probes
- G01R1/073—Multiple probes
- G01R1/07307—Multiple probes with individual probe elements, e.g. needles, cantilever beams or bump contacts, fixed in relation to each other, e.g. bed of nails fixture or probe card
- G01R1/07364—Multiple probes with individual probe elements, e.g. needles, cantilever beams or bump contacts, fixed in relation to each other, e.g. bed of nails fixture or probe card with provisions for altering position, number or connection of probe tips; Adapting to differences in pitch
- G01R1/07378—Multiple probes with individual probe elements, e.g. needles, cantilever beams or bump contacts, fixed in relation to each other, e.g. bed of nails fixture or probe card with provisions for altering position, number or connection of probe tips; Adapting to differences in pitch using an intermediate adapter, e.g. space transformers
-
- 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
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/28—Testing of electronic circuits, e.g. by signal tracer
- G01R31/2801—Testing of printed circuits, backplanes, motherboards, hybrid circuits or carriers for multichip packages [MCP]
- G01R31/2806—Apparatus therefor, e.g. test stations, drivers, analysers, conveyors
-
- 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
- H05K1/00—Printed circuits
- H05K1/02—Details
- H05K1/0266—Marks, test patterns or identification means
- H05K1/0268—Marks, test patterns or identification means for electrical inspection or testing
-
- 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
- H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
- H05K2201/09—Shape and layout
- H05K2201/09818—Shape or layout details not covered by a single group of H05K2201/09009 - H05K2201/09809
- H05K2201/09836—Oblique hole, via or bump
-
- 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
- H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
- H05K2201/10—Details of components or other objects attached to or integrated in a printed circuit board
- H05K2201/10227—Other objects, e.g. metallic pieces
- H05K2201/10378—Interposers
Definitions
- This specification relates generally to a test fixture for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT).
- in-circuit test may include testing a populated printed circuit board (PCB) to determine whether the PCB was properly assembled.
- PCB printed circuit board
- in-circuit testing may include performing tests to identify, on the PCB, short circuits, open circuits, wrong value components, unexpected resistance, capacitance, or inductance, and so forth.
- a test fixture acts as an interface between the PCB and test equipment used to perform in-circuit testing.
- ICT operates by gaining electrical access to a PCB test through the test fixture.
- each active and passive component When performing electrical tests, each active and passive component is typically isolated from other surrounding components and tested on an individual basis.
- PCB under test is designed to support this level of testability by incorporating test pads on signal nets that can be contacted by the test fixture.
- the test fixture typically provides the physical and electrical interface between an
- test fixture a unit under test (UUT), such as a PCB, as described above.
- UUT unit under test
- One of the purposes of the test fixture is to translate, geographically, test pins of a test system's receiver interface to test pad locations on the UUT. This routing of electrical signals from the test system's receiver to the UUT test pads has historically been performed using interconnect methods within the test fixture. Perhaps the most widely used interconnect method in an ICT fixture includes direct wiring from a pin connecting to the tester to a POGO pin that contacts the test pad on the UUT. This type of test fixture is called a "wired fixture". Wired fixtures are generally considered to be lower cost fixtures, especially in one-off situations or in low volume usage.
- Another type of interconnect method in an ICT fixture includes use of a PCB to route signals, rather than the individual wires as in a wired fixture.
- the type of test fixture that uses a PCB to route signals is called a "wireless fixture”.
- Wireless fixtures are generally more expensive to manufacture than wired fixtures and are usually deployed only in higher-volume applications, where the price of designing and building a PCB can be amortized over multiple test fixtures.
- Both of the foregoing types of test fixtures have a number of common drawbacks in that the time to develop the fixtures may be too long (e.g., on the order of three to eight weeks, depending upon node count and complexity), and that the cost may be higher than the market is willing to bear for a disposable buy item.
- test fixtures whose cost can range from $10,000 to over $100,000, are typically unique to the specific board being tested and cannot be used to test any other board types.
- the manufacturer may have only one or two ICT systems on a manufacturing line, it is likely the manufacturer has purchased tens to hundreds of different test fixtures, many of which have become obsolete as a result of short product lifetimes.
- An example test fixture is for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT).
- the example test fixture comprises: first electrical contacts that face the tester; second electrical contacts that face the UUT; and a substrate comprised of sections of printed first material.
- the first material is electrically non-conductive; and the substrate is between the first electrical contacts and the second electrical contacts.
- the example test fixture also includes structures through the substrate.
- the structures comprise sections of second material.
- the second material is electrically conductive, and at least one of the structures electrically connects a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact.
- the example text fixture may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
- At least one of the structures within the substrate may have a section that is non- vertical and non-horizontal relative to upper and lower surfaces of the substrate.
- the first material may surround, and be in contact with, at least part of the first electrical contacts.
- the example text fixture may include a base plate holding the second electrical contacts.
- the sections of printed first material may be on the base plate.
- the base plate may comprise at least parts that are electrically non-conductive.
- the first electrical contacts may comprise sections of printed third material.
- the third material may be electrically conductive and comprise a noble metal.
- the first electrical contacts may comprise pin receptacles for holding pins that mate to contacts of the UUT.
- the second material may comprise a silver-based material.
- At least one of the structures may comprise the second material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material.
- the dielectric material may be surrounded, at least in part, by conductive material.
- the example text fixture may include a top plate holding the first electrical contacts. The top plate may be attached to the substrate.
- the first electrical contacts may comprise pins and the second electrical contacts may comprise pads.
- the first electrical contacts may have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT.
- the second electrical contacts may have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester.
- the second material may comprise a combination of printed conductor and non-printed material.
- An example method of forming a test fixture for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT) comprises: forming a substrate and structures in the substrate at least in part through accumulation of sections of material, with at least some of the sections of material comprising electrically non-conductive material that forms the substrate and electrically-conductive material that forms the structures.
- the substrate is to be between first electrical contacts and second electrical contacts.
- the first electrical contacts face the tester, and the second electrical contacts face the UUT.
- At least one of the structures is formed to electrically connect a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact.
- the example method may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
- At least one of the structures within the substrate may be formed to have a section that is non-vertical and non-horizontal relative to upper and lower surfaces of the substrate.
- Forming the substrate may comprise accumulating the sections of material onto a base plate, with the base plate holding the second electrical contacts.
- Forming the substrate may comprise: holding the second electrical contacts in place using an apparatus; forming at least part of at least one of the sections around the second electrical contacts; waiting until the at least part of at least one of the sections anneals; and removing the apparatus.
- the at least part of at least one of the sections may comprise a base section; and accumulating the sections may comprise forming additional sections on top of the base section.
- the first electrical contacts may be formed through the accumulation of the sections of material, with at least some of the sections comprising electrically- conductive material that forms the first electrical contacts.
- the example method may comprise: arranging the first electrical contacts to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and arranging the second electrical contacts to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester.
- the first electrical contacts may comprise pin receptacles for holding pins to mate to contacts of the UUT.
- At least one of the structures may be formed of the electrically-conductive material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material, with the dielectric material being surrounded, at least in part, by another electrically- conductive material.
- the example method may comprise pressing at least one of the first electrical contacts or the second electrical contacts into the substrate.
- the example method may comprise attaching a top plate to the substrate.
- the top plate may hold the first electrical contacts; and the top plate may be attached so that the first electrical contacts form an electrical connection to corresponding structures at locations of the first electrical contacts.
- the electrically-conductive material may comprise a combination of printed conductor and non-printed material.
- the foregoing may reduce the cost of an iCT cell and also may reduce the time to construct an appropriate test fixture.
- the systems and techniques described herein, or portions thereof, can be implemented as/controlled by a computer program product that includes instructions that are stored on one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media, and that are executable on one or more processing devices to control (e.g., coordinate) the operations described herein.
- the systems and techniques described herein, or portions thereof, can be implemented as an apparatus, method, or electronic system that can include one or more processing devices and computer memory to store executable instructions to implement various operations.
- Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example test fixture that includes a top plate between an additively-manufactured structure and a UUT.
- Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an example test fixture that includes a Z-axis anisotropic conductor between a top plate a UUT.
- Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an example test fixture that includes contacts to a UUT directly on an additively-manufactured structure.
- Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an example buried conductive structure.
- Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an example hidden conductive structure.
- Fig. 6 is a block diagram including an example diagonal conductive structure.
- Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example process for forming an additively- manufactured test fixture.
- ICT in-circuit test
- PCB printed circuit board
- ICT systems may obtain access to a unit under test (UUT), such as a PCB, through a test fixture (also called a test fixture interface).
- UUT unit under test
- test fixture also called a test fixture interface
- active and passive components on a UUT are typically isolated from other surrounded components and tested on an individual basis.
- the PCB is configured to support this level of testability by incorporating test pads that can be contacted by corresponding electrical contacts on the test fixture.
- the example test fixtures described herein provide the physical and electrical interface between the test system and the UUT - in the examples described herein, a PCB.
- the example test fixtures may be configured to route signals between test pins of the ICT system's receiver interface and test pad locations on the UUT.
- test fixtures may be produced using an additive manufacturing process, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing.
- a test fixture may be, or include, an interface (called an interconnect or translator) that is additively-manufactured using co- printed dielectric material (e.g., electrically non-conductive material) and electrically- conductive material.
- co- printed dielectric material e.g., electrically non-conductive material
- electrically-conductive material may include, but is not limited to, heavily-loaded silver particles in a thermoplastic or thermoset matrix. Silver and other noble metals may be used because their oxides, that may appear over time, are also conductive. Alternatively, conductive materials such as copper or copper alloys can be used.
- the additive manufacturing process may be performed in an inert atmosphere, such as Nitrogen (N 2 ), so that oxidation over time of the base conductive material is inhibited, in some implementations, electrically non-conductive (or, simply "non- conductive") layers are printed on a base plate.
- the base plate may become part of the test fixture, or it may be removed, as described herein.
- the lower test fixture interface to the test system is implemented by the base plate.
- the base plate may provide the mechanical and electrical foundation upon which layers of material may be added by additive manufacturing to form the test fixture.
- the base plate includes electrical contacts, that are configured and arranged to mate to corresponding electrical contacts on the ICT system (or test system) receiver and to mate to correspondingly arranged vias in the test fixture.
- Material forming the non-conductive parts of the test fixture interface is applied around electrical contacts on the base plate, and surrounds those contacts. Thereafter, conductive and non-conductive material is accumulated over the resulting structure, in layers, to form the test fixture.
- the base plate is used as an initial structure on which layers are accumulated, and is subsequently removed, with appropriate test system contacts added to, or formed in, the test fixture.
- Electrical interconnection among multiple additively-manufactured layers may be implemented through inter-layer structures. Examples of such inter-layer structures include, but are not limited to, conductors, such as vias, which are formed in, or added to, the test fixture, in some cases, the vias can be "blind" (surface layer to inner layer), or "buried” (inner layer to inner layer).
- Transmission of signals may benefit from additively-manufactured conduits. That is, through additive manufacturing, conductors may be formed that are shielded, coaxial, and that have a controlled characteristic impedance. Signal transmission may be improved through use of conductors such as these.
- the test fixture may be additively-manufactured directly upon target pads (or "brads") or cups, without using a base plate, as described herein, to support the test brads.
- a temporary unit (which may be a base plate or other type of apparatus) that is comprised of any appropriate rigid material may be used to mechanically retain the interface brads in place while the additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) process begins. Once the printing, or at least a portion thereof, has been completed and the printed material has cured, the temporary unit can be removed and re-used for to form subsequent test fixtures.
- test system POGO pins which may be located in the test system receiver, directly connect to electrical contacts on the bottom of the test fixture, in some implementations, the electrical contacts on the bottom of the test fixture may be pads (or brads). These pads may be printed with thick, hard material in order to withstand the repeated contact force of the tester POGO pins.
- POGO pin receptacles may be used in place of pads.
- the top of the test fixture includes an electrical path to
- an interconnect vehicle between the test fixture and the UUT test pads may include a top plate 10 comprising a double sided POGO pin structure that is mechanically held in a fixed geographic location relative to the UUT (see, e.g., Fig.
- the Z-axis conductor pad may be, or include, a flexible insulating rubber material that has a multiplicity of fine, closely-spaced metal wire conductors placed in the flexible insulating material. This material provides the compliancy that would otherwise have been provided by the lower half of a double-sided POGO pin.
- POGO pin receptacles that normally reside in a drilled POGO pin carrier can be temporarily held in place by a holder during additive
- test fixture interface manufacturing of the test fixture interface, allowing them to become a permanent part of the test fixture, rather than part of a carrier plate. This eliminates the cost of a carrier plate and the cost of the drilling holes in the carrier plate.
- Fig. 3 An example implementation of such a test fixture to interface between a test system and a UUT, which may reduce both fixture cost and signal path length, is shown in Fig. 3.
- electrical connections between test pins of the test system's receiver interface and test pad locations on the UUT are implemented through conductive structures that are created, in whole or in part, through an additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) process.
- the structures are only partly created through additive manufacturing, and may be incorporated into the substrate of a test fixture interface through other process(es). For example, metal may be added to holes in the substrate to create all or part of the conductive structures.
- example structures include, but are not limited to, one or more vias that are electrically conductive.
- the substrate and structures in the substrate may be formed, in whole or in part, through accumulation of layers of material.
- layers are deposited, one on top of the other.
- Each layer may include conductive and non-conductive materials, arranged so as to form the substrate and structures, through accumulation of layers, at appropriate locations within the test fixture.
- the types of material being deposited changes at appropriate locations. For example, in areas of a layer that are to be part of the substrate, non-conductive material is deposited, and in areas of the layer that are to be a conductive structure, conductive material is deposited.
- conductive structures can pass all the way through the test fixture in order to connect electrical contacts on the test system to electrical contacts on the UUT. In some cases, however, structures need not pass all the way through a fixture.
- a blind structure may electrically connect one external electrical contact (such as a contact to the test system or to the UUT) to an internal conductive layer or structure.
- Fig. 4 shows an example blind structure 15 within a substrate 16 that is part of a test fixture interface. As shown, blind structure 15 does not pass all the way through the fixture and, thus, does not directly connect a contact on the test system to a contact on the UUT (an indirect connection, however, may result through an electrical pathway that includes the internal conductive layer).
- a hidden structure may electrically connect two internal conductive layers and/or structures.
- Fig. 5 shows an example of a hidden structure 17 within substrate 16.
- the conductive structures are vias.
- Some vias may be formed (e.g., printed) horizontally and vertically, as measured relative to the top plane 21 of the tester and the bottom plane 22 of the UUT, or as measured relative to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 24 that forms the test fixture 20 (see, e.g., Fig. 3).
- Some vias may be formed diagonally, and may contain one or more angles or undulating curves as measured relative to the top plane 21 of the tester and the bottom plane 22 of the UUT, or as measured relative to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 24 that forms the test fixture.
- the vias thus may also be, in whole or in part, non-vertical and/or non-horizontal. For example, Fig.
- FIG. 6 shows an example of a via 25 that is formed diagonally within a substrate 16 (which may be an example of, or part of, substrate 24) using additive manufacturing within an interface. Vias that are not limited to horizontal and vertical sections may provide a more direct conductive path between pins or other contacts on the tester and the UUT.
- a test fixture 20 interfaces a tester 27 and a UUT 28. Test fixture 20 includes electrical contacts 29 that face the tester, and electrical contacts 30 that face the UUT. Test fixture 20 also includes substrate 24 comprised of sections of additively- manufactured (e.g., 3D-printed) non-conductive material 31 that is at least partly between electrical contacts 29 and electrical contacts 30.
- additively- manufactured e.g., 3D-printed
- the non-conductive material provides rigidity, and supports the electrical contacts and the conductive structures (e.g., vias) that pass signals between the tester and the UUT.
- conductive structures 32 may be formed by additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) at appropriate times during formation of the substrate by switching the material used during printing, e.g., from the non-conductive material that forms the substrate to the conductive material that forms vias. In some implementations, this is done layer-by-layer, such that a single layer contains both conductive and non-conductive parts at appropriate locations which, when combined with upper and lower layers, additively form the vertical structures depicted in the figures.
- the test fixture thus includes conductive structures through the substrate, which are formed by accumulation of conductive material (e.g., by 3D printing).
- one or more of the conductive structures 32 electrically connects, e.g., provides an electrical pathway between one or more contacts 33 on test fixture 20 and one or more contacts 34 on the UUT. Connection between the UUT and the test fixture is depicted by arrows 39
- conductive structures 32 are vias that provide the electrical pathway between electrical contacts 29 - brads or pads, in this example - that provide interface to test fixture 20 and pins, e.g., POGO pins, that interface to the UUT.
- electrical contacts 29 and electrical contacts 30 - which are pin receptacles, in this example - may be part of the test fixture, e.g., the substrate and vias may be formed around the pin receptacles and brads, or the pin receptacles and brads may be inserted or implanted into the test fixture as described herein.
- test fixture 20 may be formed with one or more brads and/or one or more pin receptacles to enable electrical between the test system and the UUT through
- the conductive structures may be formed of any appropriate conductive material, such as silver-based material.
- one or more of the conductive structures includes the conductive material surrounded, in whole or part, by a dielectric material, and the dielectric material is surrounded, in whole or part, by conductive material. That is, one or more of the vias may be coaxial, with the internal conductive material forming the signal path and a concentric outer material (with a dielectric between the two) forming the return path. Any appropriate dielectric may be used, such as air or the material otherwise used to form the non-conductive parts of the substrate.
- a base plate may hold electrical contacts 29 to the test fixture. Sections of printed non-conductive material are formed on the base plate, and then the vias are formed to connect, electrically, to the contacts on the base plate.
- the base plate aside from the electrical contacts thereon, is formed of a non-conductive material that is sufficiently rigid to support additive manufacturing thereon.
- the non-conductive material of the base plate may be the same as, or different from, the non-conductive material of the test fixture (the substrate).
- a top plate holds the electrical contacts to the UUT.
- the top plate may hold pin receptacles to which POGO pins on the UUT interface.
- the top plate may be attached to substrate 24 in any appropriate manner.
- Fig. 1 shows pin receptacles on a top plate 10 that attaches to the printed structure comprising substrate 24 and conductive structures 32. The directions of attachments are shown by arrows 39.
- the printed structure includes electrical contact pads (or brads) 40 also on its top, which interface to pins/pin receptacles 41 on the top plate.
- the contacts pads may be deposited contacts or otherwise formed, in this example, the test fixture thus may include the additively- manufactured structure, which contains the substrate, the brads, and the vias, along with the top plate 10.
- the remainder of the test fixture of Fig. 1 may be identical to, or similar to, the implementation of Fig. 3.
- a Z-axis anisotropic conductor 11 between contact pads 40 and top plate 10.
- the z-axis anisotropic conductor 11 may be made of a conductive material and may route signals between contact pads 40 and pins/pin receptacles 41.
- the remainder of the test fixture of Fig. 2 may be identical to, or similar to, the implementation of Fig. 1. Referring back to Fig.
- electrical contacts e.g., contact pads or pin receptacles
- the top of fixture 20 have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT
- the electrical contacts e.g., contact pads or pin receptacles
- the bottom of the test fixture have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester (e.g., the test system receiver). Configurations such as this facilitate connection between the tester, the test fixture, and the UUT.
- an example process 50 for forming a test fixture includes forming a substrate and structures in the substrate at least in part through accumulation of sections (e.g., layers) of conductive and non-conductive material. That is, at least some of the sections of material include electrically non-conductive material that forms the substrate and electrically-conductive material that forms the structures (e.g., the vias).
- Example process 50 includes holding (51 ) electrical contacts to the UUT in place using a device, such as a base plate;
- the device e.g., the base plate
- the electrical contacts pass through the test plate to enable electrical connection between contacts on the tester and vias formed in the test fixture as described herein.
- layers of conductive and/or non-conductive material are accumulated (54).
- individual layers may include non-conductive material only, a combination of conductive and non-conductive material, or conductive material only
- the formation process includes forming conductive structures (e.g., vias) using a combination of accumulated material and other, added, conductive material.
- conductive structures e.g., vias
- a part of a via may be formed through additive manufacturing, and holes may be left in the substrate that connect to the formed part of the via. Conductive material may be added to the holes to complete formation of the via.
- the test fixture may include some vias formed solely by additive manufacturing, some vias formed by addition of metal to holes (e.g., by non-additive manufacturing processes), and some vias may be formed through a combination of additive manufacturing and non-additive manufacturing processes. Vias are connected to appropriate conductive pads to form electrical pathways.
- electrical contacts e.g., contact pad or pin
- the electrical contacts are arranged on the top of the fixture to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and the electrical contacts (e.g., pins or pins receptacles) are arranged on the bottom of the fixture to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester.
- the electrical contacts on the top and/or the bottom of the fixture may be, or include, one or more of contact pads, contact pins, pin
- Pin receptacles are configured to receive, and to hold, pins to create electrical contact.
- the contacts may be added by pressing or otherwise incorporating the contacts into a resulting printed fixture or substrate. In any event, vias through substrate connect contacts on the top and bottom of the fixture.
- one or more of the conductive structures comprises the conductive material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material, and the dielectric material surrounded, at least in part, by conductive material. This may be achieved, for example, through appropriate
- process 50 may include attaching a top plate to the resulting test fixture.
- the top plate may include contacts that create an electrical connection between the test fixture and contacts on the UUT.
- the process may include incorporating a Z-axis conductor between the top plate and the additively-manufactured structure.
- Test fixtures that utilize an additively-manufactured interface may be configured to support a range of interconnect paths, typically from as few as several hundred connections to as many as, e.g., 15,000, connections, and can help lower the recurring cost of in-circuit test cell on the manufacturer's PCB, or other, assembly line.
- Testing performed by the example test system described herein may be implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware and software.
- a test system like the ones described herein may include various controllers and/or processing devices located at various points in the system to control operation.
- a central computer may coordinate operation among the various controllers or processing devices.
- the test system may be controlled by one or more computers, e.g., by sending signals to and from one or more wired and/or wireless connections to each test slot.
- the testing can be controlled, at least in part, using one or more computer program products, e.g., one or more computer program tangibly embodied in one or more non- transitory machine-readable media, for execution by, or to control the operation of, one or more data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, multiple computers, and/or programmable logic components.
- a computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.
- a computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a network.
- Actions associated with implementing all or part of the testing can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform the functions described herein. All or part of the testing can be implemented using special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) and/or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).
- FPGA field programmable gate array
- ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
- processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer.
- a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only storage area or a random access storage area or both.
- Elements of a computer may include one or more processors for executing instructions and one or more storage area devices for storing instructions and data.
- a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from, or transfer data to, or both, one or more machine-readable storage media, such as mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.
- Machine-readable storage media suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile storage area, including by way of example, semiconductor storage area devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash storage area devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.
- semiconductor storage area devices e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash storage area devices
- magnetic disks e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks
- magneto-optical disks e.g., CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.
- Any electrical connection involving transfer of signals may imply a direct physical connection or a wired or wireless connection that includes intervening components but that nevertheless allows electrical signals to flow between connected components.
- Any connection of electrical circuitry that enables signals to pass, unless stated otherwise, is an electrical connection and not necessarily a direct physical connection regardless of whether the word electrical is used to modify connection.
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Measuring Leads Or Probes (AREA)
Abstract
An example test fixture, which interfaces a tester and a unit under test (UUT), includes the following: first electrical contacts that face the tester; second electrical contacts that face the UUT; a substrate made of sections of printed first material, with the first material being electrically non-conductive, and with the substrate being between the first electrical contacts and the second electrical contacts; and structures through the substrate, with the structures including sections of second material, with the second material being electrically conductive, and with at least one of the structures electrically connecting a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact.
Description
TEST FIXTURE
TECHNICAL FIELD
This specification relates generally to a test fixture for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT).
BACKGROUND
in-circuit test (ICT) may include testing a populated printed circuit board (PCB) to determine whether the PCB was properly assembled. For example, in-circuit testing may include performing tests to identify, on the PCB, short circuits, open circuits, wrong value components, unexpected resistance, capacitance, or inductance, and so forth. A test fixture acts as an interface between the PCB and test equipment used to perform in-circuit testing.
ICT operates by gaining electrical access to a PCB test through the test fixture.
When performing electrical tests, each active and passive component is typically isolated from other surrounding components and tested on an individual basis. The
PCB under test is designed to support this level of testability by incorporating test pads on signal nets that can be contacted by the test fixture.
The test fixture typically provides the physical and electrical interface between an
ICT system and a unit under test (UUT), such as a PCB, as described above. One of the purposes of the test fixture is to translate, geographically, test pins of a test system's receiver interface to test pad locations on the UUT. This routing of electrical signals from the test system's receiver to the UUT test pads has historically been performed using interconnect methods within the test fixture. Perhaps the most widely used interconnect method in an ICT fixture includes direct wiring from a pin connecting to the tester to a POGO pin that contacts the test pad on the UUT. This type of test fixture is called a "wired fixture". Wired fixtures are generally considered to be lower cost fixtures, especially in one-off situations or in low volume usage.
Another type of interconnect method in an ICT fixture includes use of a PCB to route signals, rather than the individual wires as in a wired fixture. The type of test fixture that uses a PCB to route signals is called a "wireless fixture". Wireless fixtures
are generally more expensive to manufacture than wired fixtures and are usually deployed only in higher-volume applications, where the price of designing and building a PCB can be amortized over multiple test fixtures.
Both of the foregoing types of test fixtures have a number of common drawbacks in that the time to develop the fixtures may be too long (e.g., on the order of three to eight weeks, depending upon node count and complexity), and that the cost may be higher than the market is willing to bear for a disposable buy item.
in this regard, one of the issues with ICT is the cost and development time associated with the test fixture. These test fixtures, whose cost can range from $10,000 to over $100,000, are typically unique to the specific board being tested and cannot be used to test any other board types. As a result, while the manufacturer may have only one or two ICT systems on a manufacturing line, it is likely the manufacturer has purchased tens to hundreds of different test fixtures, many of which have become obsolete as a result of short product lifetimes.
SUMMARY
An example test fixture is for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT). The example test fixture comprises: first electrical contacts that face the tester; second electrical contacts that face the UUT; and a substrate comprised of sections of printed first material. The first material is electrically non-conductive; and the substrate is between the first electrical contacts and the second electrical contacts. The example test fixture also includes structures through the substrate. The structures comprise sections of second material. The second material is electrically conductive, and at least one of the structures electrically connects a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact. The example text fixture may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
At least one of the structures within the substrate may have a section that is non- vertical and non-horizontal relative to upper and lower surfaces of the substrate. The first material may surround, and be in contact with, at least part of the first electrical contacts. The example text fixture may include a base plate holding the second
electrical contacts. The sections of printed first material may be on the base plate. The base plate may comprise at least parts that are electrically non-conductive.
The first electrical contacts may comprise sections of printed third material. The third material may be electrically conductive and comprise a noble metal. The first electrical contacts may comprise pin receptacles for holding pins that mate to contacts of the UUT. The second material may comprise a silver-based material.
At least one of the structures may comprise the second material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material. The dielectric material may be surrounded, at least in part, by conductive material. The example text fixture may include a top plate holding the first electrical contacts. The top plate may be attached to the substrate.
The first electrical contacts may comprise pins and the second electrical contacts may comprise pads. The first electrical contacts may have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT. The second electrical contacts may have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester. The second material may comprise a combination of printed conductor and non-printed material.
An example method of forming a test fixture for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT) comprises: forming a substrate and structures in the substrate at least in part through accumulation of sections of material, with at least some of the sections of material comprising electrically non-conductive material that forms the substrate and electrically-conductive material that forms the structures. The substrate is to be between first electrical contacts and second electrical contacts. The first electrical contacts face the tester, and the second electrical contacts face the UUT. At least one of the structures is formed to electrically connect a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact. The example method may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
At least one of the structures within the substrate may be formed to have a section that is non-vertical and non-horizontal relative to upper and lower surfaces of the substrate. Forming the substrate may comprise accumulating the sections of material onto a base plate, with the base plate holding the second electrical contacts. Forming the substrate may comprise: holding the second electrical contacts in place using an apparatus; forming at least part of at least one of the sections around the
second electrical contacts; waiting until the at least part of at least one of the sections anneals; and removing the apparatus.
The at least part of at least one of the sections may comprise a base section; and accumulating the sections may comprise forming additional sections on top of the base section. The first electrical contacts may be formed through the accumulation of the sections of material, with at least some of the sections comprising electrically- conductive material that forms the first electrical contacts.
The example method may comprise: arranging the first electrical contacts to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and arranging the second electrical contacts to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester. The first electrical contacts may comprise pin receptacles for holding pins to mate to contacts of the UUT. At least one of the structures may be formed of the electrically-conductive material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material, with the dielectric material being surrounded, at least in part, by another electrically- conductive material.
The example method may comprise pressing at least one of the first electrical contacts or the second electrical contacts into the substrate. The example method may comprise attaching a top plate to the substrate. The top plate may hold the first electrical contacts; and the top plate may be attached so that the first electrical contacts form an electrical connection to corresponding structures at locations of the first electrical contacts. The electrically-conductive material may comprise a combination of printed conductor and non-printed material.
The foregoing may reduce the cost of an iCT cell and also may reduce the time to construct an appropriate test fixture.
Any two or more of the features described in this specification, including in this summary section, can be combined to form implementations not specifically described herein.
The systems and techniques described herein, or portions thereof, can be implemented as/controlled by a computer program product that includes instructions that are stored on one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media, and that are executable on one or more processing devices to control (e.g., coordinate) the
operations described herein. The systems and techniques described herein, or portions thereof, can be implemented as an apparatus, method, or electronic system that can include one or more processing devices and computer memory to store executable instructions to implement various operations.
The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example test fixture that includes a top plate between an additively-manufactured structure and a UUT.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an example test fixture that includes a Z-axis anisotropic conductor between a top plate a UUT.
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an example test fixture that includes contacts to a UUT directly on an additively-manufactured structure.
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an example buried conductive structure.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an example hidden conductive structure.
Fig. 6 is a block diagram including an example diagonal conductive structure.
Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example process for forming an additively- manufactured test fixture.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
in-circuit test (ICT) may be used to identify manufacturing process defects and component defects on populated printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies. ICT systems (or simply, test systems) may obtain access to a unit under test (UUT), such as a PCB, through a test fixture (also called a test fixture interface). When performing electrical tests, active and passive components on a UUT are typically isolated from other surrounded components and tested on an individual basis. The PCB is configured to support this level of testability by incorporating test pads that can be contacted by corresponding electrical contacts on the test fixture.
The example test fixtures described herein provide the physical and electrical interface between the test system and the UUT - in the examples described herein, a PCB. The example test fixtures may be configured to route signals between test pins of the ICT system's receiver interface and test pad locations on the UUT.
The test fixtures may be produced using an additive manufacturing process, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing. For example, a test fixture may be, or include, an interface (called an interconnect or translator) that is additively-manufactured using co- printed dielectric material (e.g., electrically non-conductive material) and electrically- conductive material. The electrically-conductive (or, simply "conductive") material may include, but is not limited to, heavily-loaded silver particles in a thermoplastic or thermoset matrix. Silver and other noble metals may be used because their oxides, that may appear over time, are also conductive. Alternatively, conductive materials such as copper or copper alloys can be used. In cases where materials such as these are used, the additive manufacturing process may be performed in an inert atmosphere, such as Nitrogen (N2), so that oxidation over time of the base conductive material is inhibited, in some implementations, electrically non-conductive (or, simply "non- conductive") layers are printed on a base plate. The base plate may become part of the test fixture, or it may be removed, as described herein. In an example, the lower test fixture interface to the test system is implemented by the base plate. For example, the base plate may provide the mechanical and electrical foundation upon which layers of material may be added by additive manufacturing to form the test fixture. In some implementations, the base plate includes electrical contacts, that are configured and arranged to mate to corresponding electrical contacts on the ICT system (or test system) receiver and to mate to correspondingly arranged vias in the test fixture.
Material forming the non-conductive parts of the test fixture interface is applied around electrical contacts on the base plate, and surrounds those contacts. Thereafter, conductive and non-conductive material is accumulated over the resulting structure, in layers, to form the test fixture. In some implementations, the base plate is used as an initial structure on which layers are accumulated, and is subsequently removed, with appropriate test system contacts added to, or formed in, the test fixture.
Electrical interconnection among multiple additively-manufactured layers may be implemented through inter-layer structures. Examples of such inter-layer structures include, but are not limited to, conductors, such as vias, which are formed in, or added to, the test fixture, in some cases, the vias can be "blind" (surface layer to inner layer), or "buried" (inner layer to inner layer). Transmission of signals, including high-speed or low-signal-level signals, may benefit from additively-manufactured conduits. That is, through additive manufacturing, conductors may be formed that are shielded, coaxial, and that have a controlled characteristic impedance. Signal transmission may be improved through use of conductors such as these.
in some implementations, the test fixture may be additively-manufactured directly upon target pads (or "brads") or cups, without using a base plate, as described herein, to support the test brads. As described above, in some implementations, a temporary unit (which may be a base plate or other type of apparatus) that is comprised of any appropriate rigid material may be used to mechanically retain the interface brads in place while the additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) process begins. Once the printing, or at least a portion thereof, has been completed and the printed material has cured, the temporary unit can be removed and re-used for to form subsequent test fixtures.
in some implementations, test system POGO pins, which may be located in the test system receiver, directly connect to electrical contacts on the bottom of the test fixture, in some implementations, the electrical contacts on the bottom of the test fixture may be pads (or brads). These pads may be printed with thick, hard material in order to withstand the repeated contact force of the tester POGO pins. In some
implementations, POGO pin receptacles may be used in place of pads.
In some implementations, the top of the test fixture includes an electrical path to
POGO pins or other electrical contacts that ultimately mate to UUT test pads. The electrical contacts may be implemented in several ways, depending upon the process capabilities and cost targets of the manufacturer, in some implementations, thick pads are printed and may include gold, e.g., a hard gold finish, to promote improved electrical conductivity and resistance to oxidation that may otherwise negatively impact contact reliability. In some implementations, noble metals other than gold may be used.
in some implementations, an interconnect vehicle between the test fixture and the UUT test pads may include a top plate 10 comprising a double sided POGO pin structure that is mechanically held in a fixed geographic location relative to the UUT (see, e.g., Fig. 1 ), or may include a Z-axis anisotropic conductor 11 that is arranged above the additively-manufactured structure and allows a single ended POGO pin, mounted in a receptacle, to facilitate the last section of interconnect to the UUT test pads (see, e.g., Fig. 2). The Z-axis conductor pad may be, or include, a flexible insulating rubber material that has a multiplicity of fine, closely-spaced metal wire conductors placed in the flexible insulating material. This material provides the compliancy that would otherwise have been provided by the lower half of a double-sided POGO pin.
in some implementations, POGO pin receptacles that normally reside in a drilled POGO pin carrier can be temporarily held in place by a holder during additive
manufacturing of the test fixture interface, allowing them to become a permanent part of the test fixture, rather than part of a carrier plate. This eliminates the cost of a carrier plate and the cost of the drilling holes in the carrier plate. An example implementation of such a test fixture to interface between a test system and a UUT, which may reduce both fixture cost and signal path length, is shown in Fig. 3.
Referring to Fig. 3, electrical connections between test pins of the test system's receiver interface and test pad locations on the UUT are implemented through conductive structures that are created, in whole or in part, through an additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) process. In some implementations, the structures are only partly created through additive manufacturing, and may be incorporated into the substrate of a test fixture interface through other process(es). For example, metal may be added to holes in the substrate to create all or part of the conductive structures.
As explained, example structures include, but are not limited to, one or more vias that are electrically conductive. As noted, the substrate and structures in the substrate may be formed, in whole or in part, through accumulation of layers of material. During an example additive manufacturing process, layers are deposited, one on top of the other. Each layer may include conductive and non-conductive materials, arranged so as to form the substrate and structures, through accumulation of layers, at appropriate
locations within the test fixture. As the layers are deposited, e.g., using a 3D printer or other appropriate additive manufacturing device, the type of material being deposited changes at appropriate locations. For example, in areas of a layer that are to be part of the substrate, non-conductive material is deposited, and in areas of the layer that are to be a conductive structure, conductive material is deposited.
As in the examples described above, conductive structures can pass all the way through the test fixture in order to connect electrical contacts on the test system to electrical contacts on the UUT. In some cases, however, structures need not pass all the way through a fixture. For example, a blind structure may electrically connect one external electrical contact (such as a contact to the test system or to the UUT) to an internal conductive layer or structure. Fig. 4 shows an example blind structure 15 within a substrate 16 that is part of a test fixture interface. As shown, blind structure 15 does not pass all the way through the fixture and, thus, does not directly connect a contact on the test system to a contact on the UUT (an indirect connection, however, may result through an electrical pathway that includes the internal conductive layer). A hidden structure may electrically connect two internal conductive layers and/or structures. Fig. 5 shows an example of a hidden structure 17 within substrate 16.
As noted, in some implementations, the conductive structures are vias. Some vias may be formed (e.g., printed) horizontally and vertically, as measured relative to the top plane 21 of the tester and the bottom plane 22 of the UUT, or as measured relative to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 24 that forms the test fixture 20 (see, e.g., Fig. 3). Some vias may be formed diagonally, and may contain one or more angles or undulating curves as measured relative to the top plane 21 of the tester and the bottom plane 22 of the UUT, or as measured relative to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 24 that forms the test fixture. The vias thus may also be, in whole or in part, non-vertical and/or non-horizontal. For example, Fig. 6 shows an example of a via 25 that is formed diagonally within a substrate 16 (which may be an example of, or part of, substrate 24) using additive manufacturing within an interface. Vias that are not limited to horizontal and vertical sections may provide a more direct conductive path between pins or other contacts on the tester and the UUT.
Referring to Fig. 3 (but as also shown in Figs. 1 and 2), in an example implementation, a test fixture 20 interfaces a tester 27 and a UUT 28. Test fixture 20 includes electrical contacts 29 that face the tester, and electrical contacts 30 that face the UUT. Test fixture 20 also includes substrate 24 comprised of sections of additively- manufactured (e.g., 3D-printed) non-conductive material 31 that is at least partly between electrical contacts 29 and electrical contacts 30. The non-conductive material provides rigidity, and supports the electrical contacts and the conductive structures (e.g., vias) that pass signals between the tester and the UUT. As noted, conductive structures 32 may be formed by additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) at appropriate times during formation of the substrate by switching the material used during printing, e.g., from the non-conductive material that forms the substrate to the conductive material that forms vias. In some implementations, this is done layer-by-layer, such that a single layer contains both conductive and non-conductive parts at appropriate locations which, when combined with upper and lower layers, additively form the vertical structures depicted in the figures. The test fixture thus includes conductive structures through the substrate, which are formed by accumulation of conductive material (e.g., by 3D printing). As shown, e.g., in Fig. 3, one or more of the conductive structures 32 electrically connects, e.g., provides an electrical pathway between one or more contacts 33 on test fixture 20 and one or more contacts 34 on the UUT. Connection between the UUT and the test fixture is depicted by arrows 39
in the example of Fig. 3, conductive structures 32 are vias that provide the electrical pathway between electrical contacts 29 - brads or pads, in this example - that provide interface to test fixture 20 and pins, e.g., POGO pins, that interface to the UUT. In some implementations, electrical contacts 29 and electrical contacts 30 - which are pin receptacles, in this example - may be part of the test fixture, e.g., the substrate and vias may be formed around the pin receptacles and brads, or the pin receptacles and brads may be inserted or implanted into the test fixture as described herein. For example, test fixture 20 may be formed with one or more brads and/or one or more pin receptacles to enable electrical between the test system and the UUT through
conductive structures (e.g., vias) in the test fixture. As noted, the conductive structures may be formed of any appropriate conductive material, such as silver-based material.
in some implementations, one or more of the conductive structures (e.g., the vias) includes the conductive material surrounded, in whole or part, by a dielectric material, and the dielectric material is surrounded, in whole or part, by conductive material. That is, one or more of the vias may be coaxial, with the internal conductive material forming the signal path and a concentric outer material (with a dielectric between the two) forming the return path. Any appropriate dielectric may be used, such as air or the material otherwise used to form the non-conductive parts of the substrate.
As described above, a base plate may hold electrical contacts 29 to the test fixture. Sections of printed non-conductive material are formed on the base plate, and then the vias are formed to connect, electrically, to the contacts on the base plate. In some implementations, the base plate, aside from the electrical contacts thereon, is formed of a non-conductive material that is sufficiently rigid to support additive manufacturing thereon. The non-conductive material of the base plate may be the same as, or different from, the non-conductive material of the test fixture (the substrate).
In some implementations, a top plate holds the electrical contacts to the UUT.
For example, the top plate may hold pin receptacles to which POGO pins on the UUT interface. The top plate may be attached to substrate 24 in any appropriate manner. For example, Fig. 1 shows pin receptacles on a top plate 10 that attaches to the printed structure comprising substrate 24 and conductive structures 32. The directions of attachments are shown by arrows 39. In the example of Fig. 1 , the printed structure includes electrical contact pads (or brads) 40 also on its top, which interface to pins/pin receptacles 41 on the top plate. The contacts pads may be deposited contacts or otherwise formed, in this example, the test fixture thus may include the additively- manufactured structure, which contains the substrate, the brads, and the vias, along with the top plate 10. The remainder of the test fixture of Fig. 1 may be identical to, or similar to, the implementation of Fig. 3.
in some implementations, as shown in Fig. 2, there may be a Z-axis anisotropic conductor 11 between contact pads 40 and top plate 10. The z-axis anisotropic conductor 11 may be made of a conductive material and may route signals between contact pads 40 and pins/pin receptacles 41. The remainder of the test fixture of Fig. 2 may be identical to, or similar to, the implementation of Fig. 1.
Referring back to Fig. 3, in some implementations, electrical contacts (e.g., contact pads or pin receptacles) on the top of fixture 20 have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and the electrical contacts (e.g., contact pads or pin receptacles) on the bottom of the test fixture have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester (e.g., the test system receiver). Configurations such as this facilitate connection between the tester, the test fixture, and the UUT.
Referring to Fig. 7, an example process 50 for forming a test fixture, such as the examples shown in Figs. 1 to 6, includes forming a substrate and structures in the substrate at least in part through accumulation of sections (e.g., layers) of conductive and non-conductive material. That is, at least some of the sections of material include electrically non-conductive material that forms the substrate and electrically-conductive material that forms the structures (e.g., the vias). Example process 50 includes holding (51 ) electrical contacts to the UUT in place using a device, such as a base plate;
forming (52) at least part of the non-conductive material around the electrical contacts; waiting (53) until the non-conductive material anneals; and removing the device or leaving it in place. That is, in some implementations, the device (e.g., the base plate) is left in place and becomes part of the test fixture. In examples such as this, the electrical contacts pass through the test plate to enable electrical connection between contacts on the tester and vias formed in the test fixture as described herein.
In any event, to form conductive and non-conductive parts of the test fixture, layers of conductive and/or non-conductive material are accumulated (54). Depending upon the structures that they are to form, individual layers may include non-conductive material only, a combination of conductive and non-conductive material, or conductive material only, in some implementations, the formation process includes forming conductive structures (e.g., vias) using a combination of accumulated material and other, added, conductive material. For example, a part of a via may be formed through additive manufacturing, and holes may be left in the substrate that connect to the formed part of the via. Conductive material may be added to the holes to complete formation of the via. In some implementations, the test fixture may include some vias formed solely by additive manufacturing, some vias formed by addition of metal to holes (e.g., by non-additive manufacturing processes), and some vias may be formed through
a combination of additive manufacturing and non-additive manufacturing processes. Vias are connected to appropriate conductive pads to form electrical pathways.
in some implementations, electrical contacts (e.g., contact pad or pin
receptacles) are arranged on the top of the fixture to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and the electrical contacts (e.g., pins or pins receptacles) are arranged on the bottom of the fixture to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester. The electrical contacts on the top and/or the bottom of the fixture may be, or include, one or more of contact pads, contact pins, pin
receptacles, or any other appropriate mechanism that enables formation of an electrical connection. Pin receptacles are configured to receive, and to hold, pins to create electrical contact. In some implementations, the contacts may be added by pressing or otherwise incorporating the contacts into a resulting printed fixture or substrate. In any event, vias through substrate connect contacts on the top and bottom of the fixture.
As explained above, in some implementations, one or more of the conductive structures (e.g., the vias) comprises the conductive material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material, and the dielectric material surrounded, at least in part, by conductive material. This may be achieved, for example, through appropriate
accumulation of material during formation by additive manufacturing.
in some implementations, process 50 may include attaching a top plate to the resulting test fixture. As described with respect to Fig. 1 , the top plate may include contacts that create an electrical connection between the test fixture and contacts on the UUT. As described with respect to Fig. 2, the process may include incorporating a Z-axis conductor between the top plate and the additively-manufactured structure.
Test fixtures that utilize an additively-manufactured interface may be configured to support a range of interconnect paths, typically from as few as several hundred connections to as many as, e.g., 15,000, connections, and can help lower the recurring cost of in-circuit test cell on the manufacturer's PCB, or other, assembly line.
Testing performed by the example test system described herein may be implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware and software. For example, a test system like the ones described herein may include various controllers and/or processing devices located at various points in the system to control operation. A
central computer may coordinate operation among the various controllers or processing devices.
The test system may be controlled by one or more computers, e.g., by sending signals to and from one or more wired and/or wireless connections to each test slot. The testing can be controlled, at least in part, using one or more computer program products, e.g., one or more computer program tangibly embodied in one or more non- transitory machine-readable media, for execution by, or to control the operation of, one or more data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, multiple computers, and/or programmable logic components.
A computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a network.
Actions associated with implementing all or part of the testing can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform the functions described herein. All or part of the testing can be implemented using special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) and/or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).
Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only storage area or a random access storage area or both. Elements of a computer (including a server) may include one or more processors for executing instructions and one or more storage area devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from, or transfer data to, or both, one or more machine-readable storage media, such as mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Machine-readable storage media suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile storage area, including by
way of example, semiconductor storage area devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash storage area devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.
Any electrical connection involving transfer of signals may imply a direct physical connection or a wired or wireless connection that includes intervening components but that nevertheless allows electrical signals to flow between connected components. Any connection of electrical circuitry that enables signals to pass, unless stated otherwise, is an electrical connection and not necessarily a direct physical connection regardless of whether the word electrical is used to modify connection.
Elements of different implementations described herein may be combined to form other embodiments not specifically set forth above. Elements may be left out of the structures described herein without adversely affecting their operation. Furthermore, various separate elements may be combined into one or more individual elements to perform the functions described herein.
Claims
1. A test fixture for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT), the test fixture comprising:
first electrical contacts that face the tester;
second electrical contacts that face the UUT;
a substrate comprised of sections of printed first material, the first material being electrically non-conductive, the substrate being between the first electrical contacts and the second electrical contacts; and
structures through the substrate, the structures comprising sections of second material, the second material being electrically conductive, at least one of the structures electrically connecting a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact.
2. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the structures within the substrate has a section that is non-vertical and non-horizontal relative to upper and lower surfaces of the substrate.
3. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein the first material surrounds, and is in contact with, at least part of the first electrical contacts.
4. The test fixture of claim 1 , further comprising:
a base plate holding the second electrical contacts, the sections of printed first material being on the base plate, the base plate comprising at least parts that are electrically non-conductive.
5. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical contacts comprise sections of printed third material, the third material being electrically conductive and comprising a noble metal.
6. The test fixture of claim 5, wherein the first electrical contacts comprise pin receptacles for holding pins that mate to contacts of the UUT.
7. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein the second material comprises a silver- based material.
8. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the structures comprises the second material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material, the dielectric material being surrounded, at least in part, by conductive material.
9. The test fixture of claim 1 , further comprising:
a top plate holding the first electrical contacts, the top plate being attached to the substrate.
10. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical contacts comprise pins and the second electrical contacts comprise pads.
11. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical contacts have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and
wherein the second electrical contacts have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester.
12. The test fixture of claim 1 , wherein the second material comprises a combination of printed conductor and non-printed material.
13. A method of forming a test fixture for interfacing a tester and a unit under test (UUT), the method comprising:
forming a substrate and structures in the substrate at least in part through accumulation of sections of material, at least some of the sections of material comprising electrically non-conductive material that forms the substrate and electrically- conductive material that forms the structures;
wherein the substrate is to be between first electrical contacts and second electrical contacts, the first electrical contacts facing the tester, and the second
electrical contacts facing the UUT, at least one of the structures being formed to electrically connect a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the structures within the substrate is formed to have a section that is non-vertical and non-horizontal relative to upper and lower surfaces of the substrate.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein forming the substrate comprises:
accumulating the sections of material onto a base plate, the base plate holding the second electrical contacts.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein forming the substrate comprises:
holding the second electrical contacts in place using an apparatus;
forming at least part of at least one of the sections around the second electrical contacts;
waiting until the at least part of at least one of the sections anneals; and removing the apparatus.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least part of at least one of the sections comprises a base section; and
wherein accumulating the sections comprises forming additional sections on top of the base section.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein the first electrical contacts are formed through the accumulation of the sections of material, at least some of the sections comprising electrically-conductive material that forms the first electrical contacts.
19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
arranging the first electrical contacts to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on the UUT; and
arranging the second electrical contacts to have a layout that corresponds to a layout of contacts on part of the tester.
20. The method of claim 13, wherein the first electrical contacts comprise pin receptacles for holding pins to mate to contacts of the UUT.
21. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the structures is formed of the electrically-conductive material surrounded, at least in part, by a dielectric material, the dielectric material being surrounded, at least in part, by another electrically- conductive material.
22. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
pressing at least one of the first electrical contacts or the second electrical contacts into the substrate.
23. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
attaching a top plate to the substrate, the top plate holding the first electrical contacts, the top plate being attached so that the first electrical contacts form an electrical connection to corresponding structures at locations of the first electrical contacts.
24. The method of claim 13, wherein the electrically-conductive material comprises a combination of printed conductor and non-printed material.
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP17858872.9A EP3523665A4 (en) | 2016-10-04 | 2017-09-08 | Test fixture |
CN201780054619.2A CN109661584A (en) | 2016-10-04 | 2017-09-08 | Test fixing device |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US15/285,090 | 2016-10-04 | ||
US15/285,090 US9977052B2 (en) | 2016-10-04 | 2016-10-04 | Test fixture |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2018067267A1 true WO2018067267A1 (en) | 2018-04-12 |
Family
ID=61757968
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2017/050695 WO2018067267A1 (en) | 2016-10-04 | 2017-09-08 | Test fixture |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US9977052B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP3523665A4 (en) |
CN (1) | CN109661584A (en) |
TW (1) | TWI743191B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2018067267A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (10)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10615230B2 (en) | 2017-11-08 | 2020-04-07 | Teradyne, Inc. | Identifying potentially-defective picture elements in an active-matrix display panel |
US10641818B2 (en) * | 2018-08-27 | 2020-05-05 | Keysight Technologies, Inc. | Shape conformable capacitive coupler |
IT201900014214A1 (en) * | 2019-08-07 | 2021-02-07 | Technoprobe Spa | Method of manufacturing contact probes for measuring heads of electronic devices and relative contact probe |
US12114423B2 (en) * | 2020-01-30 | 2024-10-08 | Kyocera Corporation | Circuit board and probe card |
TWI780910B (en) * | 2021-09-15 | 2022-10-11 | 英業達股份有限公司 | Testing tool |
WO2023107992A1 (en) * | 2021-12-07 | 2023-06-15 | Jabil Inc. | Self correcting oven technology |
WO2023107988A1 (en) * | 2021-12-07 | 2023-06-15 | Jabil Inc. | Self correcting router technology |
WO2023107986A1 (en) * | 2021-12-07 | 2023-06-15 | Jabil Inc. | Self correcting wave soldering machine |
WO2023107993A1 (en) * | 2021-12-07 | 2023-06-15 | Jabil Inc. | Pcba router test vehicle |
EP4375677A1 (en) * | 2022-11-23 | 2024-05-29 | Mikrodust AB | Compact test fixture |
Citations (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2015A (en) | 1841-03-26 | Improvement in rotary steam-engines | ||
US6047469A (en) * | 1997-11-12 | 2000-04-11 | Luna Family Trust | Method of connecting a unit under test in a wireless test fixture |
US20040196025A1 (en) * | 2003-04-02 | 2004-10-07 | Casey William J. | Integrated circuit characterization printed circuit board, test equipment including same, method of fabrication thereof and method of characterizing an integrated circuit device |
EP1906189A1 (en) | 2001-07-11 | 2008-04-02 | FormFactor, Inc. | Method of manufacturing a probe card |
US20080157806A1 (en) * | 2006-12-29 | 2008-07-03 | Soo Ho Lee | Test socket for semiconductor |
US20110234249A1 (en) * | 2010-03-23 | 2011-09-29 | Elpida Memory, Inc. | Test method and interposer used therefor |
US20140253159A1 (en) | 2013-03-08 | 2014-09-11 | Donald DeMille | High accuracy electrical test interconnection device and method for electrical circuit board testing |
US20150137848A1 (en) * | 2013-11-19 | 2015-05-21 | Teradyne, Inc. | Interconnect for transmitting signals between a device and a tester |
DE102015206000A1 (en) | 2014-04-04 | 2015-10-08 | Feinmetall Gmbh | Contact spacer transformer, electrical tester and method of making a contact spacer transformer |
Family Cites Families (117)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3516077A (en) | 1968-05-28 | 1970-06-02 | Bell Telephone Labor Inc | Magnetic propagation device wherein pole patterns move along the periphery of magnetic disks |
US3577131A (en) | 1969-01-30 | 1971-05-04 | Bell Telephone Labor Inc | Domain propagation arrangement |
CH514251A (en) | 1970-08-21 | 1971-10-15 | Siemens Ag Albis | Circuit arrangement for optionally connecting at least two inputs to a counting stage having at least one preparation input and one triggering input |
US4117543A (en) | 1972-08-24 | 1978-09-26 | Monsanto Company | Magnetic bubble logic family |
US4021790A (en) | 1974-01-11 | 1977-05-03 | Monsanto Company | Mutually exclusive magnetic bubble propagation circuits |
US3934236A (en) | 1974-01-11 | 1976-01-20 | Monsanto Company | Pulsed field accessed bubble propagation circuits |
US4757256A (en) | 1985-05-10 | 1988-07-12 | Micro-Probe, Inc. | High density probe card |
US4692839A (en) | 1985-06-24 | 1987-09-08 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Multiple chip interconnection system and package |
US4954873A (en) | 1985-07-22 | 1990-09-04 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Electrical connector for surface mounting |
US4754546A (en) | 1985-07-22 | 1988-07-05 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Electrical connector for surface mounting and method of making thereof |
US4729166A (en) | 1985-07-22 | 1988-03-08 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Method of fabricating electrical connector for surface mounting |
US4778950A (en) | 1985-07-22 | 1988-10-18 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Anisotropic elastomeric interconnecting system |
US4920574A (en) | 1985-10-04 | 1990-04-24 | Fujitsu Limited | Cooling system for an electronic circuit device |
US4758785A (en) | 1986-09-03 | 1988-07-19 | Tektronix, Inc. | Pressure control apparatus for use in an integrated circuit testing station |
US4783719A (en) | 1987-01-20 | 1988-11-08 | Hughes Aircraft Company | Test connector for electrical devices |
US4918383A (en) | 1987-01-20 | 1990-04-17 | Huff Richard E | Membrane probe with automatic contact scrub action |
EP0298219A3 (en) | 1987-06-08 | 1990-08-01 | Tektronix Inc. | Method and apparatus for testing unpackaged integrated circuits in a hybrid circuit environment |
US4912399A (en) | 1987-06-09 | 1990-03-27 | Tektronix, Inc. | Multiple lead probe for integrated circuits in wafer form |
US4804132A (en) | 1987-08-28 | 1989-02-14 | Difrancesco Louis | Method for cold bonding |
US4980637A (en) | 1988-03-01 | 1990-12-25 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Force delivery system for improved precision membrane probe |
CA1265833A (en) | 1988-03-21 | 1990-02-13 | Peter Michaels | Body heater/drier |
US5020219A (en) | 1988-05-16 | 1991-06-04 | Leedy Glenn J | Method of making a flexible tester surface for testing integrated circuits |
US4922192A (en) | 1988-09-06 | 1990-05-01 | Unisys Corporation | Elastic membrane probe |
EP0361779A1 (en) | 1988-09-26 | 1990-04-04 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Micro-strip architecture for membrane test probe |
US4975638A (en) | 1989-12-18 | 1990-12-04 | Wentworth Laboratories | Test probe assembly for testing integrated circuit devices |
US5083697A (en) | 1990-02-14 | 1992-01-28 | Difrancesco Louis | Particle-enhanced joining of metal surfaces |
US5072176A (en) | 1990-07-10 | 1991-12-10 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Flexible membrane circuit tester |
US5132613A (en) | 1990-11-30 | 1992-07-21 | International Business Machines Corporation | Low inductance side mount decoupling test structure |
US5264787A (en) | 1991-08-30 | 1993-11-23 | Hughes Aircraft Company | Rigid-flex circuits with raised features as IC test probes |
US5180977A (en) | 1991-12-02 | 1993-01-19 | Hoya Corporation Usa | Membrane probe contact bump compliancy system |
US5355079A (en) | 1993-01-07 | 1994-10-11 | Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. | Probe assembly for testing integrated circuit devices |
US5422574A (en) | 1993-01-14 | 1995-06-06 | Probe Technology Corporation | Large scale protrusion membrane for semiconductor devices under test with very high pin counts |
US5378982A (en) | 1993-02-25 | 1995-01-03 | Hughes Aircraft Company | Test probe for panel having an overlying protective member adjacent panel contacts |
US5456404A (en) | 1993-10-28 | 1995-10-10 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Method of testing semiconductor chips with reusable test package |
US5468157A (en) | 1993-10-29 | 1995-11-21 | Texas Instruments Incorporated | Non-destructive interconnect system for semiconductor devices |
US5469072A (en) | 1993-11-01 | 1995-11-21 | Motorola, Inc. | Integrated circuit test system |
US7073254B2 (en) | 1993-11-16 | 2006-07-11 | Formfactor, Inc. | Method for mounting a plurality of spring contact elements |
US20020053734A1 (en) | 1993-11-16 | 2002-05-09 | Formfactor, Inc. | Probe card assembly and kit, and methods of making same |
US5416429A (en) | 1994-05-23 | 1995-05-16 | Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. | Probe assembly for testing integrated circuits |
US6499216B1 (en) | 1994-07-07 | 2002-12-31 | Tessera, Inc. | Methods and structures for electronic probing arrays |
US6690186B2 (en) | 1994-07-07 | 2004-02-10 | Tessera, Inc. | Methods and structures for electronic probing arrays |
WO1996007924A1 (en) | 1994-09-09 | 1996-03-14 | Micromodule Systems | Membrane probing of circuits |
US6232789B1 (en) | 1997-05-28 | 2001-05-15 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Probe holder for low current measurements |
US8033838B2 (en) | 1996-02-21 | 2011-10-11 | Formfactor, Inc. | Microelectronic contact structure |
US5914613A (en) | 1996-08-08 | 1999-06-22 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Membrane probing system with local contact scrub |
US5973405A (en) | 1997-07-22 | 1999-10-26 | Dytak Corporation | Composite electrical contact structure and method for manufacturing the same |
US6494734B1 (en) | 1997-09-30 | 2002-12-17 | Fci Americas Technology, Inc. | High density electrical connector assembly |
JP3429995B2 (en) | 1997-11-10 | 2003-07-28 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Cleaning method |
US6246245B1 (en) | 1998-02-23 | 2001-06-12 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Probe card, test method and test system for semiconductor wafers |
JPH11354561A (en) | 1998-06-09 | 1999-12-24 | Advantest Corp | Bump and method for forming the same |
US6256882B1 (en) | 1998-07-14 | 2001-07-10 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Membrane probing system |
US6578264B1 (en) | 1999-06-04 | 2003-06-17 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Method for constructing a membrane probe using a depression |
US6838890B2 (en) | 2000-02-25 | 2005-01-04 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Membrane probing system |
US6927586B2 (en) | 2000-03-06 | 2005-08-09 | Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. | Temperature compensated vertical pin probing device |
US6661244B2 (en) | 2000-03-06 | 2003-12-09 | Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. | Nickel alloy probe card frame laminate |
US6566898B2 (en) | 2000-03-06 | 2003-05-20 | Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. | Temperature compensated vertical pin probing device |
US6633175B1 (en) | 2000-03-06 | 2003-10-14 | Wenworth Laboratories, Inc. | Temperature compensated vertical pin probing device |
US6586955B2 (en) | 2000-03-13 | 2003-07-01 | Tessera, Inc. | Methods and structures for electronic probing arrays |
US6515499B1 (en) | 2000-09-28 | 2003-02-04 | Teradyne, Inc. | Modular semiconductor tester interface assembly for high performance coaxial connections |
DE20114544U1 (en) | 2000-12-04 | 2002-02-21 | Cascade Microtech, Inc., Beaverton, Oreg. | wafer probe |
US6756797B2 (en) | 2001-01-31 | 2004-06-29 | Wentworth Laboratories Inc. | Planarizing interposer for thermal compensation of a probe card |
US7108546B2 (en) | 2001-06-20 | 2006-09-19 | Formfactor, Inc. | High density planar electrical interface |
AU2002327490A1 (en) | 2001-08-21 | 2003-06-30 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Membrane probing system |
US6686732B2 (en) | 2001-12-20 | 2004-02-03 | Teradyne, Inc. | Low-cost tester interface module |
US7640651B2 (en) | 2003-12-31 | 2010-01-05 | Microfabrica Inc. | Fabrication process for co-fabricating multilayer probe array and a space transformer |
US6965244B2 (en) | 2002-05-08 | 2005-11-15 | Formfactor, Inc. | High performance probe system |
US6911835B2 (en) | 2002-05-08 | 2005-06-28 | Formfactor, Inc. | High performance probe system |
KR100864916B1 (en) | 2002-05-23 | 2008-10-22 | 캐스케이드 마이크로테크 인코포레이티드 | Probe for testing a device under test |
US6724205B1 (en) | 2002-11-13 | 2004-04-20 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Probe for combined signals |
US7057404B2 (en) | 2003-05-23 | 2006-06-06 | Sharp Laboratories Of America, Inc. | Shielded probe for testing a device under test |
WO2006017078A2 (en) | 2004-07-07 | 2006-02-16 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Probe head having a membrane suspended probe |
JP2007517231A (en) | 2003-12-24 | 2007-06-28 | カスケード マイクロテック インコーポレイテッド | Active wafer probe |
US7167010B2 (en) * | 2004-09-02 | 2007-01-23 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Pin-in elastomer electrical contactor and methods and processes for making and using the same |
KR20070058522A (en) | 2004-09-13 | 2007-06-08 | 캐스케이드 마이크로테크 인코포레이티드 | Double sided probing structures |
US7190157B2 (en) * | 2004-10-25 | 2007-03-13 | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | Method and apparatus for layout independent test point placement on a printed circuit board |
US7273806B2 (en) | 2004-12-09 | 2007-09-25 | International Business Machines Corporation | Forming of high aspect ratio conductive structure using injection molded solder |
US7535247B2 (en) | 2005-01-31 | 2009-05-19 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Interface for testing semiconductors |
US7656172B2 (en) | 2005-01-31 | 2010-02-02 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | System for testing semiconductors |
US7449899B2 (en) | 2005-06-08 | 2008-11-11 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Probe for high frequency signals |
JP5080459B2 (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2012-11-21 | カスケード マイクロテック インコーポレイテッド | Wideband active / passive differential signal probe |
US7946853B2 (en) | 2005-07-02 | 2011-05-24 | Teradyne, Inc. | Compliant electro-mechanical device |
US7405593B2 (en) | 2005-10-28 | 2008-07-29 | Fujitsu Limited | Systems and methods for transmitting signals across integrated circuit chips |
JP4902248B2 (en) | 2006-04-07 | 2012-03-21 | 株式会社日本マイクロニクス | Electrical connection device |
JP4841298B2 (en) | 2006-04-14 | 2011-12-21 | 株式会社日本マイクロニクス | Probe sheet manufacturing method |
JP4884821B2 (en) | 2006-04-14 | 2012-02-29 | 株式会社日本マイクロニクス | Probe seat and electrical connection device |
JP4518041B2 (en) | 2006-05-19 | 2010-08-04 | エルピーダメモリ株式会社 | Probe card |
US7405582B2 (en) | 2006-06-01 | 2008-07-29 | Advantest Corporation | Measurement board for electronic device test apparatus |
US7609077B2 (en) | 2006-06-09 | 2009-10-27 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Differential signal probe with integral balun |
US7443186B2 (en) | 2006-06-12 | 2008-10-28 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | On-wafer test structures for differential signals |
US7764072B2 (en) | 2006-06-12 | 2010-07-27 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Differential signal probing system |
US7723999B2 (en) | 2006-06-12 | 2010-05-25 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Calibration structures for differential signal probing |
US7403028B2 (en) | 2006-06-12 | 2008-07-22 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Test structure and probe for differential signals |
US7876087B2 (en) | 2006-09-12 | 2011-01-25 | Innoconnex, Inc. | Probe card repair using coupons with spring contacts and separate atachment points |
JP2008082912A (en) | 2006-09-28 | 2008-04-10 | Micronics Japan Co Ltd | Electrical connection device |
US20080100323A1 (en) | 2006-10-25 | 2008-05-01 | Silicon Test Systems, Inc. | Low cost, high pin count, wafer sort automated test equipment (ate) device under test (dut) interface for testing electronic devices in high parallelism |
TWI312421B (en) | 2007-01-03 | 2009-07-21 | Au Optronics Corporatio | A display panel and a short detection apparatus thereof |
US8212580B2 (en) | 2007-04-02 | 2012-07-03 | Google Inc. | Scalable wideband probes, fixtures, and sockets for high speed IC testing and interconnects |
US7876114B2 (en) | 2007-08-08 | 2011-01-25 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Differential waveguide probe |
US7791361B2 (en) | 2007-12-10 | 2010-09-07 | Touchdown Technologies, Inc. | Planarizing probe card |
US8033012B2 (en) | 2008-03-07 | 2011-10-11 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Method for fabricating a semiconductor test probe card space transformer |
US7888957B2 (en) | 2008-10-06 | 2011-02-15 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Probing apparatus with impedance optimized interface |
US8410806B2 (en) | 2008-11-21 | 2013-04-02 | Cascade Microtech, Inc. | Replaceable coupon for a probing apparatus |
TWI511217B (en) | 2008-11-25 | 2015-12-01 | Advantest Corp | Test electronics to device under test interfaces, and methods and apparatus using same |
TWI380035B (en) * | 2009-01-07 | 2012-12-21 | Inventec Appliances Corp | Testing apparatus and testing method |
WO2010096567A1 (en) | 2009-02-18 | 2010-08-26 | Molex Incorporated | Vertical connector for a printed circuit board |
US8289039B2 (en) | 2009-03-11 | 2012-10-16 | Teradyne, Inc. | Pin electronics liquid cooled multi-module for high performance, low cost automated test equipment |
JP5433322B2 (en) | 2009-06-30 | 2014-03-05 | 株式会社アドバンテスト | Connectors, cable assemblies and semiconductor test equipment |
JP5838448B2 (en) * | 2009-08-07 | 2016-01-06 | イーメックス株式会社 | Conductive polymer composite structure, method for producing conductive polymer composite structure, and actuator element |
US8232115B2 (en) | 2009-09-25 | 2012-07-31 | International Business Machines Corporation | Test structure for determination of TSV depth |
TWI416117B (en) | 2009-10-28 | 2013-11-21 | Mpi Corp | Probe card |
WO2013134568A1 (en) | 2012-03-07 | 2013-09-12 | Advantest Corporation | Shielded probe array |
US9612284B2 (en) * | 2012-08-27 | 2017-04-04 | Futurewei Technologies, Inc. | System and method for hybrid board-level diagnostics |
CN103033738B (en) * | 2012-12-20 | 2016-03-30 | 全天自动化能源科技(东莞)有限公司 | A kind of Automatic test system for circuit board |
TW201500749A (en) * | 2013-06-26 | 2015-01-01 | Inventec Corp | Test apparatus and test method |
CN103412160A (en) * | 2013-07-24 | 2013-11-27 | 昆山迈致治具科技有限公司 | ICT testing fixture |
US9594114B2 (en) | 2014-06-26 | 2017-03-14 | Teradyne, Inc. | Structure for transmitting signals in an application space between a device under test and test electronics |
CN105676111A (en) * | 2016-01-27 | 2016-06-15 | 系新电子技术(苏州)有限公司 | ICT test jig |
-
2016
- 2016-10-04 US US15/285,090 patent/US9977052B2/en active Active
-
2017
- 2017-09-08 EP EP17858872.9A patent/EP3523665A4/en active Pending
- 2017-09-08 WO PCT/US2017/050695 patent/WO2018067267A1/en unknown
- 2017-09-08 CN CN201780054619.2A patent/CN109661584A/en active Pending
- 2017-09-12 TW TW106131138A patent/TWI743191B/en active
Patent Citations (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2015A (en) | 1841-03-26 | Improvement in rotary steam-engines | ||
US6047469A (en) * | 1997-11-12 | 2000-04-11 | Luna Family Trust | Method of connecting a unit under test in a wireless test fixture |
EP1906189A1 (en) | 2001-07-11 | 2008-04-02 | FormFactor, Inc. | Method of manufacturing a probe card |
US20040196025A1 (en) * | 2003-04-02 | 2004-10-07 | Casey William J. | Integrated circuit characterization printed circuit board, test equipment including same, method of fabrication thereof and method of characterizing an integrated circuit device |
US20080157806A1 (en) * | 2006-12-29 | 2008-07-03 | Soo Ho Lee | Test socket for semiconductor |
US20110234249A1 (en) * | 2010-03-23 | 2011-09-29 | Elpida Memory, Inc. | Test method and interposer used therefor |
US20140253159A1 (en) | 2013-03-08 | 2014-09-11 | Donald DeMille | High accuracy electrical test interconnection device and method for electrical circuit board testing |
US20150137848A1 (en) * | 2013-11-19 | 2015-05-21 | Teradyne, Inc. | Interconnect for transmitting signals between a device and a tester |
DE102015206000A1 (en) | 2014-04-04 | 2015-10-08 | Feinmetall Gmbh | Contact spacer transformer, electrical tester and method of making a contact spacer transformer |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See also references of EP3523665A4 |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20180095109A1 (en) | 2018-04-05 |
EP3523665A1 (en) | 2019-08-14 |
US9977052B2 (en) | 2018-05-22 |
CN109661584A (en) | 2019-04-19 |
TW201814316A (en) | 2018-04-16 |
TWI743191B (en) | 2021-10-21 |
EP3523665A4 (en) | 2019-09-18 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US9977052B2 (en) | Test fixture | |
US9435855B2 (en) | Interconnect for transmitting signals between a device and a tester | |
US7108546B2 (en) | High density planar electrical interface | |
US20150168450A1 (en) | Coaxial Impedance-Matched Test Socket | |
US10451652B2 (en) | Coaxial structure for transmission of signals in test equipment | |
JP2014508944A (en) | Equipment for automatic testing / verification of electronic components | |
JP2018538693A (en) | Circuit board with pocket | |
US9606143B1 (en) | Electrically conductive pins for load boards lacking Kelvin capability for microcircuit testing | |
US11043484B1 (en) | Method and apparatus of package enabled ESD protection | |
US9869697B2 (en) | Wiring substrate with filled vias to accommodate custom terminals | |
JPH07244114A (en) | Semiconductor device tester | |
US5781021A (en) | Universal fixtureless test equipment | |
US11002760B1 (en) | High isolation housing for testing integrated circuits | |
US20140055159A1 (en) | Interposer with Edge Probe Points | |
US20080218188A1 (en) | Jig for printed substrate inspection and printed substrate inspection apparatus | |
US20140253165A1 (en) | Probe card | |
US6498299B2 (en) | Connection structure of coaxial cable to electric circuit substrate | |
US11073550B1 (en) | Test vehicle for package testing | |
US7161365B2 (en) | Apparatus and method for making ground connection | |
KR101306839B1 (en) | Probe card having substrate for branching signal | |
US8203356B2 (en) | Device, system and method for testing and analyzing integrated circuits | |
US20090004891A1 (en) | Test access for high density interconnect boards | |
JP2010054487A (en) | Prober apparatus | |
JP2009058345A (en) | Connector for measuring electrical resistance, and apparatus and method for measuring electrical resistance of circuit board | |
JPWO2009147804A1 (en) | Probe device manufacturing method |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
121 | Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application |
Ref document number: 17858872 Country of ref document: EP Kind code of ref document: A1 |
|
NENP | Non-entry into the national phase |
Ref country code: DE |
|
ENP | Entry into the national phase |
Ref document number: 2017858872 Country of ref document: EP Effective date: 20190506 |