Wafer Probe Cards Help Lower The Cost Of Wire Bond Logic And SoC Devices Testing

Livermore, CA - FormFactor, Inc. recently announced a new family of advanced wafer probe cards designed to address the rising cost and technology challenges associated with testing wire bond logic and system-on-chip (SoC) devices. The TrueScale product family leverages FormFactor's MicroSpring contact technology to provide increased throughput and uptime that wire bond logic and SoC manufacturers need to lower their test cost per die and support their technology roadmaps for tighter pad pitches.

Limitations with conventional cantilever probing solutions allow for only a few devices to be tested in parallel today. At higher levels of parallelism, these probing solutions require frequent maintenance—in many cases after only a few touchdowns—to ensure the contacts are aligned properly with the test pads on the wafer. In contrast, FormFactor's TrueScale probe cards leverage the company's proprietary MicroSpring contact design to allow robust contact performance, significantly higher pin counts, and fewer touchdowns per wafer than alternative technologies—increasing test throughput and enabling greater test cost reductions.

FormFactor's cards feature the ability to reduce device pad pitch, with a roadmap to scale to 30-micron pitch inline. The high precision of the MicroSpring contacts, enabled by the semiconductor-like manufacturing processes used to produce them, minimizes pad damage and allows for greater test uptime. In addition, the improved electrical performance of the TrueScale probe card family allows customers to fully test the performance limits of their devices at probe—ensuring confidence that devices meet performance specifications before they are packaged.

According to market research firm, TechSearch International, approximately 90 percent of all ICs currently shipped are wire bonded. Wire bond logic and SoC devices are utilized in a wide variety of applications—from wireless baseband and digital media, such as mobile phones and MP3 players, to automotive microcontrollers and smart cards. As more logic devices are integrated into system-in-package (SiP) and other multi-chip package solutions for consumer applications, the need for fully tested die at the wafer-level grows.

"Many of the same test efficiency and cost-of-ownership issues that drove customer selection of our technology in memory test markets are now becoming more critical for high-volume logic and SoC device testing," stated Stefan Zschiegner, vice president and general manager of FormFactor's SoC Product Business Group. "An incremental increase in test parallelism can result in millions of dollars in savings to our customers. Our logic and SoC probe card solutions continue to drive these efficiencies."

FormFactor is now taking orders for the TrueScale wafer probe card family.

For more information, visit the company's web site at www.formfactor.com.

SOURCE: FormFactor, Inc.