Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7579848?dq=5,581,513
Timestamp: 2015-02-01 10:01:10
Document Index: 659561031

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'art 1']

Patent US7579848 - High density interconnect system for IC packages and interconnect assemblies - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn improved interconnection system is described, such as for electrical contactors and connectors, electronic device or module package assemblies, socket assemblies, and/or probe card assembly systems. An exemplary connector comprises a first connector structure comprising a contactor substrate having...http://www.google.com/patents/US7579848?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7579848 - High density interconnect system for IC packages and interconnect assembliesAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7579848 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/350,049Publication dateAug 25, 2009Filing dateFeb 7, 2006Priority dateMay 23, 2000Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS20060186906, WO2006086512A2, WO2006086512A3, WO2006086512A8Publication number11350049, 350049, US 7579848 B2, US 7579848B2, US-B2-7579848, US7579848 B2, US7579848B2InventorsWilmer R. Bottoms, Fu Chiung Chong, Sammy Mok, Douglas ModlinOriginal AssigneeNanonexus, Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (102), Non-Patent Citations (99), Referenced by (28), Classifications (11), Legal Events (7) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetHigh density interconnect system for IC packages and interconnect assembliesUS 7579848 B2Abstract An improved interconnection system is described, such as for electrical contactors and connectors, electronic device or module package assemblies, socket assemblies, and/or probe card assembly systems. An exemplary connector comprises a first connector structure comprising a contactor substrate having a contact surface and a bonding surface, and one or more electrically conductive micro-fabricated spring contacts extending from the probe surface, a second connector structure comprising at least one substrate and having a set of at least one electrically conductive contact pad located on a connector surface and corresponding to the set of spring contacts, and means for movably positioning and aligning the first connector structure and the second connector structure between at least a first position and a second position, such that in at least one position, at least one electrically conductive micro-fabricated spring contact is electrically connected to at least one electrically conductive contact pad.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/651,294, entitled Nano-Contactor Embodiments for IC Packages and Interconnect Components, filed 8 Feb. 2005, and to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/718,137, entitled Compliant Nanocontactors for Application in Portable and High Density Electronic Systems, filed 16 Sep. 2005, each of which are incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of high density interconnect assembly systems, and more specifically to the fields of semiconductor device testing and packaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to high density interconnect assembly and test systems incorporating micro-fabricated spring contacts and improvements thereto, which improve performance, reliability, ease of use and/or lower the cost of ownership.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Advances in semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) design, processing, and packaging technologies have resulted in increases in the number and density of input/output (I/O) pads on each die. Nonetheless, the size of portable electronic systems such as portable computers, cell phones, PDAs, etc. continues to shrink despite the addition of new features and functions. New features and functionalities, such as digital cameras and camcorders, global positioning systems, and removable memory cards are continually being integrated into modern portable and/or high density electronic systems. It is desirable to decrease the thickness of the components within portable electronic systems to provide size reduction as well as additional space to add new components.
To test more than one die on a semiconductor wafer simultaneously, simultaneous low-resistance electrical contacts must be established with positionally matching sets of spring contact probes for each die to be tested and maintained over a broad temperature range. The more die to be tested simultaneously, the greater the degree of parallelism that is required between the spring probes and the surface of the semiconductor wafer, to insure that the probe tip �scrub�, and hence electrical contact, is uniform across the wafer. However, as higher numbers of die are tested in parallel, the number of simultaneous interconnects from the IC to the probe card assembly to the IC tester increases (not assuming pin multiplexing). Since probe tips for contacting the bonding pads on IC wafers require sufficient mechanical force on a per connection basis to assure a reliable low resistance connection, the total force between the probe card assembly and the wafer increases in proportion to the number of connections.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An improved interconnection system and method is described, such as for electrical contactors and connectors, electronic device or module package assemblies, socket assemblies and/or probe card assembly systems. An exemplary interconnection system comprises a first connector structure comprising a contactor substrate having a contactor surface and a bonding surface, and a set of at least one electrically conductive micro-fabricated spring contact extending from the contact surface, a second connector structure having a set of at least one electrically conductive contact pad located on a connector surface and corresponding to the set of at least one spring contact, and means for movably positioning and aligning the first connector structure and the second connector structure between at least a first position and a second position, such that in at least one position, at least one of the electrically conductive micro-fabricated spring contacts is electrically connected to at least one electrically conductive contact pad. Some preferred embodiments of the connector system comprise temporary, demountable, or permanent latching means between the first connector structure and the second connector structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a detailed schematic diagram of a probe card assembly;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Introductory disclosure regarding structures, processes and systems disclosed herein is seen in: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/136,636, entitled Wafer Interface for High Density Probe Card, filed 27 May 1999; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/146,241, entitled Method of Massively Parallel Testing of Circuits, filed 28 Jul. 1999; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/573,541, entitled Quick-Change Probe Chip, filed 20 May 2004; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/592,908, entitled Probe Card Assembly with Rapid Fabrication Cycle, filed 29 Jul. 2004; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/651,294, entitled Nano-Contactor Embodiments for IC Packages and Interconnect Components, filed 8 Feb. 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/870,095, entitled Enhanced Compliant Probe Card Systems Having Improved Planarity, US Filing Date 16 Jun. 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/178,103, entitled Construction Structures and Manufacturing Processes for Probe Card Assemblies and Packages Having Wafer Level Springs, US Filing Date 24 Jun. 2002; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/980,040, entitled Construction Structures and Manufacturing Processes for Integrated Circuit Wafer Probe Card Assemblies, US Filing Date 27 Nov. 2001; PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US00/21012, filed 27 Jul. 2000; PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US00/14164, entitled Construction Structures and Manufacturing Processes for Integrated Circuit Wafer Probe Card Assemblies, US Filing Date 23 May 2000; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/069,902, entitled Systems for Testing and Packaging Integrated Circuits, filed 28 Jun. 2002, each of which are incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.
Individual micro-fabricated stress metal spring contact �fingers� are photolithographically patterned and released from the substrate, using an etchant to dissolve the release layer. The sheet resistance of the finger can be reduced by electroplating with a conductive metal layer (such as copper or gold). The force generated by the spring contact can be increased by electrodepositing a layer of a material, such as nickel, on the finger to increase the spring constant of the finger. In interposer applications (see FIG. 3), the quality of the electrical contact can be improved by electrodepositing depositing a material, such as Rhodium 104, onto the tip 86 through a photomask, prior to releasing the finger from the substrate.
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May 19/21, 1998.98Lloyd, J.R., "Reliability of Copper Metallization," 20 pages.99Lumbantobing, A., Electrical Contact Resistance as a Diagnostic Tool for MEMS Contact Interfaces, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 13, No. 6, Dec. 2004, pp. 977-987.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7772863 *Dec 3, 2008Aug 10, 2010Formfactor, Inc.Mechanical decoupling of a probe card assembly to improve thermal responseUS7942687Sep 14, 2010May 17, 2011Lockheed Martin CorporationHollow stem design for high density interconnectsUS7981722 *Jan 7, 2008Jul 19, 2011Sony CorporationSemiconductor device and fabrication method thereofUS7997921Oct 15, 2010Aug 16, 2011Lockheed Martin CorporationConnecting elements having a stub surrounded by a hollow stalk with a flangeUS8035176 *Jul 25, 2007Oct 11, 2011Electronics And Telecommunications Research InstituteMEMS package and packaging method thereofUS8152549Nov 1, 2010Apr 10, 2012Lockheed Martin CorporationMultiple stem design for high density interconnectsUS8154119Mar 31, 2010Apr 10, 2012Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.Compliant spring interposer for wafer level three dimensional (3D) integration and method of manufacturingUS8253429 *Jan 8, 2008Aug 28, 2012Gigalane Co., Ltd.Probe card having a plurality of space transformersUS8294042 *Jul 27, 2010Oct 23, 2012Unimicron Technology Corp.Connector and manufacturing method thereofUS8367467 *Apr 21, 2010Feb 5, 2013Stats Chippac, Ltd.Semiconductor method of forming bump on substrate to prevent ELK ILD delamination during reflow processUS8519536Nov 30, 2012Aug 27, 2013Stats Chippac, Ltd.Semiconductor device including bump formed on substrate to prevent extremely-low dielectric constant (ELK) interlayer dielectric layer (ILD) delamination during reflow processUS8521017Apr 4, 2011Aug 27, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSMEMS actuator alignmentUS8547627Nov 15, 2010Oct 1, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSElectrical routingUS8564117Apr 9, 2012Oct 22, 2013Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.Compliant spring interposer for wafer level three dimensional (3D) integration and method of manufacturingUS8571405 *Sep 28, 2011Oct 29, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSSurface mount actuatorUS8602666Dec 6, 2012Dec 10, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSLong hinge actuator snubbingUS8604663Nov 15, 2010Dec 10, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSMotion controlled actuatorUS8605375Nov 15, 2010Dec 10, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSMounting flexure contactsUS8608393Nov 15, 2010Dec 17, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSCapillary actuator deploymentUS8616791Sep 28, 2011Dec 31, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSRotationally deployed actuator devicesUS8619378Nov 15, 2010Dec 31, 2013DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSRotational comb drive Z-stageUS8637961Nov 15, 2010Jan 28, 2014DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSMEMS actuator deviceUS8768157Sep 28, 2011Jul 1, 2014DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSMultiple degree of freedom actuatorUS8803001Jun 21, 2011Aug 12, 2014Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.Bonding area design for transient liquid phase bonding processUS8803256Nov 15, 2010Aug 12, 2014DigitalOptics Corporation MEMSLinearly deployed actuatorsUS20110121851 *Jan 8, 2008May 26, 2011Gigalane Co. Ltd.Probe cardUS20110260316 *Apr 21, 2010Oct 27, 2011Stats Chippac, Ltd.Semiconductor Device and Method of Forming Bump on Substrate to Prevent ELK ILD Delamination During Reflow ProcessUS20120024584 *Jul 27, 2010Feb 2, 2012Unimicron Technology Corp.Connector and manufacturing method thereof* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification324/756.03, 324/762.01International ClassificationG01R31/02Cooperative ClassificationG01R3/00, G01R1/07342, G01R1/0483, G01R1/07378, G01R1/06711European ClassificationG01R1/073B9C, G01R1/04S3U, G01R1/067CLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionJan 30, 2013FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Mar 20, 2012ASAssignmentFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:VERIGY (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD;REEL/FRAME:027896/0018Effective date: 20120302Owner name: ADVANTEST (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD, SINGAPOREJul 7, 2010ASAssignmentFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:NANONEXUS, INC.;REEL/FRAME:24640/291Owner name: NANONEXUS (ASSIGNMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF CREDITORSEffective date: 20100525Effective date: 20100601Owner name: VERIGY (SINGAPORE) PTE. 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