Patent ID: 7642798

Claim:
A method for optimizing cleaning of a probe card, the method comprising: using the probe card to test the functionality of dies on a wafer; when a die fails the probe test, and the probe reports failure to contact the pads of the die, assessing an electrical characteristic of the probe needles; and if the electrical characteristic of a probe needle is greater than a predetermined value, triggering probe needle cleaning; wherein a tester module controls the probe and probe module; wherein the tester module is arranged to assess whether the probe test is a pass or a fail; wherein if the test is a fail, the tester module is further arranged to determine whether or not to skip the die; the method further comprising re-probing the die if the die is not skipped; and wherein if the re-probe produces a pass result, the tester module is further arranged to assess whether the maximum number of dies per clean has been exceeded.