Patent ID: 7019512

Claim:
A method of testing a microelectronic component comprising: determining a planarity characteristic of a microelectronic component support of a microelectronic component test system with respect to a head of the microelectronic component test system by: juxtaposing a diagnostic card with the microelectronic component support, an array of diagnostic probes of the diagnostic card being oriented toward the microelectronic component support; electrically coupling the diagnostic probes to the head; changing a distance between the diagnostic card and a contact surface carried by the microelectronic component support and recording in a first data set a coordinate of the microelectronic component support at which each diagnostic probe changes a contact condition with respect to the contact surface; and processing the first data set with a processor of the test system to determine at least one planarity characteristic of the microelectronic component test system; and testing the microelectronic component with the test system by: electrically coupling test probes of a microelectronic component test card to the head; contacting terminals of the microelectronic component with the test probes and collecting test data for the microelectronic component; and processing the test data with the processor of the test system to determine at least one functional characteristic of the microelectronic component.