Patent ID: 7330038

Claim:
An apparatus for testing an integrated circuit, the apparatus comprising: a substrate; a plurality of probes formed on the substrate, each of the probes being configured to contact a corresponding pad on a die, each of the probes having a supported portion fixedly attached to the substrate and an unsupported portion that flexes upon contact with a die pad, the unsupported portion having a non-uniform cross-section along its entire length that begins at a base where the supported portion and the unsupported portion meet; wherein the probes comprise a first set of probes and a second set of probes, the first set of probes having unsupported portions that have bases along a first line, the second set of probes having unsupported portions that have bases along a second line, and the first and second sets of probes having tips for contacting pads on the die and that curl up along a same third line that is between the first line and the second line as viewed from a perspective view of the first and second sets of probes.