Patent ID: 8536875

Claim:
An apparatus for testing a sample, the apparatus comprising: a clamp that holds the sample, the sample comprising a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) flex circuit prior to electrical installation of a Head Gimbal Assembly (HGA), the sample having at least one bondpad and an electrical connector; an electrical interface to connect to the electrical connector of the sample; a shorting block that includes one or more electrical contacts that are electrically grounded and have at least one of a size and configuration to contact the at least one bondpad on the sample while also contacting a surface of the sample that does not include the at least one bondpad, wherein the at least one bondpad comprises a plurality of bondpads on the sample and when the shorting block contacts the plurality of bondpads the shorting block shorts the plurality of bondpads together and grounds the plurality of bondpads; and a measurement circuit coupled to receive signals from the electrical interface to measure an electrical response of the sample while the shorting block is engaged against the at least one bondpad.