Patent ID: 7942182

Claim:
An apparatus for use with multiple individual chips, the apparatus comprising: a rigid plate; and a deformable material located on the rigid plate, wherein a first surface of the deformable material is in contact with a surface of the rigid plate along its length, and wherein the deformable material includes a ceramic; wherein a second surface of the deformable material, opposite the first surface, is configured to peripherally conform to only a top end portion of each of the multiple individual chips, irrespective of any difference in height among the multiple individual chips, to prevent each of the multiple individual chips from moving in a lateral direction, and to uniformly transfer a vertical force, applied to the rigid plate, to the multiple individual chips to bring, under pressure, a bonding surface of each individual chip into contact with a bonding surface of an element to which the multiple individual chips will be bonded during a connect-and-release cycle without causing damage to the multiple individual chips or the bonding surface.