Probe Card Test

05
May

The latest fixtureless technology available for even the most challenging Probe Cards

To watch our webinar where we talk about Probe Card Test, please contact us at mktg@seica.com

The wafer fabrication is a sequential process that gradually creates the electronic circuit.
By simplifying, during the manufacturing process of silicon wafers, several integrated circuits are placed onto a semiconductor wafer. This wafer is then diced and packaged. Before the dicing is performed, the circuits need to be tested. This electrical test is carried out with the help of a probe card.

What is a Probe Card?

A Probe Card is basically an interface that provides electrical and mechanical contact between the device under test [DUT], which is the semiconductor wafer, and the test system electronics.

A Probe Card consists of the following elements:

  • The Multilayer Organic substrate (MLO)
  • The PCB

The wafer test system is composed by different parts:

  • The Wafer under test (DUT) is allocated on the Wafer Chuck
  • The Probe Card is docked onto the wafer and it serves as a connector between the bonding pads of the DIEs and the test system

How probe cards are tested?

Until now, we have seen that the Probe Card is a part of the wafer test system, but it is mandatory to test it before integrating it into the wafer test system. Since the device I/O bandwidth and the power demands increase, it is necessary to meet the requirement for high performance power and signal delivery during the electrical test. These requirements drive the challenges for the test of the probe cards.
Thanks to many years of experience in testing probe cards, Seica has designed the PilotV8XL HR Next> series, which is the ONLY flying Probe that can offer a full turnkey solution for the Probe Card test.

The PilotV8XL HR Next> series brings together in a unique system three different tools to perform:

  • Bare Board Test for single MLO™ & PCB Test
  • ICT & Functional Test for assembled PCB Test
  • Probe Card Test for PCB+MLO™
    ICCT (Integrity Connection Certification Test ): it is required as certification for the integrity of the connections between the MLO and PCB.

Pilot V8 XL HR Next> series Hardware Feature

The main hardware characteristics of the Pilot V8 XL HR Next> series:

  • Vertical Platform (easy to load also round board)
  • 8 Full Indipendent axes
  • Front side: 2 standard probes + 2 HR
  • Rear aside: 4 standard probes
  • Large test area 800×650 mm
  • Laser sensor for full warpage control


PilotV8 XL HR Next> series  “takes care” of MLO™ pads

With any sensitive product to test it is mandatory to balance the probe contact force in order to not leave witness marks on the pads to be probed.
The best approach not to have any scratch and visible mark in the Die pads is to have a Z movement perpendicular to the MLO™. With this approach, the prober can guarantee the best touch possible without leave any marks or scrub.
Any other different angle in the movement of the Z axis will increase heavily the chance to leave a scratch on the Die pads.
When the probe card is fully assembled and the MLO™  is mounted on the PCB interface, the final ICCT test must be performed in order to Test the Integrity of each single connection between MLO™  and PCB interface itself.
The PilotV8 XL HR Next> series  will generate automatically the specific test taking into account the resistance of each single path that can be different from one to another.