A probe pin material including a Ag—Pd—Cu-based alloy essentially including Ag, Pd and Cu, B as a first additive element, and at least any element of Zn, Bi and Sn, as a second additive element. A concentration of the first additive element is 0.1 mass % or more and 1.5 mass % or less, and a concentration of the second additive element is 0.1 mass % or more and 1.0 mass % or less. A Ag concentration, a Pd concentration and a Cu concentration in the Ag—Pd—Cu-based alloy are required as follows: a Ag concentration (S.sub.Ag), a Pd concentration (S.sub.Pd) and a Cu concentration (S.sub.Cu) converted as given that a Ag—Pd—Cu ternary alloy is formed from only such three elements all fall within a predetermined range in a Ag—Pd—Cu ternary system phase diagram. The probe pin material is excellent in resistance value and hardness/wear resistance, and also is enhanced in bending resistance.

A contact probe for a testing head for testing electronic devices includes a rod-like body made of a first conductive material and extending along a longitudinal axis, and a contact tip supported by the body at an end portion thereof. The contact tip is made of a second conductive material that is different from the first conductive material. The contact tip includes a contact zone configured to perform mechanical and electrical contact with contact pads of a device under test. The body and the contact tip include respective contact surfaces in contact with each other. The contact surfaces are complementary to each other and include respective connection elements engaging each other. The connection elements include a protruding element projecting from the contact surface of one among the body and the contact tip, and a recess made in the other among the body and the contact tip.

When a load necessary for inspection is applied to a cylindrical body in the axial direction thereof, an end of the first bar-like main body is located closer to the other end side of the cylindrical body than one end of a support portion in a support member that supports the body portion, an end of the second bar-like main body is located closer to one end side of the cylindrical body than the other end of the support portion, the body portion is located in the entire portion where the support portion is located, and a radial distance between the outer peripheral surface of the axial central portion of at least one of the first spring portion and the second spring portion and the support member is larger than the distance between the body portion and the support portion.

A method of securing a probe tip to a device under test (DUT), the method comprising: positioning the probe tip near a test point of the DUT, the probe tip comprising a connection point on a signal-path portion of the probe tip and an attachment tab, the connection point making an electrical connection with the test point of the DUT, the attachment tab extending away from the signal-path portion of the probe tip; applying an adhesive to the DUT through a hole in the attachment tab of the probe tip; and curing the adhesive to secure the probe tip to the DUT.

The ethylene sensor is formed from a substrate with a gold thin film layer formed thereon. The substrate may be formed from soda-lime glass with a thickness of approximately 1.0 mm. Correspondingly, the gold layer may have a thickness of approximately 200 nm. The gold layer is divided into first and second regions or electrodes by a variable impedance channel containing K.sub.0.003Au.sub.0.008Mg.sub.0.009Ca.sub.0.015Si.sub.0.11Na.sub.0.175O.sub.0.68 as an ethylene selective material. The channel may be configured such that first and second sets of interdigitated gold fingers are defined in the first and second regions or electrodes, respectively. An ohmmeter is connected to the first and second regions to measure a resistance therebetween. A reference resistance is initially measured that is indicative of an absence of ethylene. Subsequent measurements of the resistance are compared against this reference resistance, with variations in the measured resistance indicating the presence of ethylene.

The present invention relates primarily to a method of fabrication of one or more free-standing micromachined parts. The method includes performing reactive ion etching of photoresist and tungsten-based layers supported on a carrier substrate to thereby define one or more micromachined parts, followed by separating the resulting one or more micromachined parts from the carrier substrate such that the parts are free-standing. The invention also relates to tungsten-based microprobe obtainable by such a method, wherein the microprobe has a substantially square or rectangular cross-section in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the microprobe, and to probe cards comprising a plurality of such microprobes.

The invention relates to a palladium-copper-silver alloy with palladium as the main component, wherein the palladium-copper-silver alloy has a weight ratio of palladium to copper of at least 1.05 and at most 1.6 and has a weight ratio of palladium to silver of at least 3 and at most 6, and wherein the palladium-copper-silver alloy contains more than 1 wt % and up to a maximum of 6 wt % of ruthenium, rhodium or ruthenium and rhodium and contains, as the remainder, palladium, copper and silver and at most 1 wt % of other metallic elements including impurities. The invention also relates to a wire, a strip or a probe needle made of such a palladium-copper-silver alloy and to the use of such a palladium-copper-silver alloy for testing electrical contacts or for making electrical contact or for producing a sliding contact.

A probe pin material including a Ag—Pd—Cu-based alloy essentially including Ag, Pd and Cu, B as a first additive element, and at least any element of Zn, Bi and Sn, as a second additive element. A concentration of the first additive element is 0.1 mass % or more and 1.5 mass % or less, and a concentration of the second additive element is 0.1 mass % or more and 1.0 mass % or less. A Ag concentration, a Pd concentration and a Cu concentration in the Ag—Pd—Cu-based alloy are required as follows: a Ag concentration (S.sub.Ag), a Pd concentration (S.sub.Pd) and a Cu concentration (S.sub.Cu) converted as given that a Ag—Pd—Cu ternary alloy is formed from only such three elements all fall within a predetermined range in a Ag—Pd—Cu ternary system phase diagram. The probe pin material is excellent in resistance value and hardness/wear resistance, and also is enhanced in bending resistance.

An electrical connecting device includes an insulating probe including a bottom-side plunger, a top-side plunger, and a barrel, and a probe head including a combined guide plate having a conductive region made of a conductive material and an insulating region made of an insulating material arranged adjacent to each other in a planar view. The bottom-side plunger and the top-side plunger are electrically connected to each other inside the barrel, and the bottom-side plunger and the top-side plunger are electrically insulated from the barrel. The probe head holds the insulating probe in a state in which the barrel penetrates through the conductive region. The barrel of the insulating probe is connected to a ground potential via the conductive region when an inspection object is measured.

A cantilever-type probe with multiple metallic coatings is disclosed. The cantilever-type probe includes at least one probe pin. A first metallic coating is disposed upon a tip of the probe pin, and a second metallic coating is disposed upon a root of the probe pin. The second metallic coating is in contact with the first metallic coating and comprises a softer (more flexible) metal than the first metallic coating.