A method of determining a minimum permissible tip diameter of probing needles of a probe card for wafer probing is described. The method includes performing a plurality of contact procedures of at least one probing needle to a plurality of bonding pads on a wafer. The plurality of contact procedures is performed at different stress applied by the at least one probing needle to the bonding pads. A chart of indentation depths of the plurality of bonding pads caused by the contact procedures at different stress is determined. A set of calibration coefficients based on the chart is determined, wherein the set of calibration coefficients allows to compute a predicted indentation depth as a function of stress. The minimum permissible probing needle tip diameter is determined based on an evaluation of the function.

A carbon nanomaterial functionalized needle tip is modified with a low work function material. The needle tip is formed by combining a carbon nanomaterial with a material of a needle tip through a covalent bond. The interior or outer surface of the carbon nanomaterial is modified with a low work function material. The material of the needle tip is a metal which can be any of tungsten, iron, cobalt, nickel, and titanium. The carbon nanomaterial can be carbon nanocone or carbon nanotube. The tip of the carbon nanomaterial has the same orientation as the metal needle tip. The low work function material can be selected from metals, metal carbides, metal oxides, borides, nitrides, and endohedral metallofullerene. The carbon nanomaterial functionalized needle tip has a lower electron emission barrier, and can effectively reduce the electric field intensity required for electron emission, and improve the emission current and emission efficiency.

Provided is a probe member for a pogo pin, which is used for testing a semiconductor device, and at least a portion of which is inserted into a cylindrical body to be supported by an elastic member and an upper end of which contacts a terminal of the semiconductor device.

The embodiments of the present invention relate to semiconductor device manufacturing, and more particularly to structures and methods of directly testing semiconductor wafers having micro-solder connections. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of forming a pattern of micro-solder connections coupled with a through substrate via (TSV) that can be directly tested by electrical probing, without the use of a testing interposer, is disclosed. According to another embodiment, a method of testing the pattern of micro-solder connections is disclosed. According to another embodiment, a novel electrical probe tip structure, having contacts on the same pitch as the pattern of micro-solder connections is disclosed.

Proposed is an integrated pogo pin including: a casing portion rolled up to have a C-shaped cross section; an upper elastic portion extending from a first side surface of the casing portion in a first spiral direction toward an upper-end opening along an inner circumferential surface thereof; an upper probe portion arranged on a non-stationary end of the upper elastic portion and rolled up to a shape of a cylinder in such a manner as to reciprocate upward and downward within the upper-end opening; a lower elastic portion extending from the first side surface of the casing portion in a second spiral direction toward a lower-end opening along the inner circumferential surface; and a lower probe portion arranged on a non-stationary end of the lower elastic portion and rolled up to the shape of the cylinder in such a manner as to reciprocate upward and downward within the lower-end opening.

A probe has a substantially bar shape, and includes a tip end, a base end, and a body portion that is located between the tip end and the base end and has a thickness in a thickness direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the substantially bar shape thinner than the tip end. The body portion includes a slope surface that is continuous with the tip end and is inclined with respect to the axial direction in a direction in which the thickness becomes gradually thinner with increasing distance from the tip end. A first region having a surface shape that bulges outward is provided in at least a part of the slope surface.

The present invention intends to suppress a contact probe from interfering with a guide plate to produce shavings. The present invention has stacked structure that sandwiches an intermediate metallic layer 12 between outer metallic layers 11 and 13, and includes: a contact part 2 that is brought into abutting with a test object; an elastic deformation part 4 that is elastically deformed so as to be curved in a predetermine direction of curvature N by compression force in the longer direction; and a fore end part 3 that is formed between the contact part 2 and the elastic deformation part 4 and supported by a through-hole 121 of a guide plate 120 so as to make the contact part 2 movable in the longer direction, in which side surfaces of the fore end part 3 formed in the direction of curvature N and a direction N′ opposite to the N of the elastic deformation part 4 are configured to include the three metallic layers 11 to 13, and on the side surfaces, the intermediate metallic layer 12 is configured to protrude relative to the outer metallic layers 11 and 13.

A conductive probe may include a probe body for communicating with a circuit tester or a jumper. The probe body may be formed of metal and may have a free end. A probe tip may be mounted to the end of the probe body. The probe tip may be formed of thorium-tungsten. The probe tip may be configured for contacting a circuit node.

A contact inspection device including contacts that contact with a test object for inspection, each contact having a base end portion, a needle tip portion having a needle tip that contacts with the test object, and an elastically deformable portion located between the base end portion and the needle tip portion, with the base end portion and the needle tip portion having axes which coincide with each other. The elastically deformable portion is deformable under a compressive force applied in the axial direction of the needle tip portion while the needle tip is pressed against the test object and converts the compressive force into a tilting motion of the needle tip portion about the needle tip through deformation. The needle tip portion is displaceable in a direction in which the needle tip portion is pivotally tilted while the needle tip is pressed against the test object.

Improvement in yield of a semiconductor device is obtained. In addition, increase in service life of a socket terminal is obtained. A projecting portion PJ1 and a projecting portion PJ2 are provided in an end portion PU of a socket terminal STE1. Thus, it is possible to enable contact between a lead and the socket terminal STE in which a large current is caused to flow, at two points by a contact using the projecting portion PJ1 and by a contact using the projecting portion PJ2, for example. As a result, the current flowing from the socket terminal STE1 to the lead flows by being dispersed into a path flowing in the projecting portion PJ1 and a path flowing in the projecting portion PJ2. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress increase of temperature of a contact portion between the socket terminal STE1 and the lead even in a case where the large current is caused to flow between the socket terminal STE1 and the lead.