Development of millimeter-wave technology for non-contact automated testers of CMOS wafers

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Integrated circuits (ICs) for tablet computers, smartphones and other products are tested using automated measurement instruments to verify the performance of the ICs before shipment. The purpose of this project is to develop non-contact probing methods for probe cards used in automated testers to characterize the ICs in semiconductor foundries. Circuit test and verification is normally done by bringing a 'probe card' into physical contact with the wafer and a typical probe card can have thousands of delicate contact tips. Damage to a single tip will render the entire card useless because tips are not fixable or replaceable. The proposed non-contact probing method will rely on electromagnetic (EM) coupling using inductive coils to send and receive test signals between the probe card and the wafer under test. The signaling frequency will be in the high-millimeter wave to submillimeter wave region of the spectrum where the free-space wavelength of the EM waves is small.