The intent of this presentation is to follow up on the PCB Pad Wear presentation from BiTS 2010. Last year’s presentation focused on the mechanical interaction of various probe tip geometries of socket contacts in 0.8 mm pitch, offset PCB pads. This year’s presentation will expand the study to the realm of fine-pitch by studying 0.4 mm pitch pads, with typical via-in-pad construction.
An investigation with results of pad wear with three different spring probe tip styles, as well as socket configurations with various levels of preload resulting in probe chatter will be presented. Additionally, different types of PCB pad finishes will be discussed, as well as pros and cons of the alternative plating formulations with respect to mechanical wear due to spring probes.
Multitest (headquartered in Rosenheim, Germany) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of test equipment for semiconductors. Multitest markets test handlers, contactors and ATE printed circuit boards. Globally, more than 700 employees serve the company’s customers in offices and branches in North America, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Thailand. http://www.multitest.com