Probe Needles

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OVERVIEW of Probe Needles

Probe Needles - Probe Punch Needles for Probe Card - Probe Testing - Locations in USA, Singapore, Taiwan
The wafer probe card is typically comprised of a printed circuit board with a set of precision-assembled probe needles. The probe needles are the tiny pins with sharp tips that contact the bond pads, or the signal terminals, on the IC chip during the testing. The probe needles are usually made of high-performance metals like tungsten with very good electrical conductivity and strong mechanical properties. The spacing between adjacent probe needles can be as tight as 20-30 microns, less than half the width of a human hair which is around 80 microns. There can be as many as a few thousand probe needles in the space of a few square centimeters on a probe card. Hence, the manufacturing of probe cards is one that requires tremendous technical expertise, R&D and intellectual property.

Probe cards, are considered 'consumables' as they have to be replaced or refurbished after a finite period. The usable life of a probe is determined by the number of 'touch downs' which is the number of times the needles of the probe card comes into contact with the chips on the wafer. Typically, probe cards last between a few hundred thousand to as many as a million touch downs.

Probe Needles are available from Professional Plastics is a full range of materials and sizes. These needles are produced to the highest quality available in the marketplace. Needles are produced using a special, proprietary machining technique used to grind needles of superior accuracy and consistency. This machine grinding creates smooth, straight surfaces (unlike chemical etching which can result in pits and concave/convex surfaces). Materials include Tungsten Carbide (WC), Beryllium Copper (BeCu), or Tool Steel.