APPLICATION OF GIGAHERTZ WAFER PROBE TECHNOLOGY TO MULTICHIP MODULE PRODUCTION

ADAPTATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART GIGAHERTZ WAFER PROBE TECHNOLOGY (WPT) FOR USE IN DESIGN, TROUBLESHOOTING, AND PRODUCTION OF MULTICHIP MODULES (MCMS) IS PROPOSED. THESE PROBES ARE CURRENTLY CAPABLE OF TESTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES ON WAFERS AT FREQUENCIES UPTO 75 GHZ. PHASE I WILL SHOW THE ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL FEASIBILITY OF PROBING MCMS AND SET DIRECTION FOR PHASE II. KEY TASKS INCLUDE ESTABLISHING TEST POINT DESIGN RULES, MECHANICAL FIXTURING, AND HIGH IMPEDANCE PROBES FOR REDUCED LOADING OF ACTIVE CIRCUITS. PHSE II WILL DEVELOP PRODUCTION READY MCM PROBES AND DEMONSTRATE THEIR USE ON A POPULATED MODULE. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT WOULD ALLOW ACCURATE REPEATABLE MEASUREMENTS DURING DESIGN, EVALUTION, FAILURE ANALYSIS, AND PRODUCTION OF MCMS. THIS WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY DATA FOR DEVELOPING ACCURATE CIRCUIT AND RELIABILITY MODELS. IT WILL ALSO ALLOW COST EFFECTIVE PRODUCTION OF MCMS BY CORRECTLY IDENTIFYING FAILED COMPONENTS DURING PRODUCTIONAND BURN IN.