Test socket aids mass production

The Quatrix Kelvin QFN test socket allows chipmakers to migrate Kelvin-configuration testing of QFN packages from the lab to mass production

Antares Advanced Test Technologies has released a new test socket, the Quatrix Kelvin QFN.

It uses a single set of photolithographic-based contacts with two distinct electrical connections on each terminal on an integrated circuit (IC) package to allow chipmakers to migrate Kelvin-configuration testing of QFN packages from the lab to mass production down to 0.5mm pitch.

Chipmakers often look to measure resistance at 1mohm using Kelvin connections to minimise the affects of the socket and printed circuit board (PCB) on test readings of the latest fine-pitch QFN packages that are sensitive to electrical configurations and peripheral resistance.

Kelvin testing generally involves the use of Kelvin clips to establish four electrical connections with a device under test (DUT) to eliminate resistance from a test apparatus.

The continued shrinking, however, of IC packages to produce smaller and faster end-user devices has effectively prevented chipmakers from using traditional contacts to establish precise production-level Kelvin connections with DUTs to measure performance.

Antares' latest socket uses a proprietary modular cartridge of contacts, or Quatrix, to help give test engineers the pointing accuracy and minimal true position tolerance they need to perform Kelvin testing on the latest fine-pitch QFNs.

The contact set's design allows Quatrix Kelvin QFN to have a lifespan of more than 1,000,000 cycles and deliver relatively low contact force of less than 8g per contact at operating height.

The socket's design helps chipmakers gain a high first-pass yield during production-level Kelvin QFN testing and reduce maintenance and test-related costs during the process.

"Kelvin testing is a great way to get accurate data, but when you look at QFN packages, their fine feature sizes and hard tolerances of dimension have basically made Kelvin interconnections impossible during production", according to Ila Pal, Antares' Product Development Manager for Quatrix Kelvin QFN "Our goal, really, was to create an interconnect technology that would give the Kelvin configuration to the test community's QFN segment".

Pal added that Quatrix Kelvin QFN's field replaceable contact sets and wiping-action contact also work to reduce production downtime for chipmakers.

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