The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 10, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 19, 1998
Igor Y Khandros, Orinda, CA (US);
David V. Pedersen, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Ralph G. Whitten, San Jose, CA (US);
FormFactor, Inc., Livermore, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of fabricating a large contactor ( ) is provided wherein one or more contactor units ( ) are mounted on a support substrate ( ) such that contact elements ( ) attached to the contactor units are suitably aligned. In this manner, a large area contactor can be prepared using a plurality of smaller contactor units. Preferably the contact elements on the plurality of contactor units are coplanar across the contactor units. This is particularly advantageous for making a large contactor for probing semiconductor devices on a wafer. This also can be useful for making a contactor capable of contacting devices across an entire semiconductor wafer. In one embodiment, the contactor units self-align during reflow of a joining material such as solder balls ( ) or other reflowable material interconnecting the contactor units and the support substrate. In alternative embodiments, alignment facilitation devices such as keys ( ) and indentations ( ) are utilized to assist the alignment of the contactor units.