US-12625162-B2 - Test socket

US12625162B2US 12625162 B2US12625162 B2US 12625162B2US-12625162-B2

Abstract

A test socket is provided and includes a base with a first surface, a second surface opposing the first surface and through holes, a conductive elastic sheet located on the first surface, and a plurality of elastic metal members with first contact ends facing toward the conductive elastic sheet. The first contact ends include bumps suitable for inserting into the conductive elastic sheet, and each elastic metal member may be prevented from being contaminated by covering the base with the conductive elastic sheet. When the elastic metal members are pressured to insert the bumps into the conductive elastic sheet, a low resistance better than the resistance of the elastic metal members without squeezing can be obtained. When the bumps are inserted into the conductive elastic sheet, the surface of the bumps can be cleaned and the elastic metal members are stably in contact with the conductive elastic sheet.

Inventors

Po-Han YEH
Chia-Pin SUN

Assignees

WINWAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240215
Priority Date: 20230728

Claims (20)

1 . A test socket, comprising: a base having a first surface, a second surface opposing the first surface, and a plurality of through holes connecting the first surface and the second surface; a conductive elastic sheet located above the first surface of the base; and a plurality of elastic metal members respectively disposed in the plurality of through holes, wherein the elastic metal member has a first contact end facing the conductive elastic sheet, and the first contact end comprises a bump suitable for inserting in the conductive elastic sheet, wherein the base further comprises a frame body disposed on a peripheral side of the conductive elastic sheet and having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, wherein the conductive elastic sheet is disposed on the first surface of the base, and the frame body and upper side surface of the conductive elastic sheet define a fluid space in communication with the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet.
2 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the bump of the elastic metal member is suitable for stabbing into a surface of the conductive elastic sheet so as to be inserted into an interior of the conductive elastic sheet.
3 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the bump of the elastic metal member is in plural and pointed.
4 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the bump of the elastic metal member is pressed against the conductive elastic sheet and inserted into the conductive elastic sheet, such that the conductive elastic sheet covers the bump.
5 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the elastic metal member is a spring probe, a vertical probe, or a micro-electromechanical probe.
6 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the conductive elastic sheet is disposed on a frame base of the base and spaced an interval distance apart from the bump of the elastic metal member.
7 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein a length of the bump is greater than or equal to 0.01 millimeters (mm) and less than a thickness of the conductive elastic sheet.
8 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the elastic metal member further comprises an elastomer disposed in each of the through holes, a metal block rotatably disposed on the elastomer and for connecting to the first contact end, and a second contact end connected to the metal block and extending towards the second surface.
9 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the base is a metal base body, and the conductive elastic sheet comprises a plurality of conductive elastic regions corresponding to the elastic metal members respectively and a plurality of conductive particles distributed in each of the conductive elastic regions, wherein a width of the conductive elastic region is larger than a diameter of the through hole, such that the conductive elastic region is in contact with the base.
10 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the conductive elastic sheet is greater than or equal to 0.15 mm and less than or equal to 2 mm.
11 . The test socket of claim 10 , wherein a thickness of the conductive elastic sheet is greater than or equal to 0.15 mm and less than or equal to 0.4 mm.
12 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the conductive elastic sheet comprises a substrate and a plurality of conductive particles distributed in the substrate.
13 . The test socket of claim 12 , wherein a particle diameter of the conductive particles is greater than or equal to 0.005 mm and less than or equal to 0.1 mm.
14 . The test socket of claim 12 , wherein a proportion of the plurality of conductive particles to the conductive elastic sheet is greater than or equal to 30% and less than or equal to 90%.
15 . The test socket of claim 1 , further comprising another conductive elastic sheet located below the second surface of the base.
16 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the conductive elastic sheet has a first contact surface and a second contact surface opposing the first contact surface, wherein the conductive elastic sheet is disposed on the base with the first contact surface facing the first surface, and the second contact surface corresponding to each of the elastic metal members has a plurality of convex pads protruding from the second contact surface.
17 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the conductive elastic sheet covers the first surface of the base and seals the through hole.
18 . The test socket of claim 1 , wherein the conductive elastic sheet comprises a substrate with a plurality of conductive elastic regions and a plurality of conductive particles distributed in the conductive elastic regions, and at least one of the conductive elastic regions corresponds to at least two of the elastic metal members.
19 . The test socket of claim 1 , further comprising a conductive member, wherein the conductive elastic sheet comprises a substrate with a plurality of conductive elastic regions corresponding to the elastic metal members respectively and a plurality of conductive particles distributed in the conductive elastic regions, wherein at least two of the conductive elastic regions are electrically connected by the conductive member.
20 . The test socket of claim 19 , wherein the elastic metal member is a ground probe or a power probe.

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to the semiconductor testing technology, and more particularly, to a test socket. 2. Description of Related Art In semiconductor packaging testing, a test socket with a plurality of probes is usually used for placing a device under test such as a semiconductor package or chip, and then each probe is electrically connected to the semiconductor package or chip, so that the test signal is transmitted to the semiconductor package or chip through each probe to achieve the purpose of testing. As the test conditions become increasingly stringent, the requirements for signal quality during the test process are getting higher and higher. Therefore, the transmission path between the probe and the device under test plays a very important role in the test interface. As such, how to shorten the transmission path or improving the contact between contact interfaces has become one of the issues to be solved in the industry. As shown in FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of a conventional test socket for testing a device under test. In FIG. 1, a test socket 100 comprises a base 101 with a plurality of conductive through holes 102 and a probe 103 disposed in each of the conductive through holes 102, wherein the test socket 100 is disposed on a testing apparatus 104 to receive test signals from the testing apparatus 104, wherein the testing apparatus 104 can be, for example, a printed circuit board (PCB). During the test, a device under test (DUT) 9 with a plurality of conductive blocks 91 (such as solder balls) is placed on the base 101, and force is applied downward to the DUT 9, so that the conductive blocks 91 of the DUT 9 are in direct electrical contact with probe tips of the probes 103, and the test signal can be transmitted to the DUT 9 through each of the probes 103 and each of the conductive blocks 91, so that the DUT 9 can be tested. However, during the test process, each of the probe tips of the probes 103 is often a spherical or needle-shaped structure, and the probes 103 of the test socket 100 and the conductive blocks 91 of the DUT 9 are both made with solid hard metal, so the probe tips and the conductive blocks 91 are connected in a point contact manner. Therefore, there are problems of poor contact and poor stability between the probe tips and the conductive blocks 91 that will lead to a higher contact resistance at the interface (i.e., the places where the probe tips and the conductive blocks 91 being contacted). As the contact resistance increases, a serious electro-thermal effect will occur when the current of the test signal passes through the contacts between the probe tips and the conductive blocks 91, and the high temperature generated by the electro-thermal effect will affect the elastic force of the probes 103, thereby decreasing the elastic force of the probes 103. After that, the contact between the probes 103 and the DUT 9 will become worse due to being unstable, and eventually triggering a series of vicious cycles. In addition, since the probe tip of the conventional probe 103 is driven by the elastic force of an internal spring to push against the conductive block 91 of the DUT 9 when under testing, the probe tip is wearing and generates metal debris. The metal debris may cause the probe tip to become contaminated and the aforementioned contact resistance to increase, and may even cause a short circuit between the conductive blocks 91 or the probe tips and damage the DUT 9. Therefore, special cleaning procedure must be executed frequently to clean the probe tips to avoid the various adverse reactions mentioned above. Also, when the probe 103 is damaged due to the wear of the probe tip, the unusable probe 103 must be replaced. However, there are many probes 103 in the test socket 100, so it is quite difficult, time-consuming and very inconvenient to find the damaged one among many probes 103. In view of the above problems, how to provide a test socket that can provide good contact stability between the probes and the device under test, and at the same time effectively reduce the contact resistance and avoid the subsequent electro-thermal effect, has become a current goal that people in this technical field are eager to pursue. SUMMARY In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art, the present disclosure provides a test socket, which comprises: a base having a first surface, a second surface opposing the first surface, and a plurality of through holes connecting the first surface and the second surface; a conductive elastic sheet located above the first surface of the base; and a plurality of elastic metal members respectively disposed in the plurality of through holes, wherein each of the elastic metal members has a first contact end facing the conductive elastic sheet, and the first contact end comprises a bump suitable for inserting in the conductive elastic sheet. In one embodiment, the bump of each of the elastic metal membe