Integration of Damage-less Probe Cards Using Nano-TSV Technology for Microbumped Wafer Testing

This paper describes nano-scale probe integration on a printed circuit board (PCB) using electroless TSV formation technology for achieving small scrub marks when testing solder microbumps formed on LSI wafers. The nanoprobes are resulted from the backside grinding and dry etching of Si substrates in which an array of Ni/Cu-TSVs with a tip diameter of 500 nm are fabricated. The TSV nanoprobes are also transferred to the PCB before the Si etch step. We demonstrate the probe contact to a thin solder layer for testing wafer-level packages with fine-pitch microbumps. In addition, the nanoprobes are electrically and mechanically characterized in this study.