High-speed electrical testing of multichip ceramic modules

This paper reports on the successful application of very-high-performance robotics in the electrical testing of multichip modules using only two probes, breaking with the old traditional array of probes as the primary test method. Complete production line tools include two high-speed Hummingbird (R) probing robots and precise x-y tables to carry them and a fast, accurate opens-shorts test. To ensure fast probe placement without damaging the part under test requires real-time control hardware and software to operate with extreme precision, flexibility, and programmability to accommodate any part. Finally, because a module can have nearly 100,000 points to be probed, computing an optimal path for the two probes to take for full testing of a part can greatly reduce test time.