Test probe and test device

Abstract

Disclosed is a test probe for testing the electrical characteristics of an object-to-be-tested. The test probe includes a cylindrical barrel; a plunger comprising a neck portion partially inserted in a first end portion of the barrel, and a head portion extending from the neck portion in a radial direction and having a tip on the top surface thereof to come into contact with the object-to-be-tested; and an insulator made of an insulating material and comprising a neck accommodating portion formed with a neck hole accommodating the neck portion and having a diameter smaller than the width of the barrel.

Description

TEST PROBE AND TEST DEVICE

[0001] The disclosure relates to a test probe and a test device, which may test the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor or the like object-to-be-tested.

[0002] In a coaxial socket, signal probes are contactlessly supported being spaced apart from an inner wall of a probe hole of a conductive block so as to shield noise between the adjacent signal probes.

[0003] With increased integration of a semiconductor, a pitch between ball terminals of the semiconductor has further been decreased. The signal probes to be in contact with the ball terminals having a narrow pitch are required to include a thinly designed plunger that comes into contact with the ball terminal. The tinner the plunger, the smaller the contact area and size of a tip that comes into contact with the ball terminal. As a result, the tip has problems of breaking, bending, or mis-contact with the ball terminal.

[0004] For stable contact with the ball terminal, a head may be provided to extend in a radial direction of the plunger and a tip may be formed on the head. However, it is not easy to put the plunger having the extended head and the conductive block together because the coaxial socket is assembled while keeping the signal probe confined in the probe hole of the conductive block.

[0005] The disclosure has been conceived to solve the foregoing problems, and an aspect of the disclosure is to provide a test probe and a test device, which may test a fine-pitch semiconductor.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a test probe for testing electrical characteristics of an object-to-be-tested. The test probe includes a cylindrical barrel; a plunger that including a neck portion partially inserted into a first end portion of the barrel in an axial direction, and a head portion which extends from the neck portion along the axial direction, has a width larger than an outer diameter of the neck portion, and including a tip at a front-end surface in the axial direction to come into contact with the object-to-be-tested; and an insulator made of an insulating material, shaped like a ring, and including a barrel supporting portion into which a first end outer surface of the barrel is inserted and supported, and a neck accommodating portion which extends from the barrel supporting portion along the axial direction, has an inner diameter smaller than the width of the head portion, and accommodates an outer surface of the neck portion exposed from the barrel.

[0007] The barrel supporting portion may have an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the barrel throughout at least a section in the axial direction. Thus, the insulator can be easily assembled to the probe supporting the tip and having the expanded head portion.

[0008] The plunger may be coupled to and inserted in the first end portion of the barrel by the neck portion passing through the insulator. Thus, the insulator can be easily assembled to the probe supporting the tip and having the expanded head portion.

[0009] The head portion may include a plurality of tips on a top surface thereof. Thus, the probe can be in stable contact with a ball terminal or a pad terminal.

[0010] According to an embodiment, there is provided a test device for testing electrical characteristics of an object-to-be-tested. The test device includes: the foregoing test probe; and a probe socket accommodating and supporting the test probe.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a test probe includes a durable tip, and the tip comes into stable contact with a ball terminal of a fine-pitch semiconductor, thereby performing a reliable test.

[0012] FIG. 1 is view showing a test probe according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1.

[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the test probe shown in FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a view showing a test device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 4.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a view for describing a method of assembling the test device 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 7 is a graph showing a measured insertion loss of a test device according to an embodiment off the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 8 is a graph showing a measured return loss of a test device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0020] Below, a test probe and a test device according to embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0021] FIG. 1 is view showing a test probe 100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the test probe 100 shown in FIG. 1.

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the test probe 100 includes a cylindrical barrel 110, a plunger 120, an insulator 130, a terminal 140, and a spring 150.

[0023] The barrel 110 is made of a conductive material and shaped like a pipe.

[0024] The plunger 120 is made of a conductive material. The plunger 120 is partially inserted in a first end of the barrel 110, and is fixed in the barrel 110 by dimpling the barrel 110 or slidable within the barrel 110 along a test direction by closing up the barrel 110.

[0025] The plunger 120 includes a neck portion 121 partially inserted in the first end of the barrel 110, and a head portion 123 extending from the neck portion 121 in a radial direction and provided with a plurality of tips 122 on the top surface thereof to come into contact with ball terminals of an object-to-be-tested OB. Because the head portion 123 where the tips 122 are provided has a large area, it is possible to relatively increase the size of the tip 122, thereby improving the durability of the tip 122 and increasing the stability of contact between the tips 122 and the ball terminals.

[0026] The insulator 130 is made of an insulating material and shaped like a ring. The insulator 130 includes a neck accommodating portion 131 through which the neck portion 121 passes, and a barrel supporting portion 133 supporting the first end of the barrel 110.

[0027] The neck accommodating portion 131 includes a neck hole 132 to accommodate the neck portion 121 therein.

[0028] The neck hole 132 has a first diameter t1 smaller than the width of the head portion 123 and smaller than the diameter of the barrel 110. Therefore, the insulator 130 may be confined between the barrel 110 and the head portion 123.

[0029] The barrel supporting portion 133 includes a first barrel support hole 134 to accommodate a first end portion of the barrel 110.

[0030] The first barrel support hole 134 has a second diameter t2 larger than the width of the barrel 110 and larger than the first diameter t1 to accommodate the first end portion of the barrel 110.

[0031] The terminal 140 is made of a conductive material. The terminal 140 includes a barrel insertion portion 141 partially inserted in a second end of the barrel 110, and a terminal contact portion 142 exposed to the outside of the barrel 110 and having an end portion to come into contact with a pad terminal of a test circuit board (or printed circuit board, PCB). The terminal 140 may slide within the barrel 110 along the test direction.

[0032] The spring 150 is interposed between the plunger 120 and the terminal 140 within the barrel 110 and compressed or restored by the sliding plunger 120 or terminal 140.

[0033] Below, a method of assembling the test probe 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0034] 1) Close up a first end portion of the barrel 110.

[0035] 2) Insert the terminal contact portion 142 of the terminal 140 into a second end portion of the barrel 110.

[0036] 3) Insert the spring 150 through the second end portion of the barrel 110.

[0037] 4) Insert the neck portion 121 of the plunger 120 into the insulator 130, in which the insulator 130 cannot pass through the head portion 123 because the neck hole 132 has a first diameter (see t1 in FIG. 2) smaller than the width of the head portion 123 and barrel 110.

[0038] 5) Insert the neck portion 121 fitted to the insulator 130 into the second end portion of the barrel 110, and then fix the neck portion 121 to the barrel 110 so that the insulator 130 can be restrained between the head portion 123 and the barrel 110.

[0039] As an alternative embodiment, the first end portion of the barrel 110 may be closed up after the barrel insertion portion 141 of the terminal 140 is inserted into the first end portion of the barrel 110.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a view showing a test device 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a view for describing a method of assembling the test device 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 7 is a graph showing a measured insertion loss of the test device 1 according to an embodiment off the disclosure, and FIG. 8 is a graph showing a measured return loss of the test device 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0041] Referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, the test device 1 includes a plurality of test probes 100, and a probe socket 200 supporting the plurality of test probes 100 so that the opposite ends of the test probes 100 can partially protrude therefrom. The test probe 100 may include a signal probe 101 for signal transmission, or a power probe 102 for power supply. Because the test probe 100 has been described above, repetitive descriptions will be omitted.

[0042] The probe socket 200 includes a conductive block 210, and an insulating support member 220.

[0043] The conductive block 210 may be made of a conductive material. Of course, the conductive block 210 may be provided as an insulating block coated with a conductive material. The conductive block 210 accommodates and supports the test probe 100 to partially protrude from one surface.

[0044] The conductive block 210 includes a first conductive block 210a, and a second conductive block 210b coupled to the lower portion of the first conductive block 210a. Of course, the conductive block 210 may be formed as a single block.

[0045] The conductive block 210 has a probe hole 211 that accommodates the test probe 100 without electrical contact and supports a first end portion of the test probe 100. The probe hole 211 includes a large-diameter portion 212 through which the barrel 110 of the test probe 100 passes, and a small-diameter portion 213 through which the neck portion 131 of the insulator 130 passes.

[0046] The large-diameter portion 212 has an inner diameter formed to have a certain gap from the outer surface of the barrel 110. An air layer or an insulating layer may be formed in the certain gap.

[0047] The small-diameter portion 213 has a diameter smaller than that of the large-diameter portion 212 and is formed continuously from the large-diameter portion 212. A boundary portion between the large-diameter portion 212 and the small-diameter portion 213 has an inner shape corresponding to the outer surface of the insulator 130 to accommodate the insulator 130 therein.

[0048] The conductive block 210 includes a first recessed portion 214 and a second recessed portion 215 which are widely recessed on the top and bottom to surround at least one of the test probes 100, respectively. The first and second recessed portions 214 and 215 may be formed to surround two or more test probes, i.e., the signal probe 101 and / or the power probe 102 together. The first and second recessed portions 214 and 215 may prevent a short circuit due to contact between an object-to-be-tested or a test circuit board and the conductive block 210 during testing.

[0049] The insulating support member 220 may be made of an insulating material. The insulating support member 220 includes a cover portion 221 to be filled in the second recessed portion 215 provided on the bottom of the conductive block 210, and a support portion 222 to be inserted into the probe hole 211. The support portion 222 includes a support hole 223 to accommodate and support the first end portion of the test probe 100. The support hole 223 includes a terminal through hole 223a through which the terminal 140 of the test probe 100 passes, and a second barrel support hole 223b that accommodates and supports the second end portion of the barrel 110.

[0050] As an alternative embodiment, the insulating support member 220 may be replaced with another insulator.

[0051] As an alternative embodiment, the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion may be provided in the lower portion of the probe hole 211 of the conductive block 210, and another insulator instead of the insulating support member 220 may be inserted in the lower portion of the probe hole 211 to support the second end portion of the test probe 100.

[0052] The method of assembling the test device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0053] 1) Couple the insulating support member 220 to the lower surface of the second conductive block 210b, in which the insulating support member 220 is inserted in the second recessed portion 215 and the lower portion of the probe hole 211.

[0054] 2) Insert the terminal 140 of the test probe 100 in the probe hole 211 on the upper side of the second conductive block 210b coupling with the insulating support member 220, in which the outer surface of the barrel 110 is spaced apart from the probe hole 211, and the end portion of the terminal 140 is exposed to the lower surface of the insulating support member 220.

[0055] 3) Insert the plunger 120 of the test probe 100 together with the insulator 130 into the probe hole 211 on the lower side of the first conductive block 210a, in which the outer surface of the barrel 110 is spaced apart from the probe hole 211, and the head portion 123 of the plunger 120 is exposed to the upper surface of the first conductive block 210a.

[0056] 4) Couple the first conductive block 210a and the second conductive block 210b.

[0057] As an alternative embodiment, the first conductive block 210a and the second conductive block 210b may be first coupled, the plunger 120 of the test probe 100 may be inserted into the probe hole 211 provided on the lower surface of the second conductive block 210b, the terminal 140 of the test probe 100 may be inserted into the support hole 223 of the insulating support member 220, and the insulating support member 220 may be fixedly coupled to the lower surface of the second conductive block 210b.

[0058] FIG. 7 is a graph showing a measured insertion loss of the test device 1 according to an embodiment off the disclosure.

[0059] Ideally, the insertion loss may be close to zero. Referring to FIG. 7, the test device 1 according to the disclosure exhibits excellent insertion loss characteristics that satisfy the allowable insertion loss of -1.0 dB or below.

[0060] FIG. 8 is a graph showing a measured return loss of a test device 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0061] It is desirable that the return loss be as small as possible. Referring to FIG. 8, the test device 1 according to the disclosure exhibits very good return loss characteristics that satisfy the allowable return loss of -10 dB or below.

[0062] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a test probe includes a durable tip, and the tip comes into stable contact with a ball terminal of a fine-pitch semiconductor, thereby performing a reliable test.

[0063] Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described above, the disclosure is not limited to the foregoing specific embodiments. Various modifications can be made in the embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure as claimed in Claims, and these modified embodiments should not be understood separately from the technical spirits or prospects of the disclosure.

Claims

1.A test probe for testing electrical characteristics of an object-to-be-tested,a cylindrical barrel;a plunger that comprising a neck portion partially inserted into a first end portion of the barrel in an axial direction, and a head portion which extends from the neck portion along the axial direction, has a width larger than an outer diameter of the neck portion, and comprising a tip at a front-end surface in the axial direction to come into contact with the object-to-be-tested; andan insulator made of an insulating material, shaped like a ring, and comprising a barrel supporting portion into which a first end outer surface of the barrel is inserted and supported, and a neck accommodating portion which extends from the barrel supporting portion along the axial direction, has an inner diameter smaller than the width of the head portion, and accommodates an outer surface of the neck portion exposed from the barrel.2.The test probe of claim 1, wherein the barrel supporting portion has an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the barrel throughout at least a section in the axial direction.3.The test probe of claim 1, wherein the plunger is coupled to and inserted in the first end portion of the barrel by the neck portion passing through the insulator.4.The test probe of claim 1, wherein the head portion comprises a plurality of tips on a top surface thereof.5.A test device for testing electrical characteristics of an object-to-be-tested, comprising:at least one test probe of any one of claims 1 to 4; anda probe socket accommodating and supporting the at least one test probe.

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