Vertical probe array with tiled membrane space transformer

摘要

Vertical probe heads with space transformers laterally tiled into several sections are provided. This change to conventional approaches improves manufacturing yield. These probe heads can include metal ground planes, and in embodiments where the ground planes are provided as separate metal plates parallel to the guide plates, the metal plates can also be tiled laterally into several sections. Such tiling of metal plates improves production yield and alleviates thermal mismatch problems. Probes are not mechanically connected to the space transformer, which allows replacement of individual probes in the array.