Chip-based prober for high frequency measurements and methods of measuring

• US 7,956,628 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2006
• Issued: 06/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pillai, Edward R., Breiland, Erik J., Pfeiffer, Ullrich R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Ha Tran T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Tung X
• Application Number:
  US11/556,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20080106277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,677 Days
• Field of Search: 324/754, 324761-762, 324/763, 324/765, 324/158.1, 257/48, 438 14- 18
• US Class Current: 324/754.07
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 1/06772 High frequency probes
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2822 of microwave or radiofrequency circuits of attenuation, gain, e.g. using network analyzers G01R27/28

Abstract

A chip-based prober for measuring a device-under-test is provided. The prober includes a probe tip, a voltage and control connector, a chip carrier, and a programmable termination chip. The probe tip is configured to contact the device-under-test. The voltage and control connector is in electrical communication with the probe tip. The programmable termination chip has a plurality of terminations interconnected with the voltage and control connector and the chip carrier through controlled collapsed chip connections.

Claims

1. A chip-based prober for measuring a device-under-test, comprising:

a probe tip for contact with the device-under-test;

a voltage and control connector in electrical communication with said probe tip;

a chip carrier;

a programmable termination chip having a plurality of terminations interconnected with said voltage and control connector and said chip carrier through controlled collapsed chip connections; and

a plurality of calibration standards resident on said programmable termination chip.

2. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said programmable termination chip is interconnected with said probe tip by a through wafer via.

3. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said controlled collapsed chip connections are interconnected with said probe tip by a through wafer via.

4. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein the chip-based prober finds use in high frequency measurements selected from the group consisting of Scattering parameters, Time Domain Reflectometry, and any combinations thereof.

5. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said probe tip comprises a plurality of probe contact pads.

6. The chip-based prober as in claim 5, wherein said plurality of probe contact pads are arranged in a ground-signal-ground configuration.

7. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of calibration standards are digitally selectable via said voltage and control connector.

8. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of calibration standards are configured to calibrate and measure up to frequencies of about 110 GHz.

9. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of calibration standards are configured to calibrate and measure up to millimeter-wave frequencies.

10. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of terminations are integrated in said programmable termination chip.

11. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, wherein said probe tip are directly attached to said programmable termination chip.

12. The chip-based prober as in claim 1, further comprising a circuit to reduce parasitics of programmable termination resident on said programmable termination chip.

13. The chip-based prober as in claim 12, wherein said circuit comprises at least two biploar transistors in parallel.

14. A method of measuring a device-under-test, comprising:

using a plurality of programmable terminations integrated in a chip-based prober to measure a high frequency measurement of the device-under-test; and

programming a plurality of calibration standards on a programmable termination chip of said chip-based prober for calibrating said plurality of programmable terminations.

15. The method as in claim 14, wherein said high frequency measurement is selected from the group consisting of Scattering parameters, Time Domain Reflectometry, and any combinations thereof.

16. The method as in claim 14, wherein said high frequency measurement is measured at a frequency of up to about 110 GHz.

17. The method as in claim 14, further comprising using said plurality of programmable terminations to measure more than one port of the device-under-test.

18. The method as in claim 14, further comprising using said plurality of programmable terminations to measure four-ports of the device-under-test.

19. A method of calibrating a chip-based prober, comprising:

digitally selecting one of a plurality of calibration standards resident on a circuit of the chip-based prober.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein said plurality of calibration standards comprises a plurality of digitally selectable impedances.

21. The method as in claim 19, further comprising obtaining a plurality of simultaneous equations to identify calibration error terms of the chip-based prober.