At a glance
| Booth | R8000 |
| Country | IT |
| Website | www.technoprobe.com |
Company profile
Technoprobe describes itself as a leading company in semiconductors and microelectronics, specializing in the design and manufacture of Probe Cards, electro-mechanical interfaces used for the functional testing of chips. The Group states that it is a world leader in terms of volume and turnover and works through partnerships and collaborations with some of the world's largest microelectronics, IT, and digital companies. Technoprobe describes itself as a rapidly expanding hub of technological research and innovation, with approximately 3300 employees, including 1700 located in Italy. Its research and intellectual-property base includes 4 research centres and more than 600 certified patents. The company is present across 3 continents and 10 countries and operates through 23 legal entities worldwide.
Exhibits
Technoprobe develops testing solutions for chips and specializes in the design, development, and production of probe cards for major technology brands. Probe cards are high-technology devices used to test whether chips function correctly during the chip-construction process. Chips are made on wafers, which the company describes as thin slices of semiconductor material, typically silicon, and the chips are later separated, packaged, and mounted in their final devices. Testing before packaging is important because discovering that a chip does not work only after it has been packaged can cause significant loss. A probe card is an electromechanical interface that enables functional testing while a chip is still on the wafer or before it is individually packaged. During testing, the probes make contact with the chip, and the probe card contacts the chip's pads or bumps. After contact is established, the probe card electrically connects the chip to a tester, which checks the chip's functionality. Each probe card is custom made for the specific chip that it will test, making customization part of Technoprobe's probe-card supply approach. Technoprobe states that probe cards can contain more than 50,000 contacts, with spacing between contacts as small as 40µm, or 4 hundredths of a millimetre. The testing context spans chips used in products ranging from smartphones and credit cards to cars and medical instruments, linking the probe-card function to a broad set of electronic applications. Together, these capabilities cover probe-card design and manufacturing for functional chip testing, from customized chip contact on the wafer through electrical connection to the tester. Technoprobe describes chips as the electronic hearts that bring today's world to life and build the world of tomorrow, and presents its testing solutions as part of assuring that those chips function as intended. In the manufacturing flow described by the company, chips are first formed on the wafer, tested while they are still on the wafer or before individual packaging, then separated, packaged, and mounted in their final devices. The probe-card test path combines mechanical contact and electrical connection: probes reach the chip's pads or bumps, and the probe card then carries that electrical connection to the tester for a functionality check. This pre-package testing role is intended to identify a non-functioning chip before the later packaging stage, when discovering a failure would already represent a larger loss. Technoprobe's description also places customization and contact density together in the same device class: every probe card is made for the chip to be tested, while a card can contain more than 50,000 closely spaced contacts.
Capabilities and products
- probe card design and manufacturing
- custom probe cards for individual chips
- high-density probe cards with 50,000+ contacts and 40µm pitch