News Article
Centipede and Topline partner
The partnership between Centipede Systems and TopLine will help users evaluate semiconductor test technologies.
Centipede Systems, a provider of connectors and sockets for electrical test, is partnering with TopLine of Garden Grove, California, to provide test users with a new, cost effective test evaluation tool.
The new venture calls for Centipede and TopLine to provide customers with evaluation kits for alternative contactor technologies aimed at the high performance burn in of semiconductor devices. The kits will include test vehicle BGA devices and socket contactors required to validate current, power and reliability up to a maximum of 10 amps/pin.
TopLine’s initial kit product is a mechanical, lead free 45mm square ball grid array (BGA) dummy package. The BGA will feature 1936 solder balls with a pitch of 1.0mm and 968 pairs of known zero ohm connections. The connections are available 'daisy chained' or as fully shorted buses to enable the pin-out of the Centipede contactor to be appropriately tested in the test user’s early design stage.
Dr. Tom Di Stefano, president and CEO of Centipede Systems, explained that new families of high performance processors demand an increasing amount of current for power and ground as operating voltages fall to 1 volt and lower.
“Supplying clean power to the integrated circuit, where supply voltages narrow the supply noise margins, has become a daunting challenge for test and burn in,” he added. “Furthermore, burn in requires even more current than test because leakage current increases with temperature.”
“At the 45nm node and below, handling high leakage current has become the dominant problem in the burn in of advanced semiconductor processors,” observed Dr. Di Stefano. “Burn in sockets must supply 5-8X more current than test sockets because of the thermal acceleration of leakage. The problem,” Dr. Di Stefano added, “out paces existing contactor technology and only gets worse with each succeeding processor generation.”
“We are delighted to be a significant contributor to this venture,” said Martin Hart, president and CEO of Topline. “This kit truly fills a need for users in the semiconductor burn in arena.” In addition to manufacturing the dummy components, TopLine will also be active in the distribution of the Centipede test kits.
The new venture calls for Centipede and TopLine to provide customers with evaluation kits for alternative contactor technologies aimed at the high performance burn in of semiconductor devices. The kits will include test vehicle BGA devices and socket contactors required to validate current, power and reliability up to a maximum of 10 amps/pin.
TopLine’s initial kit product is a mechanical, lead free 45mm square ball grid array (BGA) dummy package. The BGA will feature 1936 solder balls with a pitch of 1.0mm and 968 pairs of known zero ohm connections. The connections are available 'daisy chained' or as fully shorted buses to enable the pin-out of the Centipede contactor to be appropriately tested in the test user’s early design stage.
Dr. Tom Di Stefano, president and CEO of Centipede Systems, explained that new families of high performance processors demand an increasing amount of current for power and ground as operating voltages fall to 1 volt and lower.
“Supplying clean power to the integrated circuit, where supply voltages narrow the supply noise margins, has become a daunting challenge for test and burn in,” he added. “Furthermore, burn in requires even more current than test because leakage current increases with temperature.”
“At the 45nm node and below, handling high leakage current has become the dominant problem in the burn in of advanced semiconductor processors,” observed Dr. Di Stefano. “Burn in sockets must supply 5-8X more current than test sockets because of the thermal acceleration of leakage. The problem,” Dr. Di Stefano added, “out paces existing contactor technology and only gets worse with each succeeding processor generation.”
“We are delighted to be a significant contributor to this venture,” said Martin Hart, president and CEO of Topline. “This kit truly fills a need for users in the semiconductor burn in arena.” In addition to manufacturing the dummy components, TopLine will also be active in the distribution of the Centipede test kits.
