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Flying Probe Tester for Probe Cards

11 April 2024 - Hioki E.E. Corporation launched the FA1815-20 Flying Probe Tester, a state-of-the-art solution designed to enhance the inspection of high-density circuit boards crucial for the IT market. This innovative tester is capable of inspecting up to 100 points per second, offering high probing precision and insulation resistance inspections of up to 100 GΩ at a test voltage of merely 10 V. By ensuring rapid and high-quality testing of probe cards and other high-density boards, the FA1815-20 is set to significantly boost productivity in the semiconductor industry.

With remarkable progress in IT technology driving the semiconductor industry forward, reliability and productivity have become indispensable. Flying probe testers have long been the industry standard tool for PCB inspection. However, as inspection demands grow more stringent, the FA1815-20 emerges as the next-generation flying probe tester, ready to meet the challenges of precision and speed head-on. Moreover, this tester introduces an innovative approach to insulation resistance inspection that minimizes some cautious users’ concern about board damage with high-voltage testing in high-resistance inspections. This advancement represents Hioki's commitment to providing market-leading solutions that contribute to societal progress.

Key features of the FA1815-20

• The FA1815-20 achieves a probing resolution with a minimum pitch of 34 µm between patterns and can inspect circuit test pads as small as 4 × 4 µm square. This precision is essential for today's increasingly fine circuit patterns.
• To address the challenges posed by the growing number of circuit patterns on high-density boards, the FA1815-20 has been equipped with updated mechanical hardware and a new probe movement algorithm. These improvements can reduce testing time by up to 30% compared to previous models, significantly enhancing productivity.
• Some cautious users may worry that high-voltage insulation resistance inspection may damage the PCBs. The FA1815-20's innovative head amp allows for inspections of up to 100 GΩ with at test voltage of only 10 V. This effectively eliminates concerns of damage to the boards in this inspection.

Applications

• Inspection of probe cards for GPUs in AI computation
• Inspection of high-density substrates for 5G and IoT semiconductors
• Inspection of substrates for smartphones, wearable devices, autonomous vehicles, and other high-performance electronics

The FA1815-20 Flying Probe Tester will be available starting March 26, 2024.

www.hioki.com/