Probe Card Cleaning Materials (PCC)
Probe card cleaning materials remove the aluminium, oxide and other debris that builds up on probe tips during wafer test. Most are run on-line: the prober touches the card down on a cleaning sheet mounted on its cleaning plate every set number of touchdowns. Others are used off-line, at the bench, to recover a card before it goes back on the tester. Keeping the tips clean holds contact resistance steady, cuts retests and extends the life of the card.
Entegris’s range came from International Test Solutions (ITS), and many test floors still order by ITS part numbers. We supply the current Entegris parts and can match old numbers to new ones.
The range
- Probe Polish and High-Performance Probe Polish. Abrasive-loaded polymer that removes embedded debris from probe tips and collects loose debris, without changing the shape of the tip. Grades include PP70, PP99, PP150 and PP300. Entegris’s High-Performance version is a direct replacement for the original material, with less debris generation and longer media life at higher temperatures.
- High-Performance WFL4.0 and PMD4.0. Entegris’s newest probe polish films, made to take higher forces and temperatures during conditioning with less wear on the film itself.
- Probe Lap. Lapping film with a controlled surface roughness, coated with aluminium oxide or silicon carbide, for on-line and off-line cleaning from -55°C to 200°C. Grades include 1 µm and 3 µm.
- LCxK foams (LC4K, LC6K, LC8K, LC10K). Abrasive-coated foam with low chlorine content, which lowers the risk of chlorine corrosion on the probe tips.
- Probe Clean. A tacky polymer that lifts loose and adherent debris from probe tips. For embedded debris, Probe Polish or Probe Lap is the better choice.
- Dual Action MEMS. For MEMS vertical and microcantilever probe cards with shaped tips and springs. It scrubs the tip and cleans debris from the base of the pin in the same touchdown, from -40°C to 150°C. In Entegris’s qualification it cut probe card re-order spend by up to 35%.
Formats
Most materials come as 300 mm and 200 mm wafers, A4 sheets (210 x 297 mm) and cut parts sized for common prober cleaning plates, such as 142 x 155 mm and 108 x 105 mm with a cut-out. Round discs and other sizes are available on request.
Choosing a material
The choice depends on the probe card (cantilever, vertical or MEMS), the tip shape, the pad metal, the test temperature and whether you clean on-line, off-line or both. If you’re replacing a material you already use, the part number is the quickest place to start. Otherwise, send us the probe card type and maker, the prober model and cleaning plate size, and your test temperature, and we’ll suggest a starting material and arrange samples where Entegris offers them. Particles on the prober chuck cause their own problems, and our chuck cleaning wafers deal with those.
From SiSTEM
SiSTEM supplies Entegris probe card cleaning materials in the UK and Ireland. We hold the most-used films and cut parts in stock in the UK, and we can quote the rest of the range to order.
