Socket Design
General requirements are placed on socket shapes by specific handler platforms. In addition, many socket users have specific feature packages of their own design.
IDI provides a wide variety of high-performance test sockets and lids to meet virtually any Lab, System Level or ATE requirement for analog, power and logic devices. Each socket is designed specifically for your application.
IDI Sockets are designed taking the following features in consideration:
· Precise Alignment of the device to the spring contact probe. This is critical to the performance of the test socket.
· Pocket Size Calculation. The pocket is sized so that, at its minimum dimensions, it is providing the maximum amount of guidance to the package without causing a device to stick or jam in the pocket.
· Floating Device Nest. A floating nest guides the device by its leads, rather than its substrate outline.
· Spring Contact Probe Selection. The impact of this choice on performance of the socket — both in the DC and RF spectra, and in the sense of durability and ease of maintenance — cannot be underestimated.
o The first limiter of probe selection is device pitch. In purely DC and mechanical terms, the largest probe that will fit on a given pitch is preferable.
o Required RF performance usually is the second limiting factor. A high-frequency test may place significant demands on the allowable inductance or minimum bandwidth of the spring contact probe.
o Other electrical characteristics may be critical: Sockets may have to handle significant amounts of current or voltage
o Tip style is the final critical consideration in probe selection. This will ensure that the ball is struck near its equator, preventing ball damage at its soldering point that may give rise to air pockets during the soldering process.
A socket that is to be used purely for automated test will require some sort of manual actuator so that the tester can be set up before the handler is put online. Manual actuators, or lids, are critical to socket performance in engineering characterization and failure analysis applications, and lid design often is as critical as any other element of the socket's makeup.
Contact IDI today for more information on our sockets and let us design for your specific application.