9 Probe Card Manufacturers in 2022
This section provides overview, applications, and principles of probe cards. Also, please take a look at the list of 9 probe card manufacturers and their company rankings.
Table of Contents
What Is a Probe Card?
A probe card is an instrument required for inspection in the LSI manufacturing process, and is attached to a wafer inspection system. Since there are hundreds of LSI chips on a wafer, a probe card also has many needles. Probe card is required by the manufacturer of the wafer inspection equipment and the size of the silicon wafer, so there are many specialized models available.
Uses of Probe Cards
Probe cards are used for inspection in the LSI manufacturing process. Therefore, probe cards are useful in the stable manufacture of cell phones, smart phones, high-performance home appliances, PCs, automobiles, and other products in which LSIs are used. Probe cards are consumables, so regular maintenance and replacement are important.
Since there are many types of LSIs, there are many dedicated probe cards for high-frequency measurement, micro-current measurement, LCD drivers, CMOS image sensors, etc.
Principle of Probe Cards
Probe cards are mounted on top of a silicon wafer probe. The probe cards acts as a connector between the electrode on the LSI chip and the LSI tester.
The LSI test head uses spilling contact pins and high-density pins, but the terminal electrodes of the LSI itself are finer than the pin placement density of the test head, so the two are connected via the probe cards.
The upper side of the probe cards has the connection pins to the test head, and the lower side has the needles to connect with the electrodes on the LSI chip.
By connecting the connection terminals of the test head and probe cards, and the electrode of the LSI chip and the probe card's needle, and making electrical contact, electrical testing can be performed to determine whether the chip is good or bad. Inspection is performed on each and every LSI on a silicon wafer.
Advanced probe cards are available in advanced and cantilever types. The advanced type has a block with vertical terminals attached to the substrate, allowing free arrangement of probes and easy maintenance. The cantilever type has a needle directly attached to the substrate and can easily accommodate narrow pitches.
Probe Cards Manufacturer Rankings
Probe cards are inspection tools used for wafer inspection in semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing. According to the results of a survey of 74 probe cards customers, Italy's Techno Probe is the leading manufacturer in this field, holding the No. 1 share. Form Factor of the United States is in second place, and SVTCL, a subsidiary of Nidec-Read, is in third place. The three companies rank highest.
Techno Probe ranking first are cited fortheir good field engineering support to customers and apportionment support. Form Factor, in second place, cited its strengths as technical leadership in the industry and reliability as a supplier, while SV, was ranked third for its application support to customers, and for being a supplier they would recommend to others to purchase.
Probe Cards Material
Probe cards materials are required to have a high level of reliability in wafer inspection at the microscopic level, and ceramic substrates are widely used. For example, Kyocera manufactures thin-film single-layer and thin-film multilayer metallized ceramic substrates for wafer probe cards for DRAM, flash memory, and logic devices. The signal connections of large integrated semiconductor circuits called LSIs, or so-called test heads, use spring connectors or high-density connectors for their terminals. Probe cards also serve as an intermediary between this test head and the wafer to be inspected, and because they require a high degree of connection reliability and electrical inspection performance functions, their mechanisms and materials are delicate, and materials such as ceramics are used. However, they have limited durability and require periodic replacement.
List of 9 Probe Card Manufacturers
*Including some distributors, etc.
Sort by Features
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- Company Size: largest first
- Year Founded: oldest first
- Year Founded: earliest first
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- Japan
- United States of America
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Optical technologies
UFO Probe® card
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JAPAN ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
Probe Card
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Professional Plastics, Inc.
Probe Card Products
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FEINMETALL GmbH
PROBE CARDS
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Wentworth Laboratories, Inc.
CANTILEVER PROBE CARDS
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MPI Corporation
Probe Cards
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Probe Card Manufacturer Ranking
*Including some distributors, etc.Ranking as of January 2023 in United States
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Professional Plastics, Inc. | 25% |
| 2 | Optical technologies | 20.8% |
| 3 | Accuprobe | 16.7% |
| 4 | STAr | 16.7% |
| 5 | FICT LIMITED | 12.5% |
| 6 | JAPAN ELECTRONIC MATERIALS | 8.3% |
Ranking as of January 2023 Globally
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Professional Plastics, Inc. | 21.9% |
| 2 | Optical technologies | 21.9% |
| 3 | STAr | 15.6% |
| 4 | FICT LIMITED | 12.5% |
| 5 | Accuprobe | 12.5% |
| 6 | JAPAN ELECTRONIC MATERIALS | 9.4% |
| 7 | Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. | 6.3% |
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the probe card page as of January 2023. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
- FICT LIMITED: 2002 (21 years ago)
- Accuprobe: 1976 (47 years ago)
- Wentworth Laboratories, Inc.: 1967 (56 years ago)
Company with a History
- Wentworth Laboratories, Inc.: 1967 (56 years ago)
- Accuprobe: 1976 (47 years ago)
- FICT LIMITED: 2002 (21 years ago)
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