Thermo-electrical and structural coupled simulations of buckling beam microprobes in high temperature/high current conditions

Abstract

To design effective and reliable probe heads, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of the thermo-electro-mechanical coupled behavior of these complex systems. This work aims to investigate the behavior of vertical type microprobes for high-end wafer probing applications in high temperature/high current regimes, by adopting coupled thermo-electrical and structural numerical simulations. Probe electro-thermal heating, probe force degradation and current carrying capability are studied. The results obtained through the modelling framework introduced in this work are successfully compared to experimental data.