Aries Electronics' machined high-frequency center probe test sockets accommodate IC devices with a lead pitch of 0.30mm. With low inductance and capacitance, the sockets are suitable for a range of ball grid array, chip scale package and micro land frame packages. Fine pitch array packages are possible due to a four-point crown or sharp point gold plated 0.30mm pitch probe pin, spring and flanged bottom pin, which contacts the tail of the probe pin to shorten the signal path. A signal path of 1.96mm allows for minimal signal loss and high bandwidth capacity. The solderless pressure mount spring probes allow easy mounting to a test board and solder ball or pad. The devices are equipped with chip guides to allow exact location and four-point edge male contacts for precise mating. Spring loaded contacts, made of gold-plated beryllium copper, provide a high life cycle of up to 500,000 cycles. The device body material is Torlon PAI and all hardware is stainless steel The contact forces are 15g per contact on a 0.30 to 0.35mm pitch, 16g/contact on a 0.40 to 0.45mm pitch and 25g/contact on a 0.50mm pitch or more. Contact resistance is less than 40mΩ. Probe self-inductance is 0.51nH for large probes and 0.59nH for small probes. The socket accepts solder ball sizes from 0.15 to 0.93mm.
