Ball film for integrated circuit fabrication and testing

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of testing ball grid array packages includes providing a substrate, providing a ball film that includes a plurality of metal balls movably contained within respective slots of a thin film, coupling the metal balls to the substrate, and removing the thin film from the metal balls.

1 . A method of testing ball grid array packages, comprising:
 providing a ball grid array package having a plurality of solder balls coupled thereto;   providing a contact board having a plurality of metal contact pins, the metal contact pins arranged in a pattern that matches a pattern of the solder balls of the ball grid array package;   providing a ball film, the ball film comprising a plurality of metal balls each movably contained within a respective one of a plurality of slots of a thin film, the metal balls arranged in a pattern that matches the pattern of the solder balls of the ball grid array package; and   positioning the ball film between the ball grid array package and the contact board in such a manner that each metal ball is positioned between a respective solder ball and a respective metal contact pin.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the slots are spherically shaped. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thin film is formed from polyimide. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metal balls are formed from solder. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing the first and second thin films each with a thickness of between 0.01 mm and 0.4 mm. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing the metal balls each with a diameter of between 0.1 mm and 0.5 mm.