Plastics for IC test sockets and electronic testing fixtures
In the microchip and electronics manufacturing process, it is important to test the chips or electronic components under various conditions to ensure specific functionalities as well as durability. Different test socket designs are used to test electronic components, such as IC chips, printed circuit boards (PCB), flexible printed circuits (FPC), camera modules, and others. As several types of high performance and engineering plastics are used to manufacture test sockets, the demand for plastic materials continues to grow rapidly.
Similar basic material properties need to be provided by all variations of test sockets. High dimensional stability is critical for ensuring the micro structures to remain unchanged during fabrication and in usage, thus the material need a low level of water absorption, low thermal expansion, low internal stress level, and sufficient stiffness over a wide temperature range. Also, micro machinability of the material is key for realising the fine structures and tolerances, thus materials must provide minimal burr formation to lowering fabrication costs, low elongation for precise hole placement, and low internal stress to avoid warping during machining. Moreover, test sockets undergo continuous testing cycles, so the materials must provide sufficient wear resistance, mechanical strength, temperature resistance, and in case of problems with tribological charging, also anti-static properties.
Additionally, the choice of material for test socket applications are based on operating temperature, hole and pitch sizes, electrical properties, and accordingly relative cost.