Universal probing assembly with five degrees of freedom

A universal probing assembly for parametric and reliability testing of devices on a semiconductor wafer, the assembly comprising:

• a switchable magnetic slab;
• a probe head comprising a plurality of adjusting mechanisms;
• a block comprising a tilt control mechanism for allowing tilting of the probe head perpendicular to a X-Y plane of the wafer, wherein the probe head is mounted to the block, wherein the tilt control mechanism comprises a movable part controlled by a screw to tilt the probe head, and wherein the probe head is mounted on an attachment side face of the block;
• an arm having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is attached to the switchable magnetic slab and the second end is attached to the block, wherein the block can be attached to the arm using any one of three free side faces of the block, wherein each of the three free side faces is any side face of the block that is not the attachment side face on which probe head is mounted.

A probing assembly for parametric and reliability testing of devices on a semiconductor wafer, the assembly comprising:

• a switchable magnetic slab;
• a probe head comprising four adjustment mechanisms, including for translation along a X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, and for rotation about the Z-axis, wherein the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis are perpendicular to one another;
• a block comprising a tilt control mechanism for allowing tilting of the probe head, wherein the probe head is mounted to the block;
• an arm having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is attached to the switchable magnetic slab and the second end is attached to the block, wherein the block can be attached to the arm using any one of three free side faces of the block, wherein each of the three free side faces is any side face of the block that is not an attachment side face on which the probe head is mounted;
• and
• a metal platen to which the arm, block, and probe head can be mounted using a magnetic field between the switchable magnetic slab and the metal platen.

A probing assembly for parametric and reliability testing of devices on a semiconductor wafer, the assembly comprising:

• a switchable magnetic slab;
• a probe head comprising four adjusting mechanisms;
• a block comprising a tilt control mechanism for allowing tilting of the probe head perpendicular to a X-Y plane of the wafer, wherein the probe head is mounted to the block;
• and
• an arm that connects the switchable magnetic slab and the block, wherein the probe head is attached to a first side face of the block and the block can be attached to the arm on any of a first, second, or third side face of the block.