Probe assembly with downward-protruding probe shield and methods of operating the same

A method of operating a test apparatus, the method comprising:

• providing a test apparatus comprising a probe assembly, wherein the probe assembly comprises a multilayer structure comprising probe contact pads, an upper guide plate, a lower guide plate, a dielectric spacer plate located between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate and comprising an opening, and an array of probes attached to the probe contact pads, vertically extending through the upper guide plate, the lower guide plate, and the dielectric spacer plate;
• providing an assembly of a wafer and semiconductor dies in which the semiconductor dies are attached to the wafer, wherein the wafer comprises test pads located underneath gaps between the semiconductor dies and further comprises interconnect structures providing electrically conductive paths between the test pads and a respective one of the semiconductor dies;
• manipulating the array of probes into contact with a subset of the test pads located between a first semiconductor die and a second semiconductor die selected from the semiconductor dies;
• and
• testing functionality of the first semiconductor die by providing electrical signals to the first semiconductor die through the subset of the test pads and a subset of the interconnect structures and to devices within the first semiconductor die,
• wherein the lower guide plate comprises a downward-protruding portion having a first laterally-extending segment that is positioned in a gap between the first semiconductor die and a second semiconductor die below a horizontal plane including a top surface of the first semiconductor die during said testing of the functionality of the first semiconductor die.

A structure comprising a probe assembly, the probe assembly comprising:

• a multilayer structure comprising probe contact pads;
• an upper guide plate comprising an array of upper holes therethrough;
• a lower guide plate comprising an array of lower holes therethrough;
• a dielectric spacer plate located between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate and comprising an opening;
• and
• an array of probes attached to the probe contact pads, vertically extending through the array of upper holes and the array of lower holes, and vertically extending through the opening through the dielectric spacer plate,
• wherein the lower guide plate comprises a downward-protruding portion having a first laterally-extending segment having a first width and extending along a first horizontal direction, and a second laterally-extending segment extending along a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, wherein the first laterally-extending segment and the second laterally-extending segment intersect, and further comprises a base portion overlying the downward-protruding portion and having a second width that is larger than the first width, wherein the downward-protruding portion has a geometry adapted to extend into a gap between a first semiconductor die and a second semiconductor die below a horizontal plane including a top surface of the first semiconductor die during testing of functionality of the first semiconductor die, and the base portion has a geometry adapted to overlie the first semiconductor die and the second semiconductor die during testing of functionality of the first semiconductor die.