Repairable rigid test probe card assembly

A system, comprising:

• an annular gimbal supported by an annular gimbal bearing attached to an upper surface of a device interface board of a probe card assembly;
• a test substrate seated and aligned within the annular gimbal;
• a rigid die including a thick periphery and a thin center containing an array of through holes, the rigid die aligned above the test substrate by sides of the test substrate;
• an array of rigid probes inserted into each of the array of through holes, each rigid probe including:
• a tail end extending beyond a lower surface of the thin center to contact a connection on an upper surface of the test substrate, a collar abutting a lower surface of the thin center to limit a distance of insertion, and a tip extending beyond an upper surface of the thin center to contact a corresponding contact of an array of contacts on a lower surface of a device under test;
• and
• an annular spring plate, an outer portion of which is attached to an upper surface of the annular gimbal bearing and an inner portion of which overlies a peripheral portion of an upper surface of the annular gimbal, the annular gimbal containing three pointed leveling screws disposed around a periphery of the annular gimbal, to define a plane of the annular gimbal relative to a plane of the upper surface of the annular gimbal bearing.

A method, comprising:

• identifying, in a probe card assembly, a rigid probe of an array of rigid probes for repair, the rigid probe for repair having been inserted into one of an array of through holes in a rigid die seated on a gimbal;
• removing the rigid die including the array of rigid probes from the gimbal;
• removing the rigid probe, identified for repair, from the one of the array of through holes in the rigid die;
• inserting a new rigid probe into the one of the array of through holes in the rigid die;
• and
• seating the rigid die and the array of rigid probes, including the new rigid probe, on the gimbal.