Intelligent mechanical balancing apparatus for slide screw tuners
OwnerChristos Tsironisinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An intelligent, independent and universal mechanical balancing apparatus for automatic microwave multi-probe slide screw tuners allows stable on-wafer testing of sub-micrometric devices. Low loss rigid airlines (bend-lines) used to connect the multi-probe tuner with the chips, in order to improve the tuning range at the DUT reference plane, causes mechanical movements of the wafer probes attached to the rigid bend-lines, when the tuner mobile carriages move horizontally. Stabilizing the center of gravity (balancing) of the tuner by means of exactly controlled counter-weights, driven by the same firmware which controls the tuner motors, allows for synchronized compensation of the probe movement and safe on wafer load pull operation.
Claims13
A tilting-compensation (balancing) apparatus for test setups using electro-mechanical slide screw impedance tuners,
- said tuners comprising one or more horizontally movable carriages,
- and motor controller being in operational communication with an external system controller,
- said compensation apparatus comprising a platform and remotely controlled counter-weight and counter-weight controller;
- whereby the platform carries the tuner and the counter-weight,
- and whereby the counter-weight is movable parallel to the movement of the tuner carriages,
- and whereby the counter-weight controller comprises driving mechanism, electrical motor and gear,
- said counter-weight having a mass similar to the mass of all tuner carriages together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.