Abstract: A test probe head has a plurality of electrically conducting wire members held in place in a frame by movable plates. The wire members are threaded through apertures in the plates and the plates are moved relative to each other to bend the wires to thereby hold the wires in position in the frame. The wires are used to make physical contact with both a support substrate for the test probe head and an integrated circuit under test. The physical contact of the wires with both the substrate and the integrated circuit provides electrical connections between the pads in the support substrate and those on the integrated circuit to perform the testing of the integrated circuit. With this arrangement, there is no bonding of the wires to the pads of the support substrate. The elimination of the bonding to the pads of the support substrate eliminates a major cause of probe head failures.

Abstract: A method for testing electronic assemblies having an electronic component affixed via solder or other such connections to a printed circuit board. The method includes combining, in order, three sequential stress test steps, into a single stress test for screening defects in the electronic assemblies. In particular, the test combines a thermal cycling stress test followed by a electrical burn-in stress test coupled with functional monitoring of the assembly, followed by a random vibration stress test coupled with functional monitoring of the assembly, each test is imposed with defined parameters upon the electronic assembly. The combination, order, and parameters of the sequential stress test steps provide a single test for electrical assemblies which substantially screens all such assemblies having systematic or random defects while imparting minimal reduction in useful life to the defect-free assemblies by virtue of the testing, thereby resulting in a high reliability product.