Abstract: A conductive adhesive (120) for electrically and mechanically bonding circuit terminals (105) includes a polymer (121) having a predetermined curing temperature range, a first conductive particulate material (125) suspendable in the polymer (121) for providing substantially uniform conductivity throughout the conductive adhesive (120), and a second conductive particulate material (130) suspendable in the polymer (121) for metallurgically bonding together particles of the first particulate material (125). The first conductive particulate material (125) provides substantially uniform conductivity throughout the conductive adhesive (120) and includes metallic particles having a melting point above the curing temperature of the polymer. The second conductive particulate material (130) welds together particles of the first particulate material (125) and includes metallic particles having a melting point within the curing temperature range of the polymer (121).

Abstract: A pad grid array comprises an array of cavities (12) formed in a circuit carrying substrate (10) that are metallized (18, 20, and 22) to provide electrical conductivity. The metallized cavities are preferably hemispherical in shape and approximately the size of the solder bumps (30) coupled to a solder bumped chip carrier (28) that will be mounted thereon. Flux (26) is applied to each of the metallized cavities before positioning the solder bumped chip (28) carrier over the pad grid array. Proper mounting can be detected by tactile sensing in either human or robotic assemblers when the solder bumps "drop" into the metallized cavities.