| abstract |
Interconnection elements (210) for electronic components, exhibiting desirable mechanical characteristics (such as resiliency, for making pressure contacts) are formed by shaping an elongate element (core) (216) of a soft material (such as gold) to have a springable shape (including cantilever beam, S-shape, U-shape), and overcoating the shaped elongate element with a hard material (220) (such as nickel and its alloys), to impart a desired spring (resilient) characteristic to the resulting composite interconnection element (210). A final overcoat of a material having superior electrical qualities (e.g., electrical conductivity and/or solderability) may be applied to the composite interconnection element (210). The elongate element (216) may be formed from a wire, or from a sheet (e.g., metal foil). The resulting interconnection elements may be mounted to a variety of electronic components, including directly to semiconductor dies and wafers (in which case the overcoat material anchors the composite interconnection element (210) to a terminal (or the like) on the electronic component), may be mounted to support substrates for use as interposers and may be mounted to substrates for use as probe cards or probe card inserts. |