Published 28-July-2007

Abstract
Published 28-July-2007 Abstract There are ever increasing challenges when developing test fixtures for high-speed applications using automated test equipment (ATE). This is due to the many variables and considerations that must go into developing characterization test fixtures for I/O cells in the 5 to 10 Gbps range. The purpose of these fixtures is to provide the best possible signal integrity of multi-gigabit data signals between the ATE and the device under test (DUT) [1,2]. One of the variables and considerations that needs to be controlled is the correct choice of dielectric material. Although there is a significant amount of work on dielectric loss for microwave applications, high-speed digital applications have different requirements given the broad frequency bandwidth of digital data patterns, as well as the high density of the I/O interconnects. Modern integrated circuits might have hundreds of differential high speed I/O cells requiring complex multilayer printed circuit boards (PCB) composed of different dielectric materials to be utilized for the test fixtures.