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Spring-loaded contact produces interconnections with improved signal integrity,

21st June 2007

ES Admin

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Hypertac’s HyperSpring products combine the company’s high-reliability hyperboloid contact technology, with the mechanical features of a spring-loaded contact, to produce interconnections with improved signal integrity, high reliability and current density, and proven parametric stability over time. Originally designed for semiconductor wafer testing, HyperSpring technology has already found applications in a variety of environments, including military, medical devices, the automotive industry and general-purpose test and instrumentation. The new design is applicable to signal, power and coaxial contacts, and can be used in circular, rectangular, and high-frequency PCB sandwich connectors.

The key innovation in a HyperSpring connector is that the spring itself is not used for electrical conduction: instead, this is handled by a Hypertac socket placed between the barrel and the plunger of a common spring-loaded contact. This means that the material used to form the spring may be chosen solely on the basis of its mechanical properties: primarily its elasticity. As a consequence it is possible to optimise the physical performance of the overall system, achieving, for instance, much higher probing speeds than would otherwise be possible.

HyperSpring also produces superior electrical performance; firstly because the electrical properties of the conducting material do not need to be balanced with its physical performance. High-elasticity materials are not typically optimal electrical conductors: conventional spring-loaded contacts are therefore restricted in terms of their current density and resistivity.

The topology of the spring in a conventional contact can also have adverse effects. The cross-section available for current carrying is inevitably relatively small, adding to the restricted current-carrying capability and high ohmic losses caused by the restricted material choices. And the geometry of the spring changes with movement, introducing inductive effects that can be serious, particularly at high frequencies.

Environments such as military and industrial test and measurement, medical, transportation and telecommunications testing are highly intolerant of component and assembly failure, requiring the excellent levels of reliability and repeatability provided by the HyperSpring Series. The new contact has already been used in a Pogo Tower connection system for wafer probing; for automotive testing, with sandwich connectors resistant to a high number of mating cycles; and in a 408-way rectangular connector with spring loaded contact (as a high density alternative to the standard 260-way ZIF solution) for use in ultrasound equipment.