Achieving GHz Speed in Socketed BGA Devices

For many products designed with today’s high-performance integrated circuits, BGA socketing systems are an essential option during the design, testing, and/or production phases of a new product development process. In response to these demanding needs, sockets featuring a wide variety of contacting methods, form factors, and mounting techniques have been developed. Socketing systems now exist that perform at bandwidths exceeding 10 GHz and with ball pitch spacing down to 0.4mm. As BGA devices with finer pitch, larger I/O counts, and increased gate densities are utilized, the requirements for sockets continue to increase accordingly. These performance expectations place critical demands on the mechanical as well as the electrical requirements of the socketing system. The challenges for shortened contact lengths and controlled impedance geometries are currently being met by various approaches. For example, these approaches may include contactors consisting of embedded wire arrays, spring pins, or precision pin and socket interfaces…