Tanaka Precious Metals, a global leader in precious metal materials, has announced a significant breakthrough in semiconductor testing technology with the development of TK-SR. This is a new Rhodium-based material specifically engineered for probe pins used in the wafer testing process.
The semiconductor industry is currently facing immense pressure to improve testing efficiency as chip architectures become more complex. In the wafer testing phase, probe cards use tiny pins to create electrical contacts with the wafer. These pins must endure repeated mechanical stress while maintaining excellent electrical conductivity. Traditional Rhodium materials, while offering good chemical stability, often faced limitations in balancing hardness and strength.
The newly developed TK-SR material overcomes these historical constraints through Tanaka's proprietary processing technology. It achieves high strength, a high elastic limit, and high electrical conductivity simultaneously. By integrating these properties, TK-SR significantly extends the lifespan of probe cards, which directly reduces the total cost of ownership for semiconductor manufacturers.
Furthermore, TK-SR supports wire diameters as fine as 18 micrometers. This capability is crucial for the inspection of advanced semiconductor packages that feature increasingly narrow pitches. As the industry moves toward 2-nanometer and 1-nanometer processes, the demand for such high-precision, durable testing materials is expected to surge. Tanaka Precious Metals has set an ambitious target to double the shipment volume of TK-SR by the year 2030 compared to its existing product lines.
