Background
DMPI's leadership leverages over 100 years of experience in mm and sub-mm circuit and system design, microfabrication, testing and metrology in our development of technology for the characterization of mm and submm Wave devices. DMPI was founded in 2011 by professors Scott Barker (CEO), Arthur Lichtenberger (President and COO) and Robert Weikle (CTO) from the University of Virginia. Dr. Matt Bauwens (Chief Engineer) joined DMPI in 2013. In May of 2014, DMPI became the first MeasureOneâ„¢ Partner with Cascade Microtech (now FormFactor, Inc). DMPI is the sole manufacture of the T-Wave probe product line that enables low loss on-wafer measurements from ~ DC to 1.1 THz. The T-Wave probe line is distributed exclusively by FormFactor. DMPI also has a long history of collaboration with Virginia Diodes, Inc. - both companies were spun out of the same University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory. Most recently DMPI collaborated with Keysight, FormFactor, and VDI in the development of a new broadband single-sweep solution for testing on-wafer devices and circuits.
Product
We have developed a scalable approach for the manufacturing of physically robust, drop-in replacement, micro-machined, scalable probe chips with low-insertion loss coupling to the DUT and DC biasing of probed circuits. Our probes can therefore be repaired numerous times with typical performance "as new." The DMPI – FormFactor T-Wave Probe line sets the industry wafer-probe performance standard for characterization of mm and submm Wave devices. DMPI is the sole manufacture of the micromachined T-Wave wafer-probe line that delivers low insertion loss and low contact resistance on gold DUT pads. The standard T-Wave line enables on-wafer measurements from 140 GHz to 1.1 THz. The new single-sweep product line offers high performance at 170 and 220 GHz. Key features include:
Excellent tip visibility
Low insertion loss and low contact resistance
Lithographically-defined probe tip with pitch as narrow as 25 μm
Low-profile GPPO bias connector.
T-Wave probes offer unlimited repairs provided that the robust probe blocks are undamaged
The T-Wave probe line is distributed exclusively by FormFactor Inc. Please contact FormFactor to learn more about and purchase T-Wave probes.
Recent News
Most recently DMPI, Keysight, FormFactor and VDI joined forces to deliver a new single sweep 170 GHz / 220 GHz broadband vector network analysis solution, in particular to enable customers to shorten design and verification cycles for 5G and emerging 6G applications. The joint system offers an advanced dynamic range, high output power and maximum stability. As a result, designers can efficiently characterize on-wafer devices and circuits, enabling the creation of highly accurate process design kits (PDKs) used to design integrated circuit models that shorten the design and verification cycle. Additionally, it enables rapid deployment of devices for the emerging 5G and 6G monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), a type of integrated circuit (IC) device that operates at microwave frequencies.
Future Technology
DMPI's silicon-on-insulator micromachining technology provides a robust platform for heterogeneous integration of circuits, sensors, electronics and other components into the probe infrastructure. This capability potentially allows components such as diplexers, baluns, power sensors, switches, wideband rf sources for photonics, and full receivers to be incorporated into wafer probes to permit integration of measurement and active instrumentation with minimal geometric footprint. Examples of micromachined probes that utilize the unique capability include probes incorporating diplexers for measurements over multiple frequency bands, baluns for differential measurements, strain sensors for monitoring contact to DUTs and integrated diode detectors for power and s-parameter measurement.
