Cascade Microtech Expands Grypper Line of Device-Footprint Test Sockets With G40 Grypper for 0.4 mm+ Pitch BGA Devices

BEAVERTON, OR--(Marketwire - December 8, 2009) - Cascade Microtech, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCD) today announced its G40 Grypper™ BGA test socket to deliver substantial time and cost savings in the testing of BGA packaged devices with pitches as small as 0.4 mm. The G40 Grypper employs a unique contact design that significantly lowers the forces required to insert high-ball-count BGA devices into the device-footprint G40 socket. Versatile and cost-effective, the G40 Grypper test socket for BGA devices is ideally suited for development, system level test and device failure analysis.

In today's business environment, speeding time-to-market and minimizing costs are critical requirements for survival. The G40 Grypper delivers tangible benefits for the validation and debug of high-ball-count BGA devices for portable electronics, RF, wireless, PC and infrastructure markets. Engineering development, characterization, yield analysis and failure analysis can rapidly proceed on packaged devices or wafer-level chip-scale packages without the added expense or delays of designing and producing separate test boards.

The G40 Grypper solders directly to the device footprint and requires no socket lid. Signal integrity is maintained by using a short signal path to achieve low inductance and low insertion loss. The G40 Grypper PCB footprint is identical to the package, enabling test and validation on the system PCB instead of special test boards. Thus the G40 Grypper socket allows customers the ability to evaluate, debug and characterize multiple devices in their actual system environment without the cost and yield loss of soldering and de-soldering. Grypper technology can address multiple package types to maximize time-to-market improvements and cost savings.

"Cascade Microtech continually invests in innovative tools to help semiconductor companies cost-effectively solve their toughest test and measurement challenges," said Geoff Wild, President, Cascade Microtech, Inc. "This extension of the Grypper test socket line exemplifies our commitment to keeping pace with the technology requirements necessary for our customers to remain competitive in today's market."

About Cascade Microtech, Inc.

Cascade Microtech, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCD) is a worldwide leader in the precise electrical measurement and test of integrated circuits (ICs) and other small structures. For technology businesses and scientific institutions that need to evaluate small structures, Cascade Microtech delivers access to electrical data from wafers, integrated circuits (ICs), IC packages, circuit boards and modules, MEMS, biological structures, LED devices and more. Cascade Microtech's leading-edge semiconductor production test products include unique probe cards and test sockets that reduce manufacturing costs of high-speed and high-density semiconductor chips. For more information visit www.cascademicrotech.com.

Cascade Microtech is a registered trademark, and Grypper is a trademark of Cascade Microtech, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.