Fuzz Buttons®
Fuzz Buttons® are a high performance proprietary trademarked contact pin available only
from Custom Interconnects. Fuzz Buttons® offer superior value to other contact technologies
such as Pogo Pins, Spring Probes, Hyberboloid contacts or even soldering. This becomes
especially evident when requirements such as low signal distortion, high frequency, low
insertion force, planarity, shock/vibration resistance, weight and/or extended life come into play.
Fuzz Buttons® are available in a wide variety of diameters and lengths, with diameters ranging
from .010" to .500" and lengths ranging from .020" to as long as .500".
Most Fuzz Buttons® we manufacture are intended to address fine pitch contact requirements
primarily at the 1mm pitch level, but also can serve applications with as small as a .4mm pitch.
Fuzz Buttons® can mate to virtually any packaging type used in the market today - including PGA,
BGA, LGA, CGA, QFN and MCM, as well as any custom packaging that a customer may be
employing. This makes them ideal for use in PCB/PWB interposers, connectors, Test Sockets
and chip packaging.
We also manufacture many large format Fuzz Buttons® that can resemble cylinders, slugs,
discs, doughnuts and washers. These are typically utilized for specialized EMI Shielding and/or
for compliant high current capable ground pads. It is also possible to lay small or large Fuzz
Buttons® on their sides individually or in an end-to-end configuration to emulate a compliant
EMI "bead" or to make a long X-axis or Y-axis connection.
History
Fuzz Buttons® were first introduced to the electronics marketplace in 1959 and were mainly
used in grounding applications. A later example includes their use as static dissipation pads
for IBM computer chassis in the 1980s. Additional customers and applications began to
emerge as Fuzz Buttons® gained popularity in the marketas a highly flexible interconnect
design solution. Soon the military sector took notice and began to utilize them in shock-
resistant PCB connectors for missile and satellites. In the early 1990s, Fuzz Buttons were
miniaturized to address the growing semiconductor test market. Fuzz Button test sockets were
highly regarded by customers such as Qualcomm, AMD and Texas Instruments, when low
signal distortion was especially important during development testing, but also for the high
mating cycles required for production testing.
Today Fuzz Buttons® still serve the military and commercial markets in many surprising
applications. You will find them in weaponry, satellites, space probes, aircraft, test floors,
laboratories, radar arrays, antennas, supercomputers, crash test dummies, automotive
production, communications and even packaged inside high-end RF products such as
attenuators and amplifiers.
Making a Fuzz Button®
Fuzz Buttons® are a simple, yet elegant structure - whereby, the signal element and the spring
are one and the same. There are no other moving parts that can cause failure or degrade
signal integrity, the Fuzz Button® is the direct mating point.
They are manufactured from a long strand of highly specialized very fine wire (often as fine as
human hair) that offers high levels of conductivity, strength and oxidation resistance. There are
several wire material types available, most are Gold-plated, primarily for the properties of
conductivity and prevention of oxidation. The most common wire materials used are either a
Gold-plated Beryllium Copper alloy (Au/BeCu) or a Gold-plated Molybdenum (Au/Mo). While
Au/BeCu offers the lowest signal distortion levels and high mating cycle repeatability, Au/Mo is
utilized commonly also because of its high level of structural stability at temperature extremes.
Fuzz Buttons® are also available in specialty materials, such as Gold-plated Tungsten (Au/W),
Gold-plated Nickel Chromium (Au/NiCr), Gold-plated Monel Steel(Au/Monel) or non-plated
Monel Steel (Monel). These are used in special cases - such as operating states at extremely
high current or temperature (Au/W or Au/NiCr) - or when there can be a trade-off allowance of
signal performance for the benefit of lower cost (Au/Monel or Monel).
Fuzz Buttons® are fashioned from these wires using a highly-guarded process that forms them
into individual units of certain diameter and length specs. The manufacturing process causes
the wire to be randomized throughout the Fuzz Button® structure.
This randomization results in some very desirable effects, such as
Fuzz Button® Specs
Applications: LGA, BGA, PGA, CGA, QFN and more
Pitch Capability: .4mm and above
Compliance/Travel: 15 - 30% of length / 20% nominal
Compression Force: 34 grams
Current Capability: 5 Amps Continuous
Operating Temperature: -60°C to 150°C
Mating Cycles: Fuzz Buttons alone up to 5000 cycles/ with Hardhats up to 500,000 cycles
Frequency Capability: to 40 GHz in natural state, to 100 GHz with design optimization
Cross Talk/Bandwidth: -20dB@10Ghz
Insertion Loss S21: -1dB@26GHz
Return Loss S11: -20dB@10GHz
Inductance: 0.19nH Self / 0.03nH Mutual
Capacitance: 0.16pF Ground / 0.008pF Mutual
Resistance: <10mΩ
Rise/Fall TIme: 50ps / 50ps
Note: Representative values above are for .020" diameter/1mm Pitch, see Technical Data
page for more information on other configurations.
Contact Technology Comparison
Fuzz Buttons® are a high performance proprietary trademarked contact pin available only
from Custom Interconnects. Fuzz Buttons® offer superior value to other contact technologies
such as Pogo Pins, Spring Probes, Hyberboloid contacts or even soldering. This becomes
especially evident when requirements such as low signal distortion, high frequency, low
insertion force, planarity, shock/vibration resistance, weight and/or extended life come into play.
Fuzz Buttons® are available in a wide variety of diameters and lengths, with diameters ranging
from .010" to .500" and lengths ranging from .020" to as long as .500".
Most Fuzz Buttons® we manufacture are intended to address fine pitch contact requirements
primarily at the 1mm pitch level, but also can serve applications with as small as a .4mm pitch.
Fuzz Buttons® can mate to virtually any packaging type used in the market today - including PGA,
BGA, LGA, CGA, QFN and MCM, as well as any custom packaging that a customer may be
employing. This makes them ideal for use in PCB/PWB interposers, connectors, Test Sockets
and chip packaging.
We also manufacture many large format Fuzz Buttons® that can resemble cylinders, slugs,
discs, doughnuts and washers. These are typically utilized for specialized EMI Shielding and/or
for compliant high current capable ground pads. It is also possible to lay small or large Fuzz
Buttons® on their sides individually or in an end-to-end configuration to emulate a compliant
EMI "bead" or to make a long X-axis or Y-axis connection.
History
Fuzz Buttons® were first introduced to the electronics marketplace in 1959 and were mainly
used in grounding applications. A later example includes their use as static dissipation pads
for IBM computer chassis in the 1980s. Additional customers and applications began to
emerge as Fuzz Buttons® gained popularity in the marketas a highly flexible interconnect
design solution. Soon the military sector took notice and began to utilize them in shock-
resistant PCB connectors for missile and satellites. In the early 1990s, Fuzz Buttons were
miniaturized to address the growing semiconductor test market. Fuzz Button test sockets were
highly regarded by customers such as Qualcomm, AMD and Texas Instruments, when low
signal distortion was especially important during development testing, but also for the high
mating cycles required for production testing.
Today Fuzz Buttons® still serve the military and commercial markets in many surprising
applications. You will find them in weaponry, satellites, space probes, aircraft, test floors,
laboratories, radar arrays, antennas, supercomputers, crash test dummies, automotive
production, communications and even packaged inside high-end RF products such as
attenuators and amplifiers.
Making a Fuzz Button®
Fuzz Buttons® are a simple, yet elegant structure - whereby, the signal element and the spring
are one and the same. There are no other moving parts that can cause failure or degrade
signal integrity, the Fuzz Button® is the direct mating point.
They are manufactured from a long strand of highly specialized very fine wire (often as fine as
human hair) that offers high levels of conductivity, strength and oxidation resistance. There are
several wire material types available, most are Gold-plated, primarily for the properties of
conductivity and prevention of oxidation. The most common wire materials used are either a
Gold-plated Beryllium Copper alloy (Au/BeCu) or a Gold-plated Molybdenum (Au/Mo). While
Au/BeCu offers the lowest signal distortion levels and high mating cycle repeatability, Au/Mo is
utilized commonly also because of its high level of structural stability at temperature extremes.
Fuzz Buttons® are also available in specialty materials, such as Gold-plated Tungsten (Au/W),
Gold-plated Nickel Chromium (Au/NiCr), Gold-plated Monel Steel(Au/Monel) or non-plated
Monel Steel (Monel). These are used in special cases - such as operating states at extremely
high current or temperature (Au/W or Au/NiCr) - or when there can be a trade-off allowance of
signal performance for the benefit of lower cost (Au/Monel or Monel).
Fuzz Buttons® are fashioned from these wires using a highly-guarded process that forms them
into individual units of certain diameter and length specs. The manufacturing process causes
the wire to be randomized throughout the Fuzz Button® structure.
This randomization results in some very desirable effects, such as
- Breaking up of internal induction fields that otherwise would form from a coiled spring
configuration - Reduced signal path length and skin effect levels
- Increasing the overall structural integrity and strength of the Fuzz Button®
- Creating multiple points of contact within the Fuzz Button® itself, an internal "redundancy"
Fuzz Button® Specs
Applications: LGA, BGA, PGA, CGA, QFN and more
Pitch Capability: .4mm and above
Compliance/Travel: 15 - 30% of length / 20% nominal
Compression Force: 34 grams
Current Capability: 5 Amps Continuous
Operating Temperature: -60°C to 150°C
Mating Cycles: Fuzz Buttons alone up to 5000 cycles/ with Hardhats up to 500,000 cycles
Frequency Capability: to 40 GHz in natural state, to 100 GHz with design optimization
Cross Talk/Bandwidth: -20dB@10Ghz
Insertion Loss S21: -1dB@26GHz
Return Loss S11: -20dB@10GHz
Inductance: 0.19nH Self / 0.03nH Mutual
Capacitance: 0.16pF Ground / 0.008pF Mutual
Resistance: <10mΩ
Rise/Fall TIme: 50ps / 50ps
Note: Representative values above are for .020" diameter/1mm Pitch, see Technical Data
page for more information on other configurations.
Contact Technology Comparison
Fuzz Buttons® ...Making Connections
Custom Interconnects, LLC
7790 E. Arapahoe Rd, Suite 250
Centennial, CO 80112
Phone: 303.934.6600
Fax: 303.934.6606
Email: sales@custominterconnects.com
Custom Interconnects, LLC
7790 E. Arapahoe Rd, Suite 250
Centennial, CO 80112
Phone: 303.934.6600
Fax: 303.934.6606
Email: sales@custominterconnects.com
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For Fuzz Button® Datasheet,
please click on the picture below:
please click on the picture below:
|
Small Format Fuzz Buttons®
Applications: PCB Interposers, Device
Interposers, Production Sockets, Test
Sockets, Connectors, RF / Coaxial
Interconnects, compliant grounding/shorting
plates and internal packaging grounds.
Applications: PCB Interposers, Device
Interposers, Production Sockets, Test
Sockets, Connectors, RF / Coaxial
Interconnects, compliant grounding/shorting
plates and internal packaging grounds.
Large Format Fuzz Buttons®
Applications: Compliant grounding,
specialized EMI Shielding and as Static
Dissipation Pads.
Applications: Compliant grounding,
specialized EMI Shielding and as Static
Dissipation Pads.
Fuzz Button® Part Numbering
WW-DDDLLL
WW = Wire Type
DDD = Diameter (in inches)
LLL = Length (in inches)
Wire Types
80 = Au/BeCu (Gold-plated Beryllium Copper)
Most common due to best S-parameters,
lowest resistance values
81 = Au/Mo (Gold-plated Molybdenum)
Excellent dimensional stability
82 = Au/W (Gold-plated Tungsten)
Higher temperature but at premium cost
83 = Au/NiCr (Gold-plated Nickel Chromium)
High temperature, low resistance, premium cost
84 = Au/Monel (Gold-plated Monel steel)
Lower cost, "good" material
85 = Monel (non-plated Monel steel)
Lowest cost, minimal oxidation protection
For custom wire, please contact factory
Diameters
.010", .015", .020", .025", .030", .038", .045",
.050", .062", .072", .080", .090", .125", .150",
.170", .200", .280"
For custom diameters, please contact factory
Lengths
Available ranges shown for each diameter
.010" = .040" to .085"
.015" = .040" to .110"
.020" = .020" to .200"
.025" = .025" to .200"
.030" = .030" to .250"
.038" = .038" to .250"
.045" = .045" to .250"
.050" = .050" to .250"
.062" = .062" to .300"
.072" = .072" to .300"
.080" = .080" to .300"
.090" = .090" to .400"
.125" = .060" to .400"
.150" = .060" to .500"
.170" = .060" to .500"
.200" = .060" to .500"
.280" = .060" to .500"
For custom lengths, please contact factory
Fill Rate
.010" and .015" diameters = 38%
.020" and greater diameters = 25%
For custom fill rate, please contact factory
Tolerances
Diameter +/-5% (exceptions are .010"/.015" dia)
Length +20/-0%
Fill +/-2%
For custom tolerances, please contact factory
Tolerances are measured in the
free/uncompressed state. What counts most is
AFTER the Fuzz Button® has been compressed
during usage, whereby the amount of material
filling the holes remains very consistent across
the array. Secondly, Fuzz Buttons® have a large
range of acceptable travel and compliance, they
can solve many stackup tolerance and
board/packaging planarity issues.
WW-DDDLLL
WW = Wire Type
DDD = Diameter (in inches)
LLL = Length (in inches)
Wire Types
80 = Au/BeCu (Gold-plated Beryllium Copper)
Most common due to best S-parameters,
lowest resistance values
81 = Au/Mo (Gold-plated Molybdenum)
Excellent dimensional stability
82 = Au/W (Gold-plated Tungsten)
Higher temperature but at premium cost
83 = Au/NiCr (Gold-plated Nickel Chromium)
High temperature, low resistance, premium cost
84 = Au/Monel (Gold-plated Monel steel)
Lower cost, "good" material
85 = Monel (non-plated Monel steel)
Lowest cost, minimal oxidation protection
For custom wire, please contact factory
Diameters
.010", .015", .020", .025", .030", .038", .045",
.050", .062", .072", .080", .090", .125", .150",
.170", .200", .280"
For custom diameters, please contact factory
Lengths
Available ranges shown for each diameter
.010" = .040" to .085"
.015" = .040" to .110"
.020" = .020" to .200"
.025" = .025" to .200"
.030" = .030" to .250"
.038" = .038" to .250"
.045" = .045" to .250"
.050" = .050" to .250"
.062" = .062" to .300"
.072" = .072" to .300"
.080" = .080" to .300"
.090" = .090" to .400"
.125" = .060" to .400"
.150" = .060" to .500"
.170" = .060" to .500"
.200" = .060" to .500"
.280" = .060" to .500"
For custom lengths, please contact factory
Fill Rate
.010" and .015" diameters = 38%
.020" and greater diameters = 25%
For custom fill rate, please contact factory
Tolerances
Diameter +/-5% (exceptions are .010"/.015" dia)
Length +20/-0%
Fill +/-2%
For custom tolerances, please contact factory
Tolerances are measured in the
free/uncompressed state. What counts most is
AFTER the Fuzz Button® has been compressed
during usage, whereby the amount of material
filling the holes remains very consistent across
the array. Secondly, Fuzz Buttons® have a large
range of acceptable travel and compliance, they
can solve many stackup tolerance and
board/packaging planarity issues.