Interposers have a long history in microelectronics packaging. Legacy interposers help connect small pitch ICs or silicon die to wider pitch sockets or packages. While this approach started with the earliest PC MCUs, many common ICs, including FPGAs, NAND, DDR and others, use BGA packages as an interposer.
As IC pin and solder-ball pitches have decreased, interposer adoption in various applications continues to increase. Highly complex consumer devices require high density, low stack height interposers to connect tightly packed PCBs together.

Samtec’s Z-Ray® micro array interposers are ultra-low profile, high-density, highly customizable solutions for board-to-board, IC-to-board, and cable-to-board applications.
As an interposer, Z-Ray® provides a removable interface between the IC package and main board allowing for future-proofing, upgradability and cost savings during IC and system development.
As a high-speed, high-density array connector, Z-Ray® provides the ultimate in design flexibility from custom heights to full custom geometries for board-to-board applications.
In an effort to help engineers easily adopt this state-of-the art technology, Samtec has released the Z-Ray® Interposer Application Design Guide. This is the first in a series of Application Design Guides that Samtec will release throughout 2016 targeted at easing the design-in process of differentiated interconnect technology Samtec offers.

The new Z-Ray® Interposer Application Design Guide fully explains all the details of the Z-Ray® system. It illustrates the Z-Ray® construction process while showing the flexibility that Z-Ray® micro array interposers provide in various microelectronics packaging applications.
Key sections of the Z-Ray® Interposer Application Design Guide include:
- Interposers: Practical Applications
- Technology/Construction
- Performance Specifications
- Custom Flexibility
- Technology Roadmap
- Interposer Thickness
- Interposer Contact Design
- Interposer Beam Force/Deflection/Resistance
- Z-Ray® Compression Hardware Systems
Please send enquiries of pricing, support and technical detail on Samtec’s Z-Ray® micro array interposers to zray@samtec.com. For more information on Samtec’s Z-Ray® ultralow profile interposers, please visit the Z-Ray® family product page.