CN111721979A

CN111721979A - Probe card testing device and signal switching module thereof

Info

Publication number: CN111721979A
Application number: CN201910203560.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李文聪; 谢开杰; 刁盈铭; 郑孟杰; 陈彦辰
Original assignee: Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-18
Filing date: 2019-03-18
Publication date: 2020-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-18
Also published as: CN111721979B

Abstract

The invention discloses a probe card testing device and a signal switching module thereof. The signal switching module comprises a substrate, a plurality of test modules and a plurality of first electric connectors. The substrate has a top surface and a bottom surface. The plurality of test modules are arranged on the top surface and are positioned in the wafer test area. Each test module comprises a central area and a plurality of test metal pads surrounding the central area. The first electrical connectors are located in the signal transfer area and electrically coupled to the test modules. Each first electric connector comprises a plurality of electric contacts which are arranged on the top surface, and at least part of the electric contacts of the plurality of electric contacts are electrically coupled with a plurality of testing metal pads of a corresponding testing module through a plurality of signal fan-out lines. The plurality of first electrical connectors are electrically coupled to the plurality of second electrical connectors respectively. Therefore, the needle implanting operation time of the conductive probe can be greatly reduced, and the maintenance difficulty of the probe card testing device can be greatly reduced.

Description

Probe card testing device and signal switching module thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a probe card testing device and a signal adapting module thereof, and more particularly, to a probe card testing device and a signal adapting module thereof suitable for testing peripheral chips.

Background

Since the peripheral chip (such as cmos image sensor, lcd driver chip, or memory …) is usually tested by using a Cantilever Probe Card (Cantilever Probe Card), however, the Probe Card needs to connect signals by pulling wire bonding pins manually, the wire-bonding operation time is long, and the difficulty of wire-bonding operation and maintenance operation is greatly increased in the case of multi-die testing. Another test method is to use a micro-electromechanical Probe Card (MEMS Probe Card) for testing, however, the limitation of this Probe Card is that a ceramic substrate is necessary, and the structure of this Probe Card is not easy to maintain, for example: when the probe is damaged, in maintenance, a new probe must be welded in addition to the probe which must be detached, and the manual operation is not easy to be completed because of the dependence on equipment.

The present inventors have considered that the above-mentioned drawbacks can be improved, and have made intensive studies and use of scientific principles, and finally have proposed the present invention which is designed reasonably and effectively to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a probe card testing apparatus, which is provided to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.

The embodiment of the invention discloses a probe card testing device, which is defined with a wafer testing area and a signal switching area positioned at the periphery of the wafer testing area, and comprises: a signal switching module, comprising: a substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface on opposite sides; the plurality of test modules are arranged on the substrate and positioned in the wafer test area; each test module comprises a central area and a plurality of test metal pads arranged along the periphery of the central area; a plurality of first electrical connectors disposed on the substrate and located in the signal transfer area, wherein the plurality of first electrical connectors are electrically coupled to the plurality of test modules respectively; wherein each of the first electrical connectors comprises a plurality of electrical contacts; the signal fan-out lines are arranged on the substrate; at least a part of the electrical contacts of the plurality of electrical contacts of each first electrical connector are electrically coupled to the corresponding test metal pads of the test module through a part of the signal fan-out lines of the plurality of signal fan-out lines, respectively; a probe head module disposed on one side of the top surface of the signal adapter module, and the probe head module includes: a positioning base; the probe assemblies penetrate through the positioning base body, are positioned in the wafer testing area and respectively correspond to the testing modules of the signal transfer module in position; each probe assembly comprises a plurality of conductive probes which are annularly arranged, one ends of the conductive probes penetrate through the positioning base body and respectively abut against a plurality of test metal pads of the corresponding test module, and the other ends of the conductive probes penetrate through the positioning base body and are used for abutting against an object to be tested; and the test circuit board is positioned on one side of the bottom surface of the signal transfer module and is provided with a plurality of second electric connectors positioned in the signal transfer area, and the plurality of second electric connectors are respectively and electrically coupled with the plurality of first electric connectors.

Preferably, in each of the probe assemblies, a plurality of the conductive probes can be used to receive a test signal from the object to be tested and transmit the test signal to the test circuit board sequentially through a plurality of the test metal pads of the corresponding test module, the corresponding first electrical connectors, and the corresponding second electrical connectors.

Preferably, in each of the first electrical connectors and the corresponding test module, the number of the plurality of electrical contacts is greater than or equal to the number of the plurality of test metal pads.

Preferably, in each of the first electrical connectors and the corresponding test module, a distance between each of the test metal pads and its adjacent test metal pad is defined as a first distance, a distance between each of the electrical contacts and its adjacent electrical contact is defined as a second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.

Preferably, the probe card testing device further comprises a supporting plate arranged between the signal switching module and the test circuit board; the bottom surface of the substrate has insulating property and can be attached to the supporting plate body, and the bottom surface of the substrate is not provided with any metal pad or circuit.

Preferably, the probe card testing apparatus further comprises a high frequency signal transmission cable located in the wafer testing area and penetrating the top surface and the bottom surface of the substrate; at least one of the test modules further comprises a high-frequency signal metal pad, one end of the high-frequency signal transmission cable is electrically connected to the high-frequency signal metal pad, and the other end of the high-frequency signal transmission cable is electrically connected to a signal receiving metal pad of the test circuit board in the wafer test area, so that a high-frequency signal transmission path is formed.

Preferably, the probe card testing device is capable of receiving a plurality of light beams, and the light beams sequentially penetrate through the testing circuit board, the signal transfer module and the probe head module and then irradiate the object to be tested to generate a plurality of photoelectric testing signals.

Preferably, each of the first electrical connectors penetrates through the top surface and the bottom surface of the substrate, and each of the second electrical connectors is disposed on a side surface of the test circuit board facing the signal adapting module; each first electrical connector corresponds to the corresponding second electrical connector in position, and each first electrical connector is detachably plugged into the corresponding second electrical connector to form a male-female connector framework.

Preferably, each of the first electrical connectors is disposed on the top surface of the substrate, and each of the second electrical connectors is disposed on a side surface of the test circuit board facing the signal relay module; the signal transfer module further includes a plurality of flexible flat cables, and each of the first electrical connectors is electrically coupled to the corresponding second electrical connector through one of the flexible flat cables to form a flexible flat cable connector structure.

Preferably, the probe card testing device further comprises a protective cover body, the protective cover body is covered on the test circuit board to form an accommodating space with the test circuit board in an enclosing manner; the substrate, the test module, the first electrical connector, the flexible flat cable and the second electrical connector of the signal switching module are all arranged in the accommodating space; the protective cover body is provided with a through hole in the wafer test area, and one end of the conductive probes can penetrate through the through hole of the protective cover body and is used for abutting against the object to be tested.

Preferably, the probe card testing assembly further comprises a protective cover and a probe head fixing seat, the probe head fixing seat is located on the inner side of the protective cover, the probe head fixing seat is used for arranging the probe head module, and the protective cover is covered on the test circuit board to form an accommodating space with the test circuit board in an enclosing manner; the substrate, the test module, the first electrical connector, the flexible flat cable and the second electrical connector of the signal switching module are all arranged in the accommodating space.

Preferably, the signal adapting module further includes a flexible printed circuit board, the flexible printed circuit board is located between the plurality of test modules and the substrate, and the plurality of test metal pads and the plurality of signal fan-out lines are formed on a side surface of the flexible printed circuit board opposite to the substrate, so as to form a flexible printed circuit board separable from the substrate together with the flexible printed circuit board.

Preferably, a part of the signal fan-out lines of the plurality of signal fan-out lines is defined as an outer layer signal fan-out line, and another part of the signal fan-out lines of the plurality of signal fan-out lines is defined as an inner layer signal fan-out line; the outer layer signal fan-out lines are arranged on the top surface of the substrate, and the inner layer signal fan-out lines penetrate through the inner layer of the substrate to be electrically connected to the test module and the first electric connector respectively.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a signal switching module of a probe card testing device, which is defined with a wafer testing area and a signal switching area positioned at the periphery of the wafer testing area, and the signal switching module of the probe card testing device comprises: a substrate; the plurality of test modules are arranged on the substrate and positioned in the wafer test area; each test module comprises a central area and a plurality of test metal pads arranged along the periphery of the central area; the first electric connectors are arranged on the substrate and positioned in the signal transfer area, and the first electric connectors are respectively and electrically coupled to the test modules; wherein each of the first electrical connectors comprises a plurality of electrical contacts; the signal fan-out lines are arranged on the substrate; at least a part of the electrical contacts of the plurality of electrical contacts of each first electrical connector are electrically coupled to the corresponding test metal pads of the test module through a part of the signal fan-out lines of the plurality of signal fan-out lines, respectively; the first electrical connectors are configured to be electrically coupled to second electrical connectors disposed on a test circuit board, respectively.

In summary, the probe card testing device disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can replace the conventional probe card for testing the peripheral chip by connecting signals in a manner of manually pulling the bonding pins through the structural arrangement and the mutual connection relationship of the plurality of testing modules of the signal transferring module and the plurality of first electrical connectors, the positioning base of the probe head module and the plurality of probe assemblies, and the testing circuit board of the testing circuit board, so that the plurality of conductive probes can be implanted in a straight-up and straight-down manner, the implanting operation time of the conductive probes can be greatly reduced, and the maintenance difficulty of the probe card testing device can be greatly reduced.

For a better understanding of the nature and technical content of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings, which are provided for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded plan view of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention (omitting probe head modules).

Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a region IV of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6B is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7B is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic top view (omitting probe head modules) of a probe card testing apparatus according to fifth and sixth embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a probe card testing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a partially enlarged schematic view of the region X of fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is an exploded plan view illustrating a probe card testing apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is an exploded plan view illustrating a probe card testing apparatus according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are described below with reference to specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand the advantages and effects of the present invention from the disclosure of the present specification. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification and various other changes, which can be made in various details within the specification and without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The drawings of the present invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be drawn to scale. The following embodiments will further explain the related art of the present invention in detail, but the disclosure is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various components or signals, these components or signals should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used primarily to distinguish one element from another element or from one signal to another signal. In addition, the term "or" as used herein should be taken to include any one or combination of more of the associated listed items as the case may be. Furthermore, the term "electrically coupled", as used herein, refers to one of "indirectly electrically connected" and "directly electrically connected".

[ first embodiment ]

Fig. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment discloses a probe card testing apparatus 100. The probe card testing apparatus 100 is particularly suitable for testing peripheral chips (e.g., cmos image sensors, lcd driver chips, or the memory …), but the invention is not limited thereto. Further, the probe card testing apparatus 100 includes a signal adapter module 1, a probe head module 2 disposed at one side of the signal adapter module 1, a testing circuit board 3 disposed at the other side of the signal adapter module 1, a pressing structure 5 disposed between the signal adapter module 1 and the probe head module 2, and a supporting plate 4 disposed between the signal adapter module 1 and the testing circuit board 3. In the present embodiment, the test circuit board 3, the supporting plate 4, the signal adapting module 1, the pressing structure 5, and the probe head module 2 are sequentially stacked along a thickness direction T, but the invention is not limited thereto.

It should be noted that, for the convenience of understanding the present embodiment, the drawings only show a partial structure of the probe card testing apparatus 100, so as to clearly show the structure and connection relationship of each component of the probe card testing apparatus 100. The configuration of each component and the connection relationship thereof of the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described below.

As shown in fig. 1 and 3, in the present embodiment, the probe card testing apparatus 100 defines a wafer test region R1 and a signal transfer region R2 around the wafer test region R1.

The signal adapting module 1 includes a substrate 11, a plurality of testing modules 12, and a plurality of first electrical connectors 13. It should be noted that, although the signal adapter module 1 of the present embodiment is described by being collocated with the probe head module 2, the test circuit board 3, the supporting plate 4, and the pressing structure 5, the practical application of the signal adapter module 1 is not limited thereto. That is, the signal transferring module 1 may be a product sold separately or may be used in combination with other components.

Further, in the present embodiment, the substrate 11 has a substantially circular plate shape, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the substrate 11 may be rectangular plate-shaped, polygonal plate-shaped, or designed into other shapes according to the design requirements of the product. Furthermore, the substrate 11 has a top surface 111 and a bottom surface 112 on opposite sides. The top surface 111 of the substrate 11 is a flat surface with insulating properties, and is provided with a test metal pad 122 and a signal fan-out line 123 thereon. Furthermore, the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11 is a flat surface with insulating property and can be attached to the supporting plate 4. Preferably, the portion of the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11, which abuts against the supporting plate 4, is not provided with any metal pads or traces. That is, the substrate 11 of the present embodiment has only the top surface 111 provided with metal pads or wires, but the bottom surface 112 is not provided with metal pads or wires.

The plurality of test modules 12 are disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11, the plurality of test modules 12 are located in the wafer test area R1, and the plurality of test modules 12 are electrically coupled to the plurality of first electrical connectors 13, respectively. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the plurality of test modules 12 are arranged in a matrix (as shown in fig. 3), but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, a plurality of the test modules 12 may be staggered or otherwise arranged, for example. As shown in fig. 4, each of the testing modules 12 includes a central area 121 and a plurality of testing metal pads 122, and the testing metal pads 122 are spaced apart from each other and are disposed along the periphery of the central area 121.

It should be noted that the test metal pad 122 is illustrated as a square in the embodiment, but in practical applications, the shape of the test metal pad 122 can be adjusted and varied according to design requirements (e.g., circular, rectangular, or irregular).

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, the signal adapting module 1 further includes a plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11, and the signal fan-out lines 123 are spaced apart and arranged in a divergent manner. The signal fan-out lines 123 pass through the wafer test region R1 and the signal transfer region R2. That is, the signal fan-out lines 123 are disposed across the wafer test region R1 and the signal transition region R2. In the present embodiment, each of the test modules 12 (including the central region 121 and the plurality of test metal pads 122) and the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 are directly formed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11 by a photolithography process, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In more detail, in the peripheral type chip configuration, the central region 121 of each of the test modules 12 does not have any metal pads or traces, and the top surface 111 of the substrate 11 is exposed. Each of the test metal pads 122 can be provided with conductive probes 221 described below against it. Furthermore, each of the signal fan-out lines 123 can transmit the signal tested by the conductive probe 221 from the wafer test region R1 to the signal relay region R2 and then to the first electrical connector 13.

With reference to fig. 4, each of the first electrical connectors 13 includes a plurality of electrical contacts 131, and the electrical contacts 131 are disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11. That is, the electrical contacts 131, the test metal pads 122 and the signal fan-out lines 123 are disposed on a common plane (e.g., the top surface 111), but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, if the number of test points of the wafer to be tested is too large or the distribution density is too dense, the substrate 11 may be a multi-layer structure having an inner layer, and the plurality of electrical contacts 131, the plurality of test metal pads 122, or the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 may be disposed in the multi-layer structure of the substrate 11 in a distributed manner according to design requirements, for example, so as to avoid short circuit. Further, in the present embodiment, in each of the first electrical connectors 13 and the corresponding test module 12, the number of the plurality of electrical contacts 131 is equal to the number of the plurality of test metal pads 122, and the plurality of electrical contacts 131 are electrically coupled to the plurality of test metal pads 122 of the corresponding test module 12 through at least a portion of the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123, respectively, but the invention is not limited thereto. In an embodiment of the invention not shown in the drawings, the number of the plurality of electrical contacts 131 of each of the first electrical connectors 13 may also be, for example, greater than the number of the plurality of test metal pads 122 of the corresponding test module 12, and at least some of the electrical contacts 131 of the plurality of electrical contacts 131 are electrically coupled to the plurality of test metal pads 122 (not shown in the drawings) of the corresponding test module 12 through at least some of the signal fan-out lines 123 of the plurality of signal fan-out lines 1233, respectively.

According to the above configuration, the signals received by the plurality of test metal pads 122 can be transmitted to the plurality of columnar conductors (not numbered) inside the first electrical connector 13 through the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 and the plurality of electrical contacts 131, respectively.

Further, in each of the first electrical connectors 13 and the corresponding testing module 12, the pitch between each testing metal pad 122 and its adjacent testing metal pad 122 is defined as a first pitch P1, the pitch between each electrical contact 131 and its adjacent electrical contact 131 is defined as a second pitch P2, and the second pitch P2 is greater than the first pitch P1. That is, the signal transferring module 1 includes a signal fan-out (signal fan-out) structure in the embodiment, but the invention is not limited thereto.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment not shown in the present invention, the signal fan-out lines 123 may be covered with a solder mask (e.g., green paint) to prevent the signal fan-out lines 123 from being damaged or oxidized.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the probe head module 2 is located on one side of the top surface 111 of the substrate 11 of the signal relay module 1 (on the upper side of the signal relay module 1 in fig. 1). That is, the top surface 111 of the substrate 11 of the signal relay module 1 faces the probe head module 2 along the thickness direction T.

More specifically, the probe head module 2 includes a positioning base 21 and a plurality of probe assemblies 22. The positioning base 21 includes an upper guide plate (not numbered), a lower guide plate (not numbered) spaced apart from the upper guide plate, and a spacer plate (not numbered) disposed between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The plurality of probe assemblies 22 are disposed through the positioning base 21, and the plurality of probe assemblies 22 are located in the wafer testing area R1. Furthermore, a plurality of the probe assemblies 22 correspond in position to a plurality of the test modules 12 of the signal relay module 1, respectively. More specifically, each of the probe assemblies 22 includes a plurality of conductive probes 221, the conductive probes 221 are arranged in a ring shape, and the conductive probes 221 are respectively corresponding in position to the test metal pads 122 of the corresponding test module 12. In each probe assembly 22, one end of each of the plurality of conductive probes 221 penetrates through the positioning base 21 and abuts against the corresponding plurality of test metal pads 122 of the test module 12, and the other end of each of the plurality of conductive probes 221 penetrates through the positioning base 21 and abuts against an object to be tested O. In an embodiment of the present invention, a length direction of each of the conductive probes 221 is preferably substantially perpendicular to the top surface 111 of the substrate 11.

It should be noted that the conductive probe 221 is a conductive and flexible strip-shaped structure in the present embodiment, but the conductive probe 221 of the present invention is not limited to a rectangular conductive probe, a circular conductive probe, or other conductive probes.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the test circuit board 3 is located on one side of the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11 of the signal adapter module 1. That is, the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11 of the signal relay module 1 faces the test circuit board 3 along the thickness direction T.

In the present embodiment, the test circuit board 3 has a substantially circular plate shape, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the test circuit board 3 may be rectangular plate-shaped, polygonal plate-shaped, or designed into other shapes according to the design requirements of the product.

Furthermore, the test circuit board 3 is provided with a plurality of second electrical connectors 31, the plurality of second electrical connectors 31 are located in the signal transfer region R2, and the plurality of second electrical connectors 31 are electrically coupled to the plurality of first electrical connectors 13, respectively.

Further, the test circuit board 3 is configured to be electrically coupled to a test machine (not shown). That is, the second electrical connectors 31 are electrically coupled to the testing machine, so as to analyze the signals received by the testing circuit board 3 through the testing machine. The electrical coupling between the test circuit board 3 and the test machine can be adjusted according to the design requirement. For example, in other embodiments not shown in the present invention, the test circuit board 3 may also be directly integrated into a test machine.

According to the above configuration, in each probe assembly 22, the plurality of conductive probes 221 can be used for receiving the test signal from the object O to be tested, and the test signal is sequentially transmitted to the test circuit board 3 through the plurality of test metal pads 122 of the corresponding test module 12, the plurality of electrical contacts 131 of the corresponding first electrical connector 13, and the corresponding second electrical connector 31, and finally transmitted to the test machine to analyze the signal received by the test circuit board 3 through the test machine.

It should be noted that, as shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, each of the first electrical connectors 13 penetrates through the top surface 111 and the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11, and each of the first electrical connectors 13 is one of a male connection plug and a female connection socket. Each of the second electrical connectors 31 is disposed on a side surface of the test circuit board 3 facing the signal relay module 1, and each of the second electrical connectors 31 is the other one of the male connection plug and the female connection socket. Each of the first electrical connectors 13 corresponds to the corresponding second electrical connector 31 in position, and each of the first electrical connectors 13 is detachably plugged to the corresponding second electrical connector 31 to form a male-female connector structure. According to the above configuration, the signals received by the plurality of test metal pads 122 can be transmitted to the plurality of columnar conductors (not labeled) inside the first electrical connector 13 through the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 and the plurality of electrical contacts 131, respectively, and then the signals can be transmitted to the plurality of columnar conductors (not labeled) inside the second electrical connector 31, respectively, and further transmitted to the inside of the test circuit board 3.

As shown in fig. 1 and 3, the supporting board 4 is clamped between the test circuit board 3 and the substrate 11, wherein the supporting board 4 has a plurality of through holes 41, and the through holes 41 are located in the signal transfer region R2.

Further, the second electrical connectors 31 respectively protrude from a side surface of the test circuit board 3 facing the signal adapting module 1, and the second electrical connectors 31 are respectively disposed in the through holes 41. When each of the first electrical connectors 13 is plugged into the corresponding second electrical connector 31 to generate electrical connection, the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11 abuts against the supporting plate 4. Therefore, when the first electrical connector 13 and the second electrical connector 31 are plugged into each other, no gap is generated between the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11 and the supporting plate 4, so that the reliability of the electrical connection between the first electrical connector 13 and the second electrical connector 31 can be effectively improved.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 3, the pressing structure 5 is disposed between the signal adapting module 1 and the probe head module 2. The pressing structure 5 is configured to press (the first electrical connector 13 of) the signal relay module 1, and the pressing structure 5 is configured to dispose the probe head module 2. In more detail, the pressing structure 5 includes a pressing plate 51 and a plurality of screws 52. The pressing plate 51 is disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11. The pressing plate 51 includes a plurality of screw holes (not numbered) located in the signal transfer region R2. The screws 52 respectively penetrate through the screw holes of the pressing plate 51 to fix the pressing plate 51 to the base plate 11. The screws 52 further penetrate through the signal adapter module 1, the supporting plate 4, and the test circuit board 3 along the thickness direction T, so that the pressing plate 51 can press the signal adapter module 1, the supporting plate 4, and the test circuit board 3, and the first electrical connectors 13 are respectively and tightly connected to the second electrical connectors 31, thereby improving the electrical connection characteristics between the signal adapter module 1 and the test circuit board 3, and enabling the electrical transmission path between the test circuit board 3 and the signal adapter module 1 to be achieved without using any soldering material. In addition, in the embodiment, when the screws 52 penetrate through the signal transmission module 1, the supporting plate 4 and the testing circuit board 3, the screws 52 only touch the insulating substrate material, but not touch any conductive pad or conductive circuit. Furthermore, the plurality of probe assemblies 22 of the probe head module 2 can further penetrate through the pressing plate 51 to be electrically connected to the plurality of test modules 12 of the signal transfer module 1, respectively.

[ second embodiment ]

Referring to fig. 5, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, which is similar to the first embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between the first embodiment and the second embodiment is that the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is further provided with a structure capable of testing high frequency signals.

More specifically, the probe card testing apparatus 100 further includes a high frequency signal transmission cable 6. The high-frequency signal transmission cable 6 is located in the wafer test region R1, and the high-frequency signal transmission cable 6 penetrates through the top surface 111 and the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11 and also penetrates through the supporting board 4. At least one of the test modules 12 further includes a high frequency metal pad 124, and the high frequency metal pad 124 and the test metal pad 122 jointly surround the central area 121 of the test module 12.

Furthermore, one end of the high-frequency signal transmission cable 6 is electrically connected to the high-frequency signal metal pad 124, and the other end of the high-frequency signal transmission cable 6 is electrically connected to a signal receiving metal pad 32 of the test circuit board 3 located in the wafer test area R1, so as to form a high-frequency signal transmission path.

[ third embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 6A, which is a third embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but a difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment further has a light-transmitting structure capable of allowing light L to pass through, so as to be suitable for testing other peripheral chips (such as cmos image sensors) requiring light transmission, thereby increasing the versatility of the probe card testing apparatus 100.

More specifically, in the present embodiment, the board surface of the test circuit board 3 is made of an opaque insulating material, and the test circuit board 3 is formed with a plurality of through holes 33 in the wafer test area R1 for respectively providing a plurality of light beams L to pass through. A plurality of optical lenses (not numbered) are respectively disposed in the plurality of through holes 33, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The supporting board 4 is formed with a light hole 42 in the wafer testing area R1. The substrate 11 of the signal adapter module 1 is preferably made of a transparent glass substrate, and the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate of the positioning base 21 of the probe head module 2 are also preferably made of transparent glass substrates, but the invention is not limited thereto. The through holes 33, the light holes 42, the transparent substrate 11, and the transparent positioning base 21 can together form a plurality of light transmission paths.

According to the above configuration, the probe card testing apparatus 100 can be configured to receive a plurality of light beams L, and sequentially transmit the light beams L through a plurality of light transmission paths (not numbered), and then irradiate the object O to be tested to generate a plurality of optoelectronic test signals.

Then, the plurality of conductive probes 221 can be used for receiving the optoelectronic test signal, and the optoelectronic test signal is sequentially transmitted to the test circuit board 3 through the plurality of test metal pads 122 of the corresponding test module 12, the plurality of electrical contacts 131 of the corresponding first electrical connector 13, and the corresponding second electrical connector 31, and finally transmitted to the test machine, so as to analyze the signal received by the test circuit board 3 through the test machine.

[ fourth embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 6B, which is a fourth embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the third embodiment, and the same points of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the present embodiment and the third embodiment are different in that no optical lens is inserted into the through holes 33 of the present embodiment, the substrate 11 of the signal transfer module 1 has a plurality of openings 113 formed in the wafer test region R1, and the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate of the positioning base 21 also have a plurality of

openings

211 and 212 formed in the wafer test region R1, respectively. The through holes 33, the light hole 42, the openings 113 of the substrate 11, and the

openings

211 and 212 of the positioning base 21 can form a plurality of light transmission paths (not labeled).

According to the above configuration, the probe card testing apparatus 100 can be configured to receive a plurality of light beams L, and sequentially transmit the light beams L through a plurality of light transmission paths and then irradiate the object O to be tested, so as to generate a plurality of optoelectronic test signals.

[ fifth embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 7A and fig. 8, which are a fifth embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the first electrical connector 13 and the second electrical connector 31 of the first embodiment are a male-female connector structure, and the first electrical connector 13 and the second electrical connector 31 of the present embodiment are a flexible flat cable connector structure.

More specifically, in the present embodiment, each of the first electrical connectors 13 is disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11, and each of the second electrical connectors 31 is disposed on a side surface of the test circuit board 3 facing the signal relay module 1. The signal adapting module 1 further includes a plurality of flexible flat cables 14, and each of the first electrical connectors 13 can be electrically coupled to the corresponding second electrical connector 31 through one of the flexible flat cables 14, so as to form the flexible flat cable connector structure (e.g., FPC or FFC).

Further, in the present embodiment, each of the first electrical connectors 13 and the corresponding second electrical connector 31 are disposed in a staggered manner (see fig. 7). Furthermore, each of the flexible flat cables 14 preferably spans the edge of the top surface 111 of the substrate 11 and extends toward the second electrical connector 31 to electrically connect to the second electrical connector 31 disposed on the test circuit board 3. That is, each of the flexible flat cables 14 does not need to penetrate through the top surface 111 and the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11, and each of the first electrical connectors 13 does not need to penetrate through the top surface 111 and the bottom surface 112 of the substrate 11.

It should be noted that the supporting plate 4 is disposed between the substrate 11 and the testing circuit board 3, and the supporting plate 4 is a rigid iron member in this embodiment, and is used for supporting the substrate 11 and the testing module 12 disposed on the supporting substrate 11. Since neither the first electrical connector 13 nor the flexible flat cable 14 need to penetrate through the substrate 11, the supporting plate 4 may not need to have the through hole 41 in this embodiment.

Further, in the present embodiment, the probe card testing apparatus 100 further includes a protective cover 7. The protection cover 7 covers the test circuit board 3 to surround the test circuit board 3 to form an accommodating space 71. The substrate 11, the testing module 12, the first electrical connector 13, the flexible flat cable 14, and the second electrical connector 31 of the signal transferring module 1 are all disposed in the accommodating space 71, so that the protecting cover 7 can prevent the components from being damaged by the outside. The protective cover 7 may be made of a transparent or non-transparent material, and the protective cover 7 may be disposed on the test circuit board 3 by screwing or adhering, which is not limited in the present invention. In addition, the protective cover 7 has a through hole 72 formed in the wafer testing region R1, and one end of the conductive probes 221 can penetrate through the through hole 72 of the protective cover 7 to abut against the object O to be tested.

As shown in fig. 8, from another perspective, in the flexible flat cable connector structure of the present embodiment, the first electrical connectors 13 are disposed on the substrate 11 in a ring-shaped arrangement, the second electrical connectors 31 are disposed on the test circuit board 3 in a ring-shaped arrangement, and the second electrical connectors 31 are disposed around the first electrical connectors 13 and are electrically coupled to the first electrical connectors 13 through the flexible flat cables 14, respectively.

[ sixth embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 7B, which is a sixth embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the fifth embodiment, and the same points of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment further includes a probe head holder 8. The probe head fixing base 8 and the protection cover 7 are independent members, and the probe head fixing base 8 is located on the inner side of the protection cover 7. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the probe head holder 8 is configured to dispose the probe head module 2, and the probe assemblies 22 of the probe head module 2 can further penetrate through the probe head holder 8 to be electrically connected to the testing modules 12 of the signal relay module 1, respectively.

[ seventh embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 9, this embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the test module 12 of the first embodiment is directly formed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11, and the test module 12 of this embodiment is not directly formed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11.

More specifically, in the present embodiment, the signal transmitting module 1 further includes a flexible circuit board 15. The flexible circuit board 15 is located between the plurality of test modules 12 and the substrate 11, and the plurality of test metal pads 122 and the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 are formed on a side surface of the flexible circuit board 15 opposite to the substrate 11 through a photolithography process, so as to form a flexible circuit board separable from the substrate 11 together with the flexible circuit board 15.

[ eighth embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 10, which is an eighth embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the signal fan-out lines 123 of the first embodiment are all disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11 to form a single-layer signal fan-out structure.

Unlike the first embodiment described above, the substrate 11 of the present embodiment is a multilayer structure having an inner layer. A part of the signal fan-out lines 123 of the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 of the present embodiment are defined as outer-layer signal fan-out lines 1231 (continuous lines in fig. 10), and another part of the signal fan-out lines 123 of the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 are defined as inner-layer signal fan-out lines 1232 (discontinuous lines in fig. 10). The outer signal fan-out lines 1231 are disposed on the top surface 111 of the substrate 11, and the inner signal fan-out lines 1232 penetrate through the inner layer of the substrate 11 to be electrically connected to the test module 12 and the first electrical connector 13, respectively, so as to form a multi-layer signal fan-out structure. Therefore, when the circuit design of the signal switching module 1 is too dense, the signal switching module 1 can avoid the occurrence of the condition that a plurality of circuits are easy to be short-circuited with each other through the design of the multilayer signal fan-out structure.

[ ninth embodiment ]

As shown in fig. 11, which is a ninth embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the pressing structure 5 of the first embodiment is an integrally formed component, which can be used for pressing the signal transferring module 1 (to improve the electrical connection characteristics of the first electrical connector 13 and the second electrical connector 31) and for disposing the probe head module 2 at the same time.

Unlike the first embodiment, the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment further includes a probe head holder 8. The probe tip fixing base 8 and the pressing structure 5 are independent members, and the probe tip fixing base 8 is located on the inner side of the pressing structure 5. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the probe head holder 8 is configured to dispose the probe head module 2, and the probe assemblies 22 of the probe head module 2 can further penetrate through the probe head holder 8 to be electrically connected to the testing modules 12 of the signal relay module 1, respectively. The pressing structure 5 is configured to press (the first electrical connectors 13 of) the signal adapter module 1 so that a plurality of the first electrical connectors 13 are respectively and closely connected to a plurality of the second electrical connectors 31, thereby improving the electrical connection characteristics between the signal adapter module 1 and the test circuit board 3. That is, the pressing structure 5 of the present embodiment is different from the above-described first embodiment in that it can be used only to press the signal relay module 1, and it cannot be used to dispose the probe head module 2.

[ tenth embodiment ]

Referring to fig. 12, which is a tenth embodiment of the present invention, the present embodiment is similar to the ninth embodiment, and the same parts of the two embodiments are not repeated herein, but the difference between the present embodiment and the ninth embodiment is that the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment does not need to be provided with the pressing structure 5. That is, each first electrical connector 13 and the corresponding second electrical connector 31 can be electrically connected to each other only by means of plugging or flexible flat cable, without providing the pressing structure 5.

[ advantageous effects of the embodiments ]

In summary, the probe card testing apparatus 100 disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention can replace the conventional probe card for testing the peripheral chip by connecting signals in a manner of manually pulling wire bonding pins through the structural arrangement and the mutual connection relationship of the plurality of testing modules 12 of the signal adapting module 1 and the plurality of first electrical connectors 13, the positioning base 21 of the probe head module 2 and the plurality of probe assemblies 22, and the testing circuit board 3 of the testing circuit board 3, so that the plurality of conductive probes 221 can perform the probe implanting operation in a straight-up and straight-down manner, thereby greatly reducing the time of the probe implanting operation of the conductive probes 221, and greatly reducing the maintenance difficulty of the probe card testing apparatus 100.

In addition, the plurality of test metal pads 122 and the plurality of signal fan-out lines 123 of the present embodiment and the plurality of electrical contacts 131 of the first electrical connector 13 are disposed on a common plane (e.g., the top surface 111 of the substrate 11) to form a single-layer signal fan-out (signal fan-out) structure. The single-layer signal fan-out structure can be matched with a structural design that the first electrical connectors 13 are electrically coupled to the second electrical connectors 31 respectively, so as to transfer the test signal from the signal transfer module 1 to the test circuit board 3, thereby facilitating the use and maintenance of the probe card testing device 100.

Further, the signal adapter module 1, the probe head module 2, the test circuit board 3, the supporting board 4, and the pressing structure 5 of the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment are separable from each other. Therefore, when any one of the components of the probe card testing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is abnormal, the component can be directly replaced; the probe card is different from the existing cantilever type probe card, a probe seat needs to be desoldered, and then a circuit board is re-welded; if the probe seat has a problem, the probe in an area needs to be removed first, and then the probe is soldered again and the level of the probe position is adjusted, which is a complicated process.

Moreover, the probe card testing device 100 of the present embodiment further has a light-transmitting structure that allows light L to pass through, so as to be suitable for testing other peripheral chips (such as cmos image sensors) that require light transmission, thereby increasing the versatility of the probe card testing device 100.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A probe card testing device is characterized in that the probe card testing device is defined with a wafer testing area and a signal transferring area located at the periphery of the wafer testing area, and the probe card testing device comprises:

a signal switching module, comprising:

a substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface on opposite sides;

the plurality of test modules are arranged on the substrate and positioned in the wafer test area; each test module comprises a central area and a plurality of test metal pads arranged along the periphery of the central area;

a plurality of first electrical connectors disposed on the substrate and located in the signal transfer area, wherein the plurality of first electrical connectors are electrically coupled to the plurality of test modules respectively; wherein each of the first electrical connectors comprises a plurality of electrical contacts; and

a plurality of signal fan-out lines disposed on the substrate; at least a part of the electrical contacts of the plurality of electrical contacts of each first electrical connector are electrically coupled to the corresponding test metal pads of the test module through a part of the signal fan-out lines of the plurality of signal fan-out lines, respectively;

a probe head module disposed on one side of the top surface of the signal adapter module, and the probe head module includes:

a positioning base; and

the probe assemblies penetrate through the positioning base body, are positioned in the wafer testing area and respectively correspond to the testing modules of the signal transfer module in position; each probe assembly comprises a plurality of conductive probes which are annularly arranged, one ends of the conductive probes penetrate through the positioning base body and respectively abut against a plurality of test metal pads of the corresponding test module, and the other ends of the conductive probes penetrate through the positioning base body and are used for abutting against an object to be tested; and

the testing circuit board is positioned on one side of the bottom surface of the signal transfer module and is provided with a plurality of second electric connectors positioned in the signal transfer area, and the second electric connectors are respectively and electrically coupled with the first electric connectors.

2. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein in each of the probe assemblies, a plurality of the conductive probes are operable to receive test signals from the dut and transmit the test signals to the test circuit board sequentially through a plurality of the test metal pads of the corresponding test module, the corresponding first electrical connectors, and the corresponding second electrical connectors.

3. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the number of the plurality of electrical contacts is greater than or equal to the number of the plurality of test metal pads in each of the first electrical connectors and the corresponding test module.

4. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein in each of the first electrical connectors and the corresponding testing module, a pitch between each of the testing metal pads and its adjacent testing metal pad is defined as a first pitch, a pitch between each of the electrical contacts and its adjacent electrical contact is defined as a second pitch, and the second pitch is greater than the first pitch.

5. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a supporting plate disposed between the signal relay module and the test circuit board; the bottom surface of the substrate has insulating property and can be attached to the supporting plate body, and the bottom surface of the substrate is not provided with any metal pad or circuit.

6. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a high frequency signal transmission cable located in the wafer test area and extending through the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate; at least one of the test modules further comprises a high-frequency signal metal pad, one end of the high-frequency signal transmission cable is electrically connected to the high-frequency signal metal pad, and the other end of the high-frequency signal transmission cable is electrically connected to a signal receiving metal pad of the test circuit board in the wafer test area, so that a high-frequency signal transmission path is formed.

7. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the probe card testing apparatus is capable of receiving a plurality of light beams, and the light beams sequentially penetrate through the test circuit board, the signal transfer module, and the probe head module and then irradiate the object to be tested to generate a plurality of optoelectronic test signals.

8. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the first electrical connectors penetrates the top surface and the bottom surface of the substrate, and each of the second electrical connectors is disposed on a side surface of the test circuit board facing the signal relay module; each first electrical connector corresponds to the corresponding second electrical connector in position, and each first electrical connector is detachably plugged into the corresponding second electrical connector to form a male-female connector framework.

9. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the first electrical connectors is disposed on the top surface of the substrate, and each of the second electrical connectors is disposed on a side surface of the test circuit board facing the signal relay module; the signal transfer module further includes a plurality of flexible flat cables, and each of the first electrical connectors is electrically coupled to the corresponding second electrical connector through one of the flexible flat cables to form a flexible flat cable connector structure.

10. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a protective cover covering the test circuit board to form a receiving space with the test circuit board; the substrate, the test module, the first electrical connector, the flexible flat cable and the second electrical connector of the signal switching module are all arranged in the accommodating space; the protective cover body is provided with a through hole in the wafer test area, and one end of the conductive probes can penetrate through the through hole of the protective cover body and is used for abutting against the object to be tested.

11. The probe card testing device of claim 9, further comprising a protective cover and a probe head holder, wherein the probe head holder is located inside the protective cover, the probe head holder is used for disposing the probe head module, and the protective cover is covered on the test circuit board to form a receiving space with the test circuit board; the substrate, the test module, the first electrical connector, the flexible flat cable and the second electrical connector of the signal switching module are all arranged in the accommodating space.

12. The probe card testing device of claim 1, wherein the signal adapting module further comprises a flexible printed circuit board disposed between the plurality of testing modules and the substrate, and the plurality of testing metal pads and the plurality of signal fan-out lines are formed on a side surface of the flexible printed circuit board opposite to the substrate to form a flexible printed circuit board separable from the substrate together with the flexible printed circuit board.

13. The probe card testing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a portion of the plurality of signal fan-out lines are defined as outer layer signal fan-out lines, and another portion of the plurality of signal fan-out lines are defined as inner layer signal fan-out lines; the outer layer signal fan-out lines are arranged on the top surface of the substrate, and the inner layer signal fan-out lines penetrate through the inner layer of the substrate to be electrically connected to the test module and the first electric connector respectively.

14. A signal adapting module of a probe card testing device, wherein the probe card testing device defines a wafer testing area and a signal adapting area located at the periphery of the wafer testing area, and the signal adapting module of the probe card testing device comprises:

a substrate;

the plurality of test modules are arranged on the substrate and positioned in the wafer test area; each test module comprises a central area and a plurality of test metal pads arranged along the periphery of the central area; and

the first electrical connectors are configured to be electrically coupled to second electrical connectors disposed on a test circuit board, respectively.