JP2001135713A - Mechanism for placing object to be treated - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer chuck which does not degrade accuracy and reliability of inspections performed on a device positioned to a specific section, even if the whole surface of a wafer W is cooled via a chuck table 5A while the wafer W is inspected. SOLUTION: A wafer chuck 10 is provided with a chuck table 11, on which a wafer W is placed and which can be moved upward and downward, three delivery pins 12 for delivering the wafer W on a placing surface 11A of the table 11, and a support 13 which supports the lower ends of the pins 12 below the table 11. The chuck 10 is also provided with a pin-operating mechanism 15, which operates the pins 12 via the support 13. Each delivery pin 12 is provided, in such a way that the pin 12 can be moved in vertical directions with respect to the support 13 via a coil spring 17, and the upper end of the pin 12 is protruded upward from the placing surface 11A of the table 11 via the coil spring 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mounting mechanism for a workpiece, and more particularly, to maintaining the temperature of the entire workpiece uniformly while processing the workpiece on the mounting body. The present invention relates to a mechanism for placing an object to be processed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, various processing devices and inspection devices are arranged in the order of processes. When each processing or inspection is performed in each processing apparatus or inspection apparatus, a wafer is transferred between a transfer mechanism and a mounting mechanism (for example, a wafer chuck). After receiving the wafer on the wafer chuck, various processes and inspections are performed on the wafer chuck.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the probe device includes a loader room 1 and a prober room 2 adjacent to each other. As shown by the arrow in the figure, in the loader chamber 1, while the wafer transfer mechanism 3 performs the wafer pre-alignment via the pre-alignment mechanism 4 while transferring the wafer W, the wafer is delivered to the prober chamber 2. X in prober room 2,
After the wafer chuck 5 movable in the Y, Z, and θ directions receives the wafer W from the loader chamber 1, the wafer chuck 5 and the alignment mechanism 6 perform alignment of the wafer W in cooperation with each other at a predetermined reference height. , Wafer chuck 5
Is carried out through the probe card 7 while a predetermined electrical characteristic test is performed. Further, the wafer chuck 5 has a built-in temperature control mechanism, and cools or heats the wafer W via the temperature control mechanism according to the inspection temperature of the wafer W. In FIG. 3, C is a cassette.

Meanwhile, the wafer W is placed on the wafer chuck 5.
For example, three transfer pins 8 built in the wafer chuck 5 are used. These transfer pins 8 are inserted into the through holes 5B of the chuck table 5A as shown in FIG. 4A, and their lower ends are connected and fixed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction to, for example, a ring-shaped support 9. Have been. And chuck table 5A
Is lowered in the direction of the arrow in the figure via a lifting drive mechanism (not shown) and reaches the position shown by the dashed line, the transfer pin 8 protrudes from the through hole 5B of the chuck table 5A, and the wafer W can be transferred. become. In this state, the transfer pins 8 receive the wafer W from the wafer transfer mechanism 3 (see FIG. 3). Subsequently, when the chuck table 5A is raised via the lifting drive mechanism, the three transfer pins 8 retreat into the through holes 5B of the chuck table 5A, and FIG.
The wafer W is placed on the chuck table 5A as shown in FIG. At this time, the vacuum suction mechanism of the chuck table 5A is operating, and the wafer W is suction-fixed to the mounting surface of the chuck table 5A. Thereafter, the wafer W and the probe 7A of the probe card 7 are positioned through the alignment mechanism 6 as described above, and a predetermined inspection is performed.

[0005] For example, in the case of inspecting a heat-generating device, the temperature of the wafer W rises during the inspection and the temperature of the wafer W rises. W is maintained at a predetermined temperature.

[0006]

However, in the case of the conventional wafer chuck 5, even if the entire surface of the wafer W is cooled via the chuck table 5A during the inspection of the wafer W, the temperature of a specific portion of the wafer W is not increased. However, there has been a problem that the temperature becomes higher than the temperature of the other part, and the inspection accuracy and the reliability of the inspection of the device in the specific part are reduced. In particular, this tendency is becoming stronger as devices become more highly integrated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the temperature of a specific portion of a processing object is brought close to the temperature of another portion during the processing of the processing object to reduce the temperature of the entire processing object. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for placing an object to be processed which can be maintained uniformly.

[0008]

The inventor of the present invention has conducted various studies on the cause of the temperature of a specific portion of the wafer W being higher than the temperature of other portions during the inspection of the wafer W. A transfer pin 8 exists immediately below the portion, and a gap δ is provided between the upper end surface of the transfer pin 8 and the wafer W.
It has been found that the cooling efficiency of the wafer W is reduced due to the intervening (see FIG. 4B).

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting mechanism for an object to be processed, comprising a vertically movable mounting body for mounting the object to be processed, and a plurality of through-holes formed on the mounting body in a vertical direction. A plurality of pins that are inserted into the holes and protrude and retract with respect to the mounting surface to transfer the object to be processed on the mounting body, and a support member that supports lower ends of the pins below the mounting body, respectively; And a pin operating mechanism that causes each of the pins to protrude and retract based on the mounting surface through the support, and the pins are provided to be vertically movable with respect to the support via an elastic member. The upper end of each of the pins is projected above the mounting surface via an elastic member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism for mounting an object to be processed, wherein the object to be processed is lifted and lowered, and a plurality of through-holes formed vertically on the object. A plurality of pins that are inserted into the holes and protrude and retract with respect to the mounting surface to transfer the object to be processed on the mounting body, and a support member that supports lower ends of the pins below the mounting body, respectively; And, a pin operating mechanism that causes each of the pins to protrude and retract based on the mounting surface described above via the support, with the lower end of the pin penetrating through the through hole of the support at the lower end of the pin with the support as a boundary. A pair of upper and lower stoppers are attached at a predetermined interval, and an elastic member is mounted between the support and the upper stopper. The pin is urged upward through the elastic member to set the upper end thereof to the mounting surface. Characterized by being projected from the

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the elastic member comprises a coil spring. It is.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism for placing an object to be processed, wherein the pin has excellent thermal conductivity in any one of the first to third aspects. It is characterized by being made of a material.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing one embodiment of a mounting mechanism for a target object of the present invention applied to, for example, the probe device shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a wafer chuck 10 of the present embodiment includes a mounting body (chuck table) 11 on which an object to be processed (for example, a wafer) W is mounted, and a wafer W on the chuck table 11.
For example, three transfer pins 12 inserted into the through holes 11B of the chuck table 11 so as to protrude and retract with respect to the mounting surface 11A in order to transfer the
And a ring-shaped support member 13 which is provided below the chuck table 11 so as to be able to protrude and retract from the chuck table 11.
Drive mechanism 14 for raising and lowering the chuck 1 integrally with the chuck table 11, and the support 1 in cooperation with the lift drive mechanism 14.
3 is provided with a pin operating mechanism 15 for pushing up the transfer pins 12 to protrude from the mounting surface 11A.

The chuck table 11 can be rotated forward and backward in the θ direction within a predetermined angle range on the θ table 16 via a θ rotation drive mechanism (not shown). For example, a plurality of concentric vacuum suction grooves are formed on the mounting surface 11A of the chuck table 11, and the wafer W is vacuum-adsorbed to the mounting surface 11A via these grooves.

In this embodiment, the delivery pin 12
There is a main feature in the mounting structure of the support 13. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A to 2C, the lower ends of the three transfer pins 12 pass through the through holes 13A formed at regular intervals in the circumferential direction of the support 13. I have. A pair of upper and lower first and second stoppers 12A and 12B are fixed to the lower end of the transfer pin 12 at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. The first stopper 12A is below the support 13 and the second stopper 12B is above the support 13. As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, a concave portion 13B having a through hole 13A as a center is formed on the upper surface of the support 13, and a coil spring 17 through which the transfer pin 12 penetrates is formed in the concave portion 13B. Is stored. The lower end of the coil spring 17 is in elastic contact with the bottom surface of the recess 13B, and the upper end is in elastic contact with the second stopper 12B.
The transfer pin 12 is supported by the first stopper 12A
Contact with the through-hole 11 of the chuck table 11
B, and the upper end is the mounting surface 1 as shown in FIG.
It is formed to have a length slightly protruding from 1A.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support 13 is formed with three through holes 13C spaced at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and arranged between the through holes 13A. (Illustrated), a guide rod 18 hanging down from the chuck table 11 penetrates these through holes 13C. A coil spring 19 is mounted on each of these guide rods 18, and these coil springs 19
The chuck table 11 and the support body 13 are connected via the. The support 13 is provided with a pin operating mechanism 15.
The coil spring 19 is supported in a state of being charged.

Accordingly, when the inspection is not performed, the first stopper 12A is in contact with the support 13 by the urging force of the coil spring 17 as shown in FIG. It protrudes slightly from the surface 11A. When the wafer W is transferred, the support pin 13 is supported by the pin operating mechanism 15 even when the chuck table 11 is lowered via the elevation drive mechanism 14, so that the transfer pin 12 is at the position shown in FIG. 2 to the wafer W transfer position shown in FIG. 2B. When the transfer pin 12 receives the wafer W at this position, the transfer pin 12 is moved by the second stopper 12B against the urging force of the coil spring 17 by the weight of the wafer W as shown in FIG. Sink until it comes in contact with. When the wafer W is inspected, the transfer pin 12 returns from the position shown in FIG. 2B to the original position shown in FIG. At this time, the transfer pin 12 elastically contacts the wafer W via the coil spring 17 as shown in FIG.

Incidentally, the lifting drive mechanism 14 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, an inner cylinder 14A having an upper end coaxially connected to the chuck table 11 side and an open lower end, a motor 14B disposed below the inner cylinder 14A, and a ball screw connected to the motor 14B. 14C, a nut member 14D screwed to the ball screw 14C, and a partition wall 14E fixed to the center of the nut member 14D and integrated with the cylindrical body 14A, and the chuck table 11 is moved up and down. The inner cylinder 14A is provided with an outer cylinder 10A with a gap.
And is engaged with a guide rail 14F disposed substantially over the entire length in the axial direction with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 10A. Therefore, when the lifting drive mechanism 14 is driven, the chuck table 11 is raised and lowered in the vertical direction via the inner cylinder 14A and the guide rail 14F.

Also, as shown in FIG.
A fixed table 20 fixed below the chuck table 11 is disposed slightly above the upper end of the 4C. A spline shaft 21 is rotatably supported at the center of the fixed table 20 via a bearing 22. The spline shaft 21 is spline-coupled to a cylindrical shaft 23 fixed at the center of the lower surface of the chuck table 11. Therefore, when the θ rotation drive mechanism is driven, the chuck table 11 temporarily floats vertically upward from the θ table 16 according to the spline shaft 21 by the action of the compressed air, and in this state the chuck table 11 is moved via the θ rotation drive mechanism. It rotates in the forward and reverse directions by a predetermined angle, and then descends along the spline shaft 21 and lands on the θ table 16.

As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the pin operation mechanism 15 has a disk-shaped support plate 15A fixed to a housing 14G of a motor 14B and a circumferential edge of the support plate 15A at equal circumferential intervals. It consists of a push-up rod 15B standing upright. The push rod 15 is provided on the partition wall 14E and the fixed table 20 above the partition wall 14E.
Three through holes 14H and 20A through which B penetrate are respectively formed, and three push-up rods 15B penetrate these through holes 14H and 20A, and the upper end of each of them is the support 1
3 is in contact with the lower surface. Therefore, chuck table 1
1 is lowered via the lifting drive mechanism 14, the support 13
Is lowered integrally with the chuck table 11, the push-up rod 15 </ b> B contacting the support 13 pushes the support 13 relatively toward the chuck table 11 against the coil spring 19, and the transfer pin 12 moves the transfer pin 12 to the chuck table 11. From the through hole 11B to the delivery position.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 (a) to 2 (c). For example, the wafer W after pre-alignment via the wafer transfer mechanism in the loader chamber
From the loader chamber to a position directly above the wafer chuck 10 already waiting in the prober chamber. At this time, when the lifting drive mechanism 14 of the wafer chuck 10 is driven and the chuck table 11 is lowered from the position shown in FIG. 2A, the pin operating mechanism 15 relatively lifts the support 13 and 2), the transfer pin 12 is pushed out from the through hole 11B of the chuck table 11 to the transfer position of the wafer W. In this state, when the wafer W is received from the wafer transfer mechanism on the transfer pin 12, the transfer pin 12 is moved by the weight of the wafer W so that the second stopper 12 </ b> B
3 sinks against the coil spring 17 which comes into contact with 3.
After the wafer W is received, when the chuck table 11 moves up to the original position via the elevation drive mechanism 14, the vacuum suction mechanism of the chuck table 11 has already been activated.
The wafer W is suction-fixed on the mounting surface 11A, and the wafer W comes into close contact with the mounting surface 11A. When the wafer W comes into close contact with the mounting surface 11A, the transfer pin 12 is constantly urged upward by the coil spring 17, so that the upper end surface of the transfer pin 12 is elastically attached to the back surface of the wafer W as shown in FIG. The wafer W and the upper end surface of the transfer pin 12 come into close contact with each other.

In this state, the wafer W is inspected while cooling the wafer W through the chuck table 11. Even if the heating device generates heat by the inspection of the wafer W, the wafer W
Because the chuck table 11 and the chuck table 11 are in close contact with each other, the wafer W can be efficiently cooled via the chuck table 11 and the wafer W can be maintained at a constant temperature. In addition, the delivery pin 1 is inserted through the through hole 11B of the chuck table 11.
Since the upper end surface of the wafer 2 is in close contact with the back surface of the wafer W, the heat of the wafer W is efficiently transferred to the pin 12 side in the through hole 11A, and the wafer W can be efficiently cooled. If the transfer pins 12 are made of a material having excellent thermal conductivity (for example, copper, copper alloy, or the like), the cooling efficiency can be further increased. Further, since the transfer pin 12 is cooled to the same degree as the chuck table 11 in the through hole 11B, the through hole 1 having the transfer pin 12
In 1B, the same cooling capacity as the other parts can be expected. As a result, the entire surface of the wafer W can be uniformly cooled by the chuck table 11, and the wafer W
The entire surface can be maintained at a uniform temperature, and the inspection accuracy and reliability of the device in the through hole 11B can be improved similarly to other portions.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
Delivery pin 12 penetrating through hole 13A of support 13
A pair of first and second upper and lower parts at the lower end of
The stoppers 12A and 12B are attached at predetermined intervals, and a coil spring 17 is mounted between the support 13 and the upper second stopper 12B. The transfer pin 12 is urged upward through the coil spring 17 to Since the upper end protrudes from the mounting surface 11A of the chuck table 11, when the wafer W is mounted on the chuck table 11, the upper end surface of the transfer pin 12 in the through hole 11B of the chuck table 11 via the coil spring 17 And the same cooling efficiency as in the other portions can be secured in the through hole 11B.
The entire surface can be maintained at a uniform temperature, and the inspection accuracy and reliability of the device in the through hole 11B of the chuck table 11 can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the coil spring 1
Although the means for bringing the transfer pins 12 into close contact with the back surface of the wafer W using the nozzle 7 has been described, in the present invention, any elastic member capable of making the transfer pins elastically contact the wafer W may be used in the above embodiment. There is no restriction. Further, the connection structure between the transfer pin 12 and the support 13 is not limited to the above embodiment. Further, the present invention can be widely applied to a mounting mechanism for processing an object to be processed such as a wafer, in addition to the probe device.

[0025]

According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the temperature of a specific portion of the object to be processed is brought close to the temperature of another portion during the processing of the object to be processed. It is possible to provide a mounting mechanism of the object to be processed, which can maintain the temperature of the entire surface uniformly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an embodiment of a mounting mechanism (wafer chuck) for a workpiece according to the present invention.

2A and 2B are explanatory views of the operation of the main part of the wafer chuck shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a relationship between the chuck table and a transfer pin when the chuck table is not operated;
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a relationship between a chuck table and a transfer pin when a wafer is transferred, and FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view illustrating a relationship between the chuck table and a transfer pin when a wafer inspection is performed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outline of a probe device provided with a wafer chuck.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2C showing a wafer chuck used in the probe device shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 wafer chuck (mounting mechanism) 11 chuck table (mounting body) 11A mounting surface 11B through hole 12 transfer pin 12A first stopper 12B second stopper 13 support 15 pin operating mechanism 15B push-up rod 17 coil spring (elastic member) ) W wafer (object to be processed)

Claims (4)

[Claims] An object which can be lifted and lowered on which an object to be processed is mounted, and which is inserted into a plurality of through-holes formed in the mounting body in a vertical direction, and the object to be processed is mounted on the object. A plurality of pins that protrude and retract with respect to the mounting surface for delivery, a support that supports the lower ends of these pins below the mounting body, and the pins that support the pins via the support. And a pin operating mechanism for retreating and retracting with respect to the base, each of the pins is provided so as to be movable up and down with respect to the support via an elastic member, and the upper end of each of the pins is placed on the mounting surface through the elastic member. A mounting mechanism for an object to be processed, which is projected upward. 2. A mounting body on which an object to be processed can be lifted and lowered, and the object to be processed being inserted into a plurality of through-holes formed in the mounting body in a vertical direction and being mounted on the mounting body. A plurality of pins that protrude and retract with respect to the mounting surface for delivery, a support that supports the lower ends of these pins below the mounting body, and the pins that support the pins via the support. And a pin operating mechanism to be retracted based on the reference, and a pair of upper and lower stoppers are attached to the lower end of the pin penetrating through the through hole of the support at predetermined intervals with the support as a boundary, and the support and An elastic member is mounted between the upper stoppers, and the pin is urged upward through the elastic member so that the upper end thereof protrudes from the mounting surface. . 3. The mounting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member comprises a coil spring. 4. The mounting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said pins are made of a material having excellent thermal conductivity.