JP2001242195A - Contact structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contact structure, having the shape of a TAB(tape- automated bonding) and a contact bump as a contact point. SOLUTION: A plurality of contactors that are formed by a conductive lead are provided, and each conductive lead composes a micro strip line by combining a ground surface and a dielectric layer while the conductive lead is in a flat shape, thus establishing a specific characteristic impedance. The tip part of the conductive lead is formed by a hard conductive material. Further more, a support substrate for forming a communication path from the tip part to an area to the external element of the contact structure. When the contact structure is pressed against a substrate to be tested, a contact spring force is generated by the bent part of the contactor, thus enabling a contact bump at the tip part of the conductive lead to exhibit rubbing and scraping effects.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a contact structure for establishing electrical contact with a contact target such as a contact pad, a lead or a component of an electronic circuit. In particular, the present invention provides frequency bands,
The present invention relates to a contact structure used for a probe card for testing a semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor chip, a package semiconductor component, a module socket, a printed circuit board, and the like, which has improved pin pitch, contact performance, and reliability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In testing high-speed and high-density electrical components such as LSI and VLSI circuits, it is necessary to use high-performance contact structures such as probe contactors and test contactors. The contact structure of the present invention is not limited to applications such as testing and burn-in of semiconductor wafers and semiconductor dies, but also includes applications to testing and burn-in of packaged semiconductor components and printed circuit boards. Further, the contact structures of the present invention can be used for a wide variety of general applications, including IC leads, IC packaging, and other electrical connections. However, in the following, for convenience of explanation, the present invention will be described mainly in relation to testing of a semiconductor wafer.

When the semiconductor device under test is a semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor test system such as an IC tester is used in connection with a substrate handler such as an automatic wafer prober to automatically test the semiconductor wafer. . Such an example is shown in FIG. 1, where a semiconductor test system has a test head 100, typically formed as a separate housing, which is connected to the test system body by a cable bundle 110. ing. The test head 100 and the substrate handler 400 are connected to the manipulator 50 driven by a motor 510, for example.
0 mechanically connects each other.

[0004] The semiconductor wafer under test is mounted on a substrate handler 40.
0 automatically supplies the test head 100 to the test position. In the test head 100, a test signal generated by a semiconductor test system is supplied to a semiconductor wafer under test. An output signal (reaction) as a result of the test signal is transmitted from the IC circuit under test formed on the semiconductor wafer to the semiconductor test system,
In order to verify whether the IC circuit formed on the semiconductor wafer is functioning properly, an output signal from the semiconductor wafer is compared with expected value data.

In FIG. 2, the configuration of a substrate handler (wafer prober) 400, a test head 100, and an interface section 140 are shown in more detail than a semiconductor wafer at the time of testing. The test head 100 and the substrate handler 400 are connected to each other via an interface 140 having components such as a performance board, a frog ring, and a probe card. The performance board 120 shown in FIG. 2 is a printed circuit board having an electric circuit connection configuration specific to the electric structure of the test head, and includes a coaxial cable, pogo pins, connectors, and the like.

[0006] The test head 100 includes a number of printed circuit boards 150, the number of which corresponds to the number of test channels (also referred to as "test pins"). Each of the printed circuit boards 150
It has a connector 160 for connecting to a contact terminal 121 provided on the performance board 120. A frog ring (pogo pin block) 130 is further mounted on the performance board 120 in order to accurately determine a contact position with respect to the substrate handler 400. The frog ring 130 has a number of contact pins 141 such as, for example, a ZIF connector or a pogo pin, and is connected to a contact terminal 121 of the performance board 120 via a coaxial cable 124.

[0007] As shown in FIG.
Are located on the substrate handler 400 and are mechanically and electrically connected to the substrate handler via the interface unit 140. The substrate handler 400 has a semiconductor wafer under test 300 mounted on a chuck 180. The probe card 170 is connected to the semiconductor wafer 300 under test.
It is provided at the top of the. The probe card 170 has a number of probe contactors (cantilevers or needles) 190 for making contact with circuit terminals (also referred to as “contact pads” or “contact targets”) of IC circuits on the semiconductor wafer 300 to be tested. I have.

The electric terminals or contact receptacles of the probe card 170 are connected to the frog ring 13.
0 is electrically connected to the contact pin 141 provided for the first contact. The contact pin 141 is connected to the coaxial cable 124
, And is connected to a contact terminal 121 on the performance board 120. Each contact terminal 121 is connected to a corresponding printed circuit board 150 in the test head 100. Further, the printed circuit board 150 is connected to the semiconductor test system main body via the cable bundle 110 having several hundred internal cables.

Under this configuration, the probe contactor 190 comes into contact with the surface of the semiconductor wafer 300 on the chuck 180, applies a test signal to the semiconductor wafer 300, and receives a result output signal from the semiconductor wafer 300. The result output signal from the semiconductor wafer under test 300 is compared with an expected value in a semiconductor test system in order to verify whether a circuit on the semiconductor wafer 300 functions properly.

FIG. 3 shows the probe card 170 of FIG.
FIG. In this example, probe card 1
70 has an epoxy ring for mounting a plurality of probe contactors 190 called needles or cantilevers. In FIG. 2, the semiconductor wafer 30
When the chuck 180 in the substrate handler 400 carrying the “0” moves upward, the tip of the cantilever 190 comes into contact with a contact pad or a bump on the semiconductor wafer 300. The other end of the cantilever 190 is connected to a wire 194, which is further connected to a transmission line (not shown) formed on the probe card 170.
The transmission line is connected to a plurality of electrodes 197, which are further connected to contact pins 141 in FIG.

In general, the probe card 170 is a multilayer board composed of a large number of polyimide substrates including a ground layer, a power layer, and a signal transmission line layer. As is well known in the art, each signal transmission line has a characteristic impedance, such as 50 ohms, such as the dielectric constant and permeability of polyimide, and the inductance and capacitance of the signal path in the probe card 170. Parameters are set. Therefore, the signal transmission line is an impedance-matched line, and supplies a current to the semiconductor wafer in a steady state, and establishes a high-frequency transmission band that can supply an instantaneous high peak current even in a transient state. I have.
In the probe card 170, a capacitor 193 and a capacitor 195 are provided between the power layer and the ground layer for removing noise.

FIG. 4 shows an equivalent circuit of the probe card 170 shown in FIG. 3 in order to explain the limit of the high frequency characteristic in the conventional probe card technology. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the signal transmission lines on the probe card 170
Strip line (impedance matched) 1
96, wire 194, needle or cantilever (probe contactor) 190. Wire 19
Since the impedance of the needle 4 does not match the impedance of the needle 190, these parts function equivalently as an inductor L in a high frequency band as shown in FIG. 4 (C).
The total length of the wire 194 and the needle 190 is 20-3
Since this is about 0 mm, the test of the high frequency performance of the component under test is greatly limited by this inductor.

Other elements that limit the frequency band of the probe card 170 are the power needle and the ground needle shown in FIGS. 4 (D) and 4 (E). If the power line can supply sufficient current to the device under test, it does not significantly limit the frequency band in testing the device under test. However, the serially connected wire 194 and the needle 190 (FIG. 4 (D)) for power supply and the serially connected wire 1 for grounding power and signal are used.
Since the 94 and the needle 190 are equivalent to an inductor, the high-speed current is greatly limited.

Further, capacitors 193 and 195 are provided between the power line and the ground line in order to remove a surge pulse or noise on the power line and verify the correct performance of the component under test. Capacitor 1
93 is a relatively large value such as 10 uF, and can be disconnected from the power line by a switch if necessary. Capacitor 195 has a relatively small capacitance value, such as 0.01 uF, and is fixedly mounted near the DUT. These capacitances serve to eliminate high frequency components in the power line. Therefore, these capacitances are
Limit the high frequency performance of the probe contactor.

Therefore, the most widely used probe contactor described above has a frequency band of about 200 MHz.
To the extent that this is not enough to test modern semiconductor components. At present, from 1 GHz and beyond, the semiconductor industry believes that in the near future, a frequency band equivalent to the frequency band of the performance of the tester itself will be required for the probe contactor. Also,
In order to improve the throughput of semiconductor component testing, it is desirable that a probe card can handle a large number of semiconductor components such as memory devices at the same time.

In the prior art, the probe card and the probe contactor as shown in FIG. 3 are manufactured by hand, so that the quality varies. Such variations in quality result in variations in size, frequency band, contact force (contact force), contact resistance (contact resistance), and the like. Another factor that reduces contact performance reliability in prior art probe contactors is that the probe contactor and the semiconductor wafer under test have different coefficients of thermal expansion. Therefore, at different temperatures, the contact position is displaced, which adversely affects a contact force (contact force), a contact resistance (contact resistance), a frequency band, and the like.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to achieve a high frequency band, a high pin count, and a high contact performance, and to electrically connect a contact target to establish electrical communication. It is to provide a contact structure to be in contact.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device test contact structure suitable for simultaneously testing a large number of semiconductor devices in parallel.

[0019] Another object of the present invention, the predetermined characteristic impedance by having formed a large number of contactors using tape automated Ted bonderizing _Lee ring (TAB), the structure of each of the contactors is a microstrip line To provide a contact structure having the same.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide contact bumps at the tips of the conductive leads in order to effectively achieve an ideal chipping action when the contact structure is pressed against the contact target. To provide a contact structure having a plurality of contactors.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a contact structure in which a plurality of contactors having contact bumps are inserted into through holes of a substrate and fixed with an adhesive.

[0022]

In the present invention, in order to solve the problems], contact structure for establishing electrical connection with contact targets have contact bumps as the contact point with the form of the TAB (tape automated Ted Bonde _b ring). The contact structure of the present invention has a plurality of contactors disposed on a ground plane via a dielectric layer and formed by conductive leads, each conductive lead having a planar shape, and a ground plane and a dielectric layer. A predetermined characteristic impedance is established by forming a microstrip line in combination with the above. The tip of the conductive lead has a contact bump formed of a hard conductive material. Further, the contact structure has a support substrate on which the contactor is mounted and which forms a communication path from the tip of the conductive lead to an element outside the contact structure. When the contact structure is pressed against the substrate under test, the contactor is bent against the surface of the substrate under test on which the contact target is mounted, so that a contact spring force is generated by the bent portion of the contactor, and the conductive lead is formed. The contact bumps at the tip of the surface exert a scraping effect.

In another aspect of the present invention, a contactor support provided around the outside of a ground plane is further provided so as to limit deformation of the contactor when the contactor is pressed against the substrate under test. Have. Further, in another aspect of the present invention, the support substrate has a through-hole, is attached to the through-hole such that a tip end of the contactor projects, and an adhesive is applied to the contactor and the through-hole to attach the contactor to the support substrate. Fixed to.

In still another aspect of the present invention, a contact structure includes a first layer having a plurality of contactors and a second layer having a plurality of contactors overlapped with each other via an insulating layer. Each of the plurality of contactors in the second layer is formed by a conductive lead disposed on a ground plane via a dielectric layer, and each conductive lead has a planar shape, and the ground plane and the dielectric layer A predetermined characteristic impedance is established by forming a microstrip line in combination with the above. The tip of the conductive lead has a contact bump formed of a hard conductive material. The contact structure further has a support substrate on which the contactor is mounted and which forms a communication path from the tip of the conductive lead to an element outside the contact structure. When the contact structure is pressed against the substrate under test, the contactor is bent against the surface of the substrate under test on which the contact target is mounted, so that a contact spring force is generated by a bent portion of the contactor, The contact bumps at the tips of the conductive leads exhibit a grinding effect.

According to the present invention, the contact structure can have a high frequency band that meets the test requirements of next generation semiconductor technology. Contact structure, tape automated Ted Bonde _Lee ring (TA
Since the contactors are formed from the contactors using B), many contactors can be arranged at a small pitch at low cost. Since the contact bump at the tip of the conductive lead is made of a hard conductive material, an ideal scraping effect can be achieved when the contact structure is pressed against the contact target. Further, since the contact structure of the present invention has a microstrip line structure, impedance matching can be realized up to the tip of the contactor, and excellent contact performance can be realized up to extremely high frequencies.

[0026]

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show a first example of a contact structure according to the present invention. In this example, the contact structure has a contactor 30 having a plate-like shape. This contactor 30
It comprises a conductive lead 35, a dielectric layer 36, a ground layer 37, and a contact bump (contact bump) 31 mounted on the conductive lead 35. As shown in FIG. 6, the contactor 30 is mounted on the contact substrate 20. Preferably, such plate-like contactors 30 are formed by tape automated Ted bonderizing _Lee ring (TAB) technique used in the electronic components industry.
In general, tape automated Ted Bonde _Lee ring (TA
B) is used for wiring a semiconductor chip when a thin package is required. In the present invention,
This TAB technique is used to form an impedance-matched contact structure that achieves a high frequency band.

In the present invention, in order to use the TAB technique, a plurality of contactors each having a conductive lead are prepared on a tape carrier on a dielectric substrate formed on a ground layer. The tape carrier includes a number of contactors and is stored on a reel. The tape carrier is removed from the reel, and the contactor on the tape carrier is positioned on the contact substrate 20 and is attached to the contact substrate in the joining process.

FIG. 5 further shows contact targets such as contact pads 320 on the semiconductor wafer under test 300 to be tested by the semiconductor test system. When the contact structure is pressed against the semiconductor wafer 300, electrical communication is formed between the contact bump (contact bump) 31 at the tip of the conductive lead and the contact pad 320 on the semiconductor wafer 300. Since the contact bumps 31 are made of a hard conductive material, as will be described in detail later, when the contactor 30 is pressed against the contact target 320, the contactor 30 exhibits a scrubbing (scrubbing) effect. The scuffing effect is an effect of scrubbing the surface oxide film so that the conductor material under the surface oxide film of the contact pad 320 and the contact bump 31 of the contact structure are in direct contact.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the contact structure of the present invention arranged on the semiconductor wafer 300 under test. 6 includes a contactor 30 and a contact substrate 20 having a circuit pattern (not shown). As described above, the contactor 30 has a shape similar to a TAB lead widely used in semiconductor device package technology.
The TAB lead has a plurality of conductive leads formed on a continuous tape, and the tape is stored on a reel. The TAB lead taken out from the reel is positioned on the semiconductor chip and attached to the semiconductor chip by, for example, thermal bonding. The contactor 30 of the present invention can be mounted on the contact substrate 20 in a similar manner.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each contactor 30 has a conductive lead 35 and is formed on a ground layer 37 via a dielectric layer 36. Thus, each conductive lead 35 forms a microstrip line structure known in microwave technology. In a microstrip line, its characteristic impedance is
Width of conductive lead 35, thickness of dielectric layer 36, dielectric layer 3
6 is determined by the dielectric constant and the magnetic permeability of the sample. Contactor 30
When the contact structure is pressed against the semiconductor wafer 300, the contact is bent so as to be inclined to the surface of the contact target 320 provided on the semiconductor wafer 300, and a contact force is generated by the bent portion of the contactor.

Examples of the structure of the dielectric layer 36 include alumina, beryllia (BeO), sapphire, glass fiber, glass epoxy, and Teflon (registered trademark) containing ceramic. Therefore, the characteristic impedance of the contactor 30 is the impedance of a signal line (not shown) formed on the contact substrate 20, for example, 5
It can easily match 0 ohms. As a result, since impedance matching can be realized up to the tip of the contactor 30, high-frequency operation can be achieved by the contact structure of the present invention.

The contact bump 31 is generally spherical, but may have other shapes such as a trapezoid, a square, a pyramid, or a cone. A typical contact bump 31 is a hard contact ball having a diameter of, for example, 40 μm (micrometer), and is made of glass or hard metal coated with tungsten. Also,
When pressed against contact target 320 having a metal oxide film, contact bump 31 has such a hardness that it can achieve an action of scrubbing the oxide film. Therefore, even if, for example, there is an aluminum oxide film on the surface of the contact target 320 on the semiconductor wafer 300, this abrasion action effectively destroys the aluminum oxide surface to form a contact with the conductive material under the aluminum oxide film. A low resistance contact can be realized between them. In FIG. 6, when the contact structure is pressed against the semiconductor wafer 300 in the vertical direction, the contact bump 3
1 is moved in the horizontal direction, so that the above-mentioned grinding effect can be further promoted.

Examples of the constituent materials of the conductive leads 35 and the ground layer 37 are nickel, aluminum, copper, nickel palladium, rhodium, nickel gold, and iridium. As described above, examples of the constituent material of the dielectric layer 36 are alumina, beryllia (BeO), sapphire, glass fiber, glass epoxy, and Teflon with ceramic. Further, as described above, the contact bump 31
Examples of the constituent materials are glass balls or other hard metals coated with tungsten. Still another example of the contact bump 31 is a hard material such as nickel, beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel-cobalt-iron alloy, or iron-nickel alloy having a spherical, square, pyramidal, or conical shape. This is a contact made of metal.

Further, the contact bump 31 can be formed of a basic metal such as nickel, aluminum, copper or the above-mentioned alloy, and the outer surface thereof is formed of gold, silver, nickel palladium, rhodium, nickel gold, iridium or the like. It can be configured by plating with a high conductor non-oxidizing metal. In the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, the spherical contact bumps 31 are formed by soldering (brazing), brazing (welding), or various bonding techniques such as thermo-bonding (thermal bonding). , Thermocompression bonding (thermocompression bonding), ultrasonic bonding, or the like, and further applying a conductive adhesive to the conductive leads 3
5 attached to the tip. The shape of the contact bump 31 may be hemispherical, and the non-spherical portion is attached to the tip of the conductive lead 35.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view showing the contact structure of the present invention. The conductive leads 35 are attached below the dielectric layer 36 and the ground layer 37 except for the tip where the contact bump 31 is attached. Therefore, the impedance of the contact structure is
The impedance of the other transmission lines of the test system is matched up to the tip of the conductive lead 35. In the example of FIG. 7, the lengths of the contactors 30 are the same, but the length of the contactors 30, that is, the conductive leads 35 may be configured to have different lengths.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another example of the contact structure of the present invention. The configuration of the contact structure according to this example has a pair of contactor supports 44 around the outside of the ground layer 37 in addition to the configuration according to the example of FIG. The contactor support 44 is fixed to the contact board 20 with, for example, screws 42. The contact structure shown in FIG.
When pressed to zero, the contactor support 44 contacts the top surface of the ground layer 37 to limit further deformation of the contactor 30. That is, when the contactor support 44 has high flexibility,
The over-bending is prevented and protected, and the contact spring force when the contact structure is pressed against the semiconductor wafer 300 is added.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a bottom surface of a contact structure in still another example of the present invention. In this example, in the contact structure, the conductive leads 35 are arranged in four directions so that the contact points are arranged in a square. The conductive leads 35 are connected to the contact bumps 31.
Except for the tip having, it is located below and attached to the dielectric layer 36 and the ground layer 37. For this reason, the impedance of the contact structure is
Up to the tip of the test system, it matches the impedance of the other transmission lines of the test system. As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 9, the pitch between the conductive leads 35 is large (fan out) at the rear end so as to match the pitch of the circuit pattern (not shown) of the contact substrate 20.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing still another example of the contact structure of the present invention. In this example, the contact structure has two layers of contactors. The outer contactor is the ground layer 37
_1, a dielectric layer 36 ₁ is formed by conductive leads 35 _1, has a structure of microstrip. Each conductive lead 3
5 ₁ of the tip, the contact bumps 31 ₁ are provided. Inner contactor, a ground layer 37 _2, a dielectric layer 36 _2, are formed by conductive leads 35 _2, has a structure of microstrip. At the tip of each conductive lead 35 _2, contact bumps 31 ₂ is provided. An insulating layer 39 is provided between the outer contactor and the inner contactor to electrically separate the two contactors. With such a configuration, a contactor with a small pitch and high frequency performance can be realized.

Each of the contact bumps 31 ₁ and 31 ₂ (collectively referred to as “contact bumps 31”) is a hard ball-shaped contactor having a diameter of, for example, 40 μm (micrometer), coated with tungsten, It is made of hard metal. The contact bump 31 has such a hardness that a scuffing action can be obtained when pressed against a contact target 320 having a metal oxide layer on the surface. Therefore, even when, for example, an aluminum oxide film is present on the surface of the contact target 320 on the semiconductor wafer 300, this abrasion action effectively destroys the aluminum oxide film and lowers the contact between the aluminum oxide film and the conductor material thereunder. Resistive contact can be realized. In FIG. 10, since the contactor 30 is obliquely mounted, when the contact structure is pressed against the semiconductor wafer 300 in the vertical direction, the contact bump 31 is moved in the horizontal direction, thereby further promoting the grinding effect. Can be done.

The conductive leads 35 ₁ and 35 ₂ and the ground layer 3
Examples of 7 _1, 37 ₂ of the material, nickel, aluminum, copper, nickel palladium, rhodium, nickel gold, or iridium. As described above, the constituent material example of the dielectric layer 36 _1, 36 _2, alumina, beryllia (BeO), sapphire, glass fibers, glass epoxy, ceramic filled Teflon or the like. As described above, examples of the constituent material of the contact bump 31 are a glass ball coated with tungsten or another hard metal. Contact bump 3
Still other examples of one are nickel, beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel-cobalt-iron alloys, or iron-iron having a spherical, square, pyramidal, or conical shape.
The contact is made of a hard metal such as a nickel alloy.

Further, the contact bump 31 can be formed of a basic metal such as nickel, aluminum, copper or the above-mentioned alloy, and its outer surface is formed of gold, silver, nickel palladium, rhodium, nickel gold, iridium or the like. It can be configured by plating with a high conductor non-oxidizing metal. In the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, the spherical contact bump 31 is formed by soldering, brazing, welding, or various bonding techniques such as thermonic bonding (thermal bonding) and thermocompression bonding (thermal compression bonding). , Ultrasonic bonding or the like, and further applying a conductive adhesive to the conductive leads 3
5 attached to the tip. The shape of the contact bump 31 may be hemispherical, and the non-spherical portion is attached to the tip of the conductive lead 35.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional top view showing still another example of the contact structure of the present invention, in which a plurality of TAB lead contactors are fitted in contactor mounting through holes provided in the contact substrate 60. ing. FIG. 12 shows a top view of the contact structure of FIG. In this example, the contact structure is formed by assembling the contactor 30 in the contactor mounting through hole of the contact substrate 60. Examples of the contact substrate are a silicon substrate and a glass substrate, and a through hole for attaching a contactor is formed in the substrate by using a deep trench etching (deep groove etching) technique or the like. The contactor 30 is fitted in a state in which the tip end protrudes from the contactor mounting through hole, and is fixed by the adhesive 50. Examples of adhesives include epoxy, polyimide, thermoplastic adhesives, and elastomeric adhesives.

As shown in the top view of FIG. 12, conductive leads 35 provided under ground layer 37 and dielectric layer 36 are provided.
Are connected to the contact pads 38 on the contact substrate 60. As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 12, the pitch between the conductive leads 35 is enlarged (fan-out) at the end thereof so as to match the pitch of the circuit pattern on the contact substrate 60, that is, the pitch of the contact pads 38.

While only preferred embodiments have been set forth, various forms and modifications of the present invention are possible in the appended claims, based on the foregoing disclosure, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0045]

According to the present invention, the contact structure can have a wide frequency band that satisfies the test requirements of the next-generation semiconductor technology. Contact structure, tape automated Ted Bonde _Lee ring (TA
Since the contactors are formed from the contactors using B), many contactors can be arranged at a small pitch at low cost. Since the contact bump at the tip of the conductive lead is made of a hard conductive material, an ideal scraping effect can be achieved when the contact structure is pressed against the contact target. Further, since the contact structure of the present invention has a microstrip line structure, impedance matching can be realized up to the tip of the contactor, and excellent contact performance can be realized up to extremely high frequencies.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a structural relationship between a semiconductor test system having a test head and a substrate handler.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing in more detail a structure for connecting a test head of a semiconductor test system to a substrate handler.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing an example of a probe card having an epoxy ring for mounting a plurality of cantilevers as a probe contactor.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an equivalent circuit of the probe card of FIG.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a contact structure of the present invention with a spherical contactor impedance matching has a (contact bumps) a TAB (tape automated Ted Bonde _b ring) leads contactor tips.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view showing an example of a contact structure of the present invention formed on a substrate.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view showing the contact structure of the present invention shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a front sectional view showing another example of the contact structure of the present invention formed on a substrate.

FIG. 9 is a bottom view showing an example of a contact structure of the present invention having contactors aligned in four directions.

FIG. 10: Two-layer impedance-matched TAB
It is front sectional drawing which shows another example of the contact structure of this invention which has a lead-shaped contactor.

FIG. 11 shows a plurality of Ts inserted and mounted in contactor mounting through holes provided in a contact substrate.
It is front sectional drawing which shows another example of the contact structure of this invention which has the contactor of AB lead shape.

FIG. 12 is a top view showing the contact structure of FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 contactor 31 contact bump (contact bump) 35 conductive lead 36 dielectric layer 37 ground layer 300 semiconductor wafer under test 320 contact pad

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tim Fleck 916, Havendale Drive, Columbus, 43220, Ohio, United States

Claims (20)

[Claims] In a contact structure for forming an electrical connection with a contact target provided on a substrate under test, a plurality of contactors arranged on a ground plane via a dielectric layer and formed by conductive leads. Each of the conductive leads has a planar shape, a microstrip line is formed by a combination of the ground plane and the dielectric layer, and a predetermined characteristic impedance is established. It has a contact bump formed of a hard conductive material, and has a support substrate that mounts the contactor and forms a communication path extending from a tip end of the conductive lead to an element outside the contact structure, When the contact structure is pressed against the substrate under test, the contour The contactor is bent against the surface of the substrate under test on which the contact target is mounted, so that a contact spring force is generated by the bent portion of the contactor, and the contact bump at the tip of the conductive lead is scraped off. A contact structure that is effective. 2. The contact structure according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of contactors are bonded to said support substrate. 3. The contactor according to claim 1, further comprising: a contactor support provided on an outer periphery of the ground plane to limit deformation of the contactor when the contactor is pressed against the substrate under test. Contact structure. 4. The contact structure according to claim 1, wherein said conductive lead is formed of nickel, aluminum, copper, nickel palladium, rhodium, nickel gold, or iridium. 5. The contact structure according to claim 1, wherein the contact bump has a spherical, square, trapezoidal, pyramidal, or conical shape. 6. The contact structure according to claim 1, wherein the contact bump is made of a ball-shaped glass coated with tungsten or another metal. 7. The contact structure according to claim 1, wherein said contact bump is formed of a hard metal such as nickel, beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel-cobalt-iron alloy, or iron-nickel alloy. 8. The contact bump is formed of a basic material such as nickel, beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel-cobalt-iron alloy, or iron-nickel alloy, and its outer surface is formed of gold, silver, nickel palladium, rhodium, The contact structure according to claim 1, wherein the contact structure is formed by coating with a highly conductive and non-oxidizing metal such as nickel gold or iridium. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contact bump is attached to the conductive lead by soldering, brazing, welding, or applying a conductive adhesive.
Contact structure described in 1. 10. A contact structure for forming an electrical connection with a contact target provided on a substrate under test, wherein a first layer having a plurality of contactors and a second layer having a plurality of contactors are provided. Each of the plurality of contactors in the first and second layers is formed by a conductive lead disposed on a ground plane via a dielectric layer, and each conductive lead is planar. A microstrip line is formed by a combination of the ground plane and the dielectric layer having a shape to establish a predetermined characteristic impedance, and a contact bump formed of a hard conductive material is provided at the tip of the conductive lead. An element outside of the contact structure from the tip of the conductive lead, on which the contactor is mounted. And a support substrate forming a communication path extending between the contact target and the contact structure. When the contact structure is pressed against the substrate under test, the contactor is configured to contact a surface of the substrate under test on which the contact target is mounted. The contact structure is characterized in that a contact spring force is generated by a bent portion of the contactor when the contact bumper is bent, and a contact bump at a tip end portion of the conductive lead exhibits a scraping effect. 11. The contact structure according to claim 10, wherein said conductive lead is formed of nickel, aluminum, copper, nickel palladium, rhodium, nickel gold, or iridium. 12. The contact structure according to claim 10, wherein the contact bump has a spherical, square, trapezoidal, pyramidal, or conical shape. 13. The contact structure according to claim 10, wherein said contact bump is made of a ball-shaped glass coated with tungsten or another metal. 14. The contact bump is nickel,
Beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel, cobalt,
The contact structure according to claim 10, wherein the contact structure is formed of a hard metal such as an iron alloy or an iron-nickel alloy. 15. The contact bump is nickel,
Beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel, cobalt,
It is formed of a basic material such as an iron alloy or an iron-nickel alloy, and its outer surface is formed of gold, silver, nickel palladium,
The contact structure according to claim 10, wherein the contact structure is formed by coating with a highly conductive and non-oxidizing metal such as rhodium, nickel gold, or iridium. 16. The contact structure according to claim 10, wherein the contact bump is attached to the conductive lead by soldering, brazing, welding, or applying a conductive adhesive. 17. A contact structure for forming an electrical connection with a contact target provided on a substrate under test, a plurality of contactors arranged on a ground plane via a dielectric layer and formed by conductive leads. Each of the conductive leads has a planar shape, a microstrip line is formed by a combination of the ground plane and the dielectric layer, and a predetermined characteristic impedance is established. It has a contact bump formed of a hard conductive material, and has a support substrate that mounts the contactor and forms a communication path extending from a tip end of the conductive lead to an element outside the contact structure, The support substrate has a through-hole and the contactor is protruded so that the tip of the contactor protrudes. The contactor is fixed to the support substrate by applying an adhesive to the contactor and the through-hole to fix the contactor to the support substrate.When the contact structure is pressed against the substrate under test, the contactor is By being bent with respect to the surface of the substrate under test on which the contact target is mounted, a contact spring force is generated by the bent portion of the contactor, and the contact bump at the tip of the conductive lead has a scraping effect. A contact structure characterized by: 18. The contact structure according to claim 17, wherein the contact bump has a spherical, square, trapezoidal, pyramidal, or conical shape. 19. The contact structure according to claim 17, wherein the contact bump is made of a ball-shaped glass coated with tungsten or another metal. 20. The contact bump is nickel,
Beryllium, aluminum, copper, nickel, cobalt,
18. The contact structure according to claim 17, wherein the contact structure is formed of a hard metal such as an iron alloy or an iron-nickel alloy.