JP2002005962A - Probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a probe card reducing a slide amount while securing an even needle pressure and having probes capable of complying with a fine pitch. SOLUTION: The extension bases of the respective probes 10 are arranged regularly in four layers (Lay-1-Lay-4). This is a generally known technique used when a contact area pitch is smaller than a probe wire material diameter (base material diameter). Each probe 10 is provided with a bend part 11 matching the extension from each layer, and a probe tip 12 is brought into contact with each contact area (a pad, a bump, or the like) of an object. An extension part ranging to the bend part 11 of each probe 10 is covered with an insulative coating resin member 13 so as to be fixed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a probe card structure for measuring electrical characteristics by mechanically bringing a probe into contact with an electrode portion of an LSI chip in a wafer state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A probe card is used for testing each chip area in a wafer state before an assembling process of LSI manufacturing. The probe card has a probe to be brought into contact with the electrode portion (the upper surface of an Al pad, an Au bump, a solder bump, or the like) of the chip to be measured. A test signal or a test pattern is input from the probe to the chip to be measured.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a probe structure of a conventional probe card. The tip of the probe (also referred to as a probe pin, needle or cantilever) NDL has a bending angle larger than 90 ° toward a terminal electrode portion (pad, bump, etc.) in a chip area to be measured (not shown). This bending angle contributes to preventing the needle itself from being caught and broken by the needle pressure.

The above-described probe NDL has an electrode portion (Al
The pad, the Au bump, and the upper surface of the solder bump) were contacted with deflection and slide. According to this contact method, there is an advantage that the oxide film particularly on the Al pad can be removed during sliding. Other, Au,
The above structure was used to make contact with products with solder bumps.

[0005]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention FIGS. 6A and 6B
FIGS. 6A and 6B are plan views showing traces of the probe when the tip of the probe of the conventional probe card in FIG. Here, the electrode part is A
The bump region BMP is made of u.

As described above, the probe (not shown here)
With deflection and slides. Thereby, contact with the bump surface is achieved with a suitable pressure. However, when the slide amount is large, Au dust (not shown) scraped off at the tip of the probe increases, and remains on the bump surface as foreign matter. Thereby, the contact resistance of the contact portion tends to increase. As a result, stable electrical measurement becomes difficult.

[0007] Further, if measures are taken to reduce the pitch of the probe or to extend the probe into a plurality of layers in order to cope with the fine bump area BMP, the slide amount tends to vary. As a result, there is a risk that the tip of the probe may fall off the upper surface of the bump. In addition, excessive needle pressure may be applied to the probe in order to cope with the contact pressure variation. As a result, falling off from the upper surface of the bump or depression is induced, and the appearance quality is remarkably reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a probe card having a probe capable of coping with a fine pitch while reducing a slide amount and ensuring a uniform needle pressure. Is what you do.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a probe card for transmitting and receiving a signal to and from an object to be measured by each corresponding probe. A probe tip for contacting each contact area of the object to be measured through the bent portion, and an insulating member for fixing an extended portion of each probe until reaching the bent portion. Features.

According to the probe card of the present invention, the arrangement of the probes is fixed collectively by the insulating member for fixing the extended portion of each probe. Such a configuration contributes to ensuring uniform needle pressure without variation and reducing the slide amount even when a force is applied in the direction of contact with the contact area of the measured object.

[0011] In the probe card according to the present invention, each probe is characterized in that the extension source is arranged in a multilayer structure. According to this configuration, the fixing by the insulating member is performed with respect to the probe structure whose elongation is not uniform. This contributes to securing uniform needle pressure without variation, reducing the amount of slide, and preventing short circuit between adjacent members.

Further, in the probe card according to the present invention, the insulating member has a configuration in which each probe is fitted into a positioning groove. According to this configuration, the extension direction of each probe is easily controlled in the fixing by the insulating member. It contributes to the prevention of short circuit between adjacent parts.

Further, in the probe card according to the present invention, the bent portion includes a bent portion for applying pressure to a contact area of the object to be measured. According to this configuration, in order to contribute to achieving more uniform contact with the contact area of the measured object, the flexure is provided in the vicinity of the tip of each probe that has been fixed by the insulating member.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (c) are schematic views each showing a main part of a probe of a probe card according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A side view showing a part of the arrayed probes, (b) shows an upper view of the configuration of (a), and (c) shows a front view of the tip of the probe having the configuration of (a).

Each probe 10 has an extension source of four layers (Lay-1).
To 4) are regularly arranged. This is a generally known device when the pitch of the contact region is smaller than the probe wire diameter (base metal diameter). Each probe 10 is connected to each layer (Lay-1).
4) the probe tip 1 having a bent portion 11 corresponding to the extension from
2 comes in contact with each contact area (pad, bump, etc.) of the measured object. In this embodiment,
The extended portion of each probe 10 up to the bent portion 11 is covered and fixed by an insulating coating resin member 13.

According to the configuration of the first embodiment, the extension source is divided into multiple layers, and the resin coating is fixed to the probe structure whose extension is not uniform. That is, the bending portion 1
Fixing by the coating resin member 13 extends to a position close to 1. This eliminates the concerns of height variations, displacements, and shorts between adjacent probes in measurement.

In this embodiment, the extended portions of the probe 10 serving as the flexure are fixed together by the coating resin member 13. As a result, the deflection is distributed to the entire probe group. Therefore, it is possible to achieve uniform needle pressure without variation. Further, it is expected that not only the sliding at the tip of the probe is reduced, but also the wear proceeds uniformly. Therefore, a stable probing test can be performed on various IC products. The electrical characteristics of each product can be improved. In addition, since the displacement of the tip of the probe due to the slide is reduced, it contributes to the improvement of the appearance quality of Au bumps, solder bumps and the like.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a main part of a probe of a probe card according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Also in this embodiment, a part of the probe in a multilayer arrangement is shown. Each probe 20 is regularly arranged in four layers (Lay-1 to Layer-4). Each probe 20 is shown by a simple bold line for convenience, but actually the probe wire diameter (base metal diameter).
The configuration is such that the pitch of the contact area is smaller.

Each probe 20 has a bent portion 21 corresponding to the elongation from each of the above-mentioned layers, and the tip 22 of the probe is substantially perpendicularly contacted with each bump area BMP to be measured.
In this embodiment, the bent portion 21 is configured in a stepped shape so as to include a bent portion. The extended portion of each probe 20 up to the bent portion 21 is positioned and fixed by a block BLK for each layer made of a non-conductive material.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a block BLK to which the extended portions of the respective probes 20 of FIG. 2 are fixed. Block B corresponding to the layer arrangement from which each probe 20 extends.
LK-1 to BLK-4 are configured. Block BL
Each of K-1 to K-4 is made of, for example, a resin member, and has a fitting portion 31 for positioning the block lamination and a groove 32 for leading each probe 20 to an appropriate position. Each probe 20 corresponding to each of the grooves 32 is fitted and positioned.

According to the configuration of the second embodiment, the first
The same effects as in the embodiment can be obtained. That is, the extension source is divided into multiple layers, and positioning and fixing are performed by the blocks BLK (BLK-1 to 4) with respect to the probe structure in which the extension is not uniform. The positioning and fixing extend to a position near the bent portion 21. This eliminates the concerns of height variations, displacements, and shorts between adjacent probes in measurement.

In this embodiment, the bent portion 21 is formed in a stepped shape so as to include a bent portion. As a result, it is possible to achieve a soft and uniform needle pressure at the beginning of contact due to deflection. Furthermore, since the tip of the probe comes into contact with each bump area BMP from a substantially vertical direction, the sliding of the tip of the probe is greatly reduced. The function of positioning and fixing by the blocks BLK (BLK-1 to 4) is also added, and it is expected that the wear of the tip of the probe proceeds uniformly. Therefore, a stable probing test can be performed on various IC products. The electrical characteristics of each product can be improved. Further, since the displacement of the tip of the probe due to the slide is greatly reduced, it contributes to the improvement of the appearance quality of Au bumps, solder bumps and the like.

Incidentally, even in the configuration as shown in FIG.
Instead of the positioning and fixing by the blocks BLK (BLK-1 to BLK-4), the form of the coating resin fixing shown in FIG. 1 may be employed.

Further, as in the above embodiments, even if the arrangement of the probe is not a multilayer structure but a general single-layer structure, the extended portion up to the bent portion of the probe is coated with a coating resin or a glue block. It may be fixed. This eliminates the risk of height variations and displacement of the probe alone in measurement. In addition, the configuration of the bent portion of the probe is not limited to those of the above-described first and second embodiments, and various configurations are possible.

FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (f) are external views showing modified examples of the shape near the tip of the probe which is led out to the connection object after fixing the insulating member according to the present invention. Each of the probes NDL is schematically shown by a simple bold line for convenience, and details are omitted.

That is, the probe NDL is, for example, a type in which the tip of the probe makes contact with the bump area BMP substantially vertically ((a), (b)). Types ((c) and (d)), and types ((e) and (f)) in which the tip of the probe approaches and contacts with a low angle (for example, within 30 degrees).

The shape of the bent portion protruding from the insulating member is not limited to the above. In order to include more effective flexures and to achieve more uniform contact, it is also possible to devise measures such as further increasing the number of steps and steps.

According to each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention is effective for a probe structure which is compatible with a fine pitch, in particular, the extension source is divided into multiple layers and the extension is not uniform. That is, the resin coating or positioning and fixing of the entire probe extends to a position near the bent portion of the probe. The configuration of such an insulating member is not limited since it can be considered in other ways. This eliminates the concerns of height variations, displacements, and shorts between adjacent probes in measurement.

Further, it is possible to secure a uniform needle pressure without variation, and to reduce the sliding of the tip of the probe.
It can be expected that the wear of each probe will also proceed uniformly. Therefore, a stable probing test can be performed on various IC products. The electrical characteristics of each product can be improved. In addition, since the displacement of the tip of the probe due to the slide is reduced, it contributes to the improvement of the appearance quality of Au bumps, solder bumps and the like.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the arrangement of the probes is fixed collectively by various insulating members for fixing the extended portions of the probes. As a result, it is possible to provide a highly reliable probe card having a reduced amount of slide, a uniform stylus pressure, a probe capable of handling a fine pitch, and a stable characteristic test.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (c) are schematic views each showing a configuration of a main part of a probe of a probe card according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Side view showing a part, (b) is an upper appearance of the configuration of (a), (c) is
3A shows the appearance of the front end of the probe tip having the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a main part of a probe of a probe card according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a block BLK to which an extended portion of each probe 20 of FIG. 2 is fixed.

FIGS. 4A to 4F are external views showing modified examples of the shape near the tip of the probe derived from the fixing of the insulating member according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a probe structure of a conventional probe card.

6 (a) and 6 (b) are plan views each showing a needle trace when the tip of the probe of the conventional probe card in FIG. 5 comes into contact with an electrode portion in a chip area to be measured.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20, NDL: Probe 11, 21, Bending portion 12, 22, Probe tip 13: Coating resin member 31, Fitting portion 32: Groove BLK (BLK-1 to 4): Block (non-conductive material) BMP … Bump area

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A probe card for transmitting / receiving a signal to / from an object to be measured by each corresponding probe, wherein each of the probes has a bent portion that changes its extending direction; A probe card, comprising: a tip of each probe for making contact with each of the contact regions; and an insulating member for fixing an extended portion of each of the probes to the bent portion. 2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein each of the probes has a multi-layer structure at the extension source. 3. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the insulating member has a configuration in which the probes are fitted into positioning grooves. 4. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the bending portion includes a bending portion for applying pressure to a contact area of the object to be measured.