JP2002082129A - Contact probe and probe device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable taking more pattern wiring on a film, while enabling effective utilization of mechanically carried areas. SOLUTION: An electrode 21b, to be disposed on the opposite side of a contact pin 21a, is arranged in a zigzag with pattern wires 21 of a contact probe 20. The pattern wires 21 arranged for the contact probe 20 are made almost to be mutually in parallel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact which is incorporated in a printed circuit board and is used for performing an electrical test by contacting each terminal of a member to be inspected such as a semiconductor IC chip, an LSI chip and a liquid crystal device. The present invention relates to a probe and a probe device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a contact probe provided with contact pins is used for mechanically testing a semiconductor chip such as an IC chip or an LSI chip or a member to be inspected such as an LCD (liquid crystal display). A probe device mounted on a printed circuit board is used. For example, in a contact probe 1 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 as a prior art, a pattern wiring 2 made of, for example, a Ni alloy or the like is arranged, and a film 4 is adhered thereon via an adhesive layer 3. A resin film layer 5 made of, for example, a polyimide resin or the like and a metal film layer 6 made of, for example, Cu serving as a ground are laminated. The tips of the pattern wirings 2 are arranged substantially in parallel at a narrow pitch and protrude from the tips of the metal film layer 6 and the resin film layer 5, and each constitute a contact pin 2a. As shown in FIG. 11, the film 4 has a substantially home base shape in plan view, and has a tip 1a from which a contact pin 2a protrudes from a tip of a narrow portion having a gradually decreasing width, and an end opposite to the tip 1a. And a base portion 1b formed with the maximum width. A substantially rectangular window 7 extending in a direction intersecting with the pattern wiring 2 is formed in the base 1b. In the window 7, each wiring lead portion 2b of the pattern wiring 2 is connected to an electrode of a printed circuit board described later.

[0003] Such a contact probe 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 14, the probe device 10 is incorporated into the mechanical parts 9 together with the printed circuit board 8, and the terminals of a member to be inspected such as a semiconductor IC chip or an LCD are brought into contact with the contact pins 2a. That is,
In the probe device 10 shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, for example, a top clamp 12 is mounted on a printed circuit board 8 having a substantially disk shape and having a central window 8a, and the contact probe 1 is attached to the lower surface thereof with a double-sided tape or the like. The mounted mounting base 13 is fixed to the top clamp 12 with bolts or the like. Then, the base 1 b of the contact probe 1 is pressed by the bottom clamp 15 having a substantially frame shape, and the base 1 b is pressed against the lower surface of the printed circuit board 8 by the elastic body 16 of the bottom clamp 15 and fixed. In this state, the tip portion 1a of the contact probe 1 is held in a downwardly inclined state in FIG. As a result, the wiring lead portion 2b of the pattern wiring 2 is pressed through the window portion 7 against the substrate-side electrode 8b on the lower surface of the printed circuit board 8 and is kept in contact. In such a state, a terminal 18a such as a pad or a bump of a member to be inspected such as the semiconductor IC chip 18 is pressed into contact with the contact pin 2a to perform an electrical test.

[0004]

By the way, in such a contact probe 1, the board side electrodes 8b are arranged in a line around the central window 8a on the lower surface of the printed board 8. Here, the pitch between the substrate-side electrodes is such a wide pitch that the respective substrate-side electrodes 8b do not come into contact with each other, and the corresponding pitch between the pattern wirings 2 on the base 1b side is a narrow pitch between the pattern wirings 2 at the tip 1a. It spreads out compared to the pitch. From this, the shape of the contact probe 1 itself is substantially a home base shape,
Since the width of the base 1b of the contact probe 1 is wider than the width of the tip 1a, the occupied area is large, and the mechanical mounting area cannot be used effectively. Furthermore, since the number of electrodes 8b on the printed circuit board 8 is limited, the number of pattern wirings 2 provided on the base 1b is also limited, and it is difficult to increase the number of contact pins 2a. Furthermore, since the area of the contact probe 1 itself is large, the number of pieces to be made per material panel is small. Further, since the contact probe 1 is not of a simple shape, there is a problem that the design becomes complicated.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a contact probe and a probe device which can provide a large number of pattern wirings on a film and can effectively utilize a mechanical mounting area. And

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following constitution. That is, the contact probe according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pattern wirings are formed on a film, and each of the pattern wirings has a contact pin at an end of the film. The electrodes connected to the printed circuit board provided on the opposite side are arranged in a zigzag pattern. With such a configuration, the number of pattern wirings provided on the film is not limited by the minimum pitch between the board-side electrodes when the board-side electrodes of the printed board are arranged in a line, The number of contact pins can be easily increased, and the mechanical mounting area can be effectively used. Further, since the area of the contact probe itself is reduced, a panel made of a material can be effectively used.

[0007] The contact probe according to claim 2 is
The pattern wiring on the film was configured to be substantially parallel. With this configuration,
Since the contact probe has a substantially rectangular and simple shape, it is easier to design and occupies less space than a conventional contact probe.

[0008] A probe device according to a third aspect includes the contact probe according to the first or second aspect,
Further, in accordance with the staggered electrodes of the contact probe, the printed circuit board has electrodes similarly staggered and has a printed circuit board to which the contact probe can be connected. With such a configuration, the number of electrodes that can be arranged on a printed circuit board can be significantly increased, and further, the number of contact pins can be increased.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the contact probe according to the third aspect, a tip portion of the contact probe is disposed substantially perpendicular to a contact surface of the object to be measured. . With such a configuration, the mechanical mounting area can be more effectively used, and interference between the contact probe and other components can be avoided.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a contact probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the contact probe shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a contact probe 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention has a structure in which a pattern wiring 21 formed of a metal such as Ni or a Ni alloy is attached to one surface of a film 22. The leading end of the pattern wiring 21 at the leading end of the film 22 is a contact pin 21a. As described later, the film 22 is a two-layer tape in which a metal film is integrally provided on a polyimide resin. The contact probe 20 has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view as shown in FIG.
It has a tip 20a provided with a contact pin 21a and a base 20b formed on the opposite side of the tip 20a. The pattern wirings 21 are arranged substantially parallel to the base 20b while maintaining a narrow pitch between the contact pins 21a provided at the tip 20a, and the electrodes 21b are staggered at opposite ends of the contact pins 21a. It is arranged in. Here, the electrodes 21b arranged in a zigzag pattern on the base 20b in the contact probe according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described. When the electrode 21h, which is one of the electrodes 21b disposed at the end of the pattern wiring 21 having the shortest length among the pattern wirings 21, is used as a reference, the pattern wiring 21 disposed next to the electrode 21h is used.
Is longer by a distance d than the pattern wiring 21 on which the electrode 21h is arranged, and the electrode 21i is shifted in the base direction by a distance d from the electrode 21h. Further, the electrode 21j disposed next to the electrode 21j is also displaced from the electrode 21i by a constant distance d in the base direction, and the electrode 21k is disposed similarly. As described above, the electrodes 21h to 21k are sequentially arranged at a constant distance d with a distance therebetween. When the electrodes 21h to 21k are considered as one pattern, the electrode 21l
Set of pattern wiring from the electrode 21o to the electrode 21o and the electrode 21
This pattern is applied to one set of pattern wiring from p to the electrode 21s, and is repeated.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the steps of manufacturing the contact probe 20 will be described in the order of steps.

[Base Metal Layer Forming Step] First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a base metal layer 42 is formed on a supporting metal plate 41 made of stainless steel by Cu (copper) plating. This base metal layer 42 is formed on the upper surface of the supporting metal plate 41 with a uniform thickness. [Pattern Forming Step] Next, a photoresist layer (mask) 43 having a thickness of about 16 to 100 μm is formed on the base metal layer 42, and then photolithography is performed as shown in FIG. The photoresist layer 43 is exposed to light by applying a photomask 44 having a predetermined pattern by a technique, and as shown in FIG. 3C, the photoresist layer 43 is developed to remove a portion to be the pattern wiring 21. An opening 43a is formed in the remaining photoresist layer 43. In addition,
The width of the opening 43a is, for example, about 50 μm. Further, in the present embodiment, the photoresist layer 43 is formed of a negative photoresist, but a desired opening 43a may be formed using a positive photoresist. Further, the present invention is not limited to the one in which the opening 43a is formed through the exposure and development processes using the photomask 44. For example, a film or the like in which a hole is formed in advance in a portion to be plated (that is, the film is formed in advance in a state indicated by reference numeral 43 in FIG. 3C) may be used.

[Electroplating Step] Then, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
After the Ni or Ni alloy layer N to be 1 is formed by plating, the photoresist layer 43 is removed as shown in FIG.

[Step of Depositing Metal Layer and Film]
As shown in FIG. 3F, the film 22 is bonded on the Ni or Ni alloy layer N with the adhesive 3. This film 22 is a two-layer tape in which a metal film (copper foil) 6 is provided integrally with a polyimide resin 5.
A ground plane is formed before the film attaching step. In this film attaching step, the polyimide resin 5 of the two-layer tape is applied to the Ni or Ni through the adhesive 3.
It is deposited on the alloy layer N. Note that the metal film 6 may be made of Ni, a Ni alloy, or the like instead of the copper foil.

[Separation Step] Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (g), after the portion consisting of the film 22, the pattern wiring 21, and the base metal layer 42 is separated from the supporting metal plate 41, Cu etching is performed. Then, only the pattern wiring 21 is adhered to the film 22. Through the steps described above, the contact probe 20 in which the pattern wiring 21 is adhered to the film 22 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is manufactured.

Next, the probe device according to the present embodiment will be described. 4 is a perspective view of a printed circuit board according to the present embodiment, FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing a probe device according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a main part in a state where an electrode of a contact probe and an electrode of a printed circuit board are in contact with each other according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the printed circuit board 30 incorporated in the probe device 40 according to the present embodiment has a substantially disk shape and has a substantially square central window portion 32. And on the upper surface of the printed circuit board 30,
The substrate-side electrodes 31 are arranged in a zigzag pattern near each of the four sides of the central window 32. Here, the substrate-side electrodes 31 are arranged in a staggered manner corresponding to the electrodes 21 b of the contact probe 20. That is, when the contact probe 20 is mounted on the printed circuit board 30, the contact probe 2
The board-side electrode 31h is arranged where the zero electrode 21h contacts the upper surface of the printed circuit board 30, and the board-side electrode 31i is arranged where the electrode 21i contacts the upper surface of the printed circuit board 30. And electrode 21b (electrode 2
1h, the electrodes 21i,...) Are in contact with the upper surface of the printed circuit board 30.
The substrate-side electrodes 31i are arranged. With such a configuration, the electrode 21 b of the contact probe 20 can be connected to the board-side electrode 31 of the printed board 30. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,
Each of the electrodes 21b (electrodes 21h, 21i,...) On the front side of the contact probe 20
0 substrate-side electrode 31 (substrate-side electrode 31h, substrate-side electrode 3
1i,...) And connected to each of the curved portions 2
3, the contact pins 21a are arranged so as to be in contact with the pads 18a of the IC chip 18 to be inspected. The tip 20a of the contact probe 20 is disposed substantially perpendicular to the contact surface of the pad 18a to be measured. Here, when the contact probe 20 is incorporated into the printed board 30, the pattern wiring 21 and the board-side electrode 31 of the printed board 30 are connected in a state as shown in FIG. Each of the substrate-side electrodes 31 has a narrow pitch (pitch a between substrate-side electrodes) overlapping in the arrangement direction x, but does not contact each other because it is shifted by a distance d in a direction y orthogonal to the arrangement direction x. When the contact probe 20 is incorporated into the printed circuit board 30 by adjusting the pitch a between the substrate-side electrodes so that the pattern wiring 21 that makes conductive contact with the substrate 31 does not contact the adjacent substrate-side electrode 31, the pattern wiring 21
It is arranged such that a slight gap is left between the substrate side electrode 31. Although the mechanical parts are omitted from the probe device in FIGS. 5 and 6, the contact probe 20 is connected to the printed circuit board 3 via the mechanical parts.
0 may be attached.

In the present embodiment as described above, as shown in FIG. 7, the board-side electrodes 31 (board-side electrodes 31h,..., Board-side electrodes 31s) of the printed board 30 are connected to the electrodes 21b of the contact probe 20 described above. (Electrode 21h,..., Electrode 21s), similarly arranged in a staggered manner, so that the pitch a between the board-side electrodes is reduced to such an extent that the pattern wiring 21 does not contact the board-side electrodes 31. Can be. Thereby, more substrate-side electrodes 31 can be arranged than the conventional arrangement of the substrate-side electrodes arranged in a straight line. As a result, a large number of pattern wirings 21 are provided on the contact probe 20, which leads to an increase in the number of contact pins. Further, the pattern wirings 21 of the contact probe 20 are arranged substantially parallel to the base 20b while maintaining the narrow pitch of the distal end 20a substantially, and the width of the base 20b is smaller than that of the conventional contact probe 1. Therefore, the area of the contact probe 20 itself can be reduced, and when the contact probe 20 is incorporated into mechanical parts to form the probe device 40, the mechanical mounting area can be effectively used, and interference with multiple parts can be avoided. . Furthermore, contact probe 2
Since the area of the panel 0 itself is small, the number of panels that can be used as a material is increased and the productivity is improved. Further, since the contact probe 20 has a simple and substantially rectangular shape, the design becomes easy. In the present embodiment, the pattern wirings 21 provided on the contact probe 20 are arranged so as to be substantially parallel to each other. However, the pitch between the pattern wirings 21 near the base 20b may be slightly widened. .

FIG. 8 shows a first modification of the contact probe according to the present embodiment. A substantially rectangular window 24 is opened at a place where the electrode 21b of the contact probe 20 is located on the film 22. Here, the electrode 2 of the pattern wiring 21 is elastically formed through the window 24.
The portion 1b is pressed against the substrate-side electrode 31 of the printed circuit board 30, or the substrate-side electrode 31 is formed into a protruding shape smaller than the window portion 24, and the protruding substrate-side electrode 31 is brought into contact with the electrode 21b through the window portion 24. Can be With such a configuration, the electrode 21b of the pattern wiring 21 is formed.
Only the upper surface of the printed circuit board 30 comes into contact with the upper surface of the printed circuit board 30, so that it is possible to prevent the pattern wiring 21 from contacting the electrode 31 of the printed circuit board 30 and causing a short circuit.

FIG. 9 shows a second modification of the contact probe according to the present embodiment. An insulating resin film layer 25 made of polyimide resin or the like is provided on the surface of the contact probe 20 where the pattern wiring 21 is exposed.
However, it is affixed in a stepwise pattern so that only the electrode 21b is exposed on the side opposite to the film 22. Contact probe 20 configured as above
However, the portions of the pattern wiring 21 other than the electrodes 21 are protected by the insulating resin film 25, so that it is possible to prevent the pattern wiring 21 from contacting the electrodes 31 of the printed circuit board 30 and causing a short circuit.

FIG. 10 schematically shows a modification of the probe device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Printed circuit board 3
A support 33 is formed on the support, and a substrate 34 is formed on the support. The substrate-side electrodes 31 are arranged in a zigzag pattern on the upper surface of each substrate 34. Each of the electrodes 21b on the front side of the contact probe 20 is fixed so as to exactly overlap with each of the substrate-side electrodes 31 of the substrate 34.
Next, the contact probe 20 is elastically deformed by about 90 ° at the curved portion 26, and the contact pin 21a is arranged so as to contact the chip 18a to be inspected. At this time, the tip portion 20a of the contact probe 20 is disposed substantially perpendicular to the contact surface of the chip 18a to be measured. With such a configuration, a large use space can be taken on the surface of the printed circuit board 30, and the mechanical mounting area can be effectively used. In addition, bending section 2
6 requires only about 90 ° of elastic deformation, so that the load on the contact probe 20 is small.

In this embodiment, the contact pins 21a
Has been described with respect to the probe device arranged substantially perpendicular to the contact surface of the object to be measured. However, the contact probe 20 of the present embodiment has a contact pin 21a may be used for a contact obliquely.

In the above embodiment, the IC chip is used as a member to be inspected. However, the present invention is not limited to this. An LCD (liquid crystal display) or the like may be used as a member to be inspected. The present invention is also applicable to a contact probe cut out as a probe and a probe device for LCD.

[0024]

According to the contact probe of the present invention, the electrodes provided on the opposite side of the contact pins of the pattern wiring are arranged in a staggered manner, so that the number of contact pins is increased. Therefore, the mechanical mounting area can be effectively used. further,
Since the area of the contact probe itself is reduced, a panel as a material can be effectively used, which leads to an improvement in productivity.

According to the contact probe of the present invention, the pattern wiring on the film is substantially in parallel with each other, and the contact probe has a substantially rectangular and simple shape. It is easier to design and occupies less space.

According to the probe device of the third aspect,
The contact probe according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a staggered electrode corresponding to the staggered electrode of the contact probe, wherein the contact probe has With a configuration having a printed board to which a plurality of probes can be connected, the number of electrodes that can be arranged on the printed board can be significantly increased, and further, the number of contact pins can be increased.

According to the probe device of the fourth aspect,
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the probe device, the tip of the contact probe is disposed substantially perpendicular to the contact surface of the measurement object. With such a configuration, the mechanical mounting area can be more effectively used, and interference between the contact probe and other components can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a contact probe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the contact probe shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a method of manufacturing the contact probe according to the embodiment of the present invention in the order of steps;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a printed circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing a probe device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of a contact probe and a printed circuit board according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a first modification of the contact probe according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a second modification of the contact probe according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view schematically showing a modification of the probe device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a contact probe according to the prior art.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the contact probe AA shown in FIG. 11;
It is a line sectional view.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a probe device to which a contact probe is attached.

FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the probe device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Contact probe 20a Tip part 20b Base 21 Pattern wiring 21a Contact pin 21b Electrode 22 Film 30 Printed board 31 Board side electrode 32 Central window part 40 Probe device a Board side electrode pitch

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2G003 AA07 AG03 AH00 2G011 AA02 AA15 AB06 AB08 AC21 AE03 AE22 AF07 4M106 AA01 BA01 DD10 DD11

Claims (4)

[Claims] An electrode provided on a side opposite to a contact pin of the pattern wiring in a contact probe in which a plurality of pattern wirings are formed on a film and each end of the pattern wiring is a contact pin at an end of the film. Are arranged in a zigzag pattern. 2. The contact probe according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pattern wirings are arranged substantially in parallel. 3. A probe device in which a plurality of pattern wirings of a contact probe are connected to a substrate-side electrode of a printed circuit board, wherein the contact probe is the contact probe according to claim 1 or 2, A probe device, wherein electrodes of wiring are connected to the substrate-side electrodes arranged in a staggered pattern. 4. The probe device according to claim 3, wherein a tip portion of the contact probe is disposed substantially perpendicular to a contact surface of the object to be measured.