JP2002181886A - Component handler, measuring system for ic, and classification method for ic - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a time required for measurement of an IC. SOLUTION: This handler 7 is provided with a contact part 2 mounted thereon with the measured IC, a defective-storing tray 4 for storing the defective IC, a non-defective storing tray 5 for storing a non-defective IC, a conveying arm 8 for conveying the IC, a memory 11 for storing position information and measured information of the stored IC to be correlated, and a control part 13. The control part 13 reads the measured information and the position information of the IC from the memory 11, to specify the IC corresponding to an input condition and to specify a storage position, the specified IC is conveyed by the arm 8 to be mounted on the contact part 2, and a retest is conducted by a tester 1. The retested IC is classifiedly conveyed to the defective storing tray 4 or the non-defective storing tray 5 by the conveying arm 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handler, an IC measuring system, and an IC sorting method. More specifically, the present invention measures the electrical characteristics of an IC such as a semiconductor memory and sorts the IC into non-defective products and defective products. Handler, IC measurement system,
The present invention relates to a method for sorting ICs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an IC measuring system for measuring electrical characteristics of a manufactured IC, a handler is widely used for transporting and sorting the IC. FIG.
2 shows a schematic plan view of an IC measurement system having a handler.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
A tester 51 for measuring the electrical characteristics of the IC and a handler 57 are provided. The handler 57 includes a cable 56
Connected to the tester 51 via the
Section 5 for making various measurements by electrically contacting
2 are provided. The handler 57 includes an unmeasured tray 53 storing ICs that have not yet been measured,
A non-defective tray 55 for storing non-defective ICs as a result of the measurement,
A defective tray 54 for storing defective ICs is provided.

Using such an IC measurement system, I
In order to separate C from non-defective products and non-defective products, first, the IC is taken out of the unmeasured tray 53 by the transfer arm 58 for transporting the IC, and is transported onto the contact portion 52.
To measure the electrical characteristics of the IC. Next, this measurement information is transmitted from the tester 51 to the interface cable 6.
0 to the handler 57. As a result of the measurement, if the IC is non-defective, the IC measured by the transfer arm 58 is stored in the non-defective tray 55, and if the IC is defective, the IC measured by the transfer arm 58 is stored in the defective tray 54. Store. As a result, the manufactured IC can be separated into a good product and a defective product.

[0005]

However, in such an IC measurement system, only the classification as to whether the IC is a good product or a bad product is performed. It is not known whether an IC with an appropriate measurement value is stored. For this reason, for example, when an IC having a certain range of measured values is required from the ICs stored in the non-defective tray 55, re-measurement is performed for all the ICs stored in the non-defective tray 55, and the measurement is performed again. You have to separate. Therefore, there is a problem that the time required for re-measurement becomes longer.

[0006] In some cases, even if a product is once determined to be defective, the standards and the like are relaxed and it becomes possible to rescue the product as a non-defective product. The re-measurement must be performed and the classification must be performed again, which increases the time required for the re-measurement. As described above, since the re-measurement is required for all the ICs, there is a problem that the time required for the IC measurement becomes longer.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-101344 discloses I
The storage information such as the test (measurement) result of C is stored in the storage information storage means, and the stored information is sent to the dedicated classifier, and the tested IC is classified (separated) by the dedicated classifier according to the test result.
An IC test system is disclosed. According to this IC test system, the handler only carries the IC without classifying the IC, so that the time required for testing the IC can be reduced.

However, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-101344 aims to reduce the time required to sort the measured ICs into predetermined trays, and does not mention remeasurement at all. However, the time required for re-measurement cannot be shortened. Furthermore, since a dedicated classification machine is used to quickly classify tested ICs, IC
The structure of the measurement system becomes complicated.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-318703 discloses a handler in which the conditions and the number of retests are stored in a recording means, and an IC requiring a retest is returned to another IC supply unit based on the conditions. I have. According to this handler, the time for setting the IC to be retested in the test section can be reduced, and the time required for the retest can be shortened. However, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-318703 can be applied only to ICs that need to be re-measured at the measurement stage, and when re-measurement is required after measurement as described above. Cannot be applied to

An object of the present invention is to provide a handler, an IC measurement system, and a method for separating ICs, which can reduce the time required for IC measurement. The present invention also provides a handler, an IC measurement system, and a method for identifying ICs requiring re-measurement, reducing the number of ICs to be re-measured, and reducing the time required for re-measurement of ICs. The aim is to provide a method.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a component handler according to a first aspect of the present invention is a handler that sorts components based on measurement information from a measuring device that measures the characteristics of components. A mounting section on which the component to be measured is mounted, at least two storage sections for storing the measured component, a transport section for transporting the component, position information of the stored component, and the measurement information. And an information storage unit for storing the components in association with each other, reading the measurement information and the position information of the components from the information storage unit, specifying a storage position of the components corresponding to a predetermined condition, and transporting the specified components to the transport unit. Then, the measuring device is re-measured for the component mounted on the mounting portion, and the storage position of the re-measured component is determined according to the measurement information from the measuring device. And
And a control unit that causes the conveyance unit to convey the measured component and stores the measured component at a predetermined position in a predetermined storage unit.

According to this configuration, the components stored in the storage unit are recorded in the information storage unit in such a manner that the position information and the measurement information are associated with each other, and when a predetermined condition relating to the measurement information is input, the control is performed. The unit reads the measurement information and the position information of the component from the information storage unit, and specifies the component that satisfies the condition and the storage position thereof. Then, when this part is conveyed to the mounting part and re-measured, it is stored in a storage position corresponding to the measurement result. Therefore, it is possible to re-measure only the part that satisfies the input condition among the measured parts, and it is possible to shorten the time required for the re-measurement of the part.

[0013] The control unit, for example, after transporting the specified component to a predetermined storage unit, transports the component from the predetermined storage unit and places it on the placement unit. in this case,
The components to be re-measured are temporarily stored in a predetermined storage unit, and the components in the storage unit are re-measured, so that the components can be measured efficiently.

The predetermined condition relating to the measurement information includes, for example, a defective item. In some cases, it is possible to relieve a product determined to be defective by relaxing the standard or the like. In such a case, the target component can be measured again.

The component is, for example, an IC. In this case, a system that combines a measuring device that measures the electrical characteristics of the IC and the above-described handler may be used.

An IC measuring system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a measuring device for measuring an electric characteristic of an IC, and a handler according to any one of claims 1 to 3. And

According to this configuration, it is possible to provide an IC measurement system having the above-described operation of the handler.

[0018] A method for sorting ICs according to a third aspect of the present invention is a method for sorting ICs by measuring electrical characteristics of the ICs and sorting the ICs based on the measurement information. A measuring step of transporting the IC to a predetermined storage unit in accordance with the measurement information and storing the stored position information of the IC in association with the measurement information; A re-measurement step of specifying an IC to be performed based on the measurement information, specifying a storage position thereof, re-measuring the IC, and transporting the re-measured IC to a predetermined storage unit. Features.

According to this configuration, the measured IC is registered with its position information and measurement information associated with each other, and when a predetermined condition is input, the measurement information and the position information of the IC are read. ICs that meet the conditions and their storage positions are specified. When the IC is re-measured, the IC is separately transported to a predetermined storage unit according to the measurement result. Therefore, of the measured ICs, only the ICs that meet the input conditions can be re-measured, and the time required for the re-measurement of the ICs can be reduced.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an IC according to the present embodiment.
It is a schematic plan view which shows a measurement system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the IC measurement system comprises:
Tester 1 as a device for measuring electrical characteristics of IC
And a handler 7. The tester 1 and the handler 7 are electrically connected by an interface cable 10, and measurement information including an IC measurement value measured by the tester 1 is transmitted to the handler 7 via the interface cable 10.

The unmeasured tray 3 is accommodated in the handler 7. The unmeasured tray 3 stores a plurality of unmeasured ICs. A specific serial number is assigned to this unmeasured IC. Further, the handler 7 has at least two storage sections for storing the measured ICs, and in the present embodiment, the defective tray 4 and the non-defective tray 5 are arranged. As a result of the measurement, a plurality of defective ICs are stored in the defective tray 4. The non-defective product tray 5 stores a plurality of non-defective ICs as a result of the measurement. The defective tray 4 and the good tray 5 are provided with identification numbers for identifying the respective trays. In each tray, a number assigned to a storage location in each tray is assigned.

The inside of the handler 7 is provided with a full defective tray storage location 9. Fully defective tray storage location 9
Is a place to store the full defective tray 4 when the defective tray 4 is full of defective ICs.
When the full defective tray 4 is stored in the full defective tray storage location 9, a new defective tray 4 is transported into the handler 7 by a transport unit (not shown).

The handler 7 is provided with a contact portion 2 on which an IC to be measured is placed, and the contact portion 2 is connected to the tester 1 via a cable 6. For this reason, by placing the IC to be measured on the contact portion 2, various electrical characteristics of the IC can be measured by the tester 1.
Is measured by

The handler 7 is provided with a transfer arm 8, an operation panel 12, and a memory 11.

The transfer arm 8 is used for transferring the IC inside the handler 7, and the unmeasured tray 3 and the contact portion 2
And a defective tray 4 or a non-defective tray 5 for transporting ICs. For this reason, the unmeasured IC stored in, for example, the unmeasured tray 3 is conveyed to the contact unit 2 by the transfer arm 8 and the measured IC on the contact unit 2 is measured.
Is stored in the defective tray 4 or the non-defective tray 5 according to the measurement result, and the measured ICs are separately transported.

The operation panel 12 includes a control unit 13 and the input unit 1
4 is provided. The control unit 13 has a function of controlling the movement of the handler 7, particularly the movement of the transfer arm 8. For example, when the measurement information of the measured IC is transmitted from the tester 1 to the operation panel 12 via the interface cable 10, the operation panel 12 stores the measured IC in the defective tray 4 in accordance with the measurement information. Alternatively, an instruction is sent to the transfer arm 8 so as to store it in a predetermined place in the good tray 5. Thus, the operation panel 12 controls the movement of the transfer arm 8.

Each time the measured IC is stored in a predetermined location, the control unit 13 provides position information indicating the position where the individual IC is stored, for example, the serial number assigned to each IC, and each tray. And the storage numbers assigned corresponding to the storage locations in each tray. The control unit 13 stores the position information in the memory 1
Transmit to 1.

The input unit 14 is configured to allow a worker to input conditions for controlling the movement of the handler 7, and the input conditions are transmitted to the control unit 13. As such a condition, when the operator operates the input unit 14,
In addition to a manual operation of moving a predetermined IC to a predetermined position, an operator inputs predetermined conditions relating to measurement information of the IC to the input unit 14 so that the measured IC
The position information of the IC corresponding to the input condition is stored in the memory 11.
, And re-measurement is performed by transporting the corresponding IC to the contact unit 2 and re-measuring, and sorting and transporting the re-measured IC to a predetermined storage unit.

The memory 11 is provided with a management database for managing the measured IC. FIG. 2 shows the contents of the management database. As shown in FIG. 2, the serial number, position information (tray identification number, storage number in the tray), and measurement information of each IC are registered in the management database. Thus, in the memory 11,
The position information of the IC transmitted by the control unit 13 and the measurement information of the IC measured by the tester 1 are registered in association with each other.

Next, a method of separating ICs using the IC measuring system configured as described above will be described. IC
Is a measurement step (method) for measuring the electrical characteristics of an unmeasured IC, and a remeasurement step (method) for remeasuring only the ICs of the measured ICs that meet predetermined conditions relating to measurement information. ) And is included. First, the measurement method will be described. Each operation described below is performed by the control unit 1
3 are executed by the control unit 13 under the control of the control unit 13.

First, an unmeasured tray 3 in which a plurality of unmeasured ICs are stored in the handler 7 is carried by a carrying means (not shown). Next, the transport arm 8 is moved to transport one unmeasured IC in the unmeasured tray 3 and place it on the contact portion 2. Subsequently, the tester 1 measures the electrical characteristics of the IC mounted on the contact section 2. When the electrical characteristics of the IC are measured, the transfer arm 8 transfers the measured IC to the defective tray 4 according to the measurement result.
, Or to a predetermined place in the non-defective tray 5.

When the electrical characteristics of the IC are measured, the measurement information is transmitted from the tester 1 to the control unit 13 of the operation panel 12 via the interface cable 10. The control unit 13 sends an instruction to the transfer arm 8 to store the measured IC in a predetermined place in the defective tray 4 or the non-defective product tray 5 in accordance with the result of the measurement. And this IC
Then, the serial number, the identification number of the tray to be stored, the storage number, and the measurement information of the IC are registered in association with each other.
As a result, the management database of the memory 11 has the position information indicating that the IC assigned the specific serial number is stored at the position assigned the specific number in the tray assigned the specific identification number. , And measurement information indicating that a specific measurement value is provided.

Then, the same operation is carried out by transporting the next unmeasured IC in the unmeasured tray 3 by one sheet, and all the unmeasured ICs in the unmeasured tray 3 are stored in the defective tray 4 or the good product tray 5. Until it is separated and transported. Thus, all unmeasured ICs are measured, and the measured ICs are separately transported.

Next, the re-measurement method will be described. In the present embodiment, for example, due to the relaxation of the standard, non-defective I / Os are included in the ICs stored in the defective tray 4.
In the case where C is mixed, a case where an IC satisfying a predetermined condition to be a non-defective product is transported to a predetermined tray (re-measurement tray), and the electrical characteristics of the IC in the re-measurement tray are measured and separately transported for confirmation. An example is described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the re-measurement method.

First, the operator inputs predetermined conditions relating to IC measurement information to the input section 14 of the operation panel 12 (step S1). When a predetermined condition is input, the control unit 13 specifies an IC that satisfies the condition from the management database of the memory 11 (Step S2). Next, the control unit 13 reads the position information of the specified IC (Step S3), and sends an instruction to the transfer arm 8 to store the specified IC in the re-measurement tray. Transfer arm 8
Transports the specified IC into the re-measurement tray as instructed by the control unit 13 (step S4).

Next, the IC in the re-measurement tray is measured and separated and transported according to the above-described measuring method. First, the transport arm 8 is moved to transport one IC in the re-measurement tray, and is mounted on the contact portion 2. Subsequently, the electrical characteristics of the IC mounted on the contact section 2 are measured by the tester 1 (step S5). When the electrical characteristics of the IC are measured, the transport arm 8 separates and transports the measured IC to a predetermined location in the defective tray 4 or the non-defective tray 5 according to the measurement result (step S6). here,
Similarly to the above-described measurement method, the serial number of the re-measured IC, the identification number of the tray to be stored, the storage number, and the re-measured measurement information of the IC are registered in the management database of the memory 11 in association with each other. You.

Next, it is determined whether an IC remains in the re-measurement tray (step S7). IC in remeasurement tray
Is determined to remain (step S7: YES)
In step S5, the process returns to step S5 to measure the electrical characteristics of the next IC, and performs sorted transport according to the measurement result. When it is determined that no IC remains in the re-measurement tray (step S
7: NO), this re-measurement is terminated.

As described above, according to the re-measurement method of the present embodiment, the measured I
Since the measurement information and the position information of C are registered, the IC can be relieved because the standard is relaxed.
Can be specified, and only the specified IC can be remeasured, which eliminates the need to remeasure all the ICs in the defective tray 4. Therefore, the time required for re-measurement of the IC can be shortened. Specifically, 4 in the defective tray 4
If 100 ICs are stored and 100 ICs can be rescued by relaxing the standard, if it takes 5 seconds to measure one IC, the time required for re-measurement of the IC is reduced from 2000 seconds to 500 seconds. Can be shortened.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the re-measurement method can utilize IC measurement information and position information registered in the management database at the time of re-measurement. It is sufficient if only the ICs having a certain range of measured values from the ICs stored in the non-defective tray 5 are re-measured.

In the re-measurement method, an IC corresponding to a predetermined condition may not be stored in the re-measurement tray, but may be directly placed on the contact portion 2 to re-measure the IC.

In the re-measurement method, ICs stored in the re-measurement tray are not re-measured, and the data which can be rescued due to the relaxed standard is determined by the data judgment of the management database of the memory 11. May be different.

A memory card may be mounted on the defective tray 4 and data of each IC may be registered in the memory card. In this case, it is possible to use another handler 7 to specify an IC that can be rescued because the standard has been relaxed.

The management database of the memory 11 may be stored in a storage medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk. In this case, a management database can be used for the other handlers 7.

A plurality of transfer arms 8 may be arranged in the handler 7. In this case, the IC can be efficiently transported. For example, two transfer arms 8 are arranged in the handler 7, one for transfer between the unmeasured tray 3 and the contact part 2, and the other one for the contact part 2 and the non-defective tray 5.
Alternatively, it can be used for transportation to and from the defective tray 4.

The interface cable 10 may be configured to enable two-way communication. In this case, the amount of data transferred from the tester can be increased. Further, the tester 1 can be controlled by the handler 7.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The time required for IC measurement can be shortened. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to specify only the ICs requiring re-measurement, reduce the number of ICs to be re-measured, and shorten the time required for re-measurement of ICs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an IC measurement system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing contents of a management database according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a re-measurement method according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional IC measurement system.

[Explanation of Signs] 1 Tester 2 Contact section 3 Unmeasured tray 4 Defective tray 5 Good tray 6 Cable 7 Handler 8 Transfer arm 9 Fully defective tray storage location 10 Interface cable 11 Memory 12 Operation panel 13 Control section 14 Input section

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A handler for separating components based on measurement information from a measuring device for measuring characteristics of the components, wherein a mounting portion on which a component to be measured is mounted and a measured component are stored. At least two storage units, a transport unit for transporting the components, an information storage unit for storing the stored location information of the components in association with the measurement information, and storing the measurement information and the location information of the components from the information storage unit. Read, specify the storage location of the parts that meet the predetermined conditions,
The specified component is transported to the transport unit and placed on the placement unit, and the measurement device is re-measured for the component placed on the placement unit, according to the measurement information from the measurement device. A controller configured to determine a storage position of the re-measured component, transport the measured component to the transport unit, and store the measured component at a predetermined position in a predetermined storage unit. 2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, after transporting the specified component to a predetermined storage unit, the control unit transports the component from the predetermined storage unit and places the component on the placement unit. The component handler according to claim 1, wherein 3. The component handler according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is a defective item of a component. 4. An IC measuring system comprising: a measuring device for measuring an electrical characteristic of an IC as a component; and the handler according to claim 1. 5. An IC separation method for measuring an electrical characteristic of an IC and separating the IC based on the measurement information, wherein the measured IC is transported to a predetermined storage unit according to the measurement information. A measuring step of storing the stored position information of the IC and the measurement information in association with each other, and when a predetermined condition is input, an I corresponding to the predetermined condition
C is specified based on the measurement information, the storage position is specified, and the IC is re-measured.
Re-measurement step of transporting C to a predetermined storage unit.
A method for separating ICs, comprising: