JP2002184819A - Wafer-testing device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the operating efficiency of a tester from decreasing and to prevent the wafer map of the measuring device of a semiconductor wafer from deviating even in a wafer without any target patterns in wafer-testing device and method. SOLUTION: A reference pellet marking prober 1 is provided independently of the wafer-testing device, a reference pellet that becomes the position reference of each pellet is arranged at the wafer by a reference pellet marking prober 1, and the position coordinates of each pellet are successively set in reference with the reference pellet to create a common wafer map.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer test apparatus and a wafer test method for selecting the quality of each of a plurality of semiconductor element formation regions (hereinafter, referred to as pellets) formed vertically and horizontally on a wafer as a semiconductor substrate. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to clearly indicate the defect of a pellet on a wafer, marking is performed by a marking probe based on wafer mapping data. In the marking method showing this defect, if there is a pattern serving as a target on the wafer in order to match the coordinate value of the pellet at the time of measuring the wafer with the coordinate at the time of the marking, the method is performed. Although the target recognition function was used, there was no method for ensuring that the coordinates of a target-less wafer coincided.

A marking method for solving this problem is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 3-62543. According to this marking method, when mapping data of a defective pellet on a semiconductor wafer is stored in a storage medium and the marking is performed by a dedicated marking device, the pellet specified on the semiconductor wafer when measuring the semiconductor wafer is used. Before marking on defective pellets with a dedicated marking device, and then marking the semiconductor wafer at the time of measuring the semiconductor wafer.
The feature is that the coordinates of the pellets in the semiconductor wafer measuring device and the coordinates of the pellets in the wafer test device are matched by automatically recognizing the marks.

[0004]

However, in the above-described marking method, the prober of the dedicated marking device applies the marking to one pellet during the wafer test, so that the tester is not used. There is a problem of lowering the operation rate.

[0005] Further, a storage medium such as an FDD is used in order to cause a defective marking probe to acquire coordinate information of a pellet marked by a wafer test probe. However, when the worker carries such a storage medium, there is a concern that the storage medium may be lost or data may be replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a wafer test apparatus and method which do not cause a shift in a wafer map of a semiconductor wafer measuring apparatus even for a wafer having no target pattern without lowering the operation rate of a tester. Is to provide.

[0007]

A feature of the present invention is that a semiconductor element formation region is formed in a non-formation region of a wafer having a plurality of semiconductor element formation regions formed vertically and horizontally and a non-formation region where the semiconductor elements are not formed. A reference pellet marking probe for applying a mark as a reference for the coordinate position of the area, recording the coordinate position of each of the semiconductor element forming areas based on the mark, and creating a wafer map; A wafer test probe for inspecting the semiconductor element forming area at each coordinate position based on the map and recording the quality of the inspection in the wafer map; and the semiconductor element forming area recorded as defective in the wafer map. And a defective marking probe for marking the wafer.

Further, the wafer map created by the reference pellet marking is stored, and the wafer map is transferred to the wafer test probe, and thereafter, the pass / fail is recorded by the wafer test probe. Computer for transferring wafer map to the defective marking probe
It is desirable to have a Further, another wafer test probe is provided separately from the wafer test probe, and the pass / fail of the another wafer test probe is recorded on a wafer map on which the pass / fail is recorded by the wafer test probe. It is desirable to update the quality of the semiconductor element formation region.

Another feature of the present invention is that a coordinate position of the semiconductor element formation region is located in the non-formation region of a wafer having a plurality of semiconductor element formation regions formed in a matrix and a non-formation region where the semiconductor device is not formed. A reference pellet marking probe for applying a mark as a reference and recording a coordinate position of each of the semiconductor element forming regions based on the mark to create a wafer map; and A wafer test probe for inspecting the semiconductor element formation region at each coordinate position and recording the quality of the inspection in the wafer map; and marking the semiconductor element formation region recorded as defective in the wafer map. Bad marker
In a wafer test apparatus including a king probe,
The wafer map created in the reference pellet marking is a wafer test method shared by the wafer test probe and the defective marking probe.

Preferably, when the semiconductor element forming region has a square shape, the mark is formed in the non-forming region at a corner of the semiconductor element forming region. Further, it is desirable to transfer the wafer map to a pellet mounting apparatus which is the next step.

[0011]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration for explaining a wafer test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this wafer test apparatus includes a plurality of pellets formed in a matrix and a non-formed area where no pellet is formed. And a reference pellet marking prober 1 for recording a coordinate position of each pellet based on the reference pellet and creating a wafer map, and the pellet at each coordinate position based on the wafer map. A wafer test prober 2 for performing the inspection and recording the quality of the inspection in the wafer map, and a defective marking prober 3 for marking the pellets recorded as defective in the wafer map. ing.

Note that the pellet is a semiconductor element forming region where the integrated circuit element and the wiring are formed, and the non-forming region is
This is an area on the wafer where no pellet is formed. In other words, it shows the peripheral portion of the wafer where no pellet is formed. In addition, the wafer map is a map in which each of the coordinate positions of each pellet is indicated on the wafer based on the reference pellet.

Further, a standard pellet marking probe 1
Is stored in the post-computer 4 via the transfer line 5, and the wafer map stored in the post-computer 4 is transferred to the wafer test probe 2, and thereafter, the wafer test probe 2 The wafer map on which the pass / fail is recorded by the post-computer via the transfer line 7
The quality information of the pellets registered in the host computer 4 is transferred to the defective marking probe 3 via the transfer line 8. And a defective marking probe 3
Performs defective marking on the pellet at the designated coordinate position based on the pass / fail information.

Further, the wafer map on which the defective mark is marked is registered in the host computer 4 through a transfer line indicated by a thick line, and at the same time, is transferred to a pellet mounting step which is a subsequent step. Is done. In this manner, information from each dedicated device is collected, and information on each pellet registered based on the position information in the wafer map is stored in the host computer.
It is desirable to update and manage the data by the data 4.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a wafer test method according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a wafer map diagram, and FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c) are wafer maps in each step. It is a figure showing the state of. First, step A
One of the wafers is used as the reference pellet marking process in Fig. 1.
Load to bar 1. Next, in step B, as shown in FIG. 3, the reference pellet marking probe 1 sets the reference pellet 10 on the outer edge of the wafer 13 on the side opposite to the orientation flat 14 outside the element formation region, and forms an ink mark. (FIG. 4). The position coordinates are (1, 1), and the position information of the pellet 11 set as (1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 2) to (6, 2) in the following order is shown in FIG. The coordinate value is transferred to one host computer.

Next, in step C, a wafer test program
The bar 2 automatically recognizes the position of the reference pellet 10, sets the coordinate value of the pellet 11 and sets the reference pellet marking process.
The same wafer map created in step 1 is created. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, each pellet is measured based on this wafer map. At this time, the measurement result of the tester is as follows.
F (bad) and P (good) are registered in the host computer 4 according to the pellet.

Next, at step D, the defective marking probe 3 creates a wafer map in the same manner as the wafer test probe 2, and based on the measurement result of the host computer 4, the defective mark 12 Is marked. Then, FIG.
Is transferred to a downstream process, for example, a die mount process. The reference pellet 10
Is not perfect pellet shape but small in size. However, from the viewpoint of determining the coordinate values, it is desirable that the size includes the center point of the pellet.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a modification of the wafer test apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 6A to 6C are views showing the state of a wafer map. As shown in FIG. 5, the wafer test apparatus has a wafer test probe 2 of the wafer test apparatus shown in FIG.
Is divided into a first wafer test probe 2a and a second wafer test probe 2b. Others
This is the same as the wafer test apparatus shown in FIG.

In this case, similarly, the host computer 4 transmits the wafer map to each prober based on the wafer map created by the reference pellet marking prober 1.
Then, the first wafer test probe 2a is as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), a wafer map diagram showing the measurement results included in the non-defective pellets 15 and the defective pellets 16 is transferred to the host computer 4. Subsequently, the second wafer test probe 2b measures the wafer 13, and transfers the measurement results including the non-defective pellets 15 and the defective pellets 16 to the host computer 4 as shown in FIG.

The host computer 4 superimposes the wafer map shown in FIG. 6 (a) and the wafer map shown in FIG. 6 (b) by a computing section, and obtains the final result shown in FIG. 6 (c). Here, F indicating a defect is set to 0, and P indicating a good product is set to 1
Then, F becomes F, such as F * F = 0 * 0 = 0 and F * P = 0 * 1 = 0. Thus, the final result is transmitted to the defective marking probe 3, and the defective marking probe 3 prints the ink mark on the pellet 16 named F.
Apply.

Although the defective marking probe 4 is added to the wafer test apparatus here, it is not always necessary on the line. In this case, since the final inspection result is clearly shown in one wafer map, the position coordinates of the pellet are not changed. Therefore, the wafer map may be directly transferred to the next step, the pellet mounting step.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the reference pellet marking probe is provided independently in the wafer test apparatus, and the reference pellets serving as the position reference of each pellet are set on the wafer by the reference pellet marking probe. To place
By sequentially setting the position coordinates of each pellet based on the reference pellet and creating a common wafer map, there is an effect that the deviation of the wafer map is eliminated and the accuracy of inspection can be improved.

Further, since the defective marking probe is provided independently, the operation rate of the wafer test probe is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration for explaining a wafer test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a wafer test method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a wafer map diagram.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of a wafer map in each step.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a modification of the wafer test apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state of a wafer map.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Standard Pellet Marking Probe 2 Wafer Test Probe 3 Bad Marking Probe 4 Host Computer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A wafer which has a plurality of semiconductor element formation areas formed in a matrix and a non-formation area where the semiconductor elements are not formed, a mark which serves as a reference for the coordinate position of the semiconductor element formation area. A reference pellet marking probe for applying a mark and recording the coordinate position of each of the semiconductor element forming regions based on the mark to create a wafer map; and the semiconductor at each coordinate position based on the wafer map. A wafer test probe for inspecting the element formation region and recording the quality of the inspection in the wafer map; and a defect marking probe for marking the semiconductor element formation region recorded as defective in the wafer map. A wafer test apparatus, comprising: 2. The wafer map created by the reference pellet marking is stored, and the wafer map is transferred to the wafer test probe. Thereafter, the pass / fail is recorded by the wafer test probe. 2. The wafer test apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a computer for transferring a wafer map to said defective marking probe. 3. The wafer test probe according to claim 1, further comprising another wafer test probe separate from said wafer test probe.
3. The wafer test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pass / fail of said another wafer test probe is superimposed and recorded on a wafer map in which pass / fail is recorded by the pass / fail, and the pass / fail of said semiconductor element formation region is updated. . 4. A mark which serves as a reference for the coordinate position of the semiconductor element formation area in a non-formation area of a wafer having a plurality of semiconductor element formation areas formed vertically and horizontally and a non-formation area where the semiconductor element is not formed. A reference pellet marking probe for applying a mark and recording a coordinate position of each of the semiconductor element forming regions based on the mark to create a wafer map, and the semiconductor at each coordinate position based on the wafer map. A wafer test probe for inspecting the element formation region and recording the quality of the inspection in the wafer map; and a defect marking probe for marking the semiconductor element formation region recorded as defective in the wafer map. The wafer map created in the reference pellet marking includes the wafer test probe and the wafer test probe. A wafer testing method, wherein the method is shared by the defective marking probe. 5. The semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein the mark is formed in the non-formation region at a corner of the semiconductor device formation region when the semiconductor device formation region has a square shape. Wafer test method. 6. The wafer test method according to claim 4, wherein the wafer map is transferred to a next step, a pellet mounting step.