JP2003254994A - Contact probe and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contact probe suppressing drop in electric contact caused by shavings of an insulating film attached to a contact terminal when the insulating film formed on a surface to be measured is shaved off. <P>SOLUTION: A tip part 1 for contacting to the surface to be measured on which the insulating film is formed and a supporting part 3 supporting the tip part and for connecting electricity (a signal) from the tip part to the outside are connected in a single unit directly or through a spring part 3, and the tip part 1 has cutting terminals 5a, 5b for shaving off the insulating film when pushed against the surface to be measured and a conducting terminal 4 pushed against the surface to be measured and becoming electrically conductive. Since being shaved off with the cutting terminals 5a, 5b, the most shavings are attached to the cutting terminals 5a, 5b. Therefore, the amount of the shavings attached to the conducting terminal 4 is little, and drop in electric contact caused by the shavings can be suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact probe for electrically inspecting a semiconductor substrate, a liquid crystal display device or the like, and a method for manufacturing the contact probe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Inspection of a circuit formed on a semiconductor substrate or a liquid crystal display device is generally carried out by using an inspection device equipped with a large number of contact probes. Conventionally, the structure of each contact probe is LI
GA (Lithographie Galvanofo)
What can be formed by the rmung Abformung method has been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application 20
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 00-164407, the mask is formed by lithography and plating using a mask having a fixed pattern.

The shape of the contact probe formed by the LIGA method has been considered, for example, as shown in FIG. This contact probe connects the tip portion 1 for contacting the surface to be measured, the support portion 3 for holding the contact probe when attaching the contact probe itself to the inspection device, and the tip portion 1 and the support portion 3. And a spring portion 2. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, there is also one in which the support portion 3 is directly connected to the tip portion 1 having a spring function.

In the inspection, in order to ensure electrical contact reliably, the insulating film such as a natural oxide film or a resist residue formed on the surface to be measured is broken and the electrode material hidden under the insulating film is broken. It is necessary to secure continuity. In order to break the insulating film, the tip of the contact probe is generally pointed. Here, in addition to the method of simply pressing the pointed tip to pierce and break the insulating film, the pointed tip is pressed against the surface to be measured and scratched along the surface to be measured to scrape off the insulating film. There is also a method of ensuring continuity with the electrode material thereunder. The operation of the tip portion scratching the surface to be measured is called “scrub”.

Support part 3 of the contact probe shown in FIG.
When is fixed and is pressed vertically against the surface 20 to be measured, the contact terminal 10 of the tip portion 1 contacts the surface 20 to be measured, and the spring portion 2 is elastically deformed as shown by an arrow 31. At the time of this elastic deformation, the tip portion 1 is constrained by being pressed against the surface 20 to be measured. Therefore, if only the tip portion 1 is focused, the flat portion 10 is almost in contact with the surface 20 to be measured. The scrubbing is carried out by displacing in the direction of the arrow 32 while maintaining.

With reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, a series of operations from the contact terminal 10 at the tip to the contact with the surface to be measured and the separation will be described in more detail. In the example shown in FIG.
The object to be measured is an aluminum electrode 22 arranged on the surface of the substrate 21, and the surface of the aluminum electrode 22 is the surface to be measured. The surface of the aluminum electrode 22 is covered with a naturally formed oxide film 24. As shown in FIG. 7, the tip portion 1 of the contact probe descends from directly above and the contact terminal 10
Contact the oxide film 24. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the tip portion 1 moves rightward in the figure with the contact terminal 10 in contact with the oxide film 24. That is, scrubbing is performed. At this time, the oxide film 24 is scraped off by the contact terminal 10, and at the same time, the contact terminal 10 can secure conduction with the aluminum electrode 22 hidden under the oxide film 24.
In this state, measurement is performed via the contact probe. Thus, the contact terminal 10 has both the function as a cutting terminal and the function as a conduction terminal.

In the case of the contact probe shown in FIG.
When the contact probe is lifted after the measurement is finished, the tip 1 does not immediately rise from the state shown in FIG. 8 immediately to the spring part 2 (shown in FIG. 9). While not elastically recovering, move while scrubbing to the left in the figure. And then rises.

In the case of the contact probe shown in FIG.
When the contact probe is lifted up after the measurement is completed, the tip 1 immediately goes up from the state of FIG.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By scrubbing,
The scraps of the aluminum electrode 22 and the oxide film 25 adhere to the contact terminal 10 (see FIGS. 8 and 9). Each time the measurement is performed with the contact probe, the operation shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 8 or FIG. 7 to FIG. 9 is performed, but the shavings 23 are scrubs when the contact probe is pressed (see FIG. 8). ), But also newly in the scrub (see FIG. 9) when detaching the contact probe. The shavings 23 thus attached reduce the electrical contactability of the contact probe. Therefore, in order to maintain a good electrical contact property to some extent, the measurement work is performed a certain number of times (for example, 1000
After that, it was necessary to clean the contact terminals 10. Since the measurement work must be interrupted at the time of cleaning, it causes a decrease in productivity.

Further, when a large amount of shavings 23 are attached, the measurement becomes inaccurate, and even if the product to be measured is not really defective, it may be judged as defective. This causes an unnecessary reduction in yield.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a contact probe and a method for manufacturing the same in which the deterioration of the electrical contact property due to the adhesion of shavings is suppressed.

[0012]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a contact probe, which has a tip portion for contacting a surface to be measured on which an insulating film is formed, and a tip portion which supports the tip portion to generate an electric signal. Is connected to the outside directly or via a spring part, and the tip is insulated from the cutting terminal that scrapes off the insulating film when pressed against the surface to be measured. And a conductive terminal that is pressed against the surface to be measured from which the film has been stripped and is electrically conductive.

By adopting this structure, since the scrubbing is performed at the cutting terminal, most of the adhering shavings adheres to the cutting terminal. Therefore, the amount of shavings attached to the conductive terminals is small, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in electrical contact property due to the attachment of shavings.

In the contact probe according to the present invention, either one of the tip of the cutting terminal and the tip of the conductive terminal is projected before being pressed against the surface to be measured, and the protruding terminal is projected. It is characterized in that it has a smaller elastic force against vertical compression of the surface to be measured than the other terminal.

By adopting this structure, the conductive terminal can be brought into closer contact with the surface to be measured, and the cutting terminal can also be brought into closer contact with the surface to be measured.

In the contact probe according to a third aspect of the present invention, the tip portion and the support portion have a three-dimensional shape in which a certain planar shape has a uniform thickness in a thickness direction perpendicular to the planar shape. , Is integrally molded.

By adopting this structure, it is possible to easily manufacture as an integrated product by a manufacturing method that combines lithography and plating using a certain mask.

According to a fourth aspect of the method for manufacturing a contact probe, a tip portion for contacting a surface to be measured on which an insulating film is formed, a tip portion that supports the tip portion, and electricity (signal) is generated from the tip portion.
A support portion for connecting to the outside directly or via a spring portion, and the tip portion is the insulating film when pressed against the surface to be measured on which the insulating film is formed. A cutting terminal and a conductive terminal that is electrically connected to the surface to be measured from which the insulating film has been peeled off, and the tip portion and the support portion are flat surfaces with respect to a certain planar shape. A method of manufacturing a contact probe integrally formed to have a three-dimensional shape having a uniform thickness in a thickness direction perpendicular to the shape, the resist forming step of forming a resist film on a conductive substrate. An exposing step of exposing the resist film using a mask; a first resist removing step of removing a portion of the resist film exposed in the exposing step; The contact probe is used as a mask, including a plating step of filling the removed portion in the distant removal step with metal, a second resist removing step of removing the remaining portion of the resist film, and a substrate removing step of removing the substrate. Is used in the thickness direction.

By adopting this structure, it is possible to easily manufacture a contact probe in which the tip portion and the support portion are integrated.

[0020]

(First Embodiment) (Structure) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the configuration of the contact probe will be described with reference to FIG. This contact probe has a tip portion 1 having a conduction terminal 4 which is brought into contact with a surface to be measured and electrically connected to it, a support portion 3 for supporting and electrically connecting, and the tip portion connected to the support portion. And a spring portion 2. In addition to the conductive terminals 4, the tip portion 1 has cutting terminals 5a and 5b for scraping off the insulating film formed on the surface to be measured by being pressed against the surface to be measured and scratched along the surface to be measured. The cutting terminal 5a is arranged on the side of the measured terminal 32 in the direction of scratching as viewed from the conductive terminal 4, and the cutting terminal 5b is viewed from the conductive terminal 4 on the measured surface. It is arranged along the direction opposite to the scratching direction 32. The tip of the conduction terminal 4 projects from the tips of the cutting terminals 5a and 5b, and the conduction terminal 4 has a smaller elastic force than the cutting terminals 5a and 5b against the vertical compression of the surface to be measured. During scrubbing and measurement, the conductive terminal 4 contracts, the tips of the cutting terminals 5a and 5b and the tips of the conductive terminals are at the same height, and contact the surface to be measured.

(Operation / Effect) In scrubbing when the contact probe is pressed, the cutting terminal 5a arranged on the side of the surface 32 to be scratched along the surface to be measured scrapes off the oxide film on the surface to be measured. Most of the scraps of the shaved oxide film adhere to the cutting terminals 5a. Therefore, the amount of shavings attached to the conduction terminal 4 is small,
It is possible to suppress a decrease in electrical contact property due to adhesion of shavings. Further, when scrubbing even when the contact probe is detached, the cutting terminals 5b arranged in the direction opposite to the scratching direction 32 along the surface to be measured viewed from the conduction terminal 4 are located on the surface to be measured. Remove the oxide film of. Most of the scraps of the oxide film scraped off adhere to the cutting terminals 5b. Therefore, the conduction terminal 4
Since the amount of shavings attached to the shavings is small, it is possible to suppress a decrease in electrical contact property due to the attachment of shavings.

In the present embodiment, the cutting terminal has been described as having both the cutting terminals 5a and 5b, but it is a cylindrical cutting terminal arranged so as to surround the periphery of the conductive terminal 4. Good. Further, even with the configuration having only the cutting terminal 5a, although the amount of shavings attached to the conduction terminal is somewhat increased, there is an effect of suppressing deterioration of electric contact property due to attachment of shavings.

(Second Embodiment) (Structure) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a contact probe according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the contact probe will be described below with reference to FIG. This contact probe includes a tip portion 1 having a conduction terminal 4 which is brought into contact with the surface to be measured and electrically connected to it, and a support portion 3 for supporting and electrically connecting. In addition to the conductive terminals 4, the tip portion 1 has cutting terminals 5a and 5b for scraping off the insulating film formed on the surface to be measured by being pressed against the surface to be measured and scratched along the surface to be measured. The cutting terminal 5a is arranged on the side of the measured terminal 32 in the direction of scratching as viewed from the conductive terminal 4, and the cutting terminal 5b is viewed from the conductive terminal 4 on the measured surface. It is arranged along the direction opposite to the scratching direction 32. The tip of the conduction terminal 4 projects from the tips of the cutting terminals 5a and 5b, and the conduction terminal 4 has a smaller elastic force than the cutting terminals 5a and 5b against the vertical compression of the surface to be measured. During scrubbing and measurement, the conductive terminal 4 contracts, the tips of the cutting terminals 5a and 5b and the tips of the conductive terminals are at the same height, and contact the surface to be measured.

(Operation / Effect) In scrubbing when the contact probe is pressed, the cutting terminal 5a arranged on the side of the surface to be measured 32 in the scratching direction scrapes off the oxide film on the surface to be measured. Most of the scraps of the shaved oxide film adhere to the cutting terminals 5a. Therefore, the amount of shavings attached to the conduction terminal 4 is small,
It is possible to suppress a decrease in electrical contact property due to adhesion of shavings. Further, when scrubbing even when the contact probe is detached, the cutting terminals 5b arranged in the direction opposite to the scratching direction 32 along the surface to be measured viewed from the conduction terminal 4 are located on the surface to be measured. Remove the oxide film of. Most of the scraps of the oxide film scraped off adhere to the cutting terminals 5b. Therefore, the conduction terminal 4
Since the amount of shavings attached to the shavings is small, it is possible to suppress a decrease in electrical contact property due to the attachment of shavings.

In the present embodiment, the cutting terminal has been described as having both cutting terminals 5a and 5b, but it is a cylindrical cutting terminal arranged so as to surround the periphery of the conductive terminal 4. Good. Further, even with the configuration having only the cutting terminal 5a, although the amount of shavings attached to the conduction terminal is somewhat increased, there is an effect of suppressing deterioration of electric contact property due to attachment of shavings.

(Third Embodiment) (Manufacturing Method) A method for manufacturing the contact probe 50 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, a resist film 42 is formed on the surface of a conductive substrate 41 (not shown). As the substrate 41, T
A Si substrate sputtered with i is used. However, it may be another conductive substrate such as an aluminum substrate.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the resist film 42
The surface of the is irradiated with X-ray 43 through the mask 40. Although a method using X-ray lithography will be described here, UV (ultraviolet) lithography may be used instead of X-ray lithography. In any case, after development, the resist at the exposed portion 44 is removed. As a result, the recess 45 is formed as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3C, plating is performed to fill the recess 45 with the metal layer 46. As the material of the metal layer 46, nickel, Ni—Co, Ni—W, Ni—
A nickel alloy such as Mn can be used. In addition to this, palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh)
Alternatively, ruthenium (Ru) or the like may be used.

The resist film 42 remaining on the substrate 41 is removed by ashing with oxygen plasma or development after re-irradiation. As a result, the structure shown in FIG. The portion of the substrate 41 is melted with potassium hydroxide (KOH) to take out only the portion of the metal layer 46. as a result,
A contact probe 50 is obtained as shown in FIG. That is, this is the contact probe 50 shown in FIG.

Further, in order to reduce the electrical contact resistance of the conductive terminal 4, the entire surface of the conductive terminal 4 or the surface near the tip of the conductive terminal 4 may be plated with gold (Au) or rhodium (Rh). .

[0032]

According to the present invention, most of the shavings generated when scrubbing the contact probe adheres to the cutting terminal. Therefore, the amount of shavings attached to the conduction terminal is small, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in electrical contactability due to the attachment of shavings.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a contact probe according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a method of manufacturing a contact probe according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a first example of a contact probe according to the prior art.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second example of a contact probe according to the prior art.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a contact probe based on a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a first explanatory view of the operation of the contact probe based on the conventional technique.

FIG. 8 is a second explanatory view of the operation of the contact probe based on the conventional technique.

FIG. 9 is a third explanatory view of the operation of the contact probe based on the conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 tip 2 Spring part 3 Support 4 conductive terminals 5a, 5b Cutting terminal 10 contact terminals 20 Surface to be measured 21 board 22 Aluminum electrode 23 Shavings 24 Oxide film 31, 32 arrows 40 mask 41 substrate 42 resist film 43 X-ray 44 Exposure location 45 recess 46 Metal layer 50 contact probe

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2G003 AA07 AA10 AB01 AG03 AG04                       AG12                 2G011 AA02 AB01 AC14 AC31 AE03                 2G132 AA00 AB01 AD01 AF01 AF07                       AL03                 4M106 AA01 BA01 DD03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tip portion for contacting a surface to be measured on which an insulating film is formed, and a support portion for supporting the tip portion and connecting electricity (signal) from the tip portion to the outside directly or It is integrally connected via a spring part, and the tip portion is pressed against the measurement surface from which the insulating film is peeled off and the cutting terminal that scrapes off the insulating film when pressed against the measurement surface. A contact probe having a conductive terminal that is electrically conductive. 2. Before being pressed against the surface to be measured, either the tip of the cutting terminal or the tip of the conduction terminal projects, and the projecting terminal is more prominent than the non-projecting terminal. The contact probe according to claim 1, wherein the contact probe has a small elastic force against compression in the vertical direction. 3. The end portion and the support portion are integrally molded so as to be a three-dimensional shape having a uniform planar thickness and a uniform thickness in a thickness direction perpendicular to the planar shape. The contact probe according to claim 1, wherein the contact probe is a contact probe. 4. A tip portion for contacting a surface to be measured on which an insulating film is formed, and a support portion for supporting the tip portion and connecting electricity (signal) from the tip portion to the outside directly or The tip portion is integrally connected via a spring portion, and the tip portion has a cutting terminal that scrapes off the insulating film when pressed against the surface to be measured on which the insulating film is formed, and the insulating film is peeled off. A conducting terminal that is pressed against the measurement surface and electrically conducts, and the tip portion and the supporting portion have a uniform thickness in a thickness direction perpendicular to the plane shape with respect to a certain plane shape. A method of manufacturing a contact probe integrally formed into a three-dimensional shape, comprising: a resist forming step of forming a resist film on a conductive substrate; and a mask for the resist film. An exposure step for performing exposure, and the resist First resist removing step of removing a portion of the resist film exposed in the exposing step, a plating step of filling a portion of the resist film removed in the first resist removing step with a metal, and a remaining portion of the resist film And a substrate removing step of removing the substrate, wherein a mask having a shape obtained by projecting the contact probe in the thickness direction is used as the mask.