JP2007234645A - Prober temperature controller and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a matter that heating of a prober to the inspection temperature of electric test requires a long time for settling the temperature of the components of the prober. <P>SOLUTION: An wafer stage is heated up or cooled down to an overrun temperature from an inspection temperature, other components of a prober are heated up or cooled down to a stable temperature by that overrun temperature, and then the overrun temperature of the wafer stage is cooled down or heated up to a predetermined inspection temperature, thus shortening the time required for arriving at the stable temperature of the components of a prober when the wafer stage is heated up or cooled down from the inspection temperature. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a temperature control apparatus and method for controlling temperature of a wafer stage of a prober in order to perform electrical inspection of a plurality of semiconductor chips (dies) formed on a semiconductor wafer at different inspection temperatures.

  In the semiconductor manufacturing process, various processes are performed on a thin disk-shaped semiconductor wafer to form a plurality of chips (dies) each having a plurality of semiconductor devices (devices). Each chip is inspected for electrical characteristics, then separated by a dicer, and then fixed to a lead frame or the like and assembled. The inspection of the electrical characteristics is performed by a wafer test system that combines a prober and a tester. The prober fixes the wafer to the stage and brings the probe into contact with the electrode pad of each chip. The tester supplies power and various test signals from the terminals connected to the probe, and analyzes the signals output to the electrodes of the chip with the tester to check whether it operates normally. Devices that do not operate normally are excluded from the subsequent assembly process.

  The probe is provided on the probe card, and the arrangement of the probes corresponds to the arrangement of the electrode pads of the semiconductor chip to be inspected. Examples of the probe include a cantilever type probe and a spring lever type probe. When the type of device in the semiconductor chip to be inspected changes, it is necessary to replace it with a corresponding probe card. When the probe card is replaced, probe position detection processing is performed by a probe position detection camera provided in the prober. The probe position detection process is performed as needed even when the inspection of the semiconductor chip on one wafer is completed, even when the probe card is not replaced.

  On the other hand, when the wafer is held on the wafer stage, the position of the electrode pad of the chip is detected by a wafer alignment camera provided in the prober. Then, after rotating the wafer stage so that the arrangement direction of the electrode pads of the chip and the arrangement direction of the probes coincide with each other, it moves to the wafer stage so that the electrode pads are located directly below the corresponding probes. When the wafer stage is raised in this state, the electrode pad comes into contact with the probe (this is called probing).

  After contact between the electrode pad and the probe, the tester passes through the terminal connected to the probe, supplies power and various test signals, and analyzes the signals output to the chip electrodes to check whether it operates normally. This completes the electrical test. Such an electrical test of the chip is performed a plurality of times at different temperatures (hereinafter referred to as inspection temperatures) in consideration of the actual usage environment of the chip.

  In order to heat and cool the wafer to the inspection temperature, the prober is equipped with equipment for heating and cooling. The prober heating and cooling equipment controls the temperature of the wafer by heating and cooling the wafer stage. The wafer mass is much smaller than the wafer stage. Therefore, if the wafer stage temperature is set to the inspection temperature, even if the wafer is subsequently placed on the wafer stage, the wafer can quickly reach the inspection temperature.

  As a temperature control method for the wafer inspection temperature, PI (proportional integral) control which is well-known feedback control or the like is used. The PI control equation is shown in Equation 1 below.

  In this equation, x is an output value (also referred to as an operation amount, and here corresponds to a heat amount), y is an input value (detected temperature of the wafer stage), t is a sampling time, Kp is a proportional gain, Ti is an integration time, Δy (T) is a difference between an input value at a certain sampling time and a set value (set temperature). In Equation 1, the portion indicated by KpΔy (t) is referred to as a proportional element, and the portion indicated based on the integral is referred to as an integral element.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the relationship between the wafer temperature and the column temperature and the time in the wafer heating process by PI control will be described. In addition, although there are many prober components other than a support | pillar, it shows here using a support | pillar for illustration.

  During the time t0-t1, the temperature of the wafer stage and the column rises from the initial temperature Ta, and the wafer stage reaches the set temperature Ts that is the inspection temperature.

  During time t1-t2, the wafer stage reaches the set temperature Ts, and as a result, there is almost no deviation between the set temperature Ts and the detected temperature, so the amount of heat, which is the PI control operation amount, decreases due to the proportional factor. However, the column temperature rises because the heat input rate from the wafer stage is higher than the heat dissipation rate to the outside. The offset (residual deviation) existing on the wafer stage temperature line is decreased by increasing the operation amount by the integral element, and the column temperature reaches the stable temperature T2.

  Thus, along with the heating and cooling of the wafer stage, prober components other than the wafer stage are also heated and cooled, and it takes a long time for the temperature of the prober components to stabilize. This is because the sensible heat to the heating or cooling temperature of the wafer stage (mass x specific heat x temperature difference) differs from the sensible heat to the stable temperature according to the wafer stage inspection temperature of the prober component. This is because the heat is much larger.

  When the prober component does not reach a stable temperature according to the inspection temperature of the wafer stage and the temperature changes, the prober fluctuates in the XYZ directions due to thermal expansion and contraction of the prober component accompanying the temperature change. Even if the probe or wafer alignment position is detected when there is such a temperature change, the prober component temperature during probe processing is different from that during position detection. There is a problem that a mismatch occurs between the position detected by the position detection process of wafer alignment.

  Therefore, when the probing process starts immediately after the wafer stage reaches the inspection temperature, there is a temperature change in the prober component, so it is necessary to appropriately perform the above-described position detection review process during the probing process. Such position detection review processing increases the probing processing time. On the other hand, even if the probing process is not started until there is no temperature change in the prober component, it takes a long time before the probing process is started.

  Furthermore, the inspection temperature range is expected to be -60 ° C to 200 ° C in the future from the current -40 ° C to 150 ° C, and the ratio of heating and cooling time to the test processing time increases. In addition, the prolonged heating and cooling treatment time has a great influence on the prober processing capacity.

  Although the wafer heating and cooling processes are performed as described above, there is a problem that the time required for the prober component to reach a stable temperature is prolonged as the inspection temperature range is widened. The probe / wafer alignment position detection review process accompanying this prolongation, or the waiting time until the temperature of the prober component stabilizes before the probing process is started is a cause of prolonged prober processing time. Test time required for one wafer).

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to make various improvements regarding the process of heating and cooling the wafer stage to the inspection temperature of the electrical test of the wafer.

  In order to solve the above problems, a wafer stage temperature control method according to the present invention electrically operates a semiconductor device formed on a wafer at different inspection temperatures by bringing a probe into contact with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device. In a prober to be inspected, in order to stabilize the temperature of the prober components other than the wafer stage in the wafer stage temperature control method in which the wafer stage which is a component of the prober is controlled to be heated or cooled to the inspection temperature, the wafer stage By heating to a rising overrun temperature above the inspection temperature or cooling to a falling overrun temperature below the inspection temperature, and then lowering the rising overrun temperature to the inspection temperature or increasing the falling overrun temperature. Therefore, the temperature was controlled so as to be the inspection temperature.

  In addition, by maintaining the rising overrun temperature or the falling overrun temperature for a certain period of time until the prober component stable temperature, the probe and wafer are started by starting the probing process in a state where the prober component temperature is stable. Prober processing capability was improved by performing probing processing without performing alignment position detection review processing.

  Furthermore, a wafer stage temperature control apparatus according to the present invention is a prober for electrically inspecting the operation of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer at different inspection temperatures by bringing a probe into contact with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device. In a wafer stage temperature control device that controls the wafer stage to the inspection temperature or cools it, stabilizes the temperature of the heat source that heats the wafer stage, the cooling unit that cools the wafer stage, and the prober components other than the wafer stage In order to achieve this, the wafer stage is heated to an elevated overrun temperature that is equal to or higher than the inspection temperature, or is cooled to a lower overrun temperature that is lower than or equal to the inspection temperature, and then the elevated overrun temperature is decreased to the inspection temperature, or Temperature control to control the temperature so that it becomes the inspection temperature by raising the temperature It is configured with a door.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the temperature change time of the prober component accompanying the heating and cooling processing to the inspection temperature of the electrical test of the wafer, thereby improving the prober processing capability.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of wafer heating and cooling processing according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the prober according to the embodiment of the present invention. The prober 10 comprises a wafer test system with the tester 30 and the GPIB system 40. As shown, the prober 10 includes a base 11, a moving base 12, a Y-axis moving table 13, an X-axis moving table 14, a Z-axis moving unit 15, and a Z-axis moving table provided thereon. 16, θ rotation unit 17, wafer stage 18, probe position detection camera 19 for detecting the position of the probe, side plates 20 and 21, head stage 22, wafer alignment camera 23 provided on the column 31, A card holder 24 provided on the head stage 22, a probe card 25 attached to the card holder 24, and a control unit 29 including a stage movement control unit 27, an image processing unit 28, a temperature control unit 46, and the like.

  The probe card 25 is provided with a cantilever type probe 26. The movement base 12, the Y-axis movement table 13, the X-axis movement table 14, the Z-axis movement unit 15, the Z-axis movement table 16, and the θ rotation unit 17 move the wafer stage 18 in the three axis directions and around the Z axis. The moving / rotating mechanism is configured to rotate and is controlled by the stage movement control unit 27. Since the moving / rotating mechanism is widely known, the description thereof is omitted here. The probe card 25 has a probe 26 arranged according to the electrode arrangement of the device to be inspected, and is exchanged according to the device to be inspected. The image processing unit 28 calculates the arrangement and height position of the probe from the image captured by the probe position detection camera 19, and determines the position of the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip (die) on the wafer from the image captured by the wafer alignment camera 23. To detect. Note that the image processing unit 28 performs image processing on the detected image, can detect a contact trace caused by the probe coming into contact with the electrode pad, and can recognize the position, size, and the like of the contact trace in the electrode pad.

  The tester 30 includes a tester body and a contact ring 32 provided on the tester body. The probe card 25 is provided with a terminal connected to each probe, and the contact ring 32 has a spring probe arranged so as to contact the terminal. The tester body is held against the prober 10 by a support mechanism (not shown). Further, the tester body and the control unit 29 of the prober 10 are communicably connected via the GPIB system 40.

  When performing the inspection, the Z-axis moving table 16 is moved so that the probe position detection camera 19 is positioned below the probe 26, and the tip position of the probe 26 is detected by the probe position detection camera 19. The position of the tip of the probe 26 in the horizontal plane (X and Y coordinates) is detected by the camera coordinates, and the vertical position (Z coordinates) is detected by the camera focal position. The detection of the tip position of the probe 26 must be performed whenever the probe card is replaced, and is appropriately performed every time a predetermined number of chips are measured even when the probe card is not replaced. Since the probe card 25 is usually provided with 1000 or more probes 26, the tip position of a specific probe is usually determined in consideration of work efficiency without detecting the tip positions of all the probes 26. To detect.

  Next, with the wafer W to be inspected held on the wafer stage 18, the Z-axis moving table 16 is moved so that the wafer W is positioned under the wafer alignment camera 23, and the electrode pads of the semiconductor chips on the wafer W are moved. The position of is detected.

  After detecting the position of the probe 26 and the position of the wafer W, the θ stage 17 rotates the wafer stage 18 so that the arrangement direction of the chip electrode pads coincides with the arrangement direction of the probe 26. Then, after moving so that the electrode pad of the chip to be inspected on the wafer W is positioned below the probe 26, the wafer stage 18 is raised and the electrode pad is brought into contact with the probe 26.

  When the electrode pad is brought into contact with the probe 26, the electrode pad is raised from a height position (contact start position) at which the surface of the electrode pad contacts the tip of the probe 26 to a position (inspection position) higher by a predetermined amount. The inspection position is obtained by adding a displacement amount of the tip of the probe at which the bending amount of the probe 26 is obtained so as to obtain a contact pressure that realizes reliable electrical contact between the probe 26 and the electrode pad to the contact start position. Height position. Actually, the number of probes 26 is, for example, 1000 or more, and the inspection position is set so that reliable electrical contact is realized between all the probes 26 and the electrode pads.

  The tester 30 supplies power and various test signals from a terminal connected to the probe 26 and analyzes the signals output to the electrodes of the chip with the tester 30 to confirm whether or not it operates normally.

  The wafer stage 18 is attached with a heater, a refrigerant pipe and a temperature sensor 45 (not shown). The heater is connected to the power source 43, and the refrigerant pipe is connected to the cooling unit. The temperature control unit 46 in the control unit 29 is connected to the power source 43, the cooling unit 44, and the temperature sensor 45 through a control line, and uses the power source 43 and the cooling unit according to the inspection temperature from the temperature sensor 45 and according to the processing described later. Perform temperature control. In this embodiment, a heater and a power source 43 are used as the heating means for the wafer stage, but a heat source such as a heat pump can be used as another known heating means.

  FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a heating and cooling device for the wafer stage 18 according to the present invention. A heater 41 for heating is embedded in the wafer stage 18 so as to heat the entire wafer stage 18. The heater 41 is connected to a power source 43 inside or outside the prober and temperature controlled. Further, in the wafer stage 18, a cooling pipe 42 through which a cooling refrigerant passes is embedded. A refrigerant is passed through the cooling pipe 42, and the refrigerant is forcibly cooled by a cooling unit 44 attached inside or outside the prober. Further, a temperature sensor 45 is attached to the wafer stage 18, and the temperature sensor 45 detects the temperature of the wafer stage 18.

  It should be noted that any number of the wafer stage 18 may be attached to any part of the wafer stage 18 as long as it is configured to detect the temperature of the wafer stage 18.

  FIG. 4A shows the relationship between the wafer stage temperature and the support column temperature and time in the wafer heat treatment according to the present invention. FIG. 4B shows the relationship between the amount of heat applied to the wafer stage and the time in the heat treatment shown in FIG. In addition, although there are many prober components other than a support | pillar, it shows here using a support | pillar for illustration.

  The wafer heating process according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This heat treatment is performed by setting and changing parameters (set values) for the above-described PI control set temperature and the like.

  The set temperature of the wafer stage 18 is an overrun temperature Tor that exceeds the inspection temperature. The overrun temperature is a temperature that does not exceed the design temperature of the wafer itself. Thus, the reason why the overrun temperature Tor is the temperature exceeding the inspection temperature is to increase the temperature difference between the wafer stage and other prober components, thereby transferring heat from the wafer stage to other prober components. This is to increase the speed and allow the prober component to reach a stable temperature with respect to the inspection temperature at an early stage.

  By setting the PI control set temperature to the overrun temperature Tor during the time t0-t1 in FIG. 4A, the temperature of the wafer stage 18 and the column 31 is changed by the heat transfer rate q1 shown in FIG. 4B. Both the temperature rises from the initial temperature Ta, and the temperature of the wafer stage 18 becomes the overrun temperature Tor.

  During the time t1-t2, the heat transfer rate shown in FIG. 4B is decreased from q1 to q2, and the set temperature of PI control is maintained at the overrun temperature Tor. In the meantime, the column temperature rises and gradually approaches the stable temperature T1. The overrun temperature Tor maintenance time (hereinafter referred to as overrun time), which is t1 to t2 time, is a shortage of heat (q2 × (t2−t1) required to bring the prober component to the stable temperature T1. ) Is the time required to supply. Therefore, if the overrun time and the overrun temperature Tor are maintained, the prober component temperature is stabilized, and as soon as the wafer stage reaches the inspection temperature Ts, it is possible to proceed to a probing process start process such as a probe position detection process.

  After the elapse of time t2, it is necessary to lower the overrun temperature Tor, which is the temperature of the wafer stage 18, to the inspection temperature Ts. Therefore, the temperature control unit 46 changes the PI control set value to the inspection temperature Ts and applies a negative amount of heat at the heat transfer rate q3 to the wafer stage 18 by the cooling unit 44 in order to shorten the cooling time. Forced cooling and cooling to the set temperature Ts. Thereafter, in order to avoid overshoot due to overcooling and maintain the set temperature Ts, the temperature control unit 46 reheats the wafer stage 18 by applying a heat amount of the heat transfer rate qs by the power source 43 and the heater 41, and sets the temperature. The temperature Ts is maintained. In this case, since the prober components such as the column 31 have already reached the stable temperature T1, the hunting of the wafer stage temperature is attenuated and stabilized in a very short time.

  The overrun temperature Tor and the overrun time described above are the temperature control width (temperature gradient) of the wafer stage, the relative distance between the prober component equipment and the wafer stage as the heat source, and the material of the prober component equipment (specific heat and design temperature). For example) and mass, etc., and is changed according to each condition. In the embodiment, the storage unit 34 has a data table of overrun temperature Tor determined by the above conditions and overrun time, and the temperature control unit 46 performs temperature control with reference to the data table. Further, when PI control is used for temperature control, the proportional gain Kp and the integration time Ti shown in Equation 1 may be parameterized and held in the data table.

  Further, the cooling time and the cooling temperature from the overrun temperature Tor to the inspection temperature Ts can also be defined in accordance with a data table determined by conditions such as the specific heat of the prober component equipment.

  In this way, the arrival time t3 to the stable temperature T1 due to the heat treatment is significantly shorter than the arrival time t2 shown in FIG. For example, in the experiment, when the inspection temperature is 100 ° C. and the overrun temperature is not set, it takes 3 hours to bring the wafer from the normal temperature to the inspection temperature, and the control time from the normal temperature to the stable temperature T1 requires 6 to 12 hours. However, in the temperature control method according to the present invention, by setting the overrun temperature to 150 ° C., it is possible to obtain the stable temperature of the prober component and the wafer inspection temperature in a control time of 3 hours. .

  One prior art started the probing process before the temperature of the prober component stabilized. When performing the probing process for 3 hours until reaching the measurement temperature of the wafer and then for 10 hours, the position adjustment review process needs to be performed for 2 minutes at a period of 15 minutes, so the delay time of the probing process by the position adjustment process is: 10 × 60/15 × 2 and about one and a half hours. On the other hand, in the temperature control process according to the present invention, it takes 3 hours to reach the wafer measurement time, and the subsequent position adjustment review process does not occur. Therefore, the probing process time corresponding to the delay time can be shortened. Furthermore, one prior art did not initiate the probing process until the prober component reached a stable temperature. In that case, the probing processing time can be shortened from 3 hours to 9 hours.

  The above overrun temperature Tor can be processed in the same manner without setting Tor as a set value by setting parameters such as a proportional gain for PI control. For example, there is a method of providing a certain deviation setting value and changing the proportional gain according to the deviation setting value. That is, when the deviation is equal to or larger than a certain set value, the proportional gain is A, and when it is equal to or smaller than the certain set value, the proportional gain is B (where A> B). In that case, by making the deviation set value smaller, control is performed with a large gain A up to the vicinity of the set temperature Ts, and by further increasing the difference between the proportional gain A and the proportional gain B, a larger overshoot can be obtained. . Thus, the target overrun temperature Tor can be obtained without defining the overrun temperature Tor by setting an appropriate deviation to reach the overrun temperature Tor and the proportional gains A and B.

  Further, the temperature control method according to the present invention uses the above-described PI control for the sake of explanation, but it may be PID control, and other well-known process control such as intelligent control can be applied. Even in such a case, parameters such as set values are held in the data table, temperature control is performed, and the stable temperature of the early prober component is achieved by the above-described overshoot to the overrun temperature Tor and the cooling process to the inspection temperature Ts. T1 will be obtained.

  Although the heating process has been described as the temperature control process according to the present invention, the same applies to the cooling process. In the case of cooling, overrun the wafer stage below the inspection temperature, maintain the overrun temperature until the prober component reaches a stable temperature, and heat the wafer stage to the inspection temperature after the prober component reaches the stable temperature. The stable temperature of prober components can be reached in a short time. Also in this case, the overrun time and overrun temperature Tor are defined in the data table according to information such as prober components.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a heating process to the inspection temperature Ts according to the present invention.

  Before the heat treatment is started, the wafer W is set on the wafer stage 18, the probe card 25 corresponding to each chip (die) device is set on the head stage 22, and the operator sets the environmental temperature to be tested, For example, in order to show heat processing, the temperature etc. in the range of 100 to 200 degreeC are set, and heat processing is started.

  In step S101, the temperature control unit 46 refers to the data table in the storage unit 34, and determines the overrun temperature Tor according to the prober configuration, the overrun time, and the like. Next, the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S <b> 102, the temperature control unit 46 switches on the power supply 43 and energizes the heater 41 to heat the wafer stage 18. Next, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the temperature control unit 46 performs a determination process as to whether or not the detected temperature from the temperature sensor 45 has reached the overrun temperature Tor. If Tor is reached, the process proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, the temperature is maintained at the overrun temperature Tor, and a determination process is performed to determine whether or not the maintained time is the overrun time. If the overrun time has been reached, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S105, the temperature control unit 46 controls the cooling unit 44 to forcibly cool the wafer stage 18 to the set temperature Ts by passing the refrigerant through the cooling pipe 42, and proceeds to step S104.

  In step S106, the temperature control unit 46 reheats the wafer stage with the power source 43 and the heater 41, and proceeds to step S107.

  In step S107, it is determined whether or not the inspection temperature from the temperature sensor 45 has reached the set temperature Ts and a certain time has passed. After elapse of a certain time, the heating process to the set temperature Ts ends.

  After completion of the heating process to the set temperature Ts, a probe position detection process and a wafer alignment position detection process are performed, and then the above probing process is started.

  Since the wafer W has a sufficiently smaller mass than the wafer stage 18, the wafer W may be placed on the wafer stage after reaching the stable set temperature.

  Moreover, the control part 29 and the temperature control part 46 are comprised with the processor and memory which are not shown in figure. Furthermore, a program for causing a computer to execute the above temperature control method is stored in the storage unit 34 by an external storage unit such as a hard disk (not shown). The program stored in the storage unit 34 is stored in the memory by the processor, and the processor executes the temperature control method described above by executing the program stored in the memory. The processor searches the information (the above-described overrun temperature Tor, overrun time, etc.) stored in the data table of the storage unit 34 and stores the information in the memory, thereby executing the above-described temperature control method.

  As described above, in the present invention, when the wafer stage is heated to the inspection temperature for performing the electrical test, the wafer stage temperature is overrun above the inspection temperature, and the overrun temperature is maintained for a certain period of time. After the prober component device is heated to a stable temperature, the probe stage component device can reach the stable temperature in a shorter time by cooling the wafer stage to the inspection temperature. Similarly, when cooling the wafer stage, overrun the wafer stage temperature below the inspection temperature, maintain the overrun temperature for a certain time, cool the prober component equipment to a stable temperature, and then heat the wafer stage to the inspection temperature Thus, the prober components can reach the stable temperature in a shorter time. This makes it possible to improve the test processing capability of the prober.

(A) is a wafer stage temperature and time in the conventional wafer heating process, (b) is a figure which shows the relationship between the amount of heat to a wafer stage, and time. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the prober which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the Example of the heating and cooling device of the wafer stage which concerns on this invention. (A) is a relationship between the wafer temperature and time in the wafer heat treatment according to the present invention, and (b) is a diagram showing a relationship between the amount of heat to the wafer stage and time. It is a flowchart which shows the heat processing to the test temperature Ts which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Prober 18 Wafer stage 19 Probe position detection camera 22 Head stage 23 Wafer alignment camera 25 Probe card 41 Heater 42 Cooling pipe 43 Power supply 44 Cooling unit 45 Temperature sensor 46 Temperature control part

Claims (5)

In a prober that electrically inspects the operation of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer at different inspection temperatures by bringing a probe into contact with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device, the wafer stage that is a component of the prober is brought to the inspection temperature. A wafer stage temperature control method for controlling heating or cooling,
In order to stabilize the temperature of prober components other than the wafer stage, the wafer stage is heated to an elevated overrun temperature that is higher than the inspection temperature or cooled to a lower overrun temperature that is lower than or equal to the inspection temperature. A wafer stage temperature control method, wherein the temperature is controlled to be the inspection temperature by lowering the overrun temperature to the inspection temperature or increasing the lowered overrun temperature.   When the wafer stage is heated to the inspection temperature, the rising overrun temperature is maintained, and when the wafer stage is cooled to the inspection temperature, the falling overrun temperature is maintained for a certain period of time until the stable temperature of the prober component. The wafer stage temperature control method according to claim 1. In a prober for electrically inspecting the operation of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer at a different inspection temperature by bringing a probe into contact with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device, heating the wafer stage of the prober to the inspection temperature, or A wafer stage temperature control device for cooling control,
A heat source for heating the wafer stage;
A cooling unit for cooling the wafer stage;
In order to stabilize the temperature of prober components other than the wafer stage, the wafer stage is heated to an elevated overrun temperature that is equal to or higher than the inspection temperature or cooled to a lower overrun temperature that is equal to or lower than the inspection temperature. A wafer stage temperature, comprising: a temperature control unit configured to control the temperature to become the inspection temperature by lowering the rising overrun temperature to the inspection temperature or increasing the falling overrun temperature. Control device.   When the wafer stage is heated to the inspection temperature, the rising overrun temperature is maintained, and when the wafer stage is cooled to the inspection temperature, the falling overrun temperature is maintained for a certain period of time until the stable temperature of the prober component. The wafer stage temperature control apparatus of Claim 3 provided with the temperature control part to perform. In a prober for electrically inspecting the operation of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer at a different inspection temperature by bringing a probe into contact with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device, the wafer stage which is a component of the prober is changed to the inspection temperature. In order to control the wafer stage temperature to control heating or cooling to the computer,
In order to stabilize the temperature of the prober component other than the wafer stage, the wafer stage is heated to an elevated overrun temperature equal to or higher than the inspection temperature to the stable temperature of the prober component for a certain time, or less than the inspection temperature. A procedure for cooling to a descending overrun temperature for a period of time to a stable temperature of the prober component;
A program for executing a procedure for controlling the temperature so as to become the inspection temperature by lowering the rising overrun temperature to the inspection temperature or increasing the falling overrun temperature.

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