JP2009047565A - Sheetlike probe and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheetlike probe which has surface electrodes each having a small diameter and a large projection height from an insulating film and enables sure attainment of a stable state of electric connection even for electrodes to be checked which are formed with small pitches, and to provide a method of manufacturing the same. <P>SOLUTION: This sheetlike probe has the flexible insulating film which has a plurality of protrusions which are so formed as to correspond to electrodes to be connected and project from the surface, respectively, the surface electrodes in a plurality which are so formed on the surface of the insulating film as to cover the protrusions, respectively, a plurality of back electrodes which are so formed on the backside of the insulating film as to correspond to the surface electrodes, and short circuit parts which are so formed in the insulating film as to pierce the film in the thickness direction thereof and which electrically connect the surface electrodes and the back electrodes corresponding thereto. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet-like probe for making an electrical connection to a circuit such as an integrated circuit, and a method for manufacturing the same.

For example, in an electrical inspection of a circuit device such as a wafer on which a large number of integrated circuits are formed or an electronic component such as a semiconductor element, a large number of electrodes are arranged according to a pattern corresponding to a pattern of an electrode to be inspected in the circuit device under test. A probe card having an inspection electrode is used. As such a probe card, an inspection circuit board in which a plurality of inspection electrodes are formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected on one surface, and an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet disposed on one surface of the inspection circuit board And a sheet-like probe arranged on the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The sheet-like probe in such a probe card has a flexible insulating film made of resin, for example, and a plurality of electrode structures extending in the thickness direction are arranged on the insulating film according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected. Has been configured. In each of the electrode structures, a protruding surface electrode portion exposed on the surface of the insulating film and a plate-like back surface electrode portion exposed on the back surface of the insulating film extend through the insulating film in the thickness direction. It is configured to be integrally connected via a short-circuit portion.

Such a sheet-like probe is generally manufactured as follows.
First, as shown in FIG. 15A, a laminate 90A in which a metal layer 92 is formed on one surface of an insulating film 91 is prepared, and as shown in FIG. A through-hole 98H penetrating through is formed.
Next, as shown in FIG. 15C, a resist film 93 is formed on the metal layer 92 of the insulating film 91 and then electroplating is performed using the metal layer 92 as a common electrode, thereby penetrating the insulating film 91. The hole 98H is filled with a metal deposit to form a short-circuit portion 98 integrally connected to the metal layer 92, and a protrusion shape integrally connected to the short-circuit portion 98 on the surface of the insulating film 91. The surface electrode portion 96 is formed.
Thereafter, the resist film 93 is removed from the metal layer 92. Further, as shown in FIG. 15D, a resist film 94A is formed on the surface of the insulating film 91 including the surface electrode portion 96, and on the metal layer 92. Then, a resist film 94B is formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the back electrode portion to be formed, and the metal layer 92 is subjected to an etching process, whereby the metal layer 92 has a structure as shown in FIG. The exposed portion is removed to form the back electrode portion 97, thereby forming the electrode structure 95.
Then, by removing the resist film 94A formed on the insulating film 91 and the front surface electrode portion 96, and removing the resist film 94B formed on the back surface electrode portion 97, a sheet-like probe is obtained.

However, the sheet-like probe in the probe card has the following problems.
In the step of forming the short-circuit portion 98 and the surface electrode portion 96 in the method for manufacturing the sheet-like probe described above, since the plating layer by electrolytic plating grows isotropically, as shown in FIG. In 96, the distance w from the periphery of the surface electrode portion 96 to the periphery of the short-circuit portion 98 is equal to the protruding height h of the surface electrode portion 96. Accordingly, the diameter R of the surface electrode portion 96 obtained is considerably larger than twice the protruding height h. Therefore, when the electrodes to be inspected in the circuit device to be inspected are minute and arranged at an extremely small pitch, a sufficient separation distance between the adjacent electrode structures 95 cannot be secured, and as a result In the obtained sheet-like probe, since the flexibility due to the insulating film 91 is lost, it is difficult to achieve stable electrical connection to the circuit device under test. Further, in the electrolytic plating process, it is practically difficult to supply a current having a uniform current density distribution to the entire surface of the metal layer 92. Due to the non-uniformity of the current density distribution, the through hole 98H of the insulating film 91 is provided. Since the growth rate of the plating layer is different every time, the projection height h of the surface electrode portion 96 to be formed and the distance w from the periphery of the surface electrode portion 96 to the periphery of the short-circuit portion 98, that is, the diameter R, vary greatly. When there is a large variation in the protruding height h of the surface electrode portion 96, it is difficult to achieve a stable electrical connection to the circuit device under test, while there is a large variation in the diameter of the surface electrode portion 96. In some cases, adjacent surface electrode portions 96 may be short-circuited.

In the above, as means for forming the surface electrode portion 96 having a small diameter, means for reducing the protruding height h of the surface electrode portion 96, diameter r of the short-circuit portion 98, that is, the through hole 98H of the insulating film 91 are formed. A means for reducing the diameter of the substrate can be considered. However, in the sheet-like probe obtained by the former means, when a foreign matter such as dust exists between the surface of the insulating film 91 and the surface of the inspection object during the inspection, the surface electrode portion 96 and the object to be covered are covered. There is a possibility that the test electrode does not come into contact with the test electrode. For this reason, it is difficult to reliably achieve a stable electrical connection to the test electrode. On the other hand, with the latter means, it becomes difficult to form the short circuit part 98 and the surface electrode part 96 by electrolytic plating.
As another means for forming the surface electrode portion 96 having a small diameter, a means using chemical plating in which a plating layer grows anisotropically has been proposed. However, since chemical plating has a low growth rate, it takes a considerably long time to form the short-circuit portion and the surface electrode portion, and it is difficult to obtain high productivity.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-231019 JP 51-93393 A

The present invention has been made on the basis of the circumstances as described above, and the first object thereof is to have a surface electrode having a small diameter and a high protrusion height from the insulating film. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-like probe that can reliably achieve a stable electrical connection state with respect to a formed electrode to be inspected.
The second object of the present invention is to provide a stable electrical connection state even for an electrode to be inspected having a surface electrode having a small diameter and a high protrusion height from an insulating film and having electrodes formed at a small pitch. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method that can advantageously manufacture a sheet-like probe that can be reliably achieved.

The sheet-like probe of the present invention is formed corresponding to the electrode to be connected, an insulating film having a plurality of projecting portions each projecting from the surface,
A plurality of surface electrodes formed on the surface of the insulating film so as to cover the protrusions,
A plurality of back surface electrodes formed on the back surface of the insulating film corresponding to the front surface electrodes;
It is characterized by comprising a short-circuit portion that is formed so as to penetrate the insulating film in the thickness direction and electrically connects the front surface electrode and the back surface electrode corresponding thereto.

In the sheet-like probe of this invention, it is preferable that the surface electrode and the back surface electrode corresponding to this are electrically connected by the 2 or more short circuit part.
Moreover, it is preferable that the protrusion part in an insulating film is a frustum shape which becomes small diameter as it goes to a front-end | tip from a base end.

The method for producing a sheet-like probe of the present invention is a method for producing the above-mentioned sheet-like probe,
A laminated body comprising an insulating film sheet having a flat surface and a front-side metal thin layer and a back-side metal thin layer formed on the front and back surfaces of the insulating film sheet is prepared. A step of forming a plurality of backside electrodes by performing a photoplating process on the backside metal thin layer;
Forming a through-hole for a short-circuit portion penetrating in the thickness direction in the insulating film sheet;
Forming a plurality of plating start metal films in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the surface electrode to be formed on the surface of the insulating film sheet by etching the surface side metal thin layer;
A plurality of protrusions that protrude from the surface by etching the surface of the insulating film sheet to reduce the thickness of the insulating film sheet other than the portion where the metal film for plating initiation is formed. Forming a flexible insulating film having:
And a step of forming a short circuit portion and a surface electrode by performing a plating process on the exposed portion of the back electrode through the through hole for the short circuit portion and the metal film for plating initiation. .

According to the sheet-like probe of the present invention, the insulating film is formed with a plurality of protruding portions that protrude from the surface, and the surface electrode is provided so as to cover the protruding portions, so that the protruding from the surface of the insulating film. A surface electrode having a sufficiently high height can be formed, and the height of the surface electrode itself can be small, so that the desired surface electrode can be easily formed by chemical plating, for example. Accordingly, a surface electrode having a small diameter and a high protrusion height from the insulating film can be obtained, and thus a stable electrical connection state can be reliably achieved even for the electrodes to be inspected formed with a small pitch. be able to.
Further, according to the configuration in which the front surface electrode and the back surface electrode are electrically connected by the two short-circuit portions, the front-surface electrode does not rotate around the short-circuit portion. Even if the dimension in the vertical direction is larger than the arrangement pitch of the surface electrodes, it is possible to reliably prevent adjacent surface electrodes from being short-circuited.

  According to the method for manufacturing a sheet-like probe of the present invention, an insulating film having a plurality of protruding portions protruding from the surface is formed, and the plating start metal film formed on the protruding portion is plated. A surface electrode having a sufficiently small diameter can be formed, and the height of the surface electrode itself may be small, so that a surface electrode having a small diameter is formed by using, for example, chemical plating as a plating process. be able to. Accordingly, it is possible to manufacture a sheet-like probe that can reliably achieve a stable electrical connection state even with respect to the electrodes to be inspected with electrodes formed at a small pitch.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
[Sheet probe]
1 is a plan view showing an example of a sheet-like probe according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an enlarged surface electrode of the sheet-like probe shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sheet-like probe shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the structure of the principal part of a probe.
The sheet-like probe 10 has a flexible insulating film 11, and a plurality of protruding portions 12 protruding from the surface of the insulating film 11 are electrodes to be connected, for example, an electrode to be inspected of a circuit device to be inspected. It is formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern. The protruding portion 12 in this example has a frustum shape having a small diameter from the proximal end toward the distal end.
On the back surface of the insulating film 11, a support film 13 made of a metal having a plurality of openings 13 </ b> H is integrally provided via a metal film 16 </ b> B and an adhesive layer 19, and the insulating film 11 is supported by the support film 13. Has been. The opening 13H of the support film 13 is formed corresponding to the pattern of the electrode region where the electrode to be connected, for example, the electrode to be inspected of the integrated circuit on the wafer is formed. In the illustrated example, a positioning hole 14 is formed in the peripheral edge portion of the support film 13.
A plurality of surface electrodes 15 projecting from the surface of the insulating film 11 are formed on the surface of the insulating film 12 so as to cover the projecting portions 12 and their peripheral portions, respectively. Correspondingly, specifically, a plurality of plate-like back surface electrodes 16 are formed at positions directly behind the front surface electrodes 15, respectively.
Each of the front surface electrodes 15 is connected to the corresponding back surface electrode 16 by two short-circuit portions 17 formed so as to penetrate in the thickness direction of the insulating film 11 at the lateral positions of the protruding portions 12 in the insulating film 11. Have been electrically connected. The short-circuit portion 17 in this example has a tapered shape with a small diameter from the front surface to the back surface of the insulating film 11. In the case where the two short-circuit portions 17 are formed, it is preferable that the two short-circuit portions 17 are disposed at positions symmetrical with respect to the protruding portion 12 of the insulating film 11.
Further, three or more short-circuit portions 17 may be formed. In this case, it is preferable that the short-circuit portions 17 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the protrusion 12 of the insulating film 11.

The insulating film 11 is not particularly limited as long as it is flexible and has insulating properties. For example, a resin sheet made of polyimide resin, liquid crystal polymer, polyester, fluorine-based resin, or the like is applied to a cloth knitted cloth. Although a sheet impregnated with resin can be used, it is preferably made of an etchable material in that a through hole for forming the short-circuit portion 18 can be easily formed by etching, and polyimide is particularly preferable. .
Further, the thickness of the insulating film 11 is not particularly limited as long as the insulating film 11 is flexible, but is preferably 10 to 50 μm, and more preferably 10 to 25 μm.
Moreover, it is preferable that the protrusion height of the protrusion part 12 is 3-30 micrometers, More preferably, it is 5-15 micrometers.

As the metal constituting the support film 13, iron, copper, nickel, titanium, or an alloy or alloy steel thereof can be used.
In addition, as the support film 13, it is preferable to use one having a linear thermal expansion coefficient of 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less, more preferably −1 × 10 ⁻⁷ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K, particularly preferably. Is −1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to 8 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K.
Specific examples of the material constituting the support film 13 include an Invar type alloy such as Invar, an Elinvar type alloy such as Elinvar, an alloy such as Super Invar, Kovar, and 42 alloy, or an alloy steel.
Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness of the support film 13 is 3-100 micrometers, More preferably, it is 5-50 micrometers.

Nickel, copper, gold, silver, palladium, iron, or the like can be used as the metal constituting the surface electrode 15, the back electrode 16, and the short-circuit portion 17, and the entire surface electrode 15, back-surface electrode 16, and short-circuit portion 17 are formed. It may be made of a single metal or may be made of an alloy of two or more metals or a laminate of two or more metals.
Further, on the surface of the front electrode 15 and the back electrode 16, in order to prevent the oxidation of the electrode and to obtain an electrode portion having a low contact resistance, chemically stable and high conductivity such as gold, silver, palladium, etc. The metal film which it has may be formed.

According to such a sheet-like probe 10, a plurality of projecting portions 12 projecting from the surface are formed on the insulating film 11, and the surface electrode 15 is provided so as to cover the projecting portions 12. 11 can be formed, and the height of the surface electrode 15 itself can be small. Therefore, the desired surface electrode 15 can be formed by chemical plating, for example. It can be formed easily. Accordingly, the surface electrode 15 having a small diameter and a high protruding height from the insulating film 11 can be obtained, so that a stable electrical connection state can be ensured even for the electrodes to be inspected having electrodes formed at a small pitch. Can be achieved.
Further, according to the configuration in which the front electrode 15 and the back electrode 16 are connected and electrically connected by the two short-circuit portions 17, the surface electrode 15 does not rotate around the short-circuit portion 17. Even when the dimensions of the electrodes 15 in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which they are arranged are larger than the arrangement pitch of the surface electrodes 15, it is possible to reliably prevent the adjacent surface electrodes 15 from being short-circuited.

The sheet-like probe 10 can be manufactured as follows, for example.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, the insulating film sheet 11 </ b> A is flat on both sides, and the front side metal thin layer 15 </ b> A and the back side metal thin layer 16 </ b> A are formed on both sides of the insulating film sheet 11 </ b> A. A laminate is prepared. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, a resist film 18 in which a pattern hole 18H is formed on the backside metal thin layer 16A in the laminate according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the backside electrode 16 to be formed by a photolithography technique. Then, the back electrode 16 is formed as shown in FIG. 6 by performing electrolytic plating on the back metal thin layer 16A. Then, after removing the resist film 18, as shown in FIG. 7, the support film 13 is laminated integrally on the back side metal thin layer 16 </ b> A via the adhesive layer 19.
Next, by performing a photo-etching process on the surface-side metal layer 15A, a plurality of openings 15H are formed in the surface-side metal layer 15A according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the short-circuit portion 17 to be formed, as shown in FIG. After the formation, the exposed insulating film sheet 11A is subjected to an etching process so that the insulating film sheet 11A communicates with the opening 15H of the surface-side metal layer 15A, respectively, as shown in FIG. A plurality of taper-shaped through-holes 11H for the short-circuit portion having a smaller diameter toward the back surface are formed.

Then, by etching the front side metal thin layer 15A and the back side metal layer 16A, as shown in FIG. 10, it corresponds to the pattern of the surface electrode 15 to be formed on the surface of the insulating film sheet 11A. A plurality of plating start metal films 15B are formed according to the pattern to be formed, and a plurality of openings 16H communicating with the short-circuiting portion through-holes 11H of the insulating film sheet 11A are formed in the back side metal thin layer 16A.
Thereafter, the surface of the insulating film sheet 11A is etched to reduce the thickness of the insulating film sheet 11A other than the part where the plating start metal film 15B is formed, as shown in FIG. Then, an insulating film 11 having a plurality of protrusions 12 each having a plating start metal film 15B formed on the tip surface is formed.
Next, the portion exposed through the short-circuit portion through-hole 11H in the back surface electrode 16 and the plating start metal film 15B are subjected to a chemical plating process, so that the short-circuit portion 17 and the surface electrode 15 are formed as shown in FIG. Form.
And the sheet-like probe 10 shown in FIG. 1 is obtained by performing the etching process with respect to the back surface electrode 16, and removing the exposed part.

In the above, the thickness of the insulating film sheet 11A is larger than the thickness of the insulating film 11 to be formed. Specifically, the thickness of the insulating film 11 and the height of the protruding portion 12 are the total size. The
Further, the etching agent for etching the front side metal thin layer 15A and the back side metal thin layer 16A is appropriately selected according to the material constituting these metal thin layers, and these metal thin layers are, for example, copper In the case where it is made of, an aqueous ferric chloride solution or the like can be used.
Further, as an etching solution for etching the insulating film sheet 11A, a hydrazine-based aqueous solution, a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution, an amine-based etching solution, or the like can be used. A taper-shaped through-hole for short-circuit portion 11H having a smaller diameter toward the back surface can be formed.

  According to such a manufacturing method, since the chemical plating process is performed on the plating metal film 15B formed on the distal end surface of the protruding portion 12 of the insulating film 11, the protruding height from the surface of the insulating film 11 is sufficient. In addition, since the surface electrode 15 itself can be small in height, it is possible to form a surface electrode having a small diameter.

[Probe card and wafer inspection equipment]
FIG. 13 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an example of an inspection apparatus for a circuit device using the sheet-like probe of the present invention. The inspection apparatus for this circuit device includes a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer. Is a wafer inspection apparatus for performing an electrical inspection of the integrated circuit in a wafer state.
This inspection apparatus has a probe card 1 that electrically connects each of the electrodes 7 to be inspected of a wafer 6 that is a circuit apparatus to be inspected to a tester. A pressure plate 3 for pressing the probe card 1 downward is provided on the back surface (upper surface in the drawing) of the probe card 1, and a wafer mounting table 4 on which the wafer 6 is mounted is provided below the probe card 1. A heater 5 is connected to each of the pressure plate 3 and the wafer mounting table 4.

The probe card 1 includes an inspection circuit board 20 having a plurality of inspection electrodes 21 formed on the surface (lower surface in the drawing) according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrodes 7 to be inspected in all integrated circuits formed on the wafer 6; An anisotropic conductive connector 30 disposed on the surface of the circuit board 20 for inspection, and a sheet-like probe having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 disposed on the surface (the lower surface in the figure) of the anisotropic conductive connector 30. 10.
As shown in FIG. 14, the anisotropic conductive connector 30 is a frame plate in which a plurality of openings 32 are formed corresponding to the electrode regions where the electrodes to be inspected 7 are arranged in all the integrated circuits formed on the wafer 6. 31, and a plurality of anisotropic conductive sheets 35 disposed on the frame plate 31 so as to close one opening 32 and fixed to and supported by the opening edge of the frame plate 31. Each of the anisotropic conductive sheets 35 is formed of an elastic polymer material, and is formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode 7 to be inspected in one electrode region formed on the wafer 6 that is a circuit device to be inspected. Each of the conductive portions 36 extending in the thickness direction and an insulating portion 37 that insulates the conductive portions 36 from each other. Further, in the illustrated example, on both surfaces of the anisotropic conductive sheet 35, protruding portions 38 that protrude from the other surface are formed at locations where the conductive portion 36 and its peripheral portion are located. In each of the conductive portions 36 in the anisotropic conductive sheet 35, the conductive particles P exhibiting magnetism are densely contained in an aligned state in the thickness direction. On the other hand, the insulating part 37 contains no or almost no conductive particles P.
The anisotropic conductive connector 30 is disposed on the surface of the inspection circuit board 20 such that each of the conductive portions 36 is positioned on the inspection electrode 21, and the sheet-like probe 10 is connected to the anisotropic conductive connector 30. On the front surface, each of the back electrode portions 17 of the electrode structure 15 is disposed on the conductive portion 36. In the illustrated example, a guide pin is provided in each of positioning holes (not shown) formed in the support film 11 of the sheet-like probe 10 and positioning holes (not shown) formed in the frame plate 31 of the anisotropic conductive connector 30. In this state, the sheet probe 10 and the anisotropic conductive connector 30 are fixed to each other.

As a substrate material constituting the circuit board 20 for inspection, conventionally known various substrate materials can be used. Specific examples thereof include a glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin, a glass fiber reinforced phenol resin, and a glass fiber reinforced type. Examples thereof include composite resin materials such as polyimide resin and glass fiber reinforced bismaleimide triazine resin, and ceramic materials such as glass, silicon dioxide, and alumina.
When an inspection apparatus for performing the WLBI test is configured, it is preferable to use one having a linear thermal expansion coefficient of 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less, more preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ to 1 × 10. ⁻⁵ / K, particularly preferably 1 × 10 ^{−6 to} 6 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K.
Specific examples of such a substrate material include Pyrex (registered trademark) glass, quartz glass, alumina, beryllia, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, and boron nitride.

The material constituting the frame plate 31 in the anisotropic conductive connector 30 is not particularly limited as long as the frame plate 31 is not easily deformed and has a rigidity sufficient to maintain its shape stably. For example, various materials such as a metal material, a ceramic material, and a resin material can be used. When the frame plate 31 is made of, for example, a metal material, an insulating coating is formed on the surface of the frame plate 31. Also good.
Specific examples of the metal material constituting the frame plate 31 include metals such as iron, copper, nickel, chromium, cobalt, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, indium, lead, palladium, titanium, tungsten, aluminum, gold, platinum, and silver. Or the alloy or alloy steel which combined 2 or more types of these is mentioned.
Specific examples of the resin material constituting the frame plate 31 include a liquid crystal polymer and a polyimide resin.
In addition, when this inspection apparatus is for performing a WLBI (Wafer Level Burn-in) test, the material constituting the frame plate 31 has a linear thermal expansion coefficient of 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less. It is preferable to use those, more preferably from −1 × 10 ⁻⁷ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K, particularly preferably from 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to 8 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K.
Specific examples of such materials include Invar type alloys such as Invar, Elinvar type alloys such as Elinvar, magnetic metal alloys such as Super Invar, Kovar, and 42 alloy, or alloy steel.
The thickness of the frame plate 31 is not particularly limited as long as the shape can be maintained and the anisotropic conductive sheet 35 can be supported, and the specific thickness varies depending on the material. It is preferable that it is 25-600 micrometers, More preferably, it is 40-400 micrometers.

The total thickness of the anisotropic conductive sheet 35 in the anisotropic conductive connector 30 (thickness in the conductive portion 36 in the illustrated example) is preferably 50 to 2000 μm, more preferably 70 to 1000 μm, and particularly preferably 80 to 500 μm. If this thickness is 50 μm or more, sufficient strength can be obtained for the anisotropic conductive sheet 35. On the other hand, if the thickness is 2000 μm or less, the conductive portion 36 having the required conductive characteristics can be obtained reliably.
The total height of the protrusions 38 is preferably 10% or more of the thickness of the protrusions 38, more preferably 15% or more. By forming the projecting portion 38 having such a projecting height, the conductive portion 36 is sufficiently compressed with a small applied pressure, so that good conductivity can be reliably obtained.
Further, the protruding height of the protruding portion 38 is preferably 100% or less of the shortest width or diameter of the protruding portion 38, more preferably 70% or less. By forming the projecting portion 38 having such a projecting height, the projecting portion 38 is not buckled when pressed, and thus the desired conductivity can be reliably obtained.

  As the elastic polymer material forming the anisotropic conductive sheet 35, a heat-resistant polymer material having a crosslinked structure is preferable. Various materials can be used as the curable polymer material-forming material that can be used to obtain such a crosslinked polymer material, but liquid silicone rubber is preferred.

As the conductive particles P contained in the conductive portion 36, it is preferable to use those in which the surface of magnetic core particles (hereinafter also referred to as “magnetic core particles”) is coated with a highly conductive metal. Here, “highly conductive metal” refers to a metal having an electrical conductivity at 0 ° C. of 5 × 10 ⁶ Ω ⁻¹ m ⁻¹ or more.
Gold, silver, rhodium, platinum, chromium, etc. can be used as the highly conductive metal coated on the surface of the magnetic core particle, and among these, it is chemically stable and has high conductivity. Gold is preferably used.
In the conductive particles P, the ratio of the highly conductive metal to the core particles [(mass of highly conductive metal / mass of core particles) × 100] is preferably 15% by mass or more, more preferably 25 to 35 masses. %.
The conductive particles P preferably have a number average particle diameter of 3 to 40 μm. Here, the number average particle diameter of the magnetic core particles refers to that measured by a laser diffraction scattering method.
By using such conductive particles P, the obtained anisotropic conductive sheet 35 is easily deformed under pressure, and sufficient electrical contact is obtained between the conductive particles P in the conductive portion 36. It is done.
Further, the shape of the conductive particles P is not particularly limited, but spherical particles, star-shaped particles, or agglomerated particles 2 can be easily dispersed in the polymer substance-forming material. It is preferable that it is a lump with secondary particles.

  It is preferable that the content ratio of the conductive particles P in the conductive portion 36 is 10 to 60%, preferably 15 to 50% in terms of volume fraction. When this ratio is less than 10%, the conductive portion 36 having a sufficiently small electric resistance value may not be obtained. On the other hand, when the ratio exceeds 60%, the obtained conductive portion 36 is likely to be fragile, and the elasticity necessary for the conductive portion 36 may not be obtained.

  The anisotropic conductive connector as described above can be manufactured by a method described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-324600.

  In the above inspection apparatus, the wafer 6 to be inspected is placed on the wafer mounting table 4, and then the probe card 1 is pressed downward by the pressure plate 3, whereby the surface of the sheet-like probe 10. Each of the electrodes 15 contacts each of the electrodes 7 to be inspected on the wafer 6, and each of the electrodes to be inspected 7 of the wafer 6 is pressurized by each of the surface electrodes 15. In this state, each of the conductive portions 36 in the anisotropic conductive sheet 35 of the anisotropic conductive connector 30 is sandwiched between the test electrode 21 of the test circuit board 20 and the back electrode 16 of the sheet-like probe 10. By compressing in the thickness direction, a conductive path is formed in the conductive portion 36 in the thickness direction. As a result, the electrical connection between the inspection electrode 7 of the wafer 6 and the inspection electrode 21 of the circuit board 20 for inspection is performed. Connection is achieved. Thereafter, the wafer 6 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 5 via the wafer mounting table 4 and the pressure plate 3, and in this state, a required electrical inspection is performed on each of the plurality of integrated circuits on the wafer 6. Is done.

It is a top view in an example of a sheet-like probe concerning the present invention. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the surface electrode in the sheet-like probe shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the structure of the principal part of the sheet-like probe shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure of the laminated body for manufacturing the sheet-like probe which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the resist film was formed on the back surface side metal thin layer in a laminated body. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the back surface electrode was formed on the back surface side metal thin layer in a laminated body. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the support film was integrally laminated | stacked through the contact bonding layer on the back surface side metal thin layer in a laminated body. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the opening was formed in the surface side metal layer in a laminated body. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the through-hole for short circuit parts was formed in the sheet | seat for insulation films in a laminated body. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the metal film for plating start was formed in the surface of the sheet | seat for insulation films in a laminated body. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state in which the insulating film which has a some protrusion part was formed. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the short circuit part and the surface electrode were formed in the insulating film. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure in an example of the inspection apparatus of the circuit apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the principal part of the anisotropically conductive connector in a probe card. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the manufacture example of the conventional sheet-like probe. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the sheet-like probe obtained by the manufacture example shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Probe card 3 Pressure plate 4 Wafer mounting base 5 Heater 6 Wafer 7 Electrode to be inspected 10 Sheet-like probe 11 Insulating film 11A Insulating film sheet 11H Short-circuit part through-hole 12 Protruding part 13 Support film 13H Opening 14 Positioning hole 15 Surface Electrode 15A Surface-side metal thin layer 15B Plating start metal film 15H Opening 16 Back electrode 16A Back-side metal thin layer 16B Metal film 16H Opening 17 Short-circuit portion 18 Resist film 18H Pattern hole 19 Adhesive layer 20 Inspection circuit board 21 Inspection electrode 30 Anisotropic conductive connector 31 Frame plate 32 Opening 35 Anisotropic conductive sheet 36 Conductive part 37 Insulating part 38 Protruding part 90 Sheet-like probe 90A, 90B, 90C Laminated body 91 Insulating film 92 Metal layer 93 Resist film 94A, 94B Resist film 95 Electrode structure 96 Front electrode part 97 Back electrode part 98 Short circuit 98H through hole L integrated circuits P conductive particles

Claims (4)

An insulating film having a plurality of protruding portions each protruding from the surface, formed corresponding to the electrodes to be connected;
A plurality of surface electrodes formed on the surface of the insulating film so as to cover the protrusions,
A plurality of back surface electrodes formed on the back surface of the insulating film corresponding to the front surface electrodes;
A sheet-like probe comprising: a short-circuit portion that is formed so as to penetrate the insulating film in a thickness direction thereof and electrically connects the front surface electrode and a back surface electrode corresponding thereto.   The sheet-like probe according to claim 1, wherein the front electrode and the back electrode corresponding thereto are electrically connected by two or more short-circuit portions.   The sheet-like probe according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protruding portion of the insulating film has a frustum shape having a diameter that decreases from the proximal end toward the distal end. It is a method of manufacturing the sheet-like probe according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the insulating film sheet has a flat surface, and the surface side metal formed on the front and back surfaces of the insulating film sheet Preparing a laminate comprising a thin layer and a backside metal thin layer, and forming a plurality of backside electrodes by applying a photoplating process on the backside metal thin layer of the laminate;
Forming a through-hole for a short-circuit portion penetrating in the thickness direction in the insulating film sheet;
Forming a plurality of plating start metal films in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the surface electrode to be formed on the surface of the insulating film sheet by etching the surface side metal thin layer;
A plurality of protrusions that protrude from the surface by etching the surface of the insulating film sheet to reduce the thickness of the insulating film sheet other than the portion where the metal film for plating initiation is formed. Forming a flexible insulating film having:
And a step of forming a short circuit portion and a surface electrode by performing a plating process on the exposed portion of the back electrode through the through hole for the short circuit portion and the metal film for plating initiation. Manufacturing method of sheet-like probe.

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