JP2013224913A - Probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate connection between a probe assembly assembled at a narrow pitch and a wiring substrate land assembled at a rough pitch.SOLUTION: In a probe card, a coordinate in the vertical direction (Z direction) of the n-th connection position between the n-th connection terminal of a probe and a connection land of the n-th layer on a wiring substrate and a coordinate in the Z direction of the (n+1)-th connection position between the (n+1)-th connection terminal of the probe and the connection land of the (n+1)-th land of the wiring substrate are substantially equal to each other. A portion in the vicinity of the connection position of the wiring substrate including the connection land has an inclined angle against reference plane (XY plane) of the wiring substrate and is fixed thereto, and tip positions of all terminals in the Z direction are coincided with each other.

Description

  The present invention relates to a probe card used for circuit inspection of a plurality of semiconductor chips formed on a semiconductor wafer.

  Probe cards used for testing semiconductor circuits are required to have a higher density of probe arrays to cope with an increase in the number of pads on a semiconductor chip, a reduction in pad area, and a reduction in pad pitch. Due to the concentration of wiring around the probe array portion, the wiring board is forced to have high density wiring, which is a factor in increasing the cost of the wiring board.

  As for a method of connecting a probe assembled at a narrow pitch and a connection terminal on a coarse pitch wiring board, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-075503, a wiring terminal and a probe formed at one end of a flexible flat cable A method for avoiding high density wiring of a wiring board by directly contacting the wiring board has been proposed.

  Further, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-279209, a probe assembly is formed by using a resin film to which a copper alloy foil is bonded, etching the copper alloy foil, and a probe on the resin film. Each resin film is formed such that a conductive portion including a terminal portion is formed and a plurality of the probes with a resin film are laminated, and the arrangement positions of the terminal portions are shifted at a coarse pitch when the probes with a resin film are laminated. Is formed. Thereby, it is possible to connect to the wiring board with a somewhat rough pitch even in the vicinity of the probe assembly, which contributes to the reduction in the number of layers of the wiring board and the simplification of the wiring.

  Further, taking advantage of the characteristics of the probe with resin film, a plurality of wiring boards are formed in the probe assembly as in the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-054487 as shown in FIG. Since the land array group formed at one end of the wiring board and the output terminal group of the nth row of the probe assembly are in contact with each other, the adjacent terminals are directly connected to the land provided on another layer of the wiring board. It can be connected, and further contributes to the reduction of the number of wiring boards and the simplification of wiring.

  However, according to the invention shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-054487, a plurality of terminals are directly connected to lands provided on different layers of the wiring board, so that the length of each terminal is equal to the layer thickness of the wiring board. However, there is a possibility that a terminal having a long terminal length may be deformed due to buckling or the like, resulting in a problem that connection stability is impaired.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-075503   JP 2007-279209 A   JP 2010-054487 A

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and has problems in connection between a probe assembly assembled with a narrow pitch and a wiring board having a land with a coarse pitch, using terminals of the same shape. It is possible to solve the above problems, and to provide an inexpensive probe card that facilitates the inspection of electrical characteristics of a semiconductor chip having a narrow pitch.

  According to the present invention, in the probe card, the vertical (Z direction) coordinates of the nth connection position between the nth terminal of the probe and the nth layer land of the wiring board, the n + 1th terminal of the probe, and the wiring board The coordinates in the Z direction of the (n + 1) th connection position with the land of the (n + 1) th layer are substantially equal, and the portion near the connection position of the wiring board including the land has an inclination angle with respect to the surface (XY plane) of the wiring board. Therefore, it is possible to match the positions of the tips in the Z direction of all the terminals.

  In the present invention, the terminal includes a means for generating a spring force in the Z direction, contacting the land with a repulsive force of the spring and not being restricted in the plane direction (XY direction). The connection with is simplified. Further, by making a part or all of each layer of the wiring board a flexible flat cable, it becomes easy to fix the inclination.

  Furthermore, since there is a means in which there are a plurality of probes having different shapes in which the interval in the probe longitudinal direction (X direction) between the adjacent terminals becomes a rough pitch of approximately 0.5 mm or more when the probe assembly is configured. It is possible to use a conventional inexpensive wiring board.

  According to the probe card of the present invention, the vertical (Z direction) coordinates of the nth connection position between the nth terminal of the probe and the nth layer land of the wiring board, the (n + 1) th terminal of the probe, and the wiring board The Z-direction coordinates of the (n + 1) th connection position with the land of the (n + 1) th layer are substantially equal, and the portion near the connection position of the wiring board including the land has an inclination angle with respect to the surface (XY plane) of the wiring board. By using the fixed means, the problem of connection between the probe assembly assembled at a narrow pitch and the wiring board having the coarse pitch land using all terminals having the same shape is solved. It is possible to provide an inexpensive probe card that facilitates the inspection of electrical characteristics of a semiconductor chip with a narrow pitch.

It is a perspective view which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example by which the some probe is arrange | positioned on the same plane (XZ plane) as a structure of the probe assembly used for embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the positional relationship of the said adjacent terminal as a structure of the probe assembly used for embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the aspect which arrange | positioned the terminal provided in each probe as Px shift | offset | difference by Px in the X direction, and arrange | positioned with the pitch of Py in the Y direction as a structure of the probe assembly used for embodiment of this invention. It is a detailed explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a detailed explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the conventional embodiment.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 to 4 are diagrams showing the configuration of the probe and the probe assembly. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the probe assembly and the wiring board arranged in the central portion of the probe card shown in FIG. It is detail drawing which shows a fixed positional relationship.

  The probe card shown in FIG. 1 is composed of the following parts. Reference numeral 1 denotes a probe assembly, 2 denotes a pad of an LSI to be inspected arranged on a wafer, 3 denotes a wiring board, 4 denotes a common wiring board, and 10 denotes a probe constituting the probe assembly 1. The probe assembly 1 is formed by, for example, attaching a conductive material to the surface of a resin film 15 such as polyimide, and manufacturing a probe 10 having a desired precise dimension by etching or laser processing. Therefore, the probe 10 is made of a conductive material, one is a probe tip 11 connected to the LSI pad 2, and the other is a terminal 14 connected to the land 33 of the wiring board 3 through an intermediate conductive part 16. ing. These conductive portions 16, and the probe tip portion 11 and the terminal 14 with the conductive portions 16 interposed therebetween are also formed when the probe assembly 1 is manufactured.

  On the other hand, the wiring board 3 has a connecting portion 5 with the probe 10 at the center, and is supported by a support base 51 at a predetermined height in the Z direction. The land 33 extends in the outer peripheral direction of the wiring board 3 via the wiring pattern 32 and is connected to the common wiring board 4 by soldering in a through hole 34 or the like. Further, it is connected to the outermost common land 42 via the wiring pattern 45 in the common substrate 4. By connecting a common pogo pin 46 to the common land 42, an inspection signal is sent and received.

  Details of the configuration of the probe assembly 1 are shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the probe 10 according to the present embodiment, and shows an example in which a plurality of probes are arranged on the same plane (XZ plane). In this specification, the direction of “X” represents, for example, the longitudinal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1) of the resin film 15 constituting the probe assembly 1 shown in FIG. The direction of “Z” represents, for example, the short direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) of the resin film 15 constituting the probe assembly 1 shown in FIG. Moreover, the “Y” direction (described later) represents a direction perpendicular to both the X direction and the Z direction, for example, perpendicular to the surface of the resin film 15 shown in FIG. Then, by setting coordinate axes extending in the X, Y, and Z directions, X, Y, and Z three-dimensional orthogonal coordinates are formed. In the drawings other than FIG. 1, the X, Y, and Z directions indicate directions corresponding to FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the probe 10 is made of a metal material or metal foil having high electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, such as a copper alloy (for example, beryllium copper), and the probe tip portion 11 is caused by the Z-direction spring force in the spring deformation portion 12. Is brought into contact with the LSI pad 2 to obtain electrical continuity with the LSI. On the other hand, the terminal 14 which is a connection terminal to the wiring board 3 similarly has a spring deformed portion 13 and has a structure in which electrical continuity is obtained by pressing against the land 33 on the wiring board. The probe tip 11 and the terminal 14 are connected by a conductive portion 16. The spring deforming portion 12 or 13 is not limited to the U-shaped, V-shaped or the like in the illustrated example, and may be a parallelogram type parallel spring or a cantilever type (cantilever). FIG. 2 shows an example in which a set of four probes and terminals are arranged on the same resin film 15 and the pitch in the X direction of each terminal is Px. On the other hand, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the pitch of the terminals 14 in the X direction when the probe assembly 1 is configured by arranging a plurality of sets of one probe and terminal set on one resin film 15. Shows a configuration example in which becomes Px.

  FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the positional relationship between adjacent terminals 14 in the probe assembly 1. FIG. 3 shows probes 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 as a plurality of probes 10, and the terminal 14 installed in each probe is relatively displaced by Px in the X direction. Are arranged. Further, FIG. 4 shows the probes 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 arranged at a pitch of Py in the Y direction. Thereby, the probe assembly 1 having a terminal arrangement with a pitch of Px in the X direction and a pitch of Py in the Y direction is formed. The lands 33 to which the terminals of the probes 10-1, 10-2, 10-3 and 10-4 are connected are designated as 33-1, 33-2, 33-3 and 33-4, respectively.

  The probe assembly 1 can be formed by periodically combining the pair of probes shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4 in the Y direction. Further, the X-direction pitches Px of the terminals 14 may be the same or different pitch dimensions.

  FIG. 5 is a front view and a plan view showing the positional relationship between the probe assembly 1 composed of the plurality of probes 10 described in FIG. In this example, four probes 10 are arranged in the Y direction, and 16 terminals are respectively connected to 16 lands 33 on the wiring board 3. In the plan view of FIG. 5, the probe tips 11-1 to 11-4 and the terminals 14-1 to 14-4 are shown in black for clarity.

  As shown in the front view of FIG. 5, the wiring board 3 is composed of a first layer 3-1, a second layer 3-2, a third layer 3-3, and a fourth layer 3-4. Each of the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 is typically a flexible substrate obtained by etching a copper foil pattern on polyimide, for example. Even if each layer is independent, it is bonded by thermocompression bonding or the like. It may be.

  The support base 51 having an inclined portion 54 having an inclination angle of θ1 with respect to the XY plane which is a reference surface of the wiring board 3 is fixed to the common wiring board 4 by screws or the like (not shown). ing. The wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 of the wiring board are installed along the side surface 53 and the inclined portion 54 of the support base 51, and the lands 33-1 to 33-4 provided at one end of the wiring layer are The positions of the end faces of the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 are determined so as to be exposed on the inclined portion 54. After the positions of the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 are determined, the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 are fixed by screws or the like (not shown) with the fixture 55. The inclination angle θ1 is COSθ1 = T3 / (3 × Px) in advance in relation to the total X-direction pitch Px at the tips of the terminals 14-1 to 14-4 and the thickness direction distance T3 in the wiring board 3. By determining as much as possible, it is possible to make the Z-direction positions (or coordinates) of the lands 33-1 to 33-4 substantially equal. As described above, in the probe card 1, the vertical (Z direction) coordinates of the nth connection position between the nth connection terminal of the probe and the connection land of the nth layer of the wiring board, and the (n + 1) th connection terminal of the probe It is possible to make the Z-direction coordinates of the (n + 1) th connection position with the connection land of the (n + 1) th layer of the wiring board approximately equal.

  FIG. 6 shows the positions of the probe assembly 1 composed of the probes 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4 described in FIG. It is the front view and top view which show a relationship. In this example, four sets of the probes 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 are periodically arranged, and each of 16 terminals has 16 terminals on the wiring board 3, respectively. This is connected to the land 33. In the plan view of FIG. 6, similarly to FIG. 5, the probe tips 11-1 to 11-4 and the terminals 14-1 to 14-4 are shown in black to clarify the positions. As shown in the front view of FIG. 6, the wiring board 3 is composed of a first layer 3-1, a second layer 3-2, a third layer 3-3, and a fourth layer 3-4. The difference from the example of FIG. 5 is that the lands 33-1 to 33-4 provided at one end of the wiring layer are shifted in the Y direction in accordance with the positions of the tips of the terminals 14-1 to 14-4. It is in.

  Similarly, in the present embodiment, the support base 51 having an inclined portion 54 having an angle of θ1 with respect to the XY plane which is the reference plane of the wiring board 3 is screwed to the common wiring board 4 (see FIG. (Not shown). The wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 of the wiring board are installed along the side surface 53 and the inclined portion 54 of the support base 51, and the lands 33-1 to 33-4 provided at one end of the wiring layer are The positions of the end faces of the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 are determined so as to be exposed on the inclined portion 54. After the positions of the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 are determined, the wiring layers 3-1 to 3-4 are fixed by screws or the like (not shown) with the fixture 55. The inclination angle θ1 is COSθ1 = T3 / (3 × Px) in advance in relation to the total X-direction pitch Px at the tips of the terminals 14-1 to 14-4 and the thickness direction distance T3 in the wiring board 3. By determining as much as possible, it is possible to make the Z-direction positions (or coordinates) of the lands 33-1 to 33-4 substantially equal.

  By adopting the structure as described above, the terminal 14 is brought into direct contact with the lands of all the wiring layers without changing the position in the Z direction of the tip of the terminal 14 in advance, that is, without changing the dimension of the deformed portion of the terminal 14. It becomes possible.

  In this way, the Z-direction coordinates of the connection position between the n-th probe terminal and the n-th layer land and the Z-direction coordinates of the connection position of the (n + 1) -th probe terminal and the (n + 1) -th land are approximately equal. This is a technical feature of the present invention.

  A probe card that facilitates the inspection of electrical characteristics of a narrow-pitch semiconductor chip and solves the problem of connection between a narrow-pitch probe assembly and a wiring board having a connection land having a coarse pitch. Is industrially useful.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Probe assembly 2 LSI pad 3 Wiring board 4 Common wiring board 5 Connection part 10 Probe 11 Probe tip 12, 13 Spring part 14 Terminal 15 Resin film 16 Conductive part 31 Insulating film 32 Wiring pattern 33 Land 34 Through hole 42 Common land 45 Conductor pattern 46 Common pogo pin 51 Support base 53 Side surface 54 Inclined portion 55 Fixing tool

Claims (7)

A probe assembly in which a plurality of the probes including a terminal directly connected to the probe and arranged in a direction opposite to the probe is regularly arranged, and a wiring board composed of a plurality of layers,
In the probe card for connecting the n-th terminal and a connection land formed at one end of the n-th layer of the wiring board to conduct the probe and the wiring board,
A vertical (Z direction) coordinate of the nth connection position between the nth terminal and the nth layer land, and a Z + 1th connection position Z between the n + 1th terminal and the land of the (n + 1) th layer. A probe card characterized in that the direction coordinates are substantially equal.   The probe card according to claim 1, wherein a portion near the connection position of the wiring board including the connection land is fixed with an inclination angle with respect to a surface (XY plane) of the wiring board.   2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the terminal generates a spring force in the Z direction, contacts the connection land with a repulsive force of a spring, and is not constrained in a plane direction (XY direction).   2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein a part or all of each layer of the wiring board is a flexible flat cable.   2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein a part or all of each layer of the wiring board is a multilayer printed laminated board.   The probe constituting the probe assembly is formed by using a resin film to which a copper alloy foil is bonded and finely processing the copper alloy foil to form a conductive portion including a probe and a terminal portion on the resin film. The probe card according to claim 1.   There are a plurality of probes having different shapes in which the distance between adjacent terminals in the probe longitudinal direction (X direction) becomes a rough pitch of approximately 0.5 mm or more when the probe assembly is configured. Item 1. The probe card according to Item 1.

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