JP2015115376A - Prober system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a prober system applicable to various wafers of different diameter, and suppressing crack or damage of a wafer due to the load of a probe acting on the wafer.SOLUTION: A prober system 1 includes a wafer chuck 10 for holding a wafer W, a probe card 20 for electrically inspecting a die formed on the surface of the wafer W, and wafer transfer means 100 for transferring the wafer W. The wafer transfer means 100 includes a holding arm 110 having a Bernoulli nozzle opening to the surface facing the surface of the wafer W and delivering air flow, and an air supply section for supplying compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle, passing the wafer W before inspection to the wafer chuck 10, and lifting the wafer W after inspection from the wafer chuck 10 by the negative pressure of an air flow therefrom.

Description

  The present invention relates to a prober system including a probe card for electrically inspecting a die formed on a wafer.

  In a semiconductor manufacturing process, various processes are performed on a thin disk-shaped wafer to form a die on the surface of the wafer. After the electrical characteristics are inspected, the die is separated by a dicer and fixed to a lead frame or the like for assembly. In the inspection of the electrical characteristics of the die, a probe is applied to the electrode of the die, the power supply and test signal are supplied from the tester, and the signal output from the die is measured by the tester to check whether the die operates normally. A prober system is used for inspection.

  As such a prober system, a wafer chuck for vacuum-sucking and holding a wafer, a probe card for electrically inspecting a wafer by connecting a die electrode and a tester via a probe, and a wafer cassette for accommodating the wafer And a wafer chuck are known (see Patent Document 1).

  As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in order to carry the wafer W without touching the die formed on the front surface wa of the wafer W, the wafer chuck 50 is provided with a back surface wb of the wafer W. Supporting lifter pins 51 are provided.

  The lifter pins 51 are provided so as to be able to move up and down in the pin holes 52 opened on the mounting surface 50 a of the wafer chuck 50. When the wafer W is placed on the wafer chuck 50, the lifter pins 51 are placed in the pin holes 52. Is housed in. The wafer W placed on the wafer chuck 50 is supplied with a negative pressure such as a vacuum pump (not shown) connected via a vacuum suction path 54 to a suction groove 53 formed on the placement surface 50a on which the wafer W is placed. The apparatus is vacuum-sucked on the placement surface 50a.

  When probing is finished and the vacuum suction of the wafer W is released, the lifter pins 51 rise above the mounting surface 50a of the wafer chuck 50 to lift the wafer W upward, and the wafer W, the wafer chuck 50, The wafer transfer means inserted in the gap supports the wafer W and transfers it to the wafer cassette.

JP2009-224672A.

  However, in the prober system as described above, when a probe (not shown) above the wafer chuck 50 is pressed against the wafer W to inspect the electrical characteristics of the die, the back surface is positioned above the pin hole 52 of the wafer chuck. In the non-support region F where the wb is not supported, the wafer W may be deformed and damaged or cracked by the load of the probe.

  In addition, it is conceivable to arrange the lifter pins 51 so as to support the peripheral edge of the wafer W on which no die is formed. However, such lifter pins 51 can deal only with the wafer W having a single diameter. there were.

  Therefore, it is possible to deal with various wafers with different diameters, and there are technical problems to be solved in order to suppress the cracking and damage of the wafer due to the load of the probe acting on the wafer. The present invention aims to solve this problem.

  The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and the invention according to claim 1 is a wafer chuck for holding a wafer and a probe card for electrically inspecting a die formed on the surface of the wafer. And a wafer transfer means for transferring a wafer before inspection from a wafer cassette to the wafer chuck, and transferring a wafer after inspection from the wafer chuck to the wafer cassette, wherein the wafer transfer means Has a main body portion having a facing surface facing the surface of the wafer, a Bernoulli nozzle that opens to the facing surface and discharges an air flow, and an air supply portion that supplies compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle. The wafer before the inspection is transferred to the wafer chuck, and the wafer after the inspection is lifted from the wafer chuck by the negative pressure due to the air flow. Providing a prober system comprising a holding arm that.

  According to this configuration, the holding arm lifts the wafer placed on the wafer chuck with a negative pressure acting on the wafer by the air flow discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle without contacting the die, so that Compared to a prober system that lifts the wafer by providing lift pins, the entire back surface of the wafer can be supported by the mounting surface, so the load that the wafer receives from the probe even when pressing the probe against a thin wafer It is possible to suppress the cracking and damage of the wafer caused by the above.

  Further, since the holding arm lifts the wafer from the mounting surface without contacting the die of the wafer regardless of the diameter of the wafer, the holding arm can be used for various wafers having different diameters.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the prober system according to the first aspect, the Bernoulli nozzle of the holding arm provides a prober system arranged radially on the facing surface.

  According to this configuration, the Bernoulli nozzles that are arranged radially discharge the air flow evenly over the entire wafer, so that the wafer on the wafer chuck is lifted in parallel. The wafer can be reliably delivered.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to the first or second aspect, the holding arm includes a prober system provided with a stopper that is provided on the opposite surface and can contact the peripheral edge of the wafer. provide.

  According to this configuration, since a frictional force is generated between the wafer and the stopper, the wafer can be prevented from being displaced due to the momentum of the air flow discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to the third aspect, the stopper is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the facing surface and is capable of contacting a small-diameter wafer. A prober system that is arranged on the outer peripheral side and is configured to be higher than the inner peripheral stopper, the outer peripheral stopper being configured to be capable of contacting a large diameter wafer that is larger in diameter than the small diameter wafer. I will provide a.

  According to this configuration, two types of wafers having different diameter dimensions are brought into contact with the inner peripheral side stopper or the outer peripheral side stopper according to the diameter dimension of each wafer, and positional deviation is suppressed. Since the outer peripheral stopper is higher than the inner peripheral stopper, the holding arm holds the large-diameter wafer without contacting the inner peripheral stopper. be able to.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the wafer chuck is disposed below the holding arm when the holding arm holds the wafer. Provided prober system.

  According to this configuration, even if the compressed air that is supplied to the Bernoulli nozzle and holds the wafer is interrupted by a power failure, the wafer chuck receives the wafer that has dropped from the holding arm, so that the wafer that has dropped from the holding arm is damaged. Can be reduced.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the wafer chuck includes a Bernoulli nozzle that opens to a placement surface on which the wafer is placed, and the Bernoulli nozzle. An air supply unit for supplying compressed air to the wafer, a Bernoulli suction mechanism for drawing the wafer substantially parallel to the mounting surface, and a negative pressure for supplying a negative pressure into the suction recess formed on the mounting surface Provided is a prober system having a supply device and a vacuum suction mechanism that sucks a wafer drawn substantially parallel to the placement surface onto the placement surface.

  According to this configuration, even when a gap is generated between the back surface of the thinly warped wafer and the mounting surface of the wafer chuck, the mounting surface is substantially parallel to the negative pressure due to the air flow discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle. Since the wafer chuck is vacuum-sucked to the mounting surface while being warped and is corrected, the wafer chuck reliably vacuum-sucks the entire wafer. And angle deviation can be suppressed.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the wafer transfer means mounts the pre-inspection wafer taken out from the wafer cassette and performs the inspection. A prober system comprising a load / unload arm that delivers a previous wafer to the holding arm, mounts the wafer after inspection received from the holding arm, and stores the wafer after inspection in the wafer cassette; provide.

  According to this configuration, the load / unload arm transports the wafer between the wafer cassette and the holding arm, so that the wafer before inspection can be smoothly attached to the holding arm, or the wafer after inspection can be loaded from the holding arm. It can be stored smoothly.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to the seventh aspect, the load / unload arm includes a hand portion that mounts the wafer on a surface, and an opening in the surface to place the wafer on the surface. A Bernoulli nozzle that draws substantially parallel to the Bernoulli nozzle, an air supply that supplies compression to the Bernoulli nozzle, a Bernoulli suction mechanism that draws the wafer substantially parallel to the surface, and a suction recess formed on the surface. Provided is a prober system having a negative pressure supply device for supplying a negative pressure, and a vacuum suction mechanism for adsorbing a wafer drawn substantially parallel to the surface to the surface.

  According to this configuration, the thinly warped wafer is attracted in vacuum with the negative pressure caused by the air flow discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle to be substantially parallel to the surface and the warpage is corrected, and thereby the load / The unload arm can reliably vacuum-suck the entire wafer and suppress wafer positional deviation and angular deviation while the wafer is mounted.

  According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in addition to the prober system according to the seventh or eighth aspect, the load / unload arm is used when the wafer is transferred between the holding arm and the load / unload arm. And a prober system that moves below the holding arm.

  According to this configuration, the load / unload arm moves the wafer to the lower side of the holding arm and delivers the wafer to the holding arm, so that the holding arm removes the wafer with the negative pressure of the air flow discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle. It is possible to prevent the wafer from being inadvertently dropped by avoiding the movement in the held state.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the prober system according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, the load / unload arms are provided independently of each other, and the wafer before inspection is the wafer. Provided is a prober system comprising a load arm that is taken out from a cassette and delivered to the holding arm, and an unload arm that receives the inspected wafer from the holding arm and accommodates it in the wafer cassette.

  According to this configuration, after the unload arm receives the inspected wafer from the holding arm, the load arm delivers the uninspected wafer to the holding arm, so that the holding arm and the inspected wafer are inspected. Since the wafer can be exchanged smoothly, the wafer can be taken out and stored smoothly.

  The present invention can cope with various wafers having different diameters, and even when a thin wafer is probed, cracking and damage of the wafer due to the load that the wafer receives from the probe can be suppressed.

The perspective view which shows the prober system which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows a wafer chuck, (a) is a top view, (b) is II-II sectional view, (c) is an enlarged view of the A section shown in (b). It is a figure which shows a holding | maintenance arm, (a) is a bottom view, (b) is a III-III line cross-sectional enlarged view. It is a figure which shows an unload arm, (a) is a top view, (b) is IV-IV sectional view, (c) is an enlarged view of the B section shown in (b). . The figure which shows the procedure in which a wafer chuck corrects the curvature of a wafer and carries out vacuum suction. The figure which shows the procedure in which an unload arm correct | amends the curvature of a wafer, and carries out vacuum suction. The figure which shows the procedure which conveys the wafer after a test | inspection. (A) is a top view which shows the conventional wafer chuck | zipper, (b) is a VIII-VIII sectional view taken on the line of the wafer chuck shown to (a).

  The present invention is applicable to various wafers having different diameters, and a wafer chuck for holding a wafer in order to achieve the object of suppressing the cracking and damage of the wafer due to the load of the probe acting on the wafer. And a probe card for electrically inspecting a die formed on the surface of the wafer, and a wafer transport for transporting a wafer before inspection from the wafer cassette to the wafer chuck and a wafer after inspection from the wafer chuck to the wafer cassette. A wafer transfer means comprising: a main body having a facing surface facing the surface of the wafer; a Bernoulli nozzle that opens to the facing surface and discharges an air flow; and compresses the Bernoulli nozzle An air supply unit that supplies air, and transfers the wafer before inspection to the wafer chuck, and the wafer after inspection by air flow Realized by that it comprises a holding arm to lift the wafer chuck with pressure.

  Hereinafter, a prober system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The prober system 1 includes a prober main body 2 and a loader unit 3, and a probe card for electrically inspecting a wafer chuck 10 for holding a wafer W and a die (not shown) formed on the surface wa of the wafer W. 20, a wafer transfer means 100 for transferring the wafer W to the wafer chuck 10, and a wafer cassette 30 for storing the wafer W.

  The wafer chuck 10 is mounted on a known moving stage (not shown) and can move in the prober main body 2 in a three-dimensional direction.

  The probe card 20 electrically inspects the die by connecting a die and a tester (not shown) via the probe 21. The probe card 20 is fixed at a predetermined position in the prober main body 2. When probing the wafer W, the wafer chuck 10 moves below the probe card 20 and the wafer chuck 10 is raised. By approaching the probe card 20, the probe 21 is pressed against the die.

  The wafer transfer means 100 includes a holding arm 110, a load arm 120 as a load / unload arm, and an unload arm 130.

  The holding arm 110 is detachably attached to the side wall 2a of the probe main body 2. The holding arm 110 is expanded horizontally when in use, and is folded along the side wall 2a of the probe main body 2 when not in use. Thereby, the prober main-body part 2 can be installed in a space-saving manner. The holding arm 110 receives the uninspected wafer W taken out from the wafer cassette 30 by the load arm 120 and transfers it to the wafer chuck 10. Further, the holding arm 110 receives the inspected wafer W from the wafer chuck 10 and transfers it to the unload arm 130.

  The load arm 120 and the unload arm 130 are attached to the tip of a robot (not shown) disposed in the loader unit 3 and move between the prober main unit 2 and the loader unit 3 according to the expansion and contraction of the robot. can do. Although the load arm 120 and the unload arm 130 according to the present embodiment are provided independently of each other, they may be integrated. By providing the load arm 120 and the unload arm 130 independently of each other, the holding arm 110 smoothly exchanges the wafer W after the inspection and the wafer W before the inspection so that the wafer W can be taken out and stored smoothly. It can be carried out.

  The load arm 120 carries the wafer W before inspection accommodated in the wafer cassette 30 and carries it to the holding arm 110.

  The unload arm 130 receives the inspected wafer W from the holding arm 110 and transports it to the wafer cassette 30.

  Next, specific configurations of the wafer chuck 10 and the wafer transfer means 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the load arm 120 and the unload arm 130 have the same configuration, the unload arm 130 will be described below, and the description of the load arm 120 will be omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2 </ b> B, and 2 </ b> C, the wafer chuck 10 is formed with a larger diameter than the wafer W. The wafer chuck 10 has a Bernoulli suction mechanism A1 composed of a Bernoulli nozzle 11 opening on the mounting surface 10a on which the wafer W is mounted and an air supply unit 12 for supplying compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle 11, and a mounting surface 10a. And a vacuum suction mechanism B1 including a negative pressure supply device 14 that supplies a negative pressure to the suction groove 13 having a minute width as a suction recess formed concentrically.

  The Bernoulli nozzle 11 is connected to the air supply unit 12 via the air communication path 15, and the air flow discharged from the opening 11 a of the Bernoulli nozzle 11 is directed toward the back surface wb of the wafer W placed on the wafer chuck 10. Thus, the opening 11 a of the Bernoulli nozzle 11 is arranged on the inner side of the periphery of the wafer W. The pressure and supply time of the compressed air supplied to the Bernoulli nozzle 11 are appropriately adjusted according to the warpage amount and thickness of the wafer W.

  The Bernoulli nozzles 11 are arranged radially on the placement surface 10a. The Bernoulli nozzle 11 is attached so as to be inclined upward from the radially inner periphery side to the outer periphery side of the wafer chuck 10, and the air discharged from the opening 11 a along the inclined surface 11 b of the Bernoulli nozzle 11. The flow easily passes between the back surface wb of the wafer W and the mounting surface 10 a of the wafer chuck 10.

  The suction groove 13 is connected to the negative pressure supply device 14 via the vacuum communication path 16. The suction grooves 13 may be arranged in a lattice shape. Further, a fine suction hole may be provided instead of the suction groove 13.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the holding arm 110 has a disk-shaped main body 111 having a facing surface 111a having a diameter larger than that of the wafer W and facing the surface wa of the wafer W, and a facing surface 111a. A Bernoulli nozzle 112 that opens to the nozzle, and an air supply unit 113 that supplies compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle 112. Note that the shape of the main body 111 is not limited to a disk shape, and may be changed as appropriate according to the weight and diameter of the wafer W.

  The Bernoulli nozzle 112 is connected to the air supply unit 113 via the communication path 114. The Bernoulli nozzle 112 has six openings 112a arranged radially on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side on the opposing surface 111a. As a result, an air flow is evenly discharged over the entire wafer W so that the wafer W is lifted in parallel. The holding arm 110 has two types having different diameters depending on the installation position of the Bernoulli nozzle 112. (For example, a wafer having a diameter of 6 inches and a wafer having an diameter of 8 inches) can be held.

  The Bernoulli nozzle 112 is attached so as to be inclined downward from the radially inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side of the main body 111, and is discharged from the opening 112 a along the inclined surface 112 b of the Bernoulli nozzle 112 to remove the wafer W. The air flow lifted by the negative pressure easily passes between the surface wa of the wafer W and the facing surface 111a of the holding arm 110. The pressure and supply time of the compressed air supplied to the Bernoulli nozzle 112 are appropriately adjusted according to the weight of the wafer W.

  Further, the holding arm 110 includes a stopper 115 that can contact the periphery of the wafer W. Thereby, the frictional force between the wafer W and the stopper 115 prevents the wafer W held by the holding arm 110 from being displaced due to the momentum of the air flow discharged from the opening 112a of the Bernoulli nozzle 112. It has become.

  The stopper 115 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the facing surface 111a and can contact the small diameter wafer W1, and the outer peripheral side stopper 116 is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the facing surface 111a and can contact the large diameter wafer W2. 117. The outer peripheral side stopper 117 is erected higher in the vertical direction V than the inner peripheral side stopper 116. Thus, two types of wafers W1 and W2 having different diameters can be held, and the large-diameter wafer W2 can be held without contacting the inner peripheral side stopper 116.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, the unload arm 130 includes a disk-shaped hand portion 131 that has a diameter larger than that of the wafer W and places the wafer W on the surface 131a, and a hand portion. A base 132 that connects 131 to a robot (not shown), a Bernoulli suction mechanism A2 that draws the wafer W substantially parallel to the surface 131a, and a vacuum suction mechanism B2 that vacuum-sucks the wafer W to the surface 131a are provided. Note that the shape of the hand portion 131 is not limited to a disk shape, and may be appropriately changed according to the weight and the diameter of the wafer W.

  The Bernoulli suction mechanism A2 includes a Bernoulli nozzle 133 that opens to the surface 131a and draws the wafer W in a negative pressure substantially parallel to the surface 131a, and an air supply unit 134 that supplies compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle 133.

  The Bernoulli nozzle 133 is connected to the air supply unit 134 via the air communication path 135. The opening 133 a of the Bernoulli nozzle 133 is disposed on the inner side of the periphery of the wafer W so as to discharge an air flow to the back surface wb of the wafer placed on the hand unit 131. The openings 133a of the Bernoulli nozzle 133 are arranged radially on the surface 131a. The pressure and supply time of the compressed air supplied to the Bernoulli nozzle 133 are appropriately adjusted according to the warp amount and hardness of the wafer W.

  The Bernoulli nozzle 133 is attached so as to be inclined upward from the radially inner periphery side to the outer periphery side of the hand portion 131, and the air discharged from the opening 133a along the inclined surface 133b of the Bernoulli nozzle 133. The flow easily passes between the back surface wb of the wafer W and the surface 131a of the unload arm 130.

  The vacuum suction mechanism B2 is connected to a suction groove 136 having a small width as a suction recess formed concentrically on the surface 131a via a vacuum communication path 137, and a negative pressure supply device that creates a negative pressure in the suction groove 136. 138. The suction grooves 136 may be arranged in a lattice shape. Further, a fine suction hole may be provided instead of the suction groove 136.

  Next, a procedure when the wafer chuck 10 and the unload arm 130 correct the warpage of the wafer W and vacuum-suck it will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, when the substrate W whose peripheral edge is warped upward is placed on the wafer chuck 10, compressed air is supplied to the Bernoulli nozzle 11 as shown in FIG. 5B. The air flow passes between the back surface wb of the wafer W and the mounting surface 10a of the wafer chuck 10. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5C, a negative pressure is generated between the wafer W and the wafer chuck 10, and the wafer W is drawn substantially parallel to the mounting surface 10a to correct the warpage. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5D, the wafer W whose warpage has been corrected is vacuum-sucked on the mounting surface 10 a by the negative pressure applied to the negative pressure supply device 13.

  In this way, the wafer chuck 10 can adsorb the entire back surface wb of the wafer W and securely hold the wafer W in a state where the warpage of the wafer W placed on the wafer chuck 10 is corrected.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6A, when a substrate W whose peripheral edge is warped upward is placed on the hand portion 131 of the unload arm 130, as shown in FIG. 6B, Bernoulli. Compressed air is supplied to the nozzle 133, and an air flow passes between the back surface wb of the wafer W and the surface 131 a of the unload arm 130. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6C, a negative pressure is generated between the wafer W and the hand portion 131, and the wafer W is drawn substantially parallel to the surface 131a to correct the warpage. . Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6D, the wafer W whose warpage has been corrected is vacuum-adsorbed on the surface 131 a by the negative pressure applied to the negative pressure supply device 134.

  In this way, in a state where the warpage of the wafer W mounted on the unload arm 130 is corrected, the unload arm 130 sucks the entire back surface wb of the wafer W and securely holds the wafer W. Can do.

  Next, a procedure for transferring the wafer W between the wafer chuck 10 and the wafer transfer means 100 will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the procedure before the wafer to be inspected is transferred from the load arm 120 to the wafer chuck 10 via the holding arm 110 and the wafer W after the inspection from the wafer chuck 10 via the holding arm 110 to the unload arm 130. Since the former is performed using the load arm 120 and the latter is performed using the unload arm 130, the only difference is that the former is the reverse procedure of the latter. Hereinafter, the latter will be described, and description of the former will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the wafer chuck 10 on which the inspected wafer W is placed is positioned below the main body 111 of the holding arm 110 and approaches the main body 111.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the wafer chuck 10 approaches the holding arm 110 to a distance where the wafer W can be delivered, the wafer chuck 10 releases the negative pressure applied to the wafer W. . Thereafter, the holding arm 110 lifts the wafer W with the negative pressure generated by the air flow discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle 112 as described above.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the holding arm 110 holds the wafer W, the wafer chuck 10 moves below the main body 111, and the unload arm 130 moves between the holding arm 110 and the holding arm 110. The hand part 131 approaches the main body part 111. The wafer chuck 10 is positioned below the holding arm 110 while the holding arm 110 holds the wafer W. Thereby, even when the air flow for lifting the wafer W due to a power failure or the like is interrupted and the wafer W falls from the holding arm 110, the wafer chuck 10 receives the wafer W and can reduce damage to the wafer W. it can.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7D, when the unload arm 130 approaches a distance that can receive the wafer W from the main body 111, the holding arm 110 is applied to the wafer W via the Bernoulli nozzle 112. Release the negative pressure. Thereafter, the wafer W falls onto the hand unit 131 and is delivered to the unload arm 130. When the hand unit 131 receives the wafer W, compressed air may be discharged from the Bernoulli nozzle 133 of the unload arm 130 to reduce the impact of dropping the wafer W.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7E, when the unload arm 130 vacuum-sucks the wafer W onto the surface 131a after correcting the warp of the wafer W as described above, the unload arm 130 carries the wafer W. .

  As described above, the prober system 1 according to the present embodiment described above can be applied to the wafer W having any diameter, and the wafer chuck can be compared with a conventional wafer chuck having lift pins. 10 supports the entire back surface wb of the wafer W with the mounting surface 10a, so that even when a thin wafer W is probed, the wafer W can be prevented from being broken or damaged by the load received from the probe. .

  The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention naturally extends to the modified ones.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Prober system 2 ... Prober main-body part 2a ... Side wall 3 ... Loader part 10 ... Wafer chuck 10a ... Mounting surface 11 ... Bernoulli nozzle 11a ... Opening 11b. .... Inclined surface 12 ... Air supply part 13 ... Adsorption groove (adsorption recess)
14 ... Negative pressure supply device 15 ... Air communication passage 16 ... Vacuum communication passage 20 ... Probe card 21 ... Probe 30 ... Wafer cassette 100 ... Wafer transfer means 110 ... Holding arm 111 ... Body 111a ... Holding surface 112 ... Bernoulli nozzle 112a ... Opening 112b ... Inclined surface 113 ... Air supply part 114 ... Communication path 115 ... Stopper 116 ... Inner peripheral side stopper 117 ... Outer peripheral side stopper 120 ... Load arm 130 ... Unload arm 131 ... Hand part 131a ... Surface 132 ... Base part 133 ... Bernoulli nozzle 133a ... Opening 133b ... Inclined surface 134 ... Air supply part 135 ... Air communication path 136 ... Suction groove (Suction recess)
137 ... Vacuum communication path 138 ... Negative pressure supply device A1 ... Bernoulli suction mechanism (for wafer chuck) A2 ... Bernoulli suction mechanism (for unload arm) B1 ... Vacuum (for wafer chuck) Suction mechanism B2 ... Vacuum suction mechanism (of unload arm) W ... Wafer W1 ... Small diameter wafer W2 ... Large diameter wafer wa ... (Wafer) surface wb ... (Wafer) Back side

Claims (10)

A wafer chuck for holding a wafer, a probe card for electrically inspecting a die formed on the surface of the wafer, a wafer before inspection from the wafer cassette to the wafer chuck, and the wafer after inspection to the wafer chuck A prober system including a wafer transfer means for transferring the wafer cassette to the wafer cassette,
The wafer transfer means includes
A main body having an opposing surface facing the surface of the wafer, a Bernoulli nozzle that opens to the opposing surface and discharges an air flow, and an air supply unit that supplies compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle, A prober system comprising: a holding arm that delivers a wafer before inspection to the wafer chuck and lifts the wafer after inspection from the wafer chuck with a negative pressure by the air flow.   The prober system according to claim 1, wherein the Bernoulli nozzles of the holding arms are arranged radially on the facing surface.   3. The prober system according to claim 1, wherein the holding arm is provided with a stopper which is erected on the facing surface and capable of contacting a peripheral edge of the wafer. The stopper is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the facing surface and can contact a small diameter wafer, and the stopper is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the facing surface and can contact a large diameter wafer larger than the small diameter wafer. And an outer peripheral side stopper,
4. The prober system according to claim 3, wherein the outer peripheral side stopper is erected higher than the inner peripheral side stopper.   5. The prober system according to claim 1, wherein the wafer chuck is disposed below the holding arm when the holding arm holds the wafer. The wafer chuck is
A Bernoulli nozzle that opens to a mounting surface on which the wafer is mounted; an air supply unit that supplies compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle; and a Bernoulli suction mechanism that draws the wafer substantially parallel to the mounting surface;
A vacuum suction mechanism that has a negative pressure supply device that supplies a negative pressure in the suction recess formed on the placement surface, and that sucks the wafer drawn substantially parallel to the placement surface to the placement surface;
The prober system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:   The wafer transfer means places the pre-inspection wafer taken out from the wafer cassette, delivers the pre-inspection wafer to the holding arm, and places the post-inspection wafer received from the holding arm. 7. The prober system according to claim 1, further comprising a load / unload arm for storing the inspected wafer in the wafer cassette. The load / unload arm is
A hand portion for mounting the wafer on the surface;
A Bernoulli nozzle that opens to the surface and draws the wafer substantially parallel to the surface, and an air supply unit that supplies compressed air to the Bernoulli nozzle, and draws the wafer substantially parallel to the surface. When,
A vacuum suction mechanism that has a negative pressure supply device for supplying a negative pressure into the suction recess formed on the surface, and that sucks the wafer drawn substantially parallel to the surface to the surface;
8. The prober system according to claim 7, further comprising:   9. The load / unload arm moves below the holding arm when the wafer is transferred between the holding arm and the load / unload arm. Prober system.   The load / unload arm is provided independently of each other, a load arm that takes out the wafer before inspection from the wafer cassette and transfers it to the holding arm, and receives the wafer after inspection from the holding arm. The prober system according to claim 7, comprising: an unload arm accommodated in the wafer cassette.

Images