JP2019149407A - Load distribution plate and prober - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a lightweight load distribution plate capable of effectively distributing a load of a prober and a prober including the load distribution plate.SOLUTION: A load distribution plate 102 according to the present invention includes a honeycomb structure plate 106 that is installed between a support leg 32 that supports a prober 10 and a floor 100 and has a partition wall 106B in which a plurality of cells 106A are partitioned and formed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a prober for inspecting electrical characteristics of a plurality of chips formed on a semiconductor wafer, and a load distribution plate for installing the prober on a floor surface.

  The semiconductor manufacturing process has a large number of processes, and various inspections are performed in various manufacturing processes in order to guarantee quality and improve yield. For example, wafer level inspection is performed when a plurality of chips (also referred to as semiconductor devices) are formed on a semiconductor wafer.

  The wafer level inspection is performed using a prober in which a probe is brought into contact with an electrode pad of each chip (for example, see Patent Document 1). The probe is electrically connected to the terminals of the test head, supplies power and test signals from the test head to each chip via the probe, and detects the output signal from each chip to check whether it operates normally. Measure.

  In the semiconductor manufacturing process, in order to reduce manufacturing costs, wafers have been increased in size and further miniaturized (integrated), and the number of chips formed on one wafer has become extremely large. ing. Along with this, the time required for inspecting one wafer with a prober has also become longer, and an improvement in throughput is required. Therefore, in order to improve the throughput, multi-probing is performed in which a large number of probes are provided so that a plurality of chips can be inspected simultaneously.

  On the other hand, as the simplest method for improving the throughput, it is conceivable to increase the number of probers. However, when the number of probers is increased, there is a problem that the installation area of the prober in the production line also increases. Further, when the number of probers is increased, the cost of the apparatus increases accordingly. Therefore, it is required to improve throughput by suppressing an increase in installation area and an increase in apparatus cost.

  To solve such a problem, Patent Document 2 discloses a prober having a plurality of measurement units stacked in a multi-stage shape. This prober has a laminated structure in which a plurality of measuring units are laminated in a multistage manner. For this reason, since wafer level inspection can be performed for each measurement unit, throughput can be improved while suppressing an increase in installation area and an increase in apparatus cost.

JP 2009-60037 A JP 2014-150168 A

  By the way, the prober is usually provided with a plurality of support legs (for example, level pads) at the bottom of the prober body (housing). The prober is installed on the floor of the clean room of the semiconductor factory through these support legs, and the floor of the clean room is often of a grating structure. A grating structure floor has a lower load resistance than a concrete floor.

  When a prober enlarged in the height direction as in Patent Document 2 is installed on a floor having such a grating structure, the load of the prober applied to the floor from the support leg portion increases. Although a permissible load per unit area is set on the floor of the grating structure, the permissible load may be locally exceeded at the ground contact portion of the support leg.

  In order to avoid such a local load application, a metal plate (for example, an aluminum plate having a thickness of 10 mm or a stainless steel having a thickness of 5 mm) having a larger area than the ground contact area of the support leg is provided between the support leg and the floor. It is conceivable to lay a metal plate such as a plate. By using such a metal plate, since the load of the prober applied to the floor of the grating structure is dispersed, there is an advantage that the load applied per unit area of the floor can be reduced.

However, if the weight of the prober is considerably large, the thickness of the metal plate must be increased to withstand the load, and therefore the weight of the metal plate cannot be ignored. For example, assuming that a 1 m ² metal plate is laid, the weight of an aluminum plate having a thickness of 10 mm is 27 kg, and the weight of a stainless plate having a thickness of 5 mm is 40 kg. For this reason, even if the load of the prober can be dispersed by the metal plate, there is a concern that the total load of the prober including the metal plate exceeds the allowable load of the floor of the grating structure.

  This invention is made in view of such a situation, and it aims at providing the prober provided with the lightweight load distribution board which can disperse | distribute the load of a prober effectively, and the load distribution board. .

  In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the load distribution plate of the present invention is a load distribution plate installed between a support leg for supporting a prober and a floor surface, and the load distribution plate includes a plurality of load distribution plates. It has a honeycomb structure plate having partition walls in which cells are partitioned.

  In one embodiment of the load distribution plate of the present invention, the cross-sectional shape of the cell is preferably a hexagon or more.

  In one embodiment of the load distribution plate of the present invention, it is preferable that a back plate is provided on the floor side surface of the honeycomb structure plate.

  In one embodiment of the load distribution plate of the present invention, it is preferable that a surface plate is provided on a surface opposite to the floor surface of the honeycomb structure plate.

  In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the prober of the present invention is provided with the load distribution plate of the present invention on the support leg portion that supports the prober.

  One form of the prober of the present invention preferably has a plurality of measuring sections stacked in a multistage manner.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the prober provided with the lightweight load distribution board which can disperse | distribute the load of a prober effectively, and the load distribution board can be provided.

1 is an external view showing an overall configuration of a prober according to an embodiment of the present invention. The top view which showed the prober shown in FIG. The front view of the measurement unit which showed the internal structure of the measurement unit of FIG. Side view of the measurement unit showing the internal structure of the measurement unit of FIG. Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the measurement unit Schematic showing the measurement unit ready to start inspection The perspective view which showed the composition of the load distribution board Explanatory drawing explaining the load of the probe on the floor when the support legs are installed directly on the floor Explanatory drawing explaining the load of the probe on the floor when a metal plate is laid between the support leg and the floor Explanatory drawing explaining the load of the prober applied to the floor when the support leg is installed on the floor via the load distribution plate of the embodiment A perspective view showing another example of a load distribution plate

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external view showing an overall configuration of a prober 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the prober 10 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the prober 10 according to the embodiment is installed on a floor surface of a grating structure floor 100 that is a floor of a clean room via a load distribution plate 102. The load distribution plate 102 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of the load distribution plate of the present invention, and the load distribution plate 102 will be described later.

  The prober 10 includes a loader unit 14 that supplies and collects a wafer W (see FIG. 5) to be inspected, and a measurement unit 12 that is disposed adjacent to the loader unit 14 and includes a plurality of measurement units 16. In the measurement unit 12, when the wafer W is supplied from the loader unit 14 to each measurement unit 16, each measurement unit 16 performs an inspection (wafer level inspection) of electrical characteristics of each chip of the wafer W. The wafer W inspected by each measuring unit 16 is collected by the loader unit 14. The loader unit 14 and the measurement unit 12 are accommodated in a housing 30 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The prober 10 also includes an operation panel 21 and a control device (not shown) that controls each unit.

  The loader unit 14 includes a load port 18 on which the wafer cassette 20 is placed, and a transfer unit 22 that transfers the wafer W between each measurement unit 16 of the measurement unit 12 and the wafer cassette 20. The transport unit 22 includes a transport unit drive mechanism (not shown), is configured to be movable in the X direction and the Z direction, and is configured to be rotatable in the θ direction (around the Z direction). Further, the transport unit 22 includes a transport arm 24, and the transport arm 24 can be extended and retracted by the transport unit driving mechanism. A suction pad (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the transfer arm 24, and the transfer arm 24 holds the wafer W by vacuum-sucking the back surface of the wafer W with this suction pad. As a result, the wafer W in the wafer cassette 20 is taken out by the transfer arm 24 of the transfer unit 22 and transferred to the measurement units 16 of the measurement unit 12 while being held on the upper surface thereof. Further, the inspected wafer W that has been inspected is returned from each measuring unit 16 to the wafer cassette 20 through the reverse path.

  3 and 4 are diagrams showing the internal structure of the measurement unit 12 of FIG. 3 is a view of the measurement unit 12 as viewed from the front side (loader unit 14 side), and FIG. 4 is a view of the measurement unit 12 as viewed from the side surface side.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the measurement unit 12 has a stacked structure in which a plurality of measurement units 16 are stacked in multiple stages, and each measurement unit 16 is two-dimensional along the X direction and the Z direction. Are arranged. In the embodiment, as an example, the measurement unit 12 is shown in which four measurement units 16 are stacked in the X direction in three stages. For this reason, the prober 10 of the embodiment having such a measurement unit 12 has a structure that is enlarged in the height direction.

  The measurement unit 12 includes a housing 30 having a lattice shape obtained by combining a plurality of frames in a lattice shape. That is, the housing 30 is configured by combining a plurality of frames extending in the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction in a lattice shape, and the space surrounded by these frames has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. ing. And the component of the measurement part 16 is arrange | positioned in this space part.

  A plurality of support legs 32 for installing the housing 30 on the load distribution plate 102 are provided on the bottom 30 </ b> A of the housing 30. The support legs 32 are constituted by level pads, and the horizontal and height directions of the housing 30 with respect to the grating-structured floor 100 can be easily adjusted.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the measurement unit 16.

  As shown in FIG. 5, each measurement unit 16 has the same configuration, and includes a wafer chuck 50 for holding the wafer W, a head stage 52, a test head 54, a probe card 56, and a test. A pogo frame 58 interposed between the head 54 and the probe card 56 is provided.

  The test head 54 is supported above the head stage 52 by a support member (not shown). The test head 54 is electrically connected to the probe 66 of the probe card 56, supplies power and test signals to each chip for electrical inspection, and operates normally by detecting output signals from each chip. Measure.

  The head stage 52 is supported by a frame member 34 that constitutes a part of the housing 30, and has a pogo frame mounting portion 53 that has a circular opening corresponding to the planar shape of the pogo frame 58. The pogo frame mounting portion 53 has a positioning pin 63, and the pogo frame 58 is fixed to the pogo frame mounting portion 53 while being positioned by the positioning pin 63.

  The pogo frame 58 electrically connects each terminal formed on the lower surface of the test head 54 (surface facing the pogo frame 58) and each terminal formed on the upper surface of the probe card 56 (surface facing the pogo frame 58). A large number of pogo pins (not shown) connected to the. In addition, ring-shaped seal members 60 and 62 are provided on the outer peripheral portions of the upper surface (the surface facing the test head 54) and the lower surface (the surface facing the probe card 56) of the pogo frame 58, respectively. Then, the space surrounded by the test head 54, the pogo frame 58, and the seal member 60 and the space surrounded by the probe card 56, the pogo frame 58, and the seal member 62 are decompressed by the suction means (not shown), thereby performing the test. The head 54, the pogo frame 58, and the probe card 56 are integrated.

  The probe card 56 has a large number of probes 66 corresponding to the electrodes of each chip of the wafer W. Each probe 66 protrudes downward from the lower surface of the probe card 56 (surface facing the wafer chuck 50), and each terminal provided on the upper surface of the probe card 56 (surface facing the pogo frame 58). Is electrically connected. Therefore, when the test head 54, the pogo frame 58, and the probe card 56 are integrated, each probe 66 is electrically connected to each terminal of the test head 54 via each pogo pin of the pogo frame 58. Note that the probe card 56 of this example includes a large number of probes 66 corresponding to the electrodes of all the chips of the wafer W to be inspected, and in each measuring unit 16, all the chips of the wafer W held by the wafer chuck 50 are simultaneously detected. Inspection is performed.

  For example, the wafer chuck 50 sucks and fixes the wafer W by vacuum suction. The wafer chuck 50 is detachably supported by the alignment device 70 and can be moved in the X, Y, Z, and θ directions by the alignment device 70. A ring-shaped sealing member 64 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface (wafer mounting surface) of the wafer chuck 50. Then, the space surrounded by the probe card 56, the wafer chuck 50, and the seal member 64 is depressurized by suction means (not shown), whereby the wafer chuck 50 is drawn toward the probe card 56. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, each probe 66 of the probe card 56 comes into contact with the electrode pad of each chip of the wafer W so that the inspection can be started.

  As described above, the prober 10 according to the embodiment includes the measurement unit 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) having a stacked structure in which a plurality of measurement units 16 are stacked in multiple stages. It has a larger structure. For this reason, when this prober 10 is installed directly on the floor 100 (see FIG. 1) of the grating structure, the allowable load of the floor 100 may be locally exceeded at the ground contact portion of each support leg 32. Therefore, the prober 10 according to the embodiment lays the load distribution plate 102 in the installation area of the prober 10 of the floor 100, and grounds and fixes the support leg 32 to the load distribution plate 102, thereby fixing the prober applied to the floor 100. 10 loads are distributed. That is, the prober 10 of the embodiment is configured such that the load distribution plate 102 is provided on each support leg portion 32 and can be installed on the floor 100 via the load distribution plate 102.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the load distribution plate 102. The load distribution plate 102 includes a honeycomb structure plate 106, a front plate 104A disposed on one surface of the honeycomb structure plate 106, and a back plate 104B disposed on the other surface of the honeycomb structure plate 106. In other words, the load distribution plate 102 has a laminated structure (sandwich structure) in which the honeycomb structure plate 106 is sandwiched between the front plate 104A and the back plate 104B.

  As the honeycomb structure plate 106, the front plate 104A, and the back plate 104B, metal plates such as aluminum and stainless steel can be used. Further, the honeycomb structure plate 106, the front plate 104A, and the back plate 104B may be made of the same material or different materials. The front plate 104A and the back plate 104B can be made of a material other than a metal plate (for example, a resin material) as long as a predetermined mechanical strength (for example, rigidity such as bending rigidity) can be secured. .

  The honeycomb structure plate 106 is provided with partition walls (ribs) 106B in which a plurality of cells 106A are partitioned. Each cell 106 </ b> A is configured by a hole penetrating both surfaces of the honeycomb structure plate 106. Each cell 106A has a hexagonal cross-sectional shape. Note that the cross-sectional shape of each cell 106A is preferably a polygon having a triangular shape or more, particularly a hexagonal polygon. Thereby, the honeycomb structure board 106 can have a predetermined load distribution function.

  According to the load distribution plate 102 having such a laminated structure, for example, the load distribution plate 102 can be reduced in weight while ensuring a predetermined bending rigidity as compared with a configuration including only a metal plate. The prober 10 can be stably installed on the floor 100 without exceeding the allowable load of the floor 100.

  In the embodiment, as an example of a preferable aspect, the load distribution plate 102 has a configuration in which the front plate 104A and the back plate 104B are arranged on both surfaces of the honeycomb structure plate 106, but the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, the load distribution plate 102 may be composed of only the honeycomb structure plate 106. Moreover, the structure which has arrange | positioned the surface board 104A or the back board 104B in any one surface in the honeycomb structure board 106 may be sufficient. Even with the load distribution plate 102 of such a modification, the weight can be reduced and the prober 10 can be stably installed on the floor 100 without exceeding the allowable load of the floor 100.

  Here, the load between the load distribution plate 102 of the embodiment and a load distribution plate made of, for example, only a metal plate will be compared. For example, when the load distribution plate 102 of the embodiment is configured to have the same bending rigidity with respect to a conventional aluminum plate and a stainless steel plate, the load distribution plate 102 of the embodiment has a weight of 1/7 that of the aluminum plate. It can be constructed, and can be constructed with a weight of 1/11 that of the stainless steel plate.

  Therefore, according to the load distribution plate 102 of the embodiment, it is possible to reduce the weight while securing the bending rigidity of the conventional metal plate. Further, according to the prober 10 of the embodiment, since the load distribution plate 102 having the honeycomb structure plate 106 is provided on the support leg portion 32 of the prober 10, the load of the prober 10 applied to the floor 100 from the prober 10 is effective. It is possible to provide a prober 10 having a load distribution plate 102 that is dispersed in a distributed manner and lightweight.

  In addition, if the load distribution board 102 of embodiment is used, the following effects can also be expected.

  That is, on the basis of the bending rigidity, the thickness of the load distribution plate 102 can be made much thinner than the thicknesses of the aluminum plate and the stainless plate. For this reason, if the load distribution plate 102 according to the embodiment is used, it is advantageous for dimensional constraints in the height direction of the prober 10. Further, by providing the prober 10 with a thin load distribution plate 102, the center of gravity of the entire device is lowered, which is advantageous for vibration of the entire device including the load distribution plate 102.

  On the other hand, when the thickness of the load distribution plate 102 is thicker than the thickness based on the above bending rigidity, the load distribution plate 102 of the embodiment obtains bending rigidity much higher than that of the aluminum plate and the stainless plate. be able to.

  Hereinafter, the load of the prober 10 applied to the floor 100 will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The schematic diagram shown in FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the load of the prober 10 applied to the floor 100 when the support leg 32 of the prober 10 is directly installed on the floor 100. In FIG. 8, the magnitude of the load is indicated by an arrow. A line C indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 8 indicates the allowable load of the floor 100. When the load indicated by the arrow in FIG. 8 is above the line C, the load is allowable. When the magnitude of the load indicated by the arrow is below the line C, it indicates that the load exceeds the allowable load. The same applies to FIGS. 9 and 10 described below.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the load of the prober 10 is concentrated on the grounded portion of the floor 100 where the support leg 32 is grounded, and an allowable load excess portion A exceeding the allowable load of the floor 100 is generated at the grounded portion. There's a problem.

  The schematic diagram shown in FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the load of the prober 10 on the floor 100 when a metal plate 110 such as an aluminum plate or a stainless steel plate is laid between the support leg 32 and the floor 100. By using such a metal plate 110, the load of the prober 10 applied to the floor 100 is dispersed, so that the load applied per unit area of the floor 100 can be reduced. A line D indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9 indicates the load of the metal plate 110 applied to the floor 100.

  However, if the weight of the prober 10 becomes considerably large, the thickness of the metal plate 110 must be increased to withstand the load, and the weight also increases. For this reason, even if the load of the prober 10 can be dispersed by the metal plate 110, there is a problem that the allowable load excess portion A occurs at the ground contact portion of the support leg 32 due to the total weight of the prober 10 including the metal plate 110. is there.

  The schematic diagram shown in FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the load of the prober 10 on the floor 100 when the support leg 32 of the prober 10 is installed on the floor 100 via the load distribution plate 102 of the embodiment. A line E indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 10 indicates the load of the load distribution plate 102 applied to the floor 100.

  As shown in FIG. 10, by providing the prober 10 with the load distribution plate 102 having the honeycomb structure plate 106 (see FIG. 7), the load of the prober 10 applied to the floor 100 from the prober 10 can be effectively dispersed. . Moreover, since the load distribution plate 102 is thin and lightweight, the problem that the allowable load excess portion A occurs at the ground contact portion of the support leg portion 32 can be solved.

  As described above, according to the prober 10 of the embodiment, since the weight distribution plate 102 that is reduced in weight is provided, there is a problem specific to the structure that is enlarged in the height direction, in other words, the floor 100 having the grating structure. The problem of exceeding the allowable load can be solved. The prober 10 is not limited to the configuration in which the prober 10 is installed on the floor 100 via one load distribution plate 102, and may be installed on the floor 100 via a plurality of load distribution plates 102. For example, the load distribution plate 102 may be provided for each of the one or more support legs 32.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another example of the load distribution plate 102. The load distribution plate 102 in FIG. 11 is configured by laying a plurality of (six in FIG. 11) load distribution plates 102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, and 102F without gaps.

  The load distribution plates 102A to 102F are not provided with the honeycomb structure plate 106 (see FIG. 7) in the entire region, but are disposed in the H-shaped or cross-shaped region indicated by the region B. In the region B, the seismic fixing bracket 112 is fixed, and in the region excluding the region B, a plurality of slit-shaped holes 114 are formed. The support leg 32 is fixed to the earthquake-resistant fixing bracket 112, and the fixing bracket for fixing the load distribution plates 102A to 102F to the floor 100 of the grating structure is inserted into the hole 114.

  That is, the load distribution plates 102A to 102F shown in FIG. 11 need only be provided with the honeycomb structure plate 106 only in a necessary region B (for example, a region including the fixing position of the earthquake-resistant fixing bracket 112) among all the regions. Show. Here, in order to increase the load distribution capability of the load distribution plates 102A to 102F, it is preferable to provide the honeycomb structure plate 106 in the entire region of the load distribution plates 102A to 102F. However, since the load distribution plates 102A to 102F are used while being substantially fixed to the floor 100, the load distribution plates 102A to 102F need to be formed with the holes 114 into which the above-described fixing fittings are inserted. When the honeycomb structure plate 106 is arranged in the region where the hole 114 is formed in the load distribution plates 102A to 102F, the fixing metal fitting inserted from the hole 114 interferes with the honeycomb structure plate 106, which is not preferable.

  In view of this, the load distribution plates 102A to 102F of the embodiment have a configuration in which the honeycomb structure plate 106 is not disposed in the formation region of the holes 114, simplifying the insertion of the fixing bracket, and only the region B excluding the formation region of the holes 114. The structural plate 106 is arranged so as to obtain a load distribution capability. In addition, since the front plate 104A (see FIG. 7) and the back plate 104B exist in the formation region of the hole 114, the load distribution capability of the load distribution plates 102A to 102F as a whole is sufficiently maintained.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, when the load distribution plate 102 is configured by a plurality of load distribution plates 102A to 102F, the load distribution plates 102A to 102F can be handled more easily than a single large load distribution plate 102. Become. Thereby, the workability of the load distribution plates 102A to 102F with respect to the floor 100 is improved. Further, among the plurality of load distribution plates 102A to 102F, the number of load distribution plates 102A to 102F corresponding to the size of the prober 10 (surface area of the bottom portion 30A) may be selected. There is also an advantage that versatility is improved.

  Although the prober of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and it is needless to say that various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the load distribution plate of the present invention is not limited to the prober 10 having a plurality of measurement units 16 stacked in multiple stages, and can also be provided in a prober having one measurement unit.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Prober, 12 ... Measuring unit, 14 ... Loader part, 16 ... Measuring part, 18 ... Load port, 20 ... Wafer cassette, 21 ... Operation panel, 22 ... Transfer unit, 24 ... Transfer arm, 30 ... Housing, 50 ... wafer chuck, 52 ... head stage, 54 ... test head, 56 ... probe card, 58 ... pogo frame, 60 ... sealing member, 62 ... sealing member, 64 ... sealing member, 66 ... probe, 100 ... floating structure floor, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 ... Load distribution board, 102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F ... Load distribution board, 104 ... Planar member, 106 ... Honeycomb structure board, 110 ... Metal plate, 112 ... Earthquake-resistant fixing bracket, 114 ... Hole

Claims (6)

A load distribution plate installed between a support leg supporting the prober and the floor surface,
The load distribution plate has a honeycomb structure plate having partition walls in which a plurality of cells are partitioned.
Load distribution plate. The cross-sectional shape of the cell is a hexagon or more,
The load distribution plate according to claim 1. The load distribution plate is provided with a back plate on the floor side surface of the honeycomb structure plate.
The load distribution plate according to claim 1 or 2. The load distribution plate is provided with a surface plate on a surface opposite to the floor surface of the honeycomb structure plate.
The load distribution plate according to claim 1 or 2.   A prober, wherein the load distribution plate according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is provided on a support leg portion that supports the prober. Having a plurality of measuring sections stacked in a multi-stage shape,
The prober according to claim 5.

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