JP2516377B2 - Probe device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a probe device.

(Prior Art) There is a wafer inspection apparatus as an apparatus for inspecting a semiconductor wafer. This inspection apparatus inspects by electrically contacting an electrode pad of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) with a probe needle. However, since the needle tip is oxidized, it is appropriately polished. When contacting the electrode pad, the solder scraped off adheres to the probe needle and contacts the adjacent electrode pad. Therefore, the needle is appropriately polished. As a means for polishing the probe needle, for example, there is a method in which a flat plate-like polishing body is vertically vibrated vertically, and in this method, the bottom surface of the probe needle is polished to remove residues or reduce the tip, and Polished to prevent it from becoming thick.

For the means for polishing the above-mentioned stylus, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-17.
No. 41 publication.

After the probe needle of the probe card is oxidized and worn away, it is polished with a conventional plate-shaped polishing body, and then contacted with the electrode pad of the wafer chip, the tip of the probe needle is polished parallel to the electrode pad surface of the chip. Therefore, the tip of the probe needle is brought into surface contact so as to cover the electrode pad surface.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of the conventional probe device, the operator judges the polishing time of the probe needle based on his experience and intuition, and the operator makes a flat plate-like polishing body for each polishing operation. Since the probe needles are installed and polished, there are variations in the polishing time, and more time is required for the setup of the polishing work.
There is a problem that the electrical inspection efficiency of the semiconductor wafer is reduced.

In addition, it is impossible to make contact by breaking through the oxide film on the surface of the electrode pad, and since the contact is not made as if it bites into the surface of the electrode pad, the contact between the stylus and the electrode pad becomes incomplete.
There is a problem that even a good chip is determined to be a defective chip.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and automatically switches between electrical inspection of a semiconductor wafer and polishing of a probe needle to automate polishing work and always use the probe needle in a good state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a probe device that can be used.

[Structure of Invention]

(Means for Solving Problems) A probe device of the present invention is a probe device for electrically inspecting a semiconductor wafer by electrically contacting a probe needle provided on a probe card with a semiconductor wafer, and polishing the probe needle. A holding body that holds the polishing body, a storage unit that stores the polishing body that is held by the holding body, a handling device that exchanges the polishing body between the storage unit and the holding body, and the handling device. A moving unit for holding the taken-out polishing body by the holding body and moving it on the base; and a vertically moving unit for vertically moving the holding body moved to the lower side of the probe needle by this moving unit, After inspecting a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers, the polishing apparatus is automatically taken out from the storage section onto the holding body by the handling device, and the moving section moves the lower part of the probe needle under the probe needle. After being moved to the side, the holding body is moved up and down by the vertical movement unit to polish the probe needle, and after polishing, the polishing body is returned to the storage unit.

(Operation) According to the present invention, after the semiconductor wafer is brought into contact with the probe needle of the probe card to perform a predetermined number of electrical inspections of the semiconductor wafer, the polishing body is automatically placed on the holding table from the storage portion by the handling device. After taking out and holding this polishing body on a holding table, the moving body moves the polishing body to the lower side of the probe needle, and then the up-and-down moving unit is driven, whereby the polishing needle polishes the probe needle, and after polishing, The polishing body can be automatically returned to the storage unit.

(Example) An example of the probe device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a probe card (2) consisting of a plurality of probe needles (1) arranged so as to be gathered at the center of a probe disk is fixed, for example, a fixed base (3) of a head plate (3) of a wafer inspection apparatus. Fix to 4).

Probe card (2) fixed to this fixing base (4)
The vacuum suction table (5) as a holder is moved parallel to the surface of the probe card (2) by the operation of the vacuum suction table moving section (6) as a moving section while keeping a certain distance to the lower side.

After the vacuum suction table (5) reaches the lower side of the probe card (2) by the vacuum suction table moving section (6), the vacuum suction table vertical moving section (7) as the vertical moving section moves the vacuum suction table. Move (5) up and down.

On the vacuum suction table (5), the probe card (2) and the inner wall (1) of the tip portion (1a) of the probe needle (1) are attached.
Abrasive body (8) for polishing b) is adsorbed and fixed.

The structure of the polishing body (8) is formed in a trapezoidal cross section so as to cross the inner side wall (1b) surrounded by the tips (1a) of the plurality of probe needles (1) of the probe card (2). The polishing piece (8a) has a structure in which a disk (8b) is provided on the bottom surface of the polishing piece (8b) in the suction direction of the vacuum suction table (5).

For example, the tip portions (1
The polishing surface (8
The polishing body (8) provided with c) has a trapezoidal cross section and a base of 8 mm.
X Ceramic piece with upper side 5 mm x height 5 mm, polishing piece (8a) processed with ceramic material surface roughness # 2000 to # 2500 is φ60
It is configured to be fixedly attached to a ceramic member or an aluminum member with a thickness of mm x 1 mm.

Further, the structure of the other polishing body (9) has a reverse cross section so as to cross the outer wall (1c) surrounded by the tips (1a) of the plurality of probe needles (1) of the probe card (2). The polishing piece (9a) is formed in a trapezoidal shape and has a structure in which a disk (9b) is provided on the bottom surface of the polishing piece (9a) in the suction direction of the vacuum suction table (5). .

For example, the tip portions (1a) of the plurality of probe needles (1)
Polished surface (9c) diagonally crossing the outer wall (1c) surrounded by
Another polishing body (9) provided with the inclined surface of the concave groove has an inverted trapezoidal cross section and is formed in a concave groove shape, and the top side is 6 mm × the bottom side is 4 mm × the depth is 4 mm.
A ceramic piece of dimensions, the polishing piece (9a) processed with ceramic surface roughness # 2000 to # 2500 of the polishing surface is fixed to a ceramic member of φ60 mm × thickness 1 mm or an aluminum member in the same manner as above. It has been configured. These abrasive bodies are structured to contact the probe needle (1) and separate the separating operation as follows.

That is, the vacuum suction table (5) sucking the bottom surface of the polishing body is moved to a position below the probe card (2) by the vacuum suction table moving section (6) to a predetermined position and stopped.

A vacuum suction table vertical moving part (7) for vertically moving the vacuum suction table (5) is connected to a main shaft (10) of the vacuum suction table (5).

In this embodiment, the structure for moving the vacuum suction table (5) up and down by the vacuum suction table vertical moving part (7) is as follows.

A spindle (10) is provided so as to be perpendicular to the bottom surface of the vacuum suction table (5) that adsorbs the polishing body (8), and a shaft hole is provided so as to be orthogonal to one end of the spindle (10). Insert the eccentric shaft (11) into the hole, mount both ends of the eccentric shaft (11) on the support, and further install the pulse motor of the drive unit (12) at one end of the eccentric shaft (11). It has a combined structure.

That is, when the eccentric shaft (11) is rotated by the drive unit (12), the main shaft (10) orthogonal to the eccentric shaft (10) by the difference in the eccentric amount.
Is configured to move up and down. The position control of the vacuum suction table up-and-down moving section (7) thus configured is such that the position of the vacuum suction table (5) is controlled by the number of pulses input to the drive section (12). Here, the position control of the drive unit (12) is possible as shown in FIG. 3 by using the basic data (13) of the position control information or the input data (14).

The vacuum suction table vertical moving part (7) having the vacuum suction table (5) mounted thereon is erected on the advancing suction table moving part (6) which moves the X-axis rail laid on the base of the probe device. The vacuum suction table moving unit (6) can move the vacuum suction table (5) from the lower side of the probe card to a transfer position of a handling arm (16) as a handling device of the wafer supply unit (15) (first). (See Figure 3).

Further, an alignment section (17) for extracting the arrangement information of the polishing body (8) on the way from the lower side of the probe card to the transfer position is provided. The alignment section (17) recognizes the pattern of the arrangement shape of the abrasive body (8) fixed by suction. By comparing this pattern recognition information with the probe needle (1) position information of the probe card (2) in advance,
The vacuum suction table (5) is moved in the circumferential direction and XY.

In addition, the handling arm (16) takes out the polishing body (8) from the polishing body storage (19) as a storage portion which is arranged in parallel with the wafer storage (18) and mounts it on the vacuum suction table (5). It is configured as follows.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, after a predetermined number of wafers (20) have been inspected, the handling arm (16) moves the polishing body (8) from the polishing body storage (19) to the vacuum suction table (5). ) Automatically picked up on the vacuum suction table moving part (6)
After moving it to the lower side of the probe needle (1) by means of, the vacuum suction table (5) is moved up and down by the vacuum suction table vertical movement part (7), and the probe needle (1) is polished by the polishing body (8). After polishing, the polishing body (8) is configured to be driven in the reverse order of the above-described operation and returned to the polishing body storage (19).

That is, in FIG. 3, the wafer supply section (15) is provided with a storage (18) for the wafer (20) and a polishing storage (19). The wafer (20) taken out from the storage (18) of the wafer (20) is supplied to the vacuum suction table (5) by the handling arm (16).

The vacuum suction table (5) to which the wafer (20) is fixed by suction is moved to the lower side of the probe card (2) by the vacuum suction table moving section (6).

The vacuum suction table (5) is lifted by the vacuum suction table vertical movement part (7), and the probe card (2) is attached to the electrode pad (not shown) of the chip of the wafer (20) suction-fixed to the vacuum suction table (5). The probe needle (1) is in contact with the probe card (2) and is conducted to the tester with a contact lead wire (not shown) drawn from the probe card (2) for inspection.

After the inspection, the wafer (20) is withdrawn along the path and stored in the storage (18). After a predetermined number of wafers (20) are inspected by repeating this, the counting unit (21) connected to the wafer supply unit (15) of the probe device counts the number of wafers (20) and the number of wafers becomes a predetermined number. When it reaches, it outputs a signal and inputs it to the polishing control section (22).

Upon receiving this signal, the polishing control section (22) temporarily stops the supply of the wafer (20) by the wafer supply section (15),
Instead of the wafer (20), place the polishing body (8) in the polishing body storage (1
9) From wafer supply part (15) to handling arm (1
Take it out at 6) and fix it on the vacuum suction table (5) by suction. The vacuum suction table (5) is moved to the alignment section (17), and the alignment section (17) moves the lower side of the probe card (2) after pattern recognition of the arrangement of the polishing body (8). Here, the pattern recognition is already known, and is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-246645, and a description thereof will be omitted here.

The vacuum suction table (5) arranged below the probe card (2) rises based on the input data (14) or the basic data (13). By raising the vacuum suction table (5),
The position where the probe needle (1) obliquely contacts the polished surface is visually observed through a microscope. By this visual observation, the initial contact position between the polishing surface (8c) and the probe needle (1) is artificially extracted.
The height of the vacuum suction table (5) at the time of this initial contact is stored by the position control system provided in the vacuum suction table vertical movement part (7). A small amount of height is raised or lowered based on this initial contact position.

Therefore, the probe needle (1) of the probe card (2) obliquely contacts the inner wall (1b) of the tip of the probe needle (1) in a slanting manner, and further rises by a predetermined amount and then falls by a predetermined amount, and the probe needle (1) is repeated several times. Polish the inner wall (1b) of the.

After being polished, it is moved out like the wafer (20) and stored in the polishing body storage (19).

Thus, the probe needle (1) of the probe card (2)
Since it is ground regularly, the inspection is always performed while maintaining a normal stylus state, so high-quality and reliable inspection is possible.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the wafer (20)
While inspecting, the counting unit (21) counts the number of inspected wafers (20), and when the inspected number reaches a predetermined number,
An electric signal is output from the counting unit (21) and the polishing control unit (22)
After stopping the supply of the wafer (20) through the wafer, the polishing body (8) is automatically taken out in the same manner as the wafer (20), and the vacuum suction table moving part (6) and the vacuum suction table vertical moving part (7) are taken out. The probe needle (1) can be automatically polished by the polishing body (8) via the tool so that the probe needle can always be used in a good state, and after polishing, the vacuum suction table vertical moving part (7) is lowered. Thus, the polishing body (8) can be returned without interfering with the probe needle (8). That is, according to the present embodiment, the electrical inspection of the semiconductor wafer (20) and the polishing of the probe needle (1) can be automatically switched, and the polishing work can be performed without the need for an operator as in the conventional case. It can be automated.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the vacuum suction table moving unit (6) moves along the uniaxial rail laid on the base,
It is possible to precisely control the movement of the polishing body (8) on the base. Further, since the counting unit (21) for counting the predetermined number of wafers (20) to be electrically inspected before polishing is provided, the number of wafers (20) to be electrically inspected can be set appropriately depending on the type of the wafers (20) to be electrically inspected. it can.

In the above-described embodiment, the probe device is an automated device, but a manual probe device can be similarly polished. For example, since a manual probe device does not have an alignment portion, the probe needle of the probe card is moved in and out so that the polishing body comes into contact with the probe needle and positioned. After this position is set, the polishing body and the vacuum suction table are suction-fixed, and thereafter, polishing is performed by vertically moving in a direction orthogonal to the vacuum suction table.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, after moving the polishing body for polishing the probe needle to the lower side of the probe card only when necessary by the moving unit, the probe needle is polished by the vertical movement unit, and at other times. Since the original electrical inspection of the semiconductor wafer is performed, the electrical inspection of the semiconductor wafer and the polishing of the probe needle are automatically switched to automate the polishing work so that the probe needle can always be used in a good condition. It is possible to provide a probe device capable of doing so.

Further, since the moving unit moves along the uniaxial rail laid on the base, it is possible to provide a probe device capable of accurately controlling the movement of the polishing body on the base. Further, since a counting unit for counting a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers to be electrically inspected before polishing is provided, it is possible to provide a probe device capable of appropriately setting the number of semiconductor wafers to be electrically inspected depending on the type. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view for explaining a structure for polishing an inner wall of a probe needle of a probe card by using a polishing body in the probe device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of the probe card for the inspection body shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the structure for polishing the outer wall of the stylus, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the probe device of FIG. 1 ... probe needle, 1a ... tip, 1b ... inner wall, 1c ... outer wall, 8 ... polishing body, 8a ... polishing piece, 8b ... disc, 8c ... polishing surface, 9 ... … Other abrasives, 9a …… Abrasive piece, 9b …… Disk, 9c …… Abraded surface.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A holding device for holding a polishing body for polishing the probe needle in a probe device for electrically inspecting a semiconductor wafer by electrically contacting a probe needle provided on a probe card, and the holding body. A storage unit for storing the polishing body to be held by, a handling device for transferring the polishing body between the storage unit and the holding body, and the polishing body taken out by the handling device is held by the holding body. The handling device is provided with a moving part for moving on the base and a vertical moving part for vertically moving the holder moved to the lower side of the probe needle by this moving part, after inspecting a predetermined number of the semiconductor wafers. After that, the polishing body is automatically taken out from the storage section onto the holding body, and is moved to the lower side of the probe needle by the moving section, and then the holding body is moved up and down. More moved vertically by polishing the probe needle, after polishing the probe apparatus of the semiconductor wafer, characterized by returning the abrasive member to the housing portion. 2. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the moving unit moves along a uniaxial rail laid on the base. 3. The probe apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a counting unit for counting a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers to be electrically inspected before polishing.