JP2913344B2 - An inspection device and an inspection method for a semiconductor element. - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[Object of the Invention]

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device inspection apparatus.
And inspection methods.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a large number of semiconductor elements are simultaneously formed on a semiconductor wafer by a precision photographic transfer technique or the like, and then cut into individual semiconductor elements (semiconductor chips) along scribe lines.

In the manufacturing process of such a semiconductor device, inspection of electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device in a state of a semiconductor wafer (before cutting) using a so-called wafer prober and tester, and a so-called handler and tester have been used. Inspection of the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device after packaging is performed.

In an environmental test for examining a change in electrical characteristics over a long period of time (for example, several tens of hours) in a high-temperature environment or a low-temperature environment, for example, a tray or the like in which a large number of IC sockets are arranged is used. This is performed only for the semiconductor device after the IC terminal is inserted into the socket and packaged. This is because the environmental test takes a long time as described above, and it is practically impossible to perform an environmental test using a wafer prober or the like in a state of a semiconductor wafer before cutting into chips in terms of throughput. is there. In other words, when performing an environmental test of a semiconductor device after packaging, an environmental test is performed simultaneously for thousands to tens of thousands of semiconductor devices using the above-described tray or the like, but in a state of a semiconductor wafer using a conventional wafer prober. When an environmental test is performed, it takes, for example, several tens of hours to perform an environmental test on one semiconductor wafer (for example, several tens to one hundred and several tens of semiconductor elements are formed) with one wafer prober. In order to simultaneously perform the environmental test of the semiconductor device, several tens to several hundreds of wafer probers are required, which is practically difficult.

[0006]

However, as is well known, in recent years, for example, a mounting method such as directly attaching a semiconductor element (chip) to a substrate without packaging it (for example, T
AB has been developed, and in such a case, since the semiconductor element does not enter a package state, a terminal that can be inserted into a socket is not used, and thus the above-described environmental test cannot be performed. Also, for example, when an environmental test is performed after mounting a semiconductor element (semiconductor chip) on a substrate, if the semiconductor element becomes defective, it is not easy to replace only the semiconductor element. Not desirable from a viewpoint.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an apparatus for inspecting a semiconductor device capable of easily and efficiently performing an environmental test of a semiconductor device in a state of a semiconductor wafer. And an inspection method.

[Structure of the Invention]

[0009]

That is, according to the method for inspecting a semiconductor device of the present invention, a wafer support on which a semiconductor wafer is mounted and electrode pads of a plurality of semiconductor devices formed on the semiconductor wafer are provided. using a lid the corresponding probe is arranged, said probe and electrical measurement device and the inspection jig provided with the electrode terminal for making electrical connection, provided on the wafer support The lid is fixed on the support so that the electrode pads of the semiconductor wafer are in contact with the probe, and the inspection jig is placed under a predetermined inspection environment in this state, The electrical characteristics of the semiconductor element are measured via the electrode terminal and the probe. In addition, the inspection equipment
A wafer support on which c is mounted, and on the semiconductor wafer
Corresponding to each electrode pad of multiple formed semiconductor elements
A lid on which a probe is arranged, and the probe and an electrical measuring device;
And an electrode terminal for performing electrical connection of
A plurality of inspection jigs and the inspection jigs are accommodated, and the inside is heated.
And a tunable environmental test oven.
I do.

[0010]

The inspection device and the inspection device for a semiconductor device of the present invention having the above configuration are provided.
In the inspection and inspection method, an environmental test of a semiconductor device in a state of a semiconductor wafer, which cannot be conventionally performed, can be easily and efficiently performed.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an inspection jig 1 is formed, for example, in a rectangular plate shape as a support for supporting a semiconductor wafer 2 on which a large number of semiconductor elements (semiconductor chips) to be inspected are formed. The semiconductor wafer 2 is configured to be placed at a predetermined position on the tray 3.

The tray 3 is formed of a plate-like body having substantially the same size as the tray 3 and has probes corresponding to the electrode pads of all the semiconductor elements formed on the semiconductor wafer 2. The lid 5 on which the needles 4 are arranged is the tray 3
It is arranged so as to cover the top. An electrode terminal 6 on which electrode terminals electrically connected to the respective probes 4 are arranged is provided at a predetermined portion of the lid 5, for example, on the side, and an external electric terminal is provided via the electrode terminal 6. It is configured to make an electrical connection between a measuring device (for example, a tester described later) and each probe 4.

Further, the lid 5 is provided with a clamp mechanism 8 which is rotatable around a fulcrum 8a as shown by an arrow in FIG. ing. The gap between the lid 5 and the tray 3 is held by the spacer 7 so as not to be less than a predetermined distance, and the lid 5 and the tray 3 are detachably and integrally held at a predetermined pressure by the clamp mechanism 8. It is configured as follows.

That is, conventionally, when an inspection is performed by a probe device or the like, there is a variation in the height of the probe tip, and therefore, a constant distance and a constant pressure are applied from the position where the probe tip and the electrode pad are in contact. The probe and the electrode pad are reliably brought into electrical contact by applying so-called overdrive to press the probe and the electrode pad. In this embodiment, each probe 4 and the semiconductor wafer are placed in the same state as the above-mentioned overdrive state by applying overdrive by pressing with the clamp mechanism 8 and limiting this overdrive amount by the spacer 7. It is configured to make contact with the second electrode pad.

The spacer 7 and the clamp mechanism 8 can be variously modified. For example, they can be provided on the tray 3 side instead of the lid 5 side, or can be formed separately from the lid 5 and the tray 3. You can also do. As the fixing method, for example, any one of a mechanical clamping mechanism and a fixing mechanism using a screw can be used. However, since it is necessary to fix the lid 5 and the tray 3 in an accurately positioned state, it has a degree of freedom to move the relative position between the lid 5 and the tray 3 to some extent before fixing. And, after being fixed, these relative positions must be immovable. Also,
In this embodiment, in order to carry out an electrical inspection of all the semiconductor elements formed on the semiconductor wafer 2, the semiconductor wafer 2
The lid 5 having the probes 4 corresponding to the electrode pads of all the semiconductor elements formed on the semiconductor wafer 2 is used. For example, when it is sufficient to perform an electrical inspection of a part of the semiconductor elements on the semiconductor wafer 2, the inspection is performed. The one provided with the probe 4 only for the semiconductor element to be implemented may be used.

The tray 3 and the lid 5 are brought into contact with each other in a state where the probes 4 provided on the lid 5 are accurately positioned so as to surely come into contact with the respective electrode pads on the semiconductor wafer 2. The wafer is conveyed in a state of being fixed by 8, and housed in, for example, an oven or the like, and an environmental test is performed.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of an automatic inspection apparatus for automatically performing an electrical inspection of semiconductor elements on a semiconductor wafer 2 using the inspection jig 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic inspection apparatus 10 includes a wafer accommodating section 11, a tray accommodating section 12, and a lid accommodating section 13 for accommodating a plurality of semiconductor wafers 2, a tray 3, and a lid 5, respectively, for example, in a shelf shape. Each of these storage sections is provided with a wafer transfer mechanism 14, a tray transfer mechanism 15, and a cover transfer mechanism 16 for loading and unloading the semiconductor wafer 2, the tray 3, and the cover 5 into and from each storage section. ing.

A belt transport mechanism 17, for example, is provided beside each of the above transport mechanisms as a transport mechanism capable of sequentially transporting a plurality of trays 3 and the like, and along a transport path of the belt transport mechanism 17. A position recognizing unit 1 for recognizing the positions of the semiconductor wafer 2 and the lid 5 by image analysis or the like, for example.
8, a clamp assembly mechanism 19 for assembling the tray 3 and the lid 5, and an assembly transport mechanism 20 for transporting the assembled tray 3, the lid 5 and the semiconductor wafer 2 (assembly).
And an environmental test oven 21 configured to be able to accommodate a large number of the assemblies in, for example, a shelf shape and to be able to maintain the inside at a predetermined environment, for example, a predetermined temperature.

In the automatic inspection apparatus 10 having the above configuration, first,
The tray 3 in the tray accommodating section 12 is taken out by the tray transport mechanism 15 and the tray 3 is moved to the pelt transport mechanism 17.
Place on the upper predetermined position.

Next, the semiconductor wafer 2 in the wafer accommodating section 11 is taken out by the wafer transfer mechanism 14, and coarse positioning is performed by detecting the position of the orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer 2, for example. Is placed at a predetermined position on the tray 3.

Thereafter, the position of the semiconductor wafer 2 (electrode pad) on the tray 3 is recognized by the position recognition unit 18 by taking an image with, for example, a CCD camera or the like. Move this tray 3
Then, the semiconductor wafer 2 is transferred to the clamp assembly mechanism 19.

At the same time as the above operation, the lid transport mechanism 1
6, the cover 5 in the cover housing 13 is taken out, and the position of the cover 5 (probe 4) is similarly recognized by the position recognizing unit 18; Conveyed to 19.

Then, based on the position recognition result, the lid 5 is arranged on the tray 3 in the clamp assembling mechanism 19 so that the probe 4 accurately contacts each electrode pad on the semiconductor wafer 2. 5 is placed on the tray 3 and the semiconductor wafer 2 is sandwiched between the
And tray 3 are fixed.

Thereafter, the belt transport mechanism 17 is moved by a predetermined distance to unload the assembly comprising the lid 5, the tray 3, and the semiconductor wafer 2 from the clamp assembly mechanism 19, and the assembly transport mechanism 20 moves the assembly. Is placed in the oven 21. The oven 21 is configured so that a plurality of, for example, several tens of assemblies can be stored in a shelf shape, and a plurality of the ovens 21 are arranged. In the oven 21, an electrical connection mechanism (not shown) is provided corresponding to the electrode terminal 6 provided on the lid 5, and a tester is provided via the electrical connection mechanism, the electrode terminal 6 and the probe 4. The semiconductor device 1 is configured to be electrically connected to an electrode pad of a semiconductor element formed on the semiconductor wafer 2.

When a predetermined number of assemblies are arranged in each oven 21, an opening / closing mechanism (not shown) of the oven 21 is closed, and the inside is set to a predetermined environment, for example, a predetermined temperature. Electrical inspection of each semiconductor element of the wafer 2 is sequentially performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the environmental test of each semiconductor element in the state of the semiconductor wafer 2 which could not be performed conventionally can be easily and efficiently performed. Therefore, even when the semiconductor device after cutting is directly mounted on a substrate without packaging by TAB or the like, an environmental test of each semiconductor device can be performed before mounting the semiconductor device on the substrate. As a result, the production efficiency can be improved.

[0028]

As described above, according to the semiconductor device inspection apparatus and method of the present invention, it is possible to easily and efficiently perform an environmental test of a semiconductor device in a state of a semiconductor wafer. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an inspection jig used in a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic inspection apparatus used in the method of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inspection jig 2 Semiconductor wafer 3 Tray 4 Probe 5 Probe 6 Electrode terminal 7 Spacer 8 Clamp mechanism 8a

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-151845 (JP, A) JP-A-4-207675 (JP, A) JP-A-62-278661 (JP, A) JP-A-64-18233 (JP) JP-A-3-89528 (JP, A) JP-A-63-204621 (JP, A) JP-A-1-170870 (JP, A) Fully-opened 4-59943 (JP, U) Really-opened 62-167176 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/66 G01R 31/26

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A wafer support on which a semiconductor wafer is mounted ; a lid on which probes corresponding to respective electrode pads of a plurality of semiconductor elements formed on the semiconductor wafer are arranged; Using an inspection jig provided with an electrode terminal for making an electrical connection with an electrical measurement device, the electrode pads of the semiconductor wafer provided on the wafer support, and the probe are The lid is fixed on the support so as to be in contact with the support. In this state, the inspection jig is arranged under a predetermined inspection environment, and the electrical connection of the semiconductor element is performed through the electrode terminal and the probe. A method for inspecting a semiconductor device, comprising measuring characteristics. 2. A wafer support on which a semiconductor wafer is mounted.
When, Each of a plurality of semiconductor elements formed on the semiconductor wafer
A lid on which a probe corresponding to the electrode pad is arranged, For making an electrical connection between the probe and an electrical measuring device;
An inspection jig having an electrode terminal; An environmental test in which a plurality of the inspection jigs are
Semiconductor device provided with a test oven
Inspection equipment.