JP3096117B2 - Probe card inspection method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a probe card, and more particularly to an improvement in a method for displaying needle measurement images of a plurality of conductive measurement needles provided on a probe card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of semiconductor ICs formed on a wafer
A prober tester system is used to perform an electrical characteristic test of the above, and a probe card having a plurality of conductor measuring needles arranged according to the electrode pattern of each semiconductor IC is mounted on the prober. The probe card usually has a structure in which a plurality of conductive measuring needles such as tungsten are fixedly mounted on a substrate such as an epoxy resin, and the tip of the measuring needle is brought into contact with each electrode pad of a semiconductor IC which is an object to be measured. The desired electrical test is performed. The tip of such a measuring needle is usually bent into an L-shaped hook shape, and each measuring needle is brought into contact with, for example, a bonding pad, which is an electrode of a semiconductor IC chip, and an IC is electrically inspected by a tester. Will be

Therefore, the tip of the measuring needle of such a probe card must be arranged in a pattern that exactly corresponds to the electrode pattern of the IC chip to be measured, and its height accuracy must be strictly controlled. Similarly,
In order to ensure good electrical continuity with each bonding pad, the contact resistance at the tip must also be properly managed.

As described above, a probe card inspection apparatus has been put to practical use in order to correctly position a measurement needle of a probe card and to repair deformation or the like of the measurement needle that occurs during long-time use.

Conventionally, as a device for measuring the probe tip of the probe card, a measuring optical system having an optical lens and a CCD camera are provided in a part of a prober tester system as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-89102. Accordingly, there has been proposed an apparatus for measuring a probe tip position of a probe card at the time of alignment during wafer measurement.

However, such a measuring device has only a problem of knowing the approximate position of the needle tip, and cannot measure the height variation or the contact resistance. Since the measurement is performed in a floating state, there is a problem that the needle point pattern when the actual contact with the bonding pad of the wafer cannot be inspected.

FIG. 16 shows a schematic structure of a conventional probe card inspection apparatus, and according to this apparatus, the height and contact resistance of a measurement needle of a probe card can be inspected.

Referring to FIG. 16, an elevating unit 11 is supported on a base 10 so as to be vertically movable. An electrode plate 12 is fixed to an upper end of the elevating unit 11. And
A probe card 13 is fixed and held on the electrode plate 12 in parallel with the plate 12. Actually, the probe card 13 is fixed to a holder (not shown), and an arbitrary probe card 13 is detachably positioned to face the electrode plate 12. A tester 15 is connected between the electrode flat plate 12 and each group of the measuring needles 14 of the probe card 13 to accurately measure the contact state and the contact resistance in a state where the measuring needle 14 and the electrode flat plate 12 are in contact with each other. You.

In such a conventional apparatus, after the probe card 13 is fixed at a predetermined position, the electrode plate 12 is fixed.
Is moved to the probe card 13 side by the elevating unit 11, and the position where the first measuring needle 14 contacts the electrode plate 12 is recorded. The elevating unit 11 further moves the electrode flat plate 12 upward and records the contact position with each measuring needle 14, so that the height variation of each measuring needle 14 can be inspected. At the same time, the contact resistance between each measuring needle 14 and the electrode plate 12 can be inspected.

[0010]

The coordinate position of the needle tip of the measuring needle described above is an important inspection for correctly bringing the measuring needle into contact with the electrode pad of the IC wafer when actually inspecting the IC wafer using the probe card. Item.

When a defective needle position is detected during the probe card inspection, it is desired that the measuring needle be immediately repaired. Usually, such a needle tip repair is performed by correcting the measuring needle with tweezers or the like from a working hole provided on the back side of the probe card, but at the time of actual repair, the measuring needle is pressed against the electrode flat plate. In some cases, correct work cannot be performed properly only from the back side of the probe card, and usually, the work of correcting the probe card from the front side is also required by separating the probe card from the electrode plate.

[0012] When correcting such a measurement needle, it is useful for quick correction work to display the needle point position on which the image has been recognized on the display screen.

However, in the conventional apparatus, the needle tip image display displays only a table (needle tip) image in which the needle tip is viewed from one side, for example, the observation apparatus side such as a microscope.

Therefore, when the needle correction is performed from both sides of the probe card, there is a case where the measurement needle and the display image which the actual worker sees are reversed, and the display of the needle tip image is corrected. There was a problem that it could not be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to display an image in accordance with the actual orientation of a probe card even at the time of needle tip correction or when turning the probe card upside down. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved inspection method and apparatus .

[0016]

To achieve the above object of the Invention The present invention optionally needlepoint display on which an image has been recognized in the Table (tip) b menu <br/> over di and back (pad) Image The back (pad) image can be switched to the front (needle)
When the probe card is inverted with respect to the image
Is displayed . As a result, the present invention
According to manual switching or automatic switching
There is an advantage that the direction of the needle tip display can be arbitrarily selected.

The present invention also provides a probe car to be inspected.
A probe card holder for holding the probe card and the probe card
Observe the tip of the probe card held by the
Needle tip observation means, which is observed by the needle tip observation means.
A probe card detection device equipped with a
In the inspection device, a stylus tip is displayed on the display.
Arbitrarily cut between (needle tip) image and back (pad) image
The back (pad) image can be replaced with the front (needle)
First) If the probe card is inverted with respect to the image
It is characterized in that it is a needle point display of the case. Furthermore, the present invention
The probe card inspection device of the above is the probe card holder
Is configured to be rotatable in the reverse direction, and the probe card holder
Table (needle point) on the display corresponding to the reverse rotation of
Switch between image and back (pad) image
It is characterized by being performed.

[0018]

Therefore, according to the present invention, in a normal measurement state in which the measuring needle is pressed against the glass plate, it is necessary to display an image displayed as either a front (needle tip) image or a back (pad) image. When the probe card is reversed for correction or other purposes, the image display can be easily reversed manually or automatically in accordance with this, and the actual needle point is matched with the display to provide a display that is easy for the operator to see. Can be given.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of an apparatus to which the probe card inspection method according to the present invention is applied, showing a main mechanism inside the apparatus, and a side view seen from that direction. 2 is shown. According to the apparatus of this embodiment, not only the inspection of the needle tip slip characteristic of the present invention but also the measurement of the height variation and the contact resistance of the measuring needle can be performed.

The elevating unit 31 is placed on the inspection device base 30.
Is provided for moving the composite inspection board up and down in the Z direction with respect to the probe card to be measured, as will be described later, and the lifting unit 31 for moving the needle tip observation device in the horizontal direction. The moving mechanism is housed.

As is apparent from the figure, a composite inspection board 32 is slidably mounted on the upper surface of the elevating unit 31. The slide mechanism will be described in detail later. The substrate 32 has a structure in which an electrode plate 33 and a transparent glass plate 34 are juxtaposed on the same plane. The electrode flat plate 33 is formed of a low-resistance conductive plate having a conductor plated with gold, while the transparent glass flat plate 34 is formed of a glass plate having excellent light transmittance such as lead glass.

In the present embodiment, as is clear from the inspection procedure described later, the two flat plates 33 and 34 must be at the same height in a slid state. The height is fixed in a precisely adjusted state.

A probe card holder 35 is supported on the inspection apparatus base 30, and a probe card 36 to be measured is detachably mounted on the probe card holder 35. In the embodiment, the probe card holder 35 can be turned around a rotation axis fixed to the inspection apparatus base 30 so that the probe card 36 can be moved at the inspection position 200 by the measurement needle 37.
Is directed downward toward the composite inspection board 32 side. On the other hand, when the probe card holder 35 is turned over, the measuring needle 37 of the probe card 36 is exposed upward, and for example, the position of the measuring needle 37 can be corrected during an inspection.

Although not shown in detail in FIGS.
Each of the measurement needles 37 and the electrode plate 33 is electrically connected to a tester that measures a contact resistance between the measurement needle 37 and the electrode plate 33.

In this embodiment, the lifting unit 31
A needle tip observation device for observing the measurement needle 37 of the probe card 36 is mounted therein, and can be moved together with the composite inspection board 32 in the Z direction, that is, in the vertical direction by the lifting unit 31. This needle point observation device includes an optical microscope 38 and a CCD camera 39 in the embodiment,
At the inspection position 200, a desired tip of the measuring needle 37 can be image-recognized through the transparent glass plate 34.

The elevating unit 31 includes a Z stage 40, which can be moved up and down in the Z direction shown in the figure by a Z direction moving mechanism described later. Can be pressed against the measurement needle 37 of the probe card 36. An X stage 41 and a Y stage 42 are provided in the elevating unit 31.
8 and the CCD camera 39 can be moved in the X and Y directions to obtain a desired plane coordinate position.

As described above, the lifting unit 31
Can move the composite inspection board 32 up and down in the Z direction while supporting the needle tip observation device therein.
2 can be pressed against the measuring needle 37 of the probe card 36 or retracted from the measuring needle 37, and the height of each measuring needle 37 can be measured while changing the contact amount with the measuring needle 37 sequentially. Becomes Therefore, the electrode plate 33
When the transparent glass plate 34 is pressed against the measuring needle 37 by a predetermined amount, the coordinate of the tip of the transparent glass plate 34 is measured by the observation device. The pattern can be observed. At the time of observing the needle tip coordinate pattern, the optical microscope 38 carried by the elevating unit 31 is moved to a predetermined position by the XY tables 41 and 42, so that the plurality of measuring needles 37 can be sequentially observed.

FIG. 3 is an overall external view of the present embodiment. The mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is housed in the body cover 43. The probe card holder 35 can be inverted 180 ° about the axis 44 as shown by an arrow C. At the probe card holder position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, measurement is performed as shown in FIGS. When the measuring needle 37 of the probe card 36 is held downward on the composite test board 32 side so as to perform the above operation, when the measuring needle 37 of the probe card 36 is turned upward to the position shown by the chain line, the measuring needle 37 is opened upward. In this state, the position of each measuring needle 37 can be repaired very easily.

In FIG. 3, a personal computer 45 is built in the main body cover 43, performs predetermined data processing, and uses a well-known tester (not shown in detail) to connect each measuring needle 37 and the electrode plate 33 to each other. Is measured by the four-terminal method, and the measurement result is processed by the personal computer 45.

A monitor 46 and a personal computer display 47 are further mounted on the inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. The monitor 46 displays image information output from the observation apparatus after the image information is processed by the image processing apparatus. . On the other hand, a personal computer display 47 displays an output processed by the personal computer 45. These data processing outputs can be printed out by the printer 48 as needed. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the probe card 36 to be measured is mounted on the probe card holder 35, and the composite inspection board 32 is slid so that either the electrode plate 33 or the transparent glass plate 34 is moved. The height measurement, the contact resistance measurement, and the needle tip coordinate pattern measurement of the measuring needle 37 can be sequentially and continuously performed by using this method. These series of measurement procedures are performed automatically or manually in accordance with an instruction from the control panel 49. In the embodiment, the slide movement of the composite inspection board 32 is performed by pneumatic driving, while the lifting and lowering unit 31 The vertical movement in the Z direction and the horizontal movement of the XY tables 41 and 42 are performed by driving a pulse motor. The control panel 49 includes a joystick in the embodiment, and can manually move the XY tables 41 and 42 at any time.

Hereinafter, more detailed structures of the lifting unit 31 and the composite inspection board 32 and the probe card holder 3 will be described.
The fifth preferred embodiment will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 shows the lifting unit 3 in this embodiment.
One Z-direction movement mechanism is shown. Inspection device base 30
, Two Z receiving plates 50 and 51 are fixed upright, and the Z receiving plates 50 and 51 have Z slide plates 52 and 53 guided movably in the vertical direction. It is understood that by firmly fixing the Z slide plates 52 and 53, the Z stage 40 is supported on the inspection device base 30 so as to be vertically movable.

As is clear from the above description, this Z
The columns 54 and 55 are fixed to the stage, the composite inspection board 32 is supported via the columns 54 and 55, and an observation device including the optical microscope 38 and the CCD camera 39 described above is mounted together with the XY stage. In order to smoothly move the Z stage 40 in the vertical direction under the weight of these devices, a compression spring (not shown in detail) is provided between the inspection device base 30 and the Z stage 40. A pressure mechanism is provided.

In order to drive the Z stage 40 in the vertical direction, a Z pulse motor 56 is provided on the inspection device base 30.
Is fixed, and a pulley 5 fixed to the motor shaft is provided.
7 and a pulley 59 fixed to the lower end of the Z drive screw 58
A drive belt 60 is hung between the two and the Z drive screw 58 can be driven to rotate by the rotation of the Z pulse motor 56. The Z drive screw 58 is rotatably supported on the inspection device base 30 by a bearing 61, while a Z nut 62 is fixed to the Z stage 40,
By connecting the Z drive screw 58 to the Z nut 62 by screwing, the Z stage 4 is rotated by the rotation of the Z drive screw 58.
0 can be moved up and down to any height. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the composite test board 32 is pushed up toward the measuring needle 37 of the probe card 36 by the Z drive device shown in FIG. It can be known by a pulse, and in the embodiment, one feed pulse of the motor 56 is set to correspond to 1 μm in the Z direction. Therefore, according to the elevating unit 31, it is possible to measure the contact height between the composite inspection substrate 32 and the measuring needle 37 with an accuracy of 1 μm. By moving the Z pulse motor 56 at high speed, the composite inspection board 32 is
7 can be quickly retracted or moved at a high speed to a predetermined position.

FIG. 5 shows an XY drive mechanism of the needle point observation device in this embodiment. The X receiving plate 63 of the X stage 41 is fixed on the Z stage 40 shown in FIG. An X slide plate 64 is supported on the X receiving plate 63 so as to be slidable in the X direction.

Therefore, in the present invention, as described later, the needle point observation device automatically follows the needle points in accordance with the card data of the probe card 36 to be measured and automatically recognizes the images of all the needle points. Becomes possible.

The X receiving plate 63 has an X step motor 65
Is fixed, and X (not shown) fixed to its main shaft
The drive screw has an X fixed to the X slide plate 64.
The nut is screw-connected, and as a result, the X slide plate 64 can be moved to an arbitrary position by the rotation of the X step motor 65. In the embodiment, the movement in the X direction can be known by the number of pulses applied to the X step motor 65, but in this embodiment, the accurate X direction position is determined by the linear encoder 66 fixed to the X slide plate 64. Can be detected.

Similarly, a Y receiving plate 67 of the Y stage 42 is fixed to the X slide plate 64.
7, a Y slide plate 68 is slidably supported in the Y direction. Then, by rotating a Y step motor 69 fixed to the Y receiving plate 67, the Y drive screw 70 is screw-coupled to a Y nut 71 fixed to the Y slide plate 68, and the Y slide plate 68 It can be moved to a predetermined position in the direction. As with the X stage 41, Y
The stage 42 also has a linear encoder 73 fixed to the Y slide plate 68 so that the position in the Y direction can be accurately detected.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an optical microscope 38 and a CCD camera 39 are fixed to the Y slide plate 68 so that the observation position of the optical microscope 38 can be adjusted with respect to each measurement needle 37 of the probe card 36. It is possible to adjust to the needle point, and in the automatic measurement, while continuously moving the optical microscope 38 to each needle point position of the plurality of measurement needles 37,
The shape of the tip of the needle tip at this time can be displayed on the monitor 46 and the personal computer display 47.

The feature of this embodiment is that the composite inspection board 32 having the electrode plate 33 and the transparent glass plate 34
Is slid to either the inspection position 200 or the retracted position, and the height and the contact resistance of the measuring needle 37 are measured by the electrode flat plate 33, while the needle tip coordinate pattern of the measuring needle can be measured by the transparent glass flat plate 34. . FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the slide mechanism for the composite inspection board 32.

A column 5 provided on the Z stage 40
A slider receiving plate 74 is fixed to each of the slider receiving plates 74, and a slide plate 76 on which the composite inspection board 32 is mounted is slidably supported on a slide guide 75 provided on the slider receiving plate 74. For this purpose, the slide plate 76 is provided with guide pieces 77 and 78 that slide on the slide guide 75. In the embodiment, a pneumatic actuator 79 is provided to move the slide plate 76 by a stroke indicated by S, and the pneumatic actuator 79 includes a cylinder 80 and a piston rod 81, and the cylinder 80 is a slide receiving plate. The piston rod 81 is fixed to a bracket 82 fixed to the slide plate 76. Therefore, by operating the pneumatic actuator 79, the slide plate 76 carrying the composite inspection board 32 can be quickly moved to the left and right by the stroke S shown in the drawing, thereby moving either the electrode plate 33 or the transparent glass plate 34. It is possible to face the inspection position 200.

FIG. 7 shows a preferred embodiment of the probe card holder in this embodiment in detail.

In this embodiment, the composite inspection board 32 and the needle tip observation device are mounted in the elevating unit 31.
As a result, the probe card 36 to be measured must be positioned at the inspection position 200 such that the measurement needle 37 faces the upper surface of the composite inspection substrate 32.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the probe card 36 is mounted so that the measuring needle 37 faces downward. In this embodiment, the probe card holder 35 has a holder frame 83 for this purpose. The motherboard 84 is positioned and fixed by clamps 85 and 86,
The probe card 36 is mounted on the motherboard 84, and the measurement needle 37 is arranged downward at the measurement position.

One end of the holder frame 83 is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 87 provided on the inspection apparatus base 30, and the holder frame 83 can be turned around the rotating shaft 87. Therefore, when the holder frame 83 is positioned as shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, the probe card 36 is automatically positioned at the inspection position, and the probe card 36 is inverted in the state of the dashed line, exposing the measuring needle 37 upward. Repair of the measuring needle during the inspection and the like can be easily performed. In the inspection position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 7, the holder frame 83 is firmly positioned by the lock 88. In the embodiment, the lock 88 holds the holder frame 83 during the inspection by the holding force from a pneumatic pump (not shown). Do.

In this embodiment, there is a problem that the weight of the holder frame 83 containing the motherboard 84 and the probe card 36 is increased and the operability is deteriorated when performing the reversing operation. In order to reduce the operation amount, a tension spring 90 is hung on a spring hook 89 provided on the tail portion 83a of the holder frame 83, and the inversion operation force of the holder frame 83 is reduced by the tension force of the tension spring 90.

The structure of the preferred embodiment of the probe card inspection apparatus used in this embodiment is clear from the above description. The inspection procedure will be described below with reference to FIGS. 8, 9, and 10.

FIG. 8 shows an outline of the measurement procedure.
In step S1, card data of a probe card to be measured is input. This data includes a probe card name, a serial number, the number of measurement channels, a measurement needle coordinate pattern, and the like, and these data are read into the inspection device from a keyboard of the control panel 46 or a floppy disk reader.

Step S2 is an initial setting of the inspection apparatus, and includes an overdrive amount, a clearance amount, and a measurement pitch.

The overdrive is the amount of movement penetrate of the elevating unit 31 against which the composite inspection board 32 is pressed against the measuring needle 37. In measuring the height of the measuring needle and the contact resistance, the maximum overdrive amount from the first contact is set in advance. In addition, at the time of measuring the needle tip coordinate pattern, the overdrive amount from the first contact at the time of measurement is set in advance. For example, about 100 μm or less is selected as such an overdrive amount.

In the present embodiment, the escape amount is determined by the composite inspection board 3.
2 is an amount to be retracted from the measurement needle 37, and
3. The amount of retreat in each direction when one of the transparent glass flat plates 34 is selectively moved to the measurement position 200 is determined, and for example, about 500 μm is appropriate. Further, the measurement pitch is a setting of the ascending pitch when measuring the height variation. For example, setting the measurement pitch to about 1 μm enables highly accurate observation measurement. When the initial setting is completed as described above, the probe card 36 to be measured is correctly mounted on the probe card holder 35, and the measuring needles 37 and the tester are electrically connected. According to the display, a predetermined inspection mode is selected in step S3. In the present embodiment, the following six types of inspections can be selected.

1. Pin-to-pin short measurement 2. 2. Pin-to-pin leak measurement 3. Pin height variation measurement 4. Pin tip contact resistance measurement 5. Pin tip position measurement Pin tip diameter measurement In this embodiment, mode selection S3 can select each of these measurements individually or can also select continuous measurement. When an individual inspection is selected, each mode corresponds to each of the above measurements. Steps S4, S5, S6, S7, S8,
After the measurement of S9 is performed individually, and after each of these measurements is completed, the measured value is recorded by steps S10 to S15,
The process returns to step S3 again and waits for the selection of the next inspection mode.

On the other hand, when the continuous inspection mode is selected, the arbitrarily selected individual inspections in steps S4 to S9 are sequentially and sequentially performed according to the continuous program shown in step S16, and the predetermined order is determined. Is completed.

FIG. 9 shows the detailed procedure of the height variation measurement described above. First, in step S20, the electrode plate 33 of the composite inspection board 32 is moved to the inspection position 200. This movement is quickly performed by the pneumatic actuator as described above.
Is lowered, and the composite inspection board 32 and the measurement needle 37 are not in contact with each other.

In step S21, the lifting unit 3
1 rises to the first contact with the measuring needle 37,
At each contact with each measuring needle 37 (S22), the Z coordinate data at this time is read (S23), and this rising measurement is repeated until a predetermined overdrive amount is reached (S24).

When the predetermined overdrive amount in the Z direction is completed, the contact position of each measuring needle 37 is read during this period, and the lifting unit 31 stops moving (S25).

When all the data has been captured, the elevating unit 31 descends again, and retracts the electrode plate 33 from the measuring needle 37 (S26).

As described above, the height variation of the measurement needle 37 is inspected.
The contact between the measuring needle 37 and each measuring needle 37 is performed by measuring the contact resistance by a tester. Therefore, the contact resistance value of each measuring needle itself can be measured by the same procedure as shown in FIG.

In the present invention, the tips of the measuring needles are image-recognized, processed as an image pattern and displayed as a needle point image, and the display direction at this time is indicated by the front (needle) image and the back (pad). ) It is characterized in that the image can be switched to both.

The operation of observing and displaying the tip image in the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 10 shows the procedure for measuring the first and second tip positions in this embodiment. In step S30, the transparent glass flat plate 34 of the composite inspection substrate 32 is brought to the inspection position 200 by the pneumatic actuator. Then, the elevating unit 31 is raised by a predetermined overdrive amount from the first contact position with the measuring needle 37, and the transparent glass substrate 34 is pressed against all the measuring needles 37 (S31,
S32). At this time, in the first needle point position measurement,
Subsequent measurement is performed in the first contact state in which only a small amount of overdrive or any one of the measurement needles abuts, while a predetermined amount of overdrive in the second needle point position measurement, for example, 50 μm The measurement is performed with the flat plate 34 pressed. Therefore, if both measurement results are displayed on the same screen for each measurement needle 37, it is possible to know the slip amount of each measurement needle 37. Hereinafter, the procedure of image recognition in the double-needle position measurement will be described.

Then, in step S33, the optical microscope 38 is adjusted to a predetermined measuring needle tip using a joystick or the like. In this state, when the measurement start is instructed, the needle point image at the start position is image-recognized (S34), and the needle point image is displayed as an image together with the determination reference frame (S35).

FIG. 11 shows a display example of a stylus image according to the present embodiment.

In the embodiment, the monitor 46 displays the image information output from the observation device as it is, that is, the image of the CCD camera 39 as it is, while the display 47 displays the recognition image shown in FIG.
Is displayed as a result of data processing.

As is apparent from FIG. 11, according to the present invention, the screen of the display 47 has a display 130 showing the arrangement of all pins in the X and Y directions, and a detailed display frame 100 for displaying the measurement results of each pin in detail. It is composed of

In the detailed display frame 100 in the embodiment, a needle point display frame 102 on which a data-processed needle point image 101 is displayed, a height relation between display pins and other pins, and a height relation on which contact resistance judgment is displayed. A display frame 110 is included.

A circle 103 having a radius corresponding to the contact center deviation allowable value corresponding to the displayed needle 37 obtained from the card data of the probe card 36 to be inspected, which is input in advance, is displayed in the needle tip display frame 102. , And a circle display 104 of a warning level frame when the contact center deviation allowable value is set to 100%. The needle point image 10
Reference numeral 1 denotes a virtual tip circle display having an average diameter obtained from the image-recognized data.

In the height relation display frame 110, a bar graph 111 indicating the height relation between the pin being displayed and the other pins is displayed as described above. When the value is less than the value, the color of the bar graph changes.

Therefore, the detailed display frame 100 shown in FIG.
Based on the position and size of the top image 101 and the length and color of the bar graph 111, the quality of the test needle 37 being inspected can be easily determined on the screen.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the following additional display is performed in the detailed display frame. Display 102
Indicates the pin number for which the details of the measurement result are being displayed, and it is understood that this is the display of the first pin selected at the start position in the figure. The display 121 indicates the tip diameter of the pin being displayed. The display 122 shows the shift amount from the reference coordinate position as the shift amount on the X and Y axes. The display 123 shows the distance from the reference coordinate position to the center of the needle tip. The display 124 indicates the amount of overdrive in which the display pin and the transparent glass plate 34 are pressed against each other when the needle point position is measured. The display 125 indicates the color change position of the bar graph in the height-related display frame. Further, the following additional display is performed on the screen of the display 47.

The above-mentioned display 130 showing the arrangement of all pins in the X and Y directions is displayed in different colors according to the results determined based on the respective measurement data, and the pin position currently displayed is further shown as a display 131. In the figure, the fact that the measurement result of the first pin is displayed can be quickly read from this surrounding pin pattern. In the embodiment, the pin position display 131 being displayed is displayed with a frame. The display 132 indicates the number of defective pins with respect to the total number of pins. In the figure, the first pin is defective, which means that one out of 32 pins is defective.

Accordingly, such a display 47 allows the inspector to visually judge the acceptability of the measuring needle 37 as numerical data.

Next, in step S36, the XY stages 41 and 42 are sequentially moved stepwise by the inter-pin distance determined in advance by the card data.
7 is subjected to image recognition.

When the measurement of all the needles is completed (S3)
7) The apparatus is stopped (S38), and after the measurement is completed, the composite inspection board 32 is retracted from the probe card 36 (S39).

The position of the needle tip is measured as described above, and the inspection as to whether the measurement needle 37 of the probe card 36 is assembled in a predetermined coordinate pattern is completed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to continuously measure the tip coordinate pattern, and there is an advantage that accurate measurement can be performed in an extremely short time.

Further, according to the present embodiment, step S
The measurement result obtained by the memory 34 is stored in an appropriate memory, for example, a floppy disk, and the measurement result is arbitrarily read out and displayed on the display 47 shown in FIG.
Can be observed for each measuring needle.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the needle tip images of the measuring needles 37 are taken in at the predetermined overdrive amount.

In this embodiment, the measurement needle 37 is pressed against the transparent glass plate 34 with a small amount of overdrive including the non-contact state and a predetermined large amount of overdrive, and the first and second states are different respectively. The second tip position measurement is performed as described above, and a change (slip) in the tip position due to a change in the amount of overdrive of each measuring needle 37 can be inspected from the two detected tip position data.

FIG. 12 shows the procedure of the slip test in this embodiment.

Step S40 shows a Z stage positioning step of pressing the transparent glass plate 34 against the measuring needle 37 with a small amount of overdrive, and this small amount of overdrive gives a slight pressing to all the measuring needles 37. This includes a case where only a predetermined, for example, only the first contact measurement needle is pressed against the flat plate 34.

In this way, a small overdrive amount,
That is, in a state where the penetrate is hardly performed on the measurement needle 37, the first needle point position measurement is performed in step S41. This first needle point position measurement is performed in the manner shown in FIG.
0, the detailed description is omitted.

As described above, when the tip positions of all the measuring needles 37 are measured with a small overdrive amount,
These first data are stored in a memory or the like (S42),
This first data becomes readable at an arbitrary position.

Next, as shown in step S43,
The transparent glass plate 34 is further raised by a predetermined amount, for example, 50 μm, to obtain a state of a large overdrive amount that gives a penetrate amount to all of the measurement needles 37. This large overdrive amount is assumed to be a state of being pressed against the electrode pad when the IC card is inspected by the probe card 36 to be measured.

When the pressing of the large overdrive amount is completed in this way, the second needle point position measurement is performed (S44). This measurement is the same as the procedure shown in FIG.

The second needle point position measurement result is stored as second data (S45), and both the first data and the second data are read out for each required measuring needle 37 to obtain a desired judgment reference. The slide is displayed together with the frame (S46).

FIG. 13 shows an example of such a slip display, which is almost the same as the judgment reference frame and the other displays in FIG. 11 described above. Description is omitted.

However, in the sliding display of FIG. 13, the first and second data obtained by the first and second needle tip position measurements are simultaneously displayed, that is, reference numeral 101a denotes a small overdrive. The display 101b shows the measurement results with a large overdrive amount.

The needle tip display frame 102 in this case indicates the contact area allowable value corresponding to the displayed measurement needle 37, and a warning level frame when the contact area allowable value is set to 100% is a frame display 105. Is displayed as

Therefore, according to the display of the inspection result as shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to clearly know the sliding of each measuring needle 37 when the measuring needle 37 is pressed against the transparent glass plate 34. In particular, from FIG. 13, the direction and amount of slip at the time of slipping of the measuring needle are visually and very clearly understood, whereby the quality of the probe card 36 when actually used for IC pad measurement is accurately determined. be able to.

The display 126 in FIG. 13 shows the tip displacement with a small overdrive amount, and the display 127 shows the tip displacement with a large overdrive amount as the X and Y axis displacement amounts. The actual amount of slip is displayed on the display 128 and can be grasped numerically.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the coordinates of the needle position of the measuring needle 37 can be displayed as, for example, a slip state.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which the probe card 36 is viewed from the front side, and FIG.
Reference numeral 7 indicates the image of the first needle point. This display is shown in FIG.
4B, and the needle tip pattern is also displayed as an image viewed from the front side (needle tip side) in FIG. Can be determined.

On the other hand, FIG. 15 shows a state in which the probe tip 37 of the probe card 36 is viewed from the back side. According to the present invention, the image display at this time is reversed in the left-right direction as shown in FIG. Shown as a diagram. Accordingly, the currently displayed needle position has shifted from the left side in FIG. 14B to the right side in FIG. 15B. Therefore, for example, when the needle tip is to be corrected, the probe card 36 is turned upside down in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 15 at the time of measurement as shown in FIG. And it is extremely easy to correct. On the other hand, when the probe card 36 is inverted from FIG. 15, that is, in the embodiment, when the measuring needle 37 is inverted to the front (needle) image side as shown in FIG. The (needle point) image is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 14B.

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that such an arbitrary front and back image can be selected.

In the present embodiment, such display switching can be performed by a manual instruction from the control panel 49, and the screen display can be arbitrarily reversed.

In the probe card holder of FIG. 7, a proximity switch is provided on the holder frame 83.
When the measuring needle 37 is pressed against the glass plate 34, the back (pad) image screen of FIG. 15B is obtained. On the other hand, when the holder frame 83 is inverted and the measuring needle 37 is separated from the glass plate 34, the proximity switch is turned off. It is possible to automatically switch so that the front (needle point) image is displayed as shown in FIG. 14B by the switching signal.

[0099]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When displaying the needle tip pattern of the probe card measurement needle,
Both the front (needle tip) image and the back (pad) image can be arbitrarily switched and displayed, and a display that is easy for the inspector or the correction operator to see can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view showing a preferred embodiment of an apparatus to which a probe card inspection method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view as seen from the direction in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an overall external view when the present embodiment is assembled as an inspection apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a detailed structure of a Z-direction moving mechanism of the lifting unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the XY moving device of the needlepoint observation device carried by the lifting unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an essential part showing a slide mechanism of the composite inspection board in the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a main part front view showing a preferred embodiment of the probe card holder in the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an outline of an inspection procedure in the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a height variation measurement procedure in the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing first and second needle tip position measurement procedures in the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of a needlepoint image according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure for measuring and displaying data on the state of the needle tip slip according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a sliding display according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of a table (needle point) image in the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of a back (pad) image according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic structure of a conventional probe card inspection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 inspection apparatus base 31 elevating unit 32 composite inspection board 33 electrode plate 34 transparent glass plate 35 probe card holder 36 probe card 37 measurement needle 100 detailed display frame 101, 101a, 101b needle tip image display 200 inspection position

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Atsuhiro Kakimoto 1-10-14 Itabashi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Stock inside Tokyo Cathode Research Institute (72) Inventor Riki Hashimoto 1-10-14 Itabashi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Stock (72) Inventor Sadachika Ota 1-10-14 Itabashi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Co., Ltd. Inside Tokyo Cathode Research Institute (56) References JP-A-59-17260 (JP, A) -119036 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/66 G01R 31/26

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A probe card inspection method for recognizing an image of a probe tip of a probe card to be inspected and displaying it on a display, wherein a tip (tip) is arbitrarily displayed on a front (needle) image and a back (pad) image. Can be switched , the back (pad) image is the front (needle) image
Needle table when the probe card is inverted with respect to
Probe card testing method characterized in that it is a view. 2. A probe holding a probe card to be inspected.
A lobe card holder and a probe card held by the probe card holder
Table that displays the the needle tip observation means for observing the needle tip, the observed needle tip in the probe tip observation means
A probe card inspection device comprising: a display (needle tip) image indicating a needle tip on the display.
The back (pad) image can be arbitrarily switched to the back (pad) image, and the back (pad) image is the front (needle point) image
Needle tip display when the probe card is reversed
A probe card inspection device, characterized in that: 3. The probe card holder can be turned around.
Configured ability, in response to the rotated in the reverse direction of the probe card holder, wherein
Front (needle point) image and back (pad) image on the display
Switching to and from the page
Item 3. The probe card inspection device according to Item 2.