JP3133048B2 - Semiconductor handling device with self-examination function and self-examination method for semiconductor handling device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an improvement in a semiconductor handling device.

(Prior Art) In a conventional semiconductor handling apparatus, when a tester (a device that performs measurement and determination of a product, etc .; the same applies hereinafter) is used to determine whether or not the product characteristics are good, the result of the measurement is determined by an abnormality of the tester. The GO (good) / NGO (bad) signal related to the above is not reset normally, and therefore, the timing between the tester and its handler (a device that transports products, etc .; the same applies hereinafter) Deviation may occur. This timing shift leads to erroneous determination of the tester, and irrespective of making good products defective products without knowing,
This is a major obstacle to improving the yield of products, and reduces the reliability of semiconductor handling equipment.

Therefore, conventionally, a circuit (hardware) for determining whether or not the GO / NGO signal has been reset has been added to prevent the timing deviation of the interface between the tester and the handler and erroneous determination of the tester, and by using this circuit, After confirming that the GO / NGO signal has been reset, a test start signal for starting the test of the next product is always output.

However, when solving the problem of timing misalignment and erroneous determination of the tester with respect to the interface between the tester and the handler by the above-described method, the testers used to determine the quality of the product each have their own reset timing. For each tester, the circuit (hardware) that determines whether or not the GO / NGO signal is reset must be changed. Also, the timing at which the test start signal is output differs for each tester and each product.

For this reason, the semiconductor handling device itself becomes complicated,
There is a disadvantage that the equipment cost increases.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventionally, when the quality of the product characteristics is determined by the tester, the determination may be erroneously made due to the abnormality of the tester. In order to avoid this erroneous determination, various countermeasures have been taken in terms of hardware. However, it is necessary to change the hardware for each tester, which complicates the semiconductor handling device and increases the device cost. there were.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of a semiconductor handling device by preventing an erroneous determination due to a timing deviation from occurring in an interface between a tester and a handler without complicating the semiconductor handling device. And

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a semiconductor handling apparatus of the present invention measures a product based on a measurement start signal, and determines the quality of the product. Measuring means for outputting a signal for performing the measurement, and generating the measurement start signal at a predetermined timing, and when the signal for determining the quality of the product is not reset when the measurement start signal is generated, And control means for reporting an abnormality to an operator without supplying the measurement start signal to the measurement means.

Further, the self-examination method of the semiconductor handling device of the present invention, when performing a test for outputting a signal for determining the quality of the product after measuring the product based on the measurement start signal, the measurement start signal is a predetermined When the signal for determining the quality of the product is not reset when the measurement start signal is generated at the same time as generating the measurement start signal, the abnormality is detected by the operator without supplying the measurement start signal to the measuring means. It is to report to.

(Operation) According to such a configuration, the semiconductor handling apparatus is provided with the self-examination function by the control means. For this reason, the timing deviation relating to the interface between the tester and the handler can be checked by the control means, and the reliability of the semiconductor handling device can be improved without complicating the device.

Further, when the measurement of the product is started, it is checked whether or not the signal relating to the previous measurement result has been reset by the control means. Therefore, the self-examination can be performed automatically during the normal operation of the semiconductor handling apparatus, and the measurement of the product can be automatically stopped when there is an abnormality in the measuring means.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a main part of a semiconductor handling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Tester (measurement means) 101 is a test start (TS)
The product is measured according to the signal (measurement start signal). After the product measurement is completed, the test end (T
E) Supply a signal to the control means 103. Further, after outputting the test end signal, one or more GO / NGO signals related to the measurement result of the product are supplied to the control means 103.
The handler 102 includes a control unit 103 and an alarm display unit 104
And The control unit 103 supplies a test start signal for starting the measurement of the product to the tester 101 at a predetermined timing. Further, when supplying the test start signal, that is, when starting the measurement of the product, the control means 103 checks whether or not the GO / NGO signal relating to the previous measurement result has been reset. Specifically, if there is no GO / NGO signal related to the previous measurement result, whether it is rising or falling normally, or if there are multiple GO / NGO signals related to the measurement result of the previous product Is checked for a plurality of data. If the GO / NGO signal relating to the previous measurement result has not been reset, the alarm display means 104 displays an abnormality.

According to such a configuration, the semiconductor handling device is provided with a self-examination function by the control unit 103. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a measurement failure due to a timing shift between the tester 101 and the handler 102, and to improve the reliability of the semiconductor handling device by improving the yield of products. Also, in order to prevent the occurrence of measurement failure due to such timing deviation between the tester 101 and the handler 102, the output of the test start signal is not always waited until the GO / NGO signal is reset, but is always The test start signal is output at a predetermined timing, and when the test start signal is output, the test start signal is not supplied to the tester 101 unless the GO / NGO signal is reset. The measurement is stopped and an abnormality is reported to the operator. Therefore, a tester used to judge the quality of products
Even if each of the testers 101 has its own reset timing, it is not necessary to change hardware every time depending on the type of the tester 101, and it is possible to easily and quickly deal with a measurement failure.

FIG. 2 shows a timing chart of each of a test start signal, a test end signal, and a GO / NGO signal. FIGS. 3 and 4 show a series of operations of the semiconductor handling apparatus having a self-examination function according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the first
The operation of the semiconductor handling device according to the present invention and the self-examination method will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, a product to be measured is placed at a predetermined position on a tester (measuring unit) 101 by a transporting unit (not shown).
Thereafter, it is confirmed whether or not the GO / NGO signal relating to the previous measurement result has been reset. If the GO / NGO signal related to the previous measurement result has not been reset,
The test start signal is not supplied to the tester 101, and an alarm of the tester 101 is reported to the operator by the alarm display means 104 (steps ST1 to ST2). On the other hand, if the GO / NGO signal related to the previous measurement result has been reset,
A test start signal is supplied to the tester 101. As a result, the measurement of the product previously arranged at a predetermined position of the tester 101 is started (step ST3). When the measurement of the product is completed, a test end signal is supplied from the tester 101 to the control means 103. Thereafter, one or more GO / NGO signals indicating the quality category of the product are sent to the tester 10.
1 to the control means 103. Further, the product arranged at a predetermined position of the tester 101 is stored in the non-defective product storage unit or the defective product storage unit by the transport unit (not shown) (step
ST5 to ST7). Thereafter, it is confirmed whether or not the number of products measured has reached the planned number, and when the measured number has been reached, the semiconductor handling apparatus stops. In addition, when the scheduled number is not reached, the measurement of the product is sequentially performed until the scheduled number is reached (steps ST8 to ST9). That is, when the control means 103 supplies the next test start signal to the tester 101,
Check if the O signal has been reset. In addition,
If the GO / NGO signal has not been reset, the test start signal is not supplied to the tester 101, and the alarm display means 104 reports an abnormality of the tester 101 to the operator.

According to the operation of the semiconductor handling device having such a self-examination function and the self-examination method, when the measurement of a product is started, that is, when a test start signal is supplied, the control unit 103 executes the previous measurement. GO /
It has been determined whether the NGO signal has been reset. Therefore, the self-examination can be automatically performed during the steady operation of the semiconductor handling apparatus. Therefore, a measurement failure due to a timing shift between the tester 101 and the handler 102 can be prevented beforehand, and a reduction in apparatus price due to an improvement in product yield can be achieved.

Also, in order to prevent the occurrence of measurement failure due to such timing deviation between the tester 101 and the handler 102, the output of the test start signal is not always waited until the GO / NGO signal is reset, but is always , The test start signal is output at a predetermined timing,
Also, when outputting the test start signal, if the GO / NGO signal is not reset, the test stop signal is not supplied to the tester 101, the measurement is stopped, and the abnormality is reported to the operator. I have. Therefore, even if the tester 101 used to determine the quality of the product has its own reset timing, there is no need to change the hardware in accordance with the type of the tester 101, and the measurement failure can be easily and quickly reduced. Action is possible.

In the present invention, since the self-examination of the semiconductor handling device is performed by the control means 103, it can correspond to any signal of positive logic or negative logic. In addition, the level signal and the pulse signal can be handled in the same manner.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the semiconductor handling device and the self-examination method thereof of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The semiconductor handling device is provided with a self-examination function by a control means. For this reason, in the interface between the tester and the handler, the erroneous determination due to the timing deviation can be prevented without complicating the semiconductor handling device, thereby improving the reliability of the semiconductor handling device.

Further, when starting the measurement of the product, the control means checks whether or not the GO / NGO signal relating to the previous measurement result has been reset. Therefore, the self-examination can be performed automatically during the normal operation of the semiconductor handling device, and the measurement of the product can be automatically stopped when there is an abnormality in the tester.

Further, it is possible to easily and quickly deal with the measurement failure without changing the hardware for each tester.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a semiconductor handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing timings of a test start signal, a test end signal, and a GO / NGO signal. FIGS. 3, 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing a series of operations of the semiconductor handling apparatus having a self-examination function according to the present invention. 101: tester, 102: handler, 103: control means, 104: alarm display means.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A measuring means for measuring a product based on a measurement start signal and outputting a signal for judging the quality of the product, wherein the measurement start signal is generated at a predetermined timing, and When a signal for judging the quality of the product is not reset when the measurement start signal is generated, control means for not reporting the measurement start signal to the measurement means and reporting an abnormality to an operator. A semiconductor handling device having a self-examination function, comprising: 2. A test for generating a signal for judging the quality of a product after the measurement of the product based on the measurement start signal is performed, the measurement start signal is generated at a predetermined timing, and the measurement start signal is generated. When the signal for generating the signal is not reset when the signal for judging the quality of the product is not reset, the abnormality is reported to the operator without supplying the measurement start signal to the measuring means. Self-examination method of handling device.