JP3260309B2 - Probe card - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a probe card used for simultaneously inspecting an integrated circuit of a plurality of chips formed on a semiconductor wafer in a wafer state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been remarkable progress in miniaturization and price reduction of electronic equipment equipped with a semiconductor integrated circuit device, and accordingly, demands for miniaturization and price reduction of the semiconductor integrated circuit device have increased. ing.

Normally, in a semiconductor integrated circuit device, after a semiconductor chip and a lead frame are electrically connected by bonding wires, the semiconductor chip is supplied in a state of being sealed with resin or ceramics, and is mounted on a printed circuit board. You. However, due to a demand for miniaturization of electronic equipment, a semiconductor integrated circuit device is directly mounted on a circuit board in a state of being cut out from a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, the semiconductor integrated circuit device in this state is referred to as a bare chip or simply a chip). It is desired to supply a bare chip of which quality is guaranteed and a method is developed at a low price.

In order to perform quality assurance on bare chips, it is necessary to burn in the semiconductor integrated circuit device in a bare chip state.

However, in the burn-in performed on the bare chip, the handling of the bare chip becomes very complicated, so that it cannot meet the demand for lowering the price. In addition, a plurality of bare chips formed on one semiconductor wafer are
Performing the burn-in individually or several times repeatedly requires a lot of time, so it is not realistic in terms of time and cost.Therefore, it is necessary to collectively carry out the wafer state before cutting out all the bare chips. Simultaneous burn-in is required.

Therefore, Nikkei Microdevice (1997)
A conventional probe card that can simultaneously perform burn-in simultaneously in a wafer state, as disclosed in the July issue, p. 129, will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional structure of a conventional probe card for batch burn-in (hereinafter, referred to as wafer burn-in). As shown in FIG. 4, the periphery is held by a rigid ring 101 made of ceramics or the like, and a probe card 102 made of a polyimide thin film has, on its main surface, electrodes for testing integrated circuit elements on a semiconductor wafer 103. A plurality of bumps 104 serving as probe terminals provided at corresponding positions are formed. The bump 104 is electrically connected to a wiring board (not shown) via a contact penetrating a surface (back surface) opposite to the main surface of the probe card 102.

In order to perform wafer burn-in using the probe card 102, it is necessary to completely contact each bump 104 of the probe card 102 with each electrode of an integrated circuit element formed on the semiconductor wafer 103. .
As a jig for this, a wafer tray 111 made of a metal such as aluminum and holding the semiconductor wafer 103 is used.
Is required.

A peripheral portion of a surface (= main surface) of the wafer tray 111 facing the main surface of the probe card 102 is
A seal ring 112 made of silicon rubber or the like for forming a sealed space is provided along with the main surface of the probe card 102 and the main surface of the wafer tray 111. Vacuum valve 113 is provided.

When the air in the closed space is exhausted from the vacuum valve 113 to reduce the pressure in the closed space, the probe card 1
02 and the back surface of the wafer tray 111 are pressed against each other by the atmospheric pressure, so that each bump 104 formed on the main surface of the probe card 102 and each electrode formed on the semiconductor wafer 103 are closely pressed and further pressed. Will be.
Thereby, the probe card 102, the semiconductor wafer 10
When the back surface of the probe card 102 is brought into contact with the wiring substrate in a state where the wafer 3 and the wafer tray 111 are integrated, and the wiring substrate is connected to a burn-in device, wafer burn-in can be performed.

[0011]

At the time of wafer burn-in, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the semiconductor wafer 103 to be inspected at a predetermined temperature, and it is desirable to raise or lower the temperature of the semiconductor wafer 103. However,
The conventional wafer burn-in probe card,
Since the jig supporting the semiconductor wafer 103 uses the wafer tray 111 made of metal having a large heat capacity, there is a problem that it is difficult to quickly control the temperature of the semiconductor wafer 103 during burn-in.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to easily control the temperature of a semiconductor wafer during burn-in.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a structure in which a jig for supporting a semiconductor wafer is provided integrally with a probe card.

In a first probe card according to the present invention, a voltage is applied to each electrode of a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements formed on a semiconductor wafer, and electrical characteristics of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements are measured on the wafer. A probe card for collectively testing at a level, comprising: a card body; a plurality of probe terminals provided at positions corresponding to respective electrodes of the semiconductor integrated circuit element on a main surface of the card body; A peripheral surface of the plurality of probe terminals on the surface, a wafer holding means made of an annular elastic body that holds the semiconductor wafer in close contact with a peripheral end of the semiconductor wafer, and is provided on the card body; The pressure in the sealed space formed by the element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer, the main surface of the card body, and the wafer holding means is reduced, and each electrode of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements is And a decompression means for electrically connecting each probe pin of the body.

According to the first probe card, a ring-shaped elastic body is provided around the plurality of probe terminals on the main surface of the card body and is in close contact with the peripheral end of the semiconductor wafer to hold the semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer can be held on the card body without using a container for housing the semiconductor wafer as in the related art, so that the surface of the semiconductor wafer opposite to the element forming surface is exposed. Will do.

In the first probe card, the wafer holding means is provided on a hollow ring-shaped member having a concave surface for holding a semiconductor wafer on an inner surface thereof, and provided on the ring-shaped member;
The valve preferably has a valve for opening and closing a passage for inflow and outflow of the fluid to and from the inside of the ring-shaped member.

[0017] The second probe card according to the present invention comprises:
A probe card for applying a voltage to each electrode of a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements formed on a semiconductor wafer to collectively inspect electrical characteristics of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements at a wafer level, A card body, a plurality of probe terminals provided at positions corresponding to the respective electrodes of the semiconductor integrated circuit element on the main surface of the card body, and a plurality of probe terminals on the main surface of the card body at peripheral portions thereof.
An annular seal member provided in close contact with the peripheral edge of the element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer; and an annular seal member provided on the card body and formed by the element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer, the main surface of the card body, and the seal member. that by a closed space under a reduced pressure, while holding the semiconductor wafer, and a pressure reducing means for electrically connecting each probe terminals of the electrodes and the card body of a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit devices, sealed empty
During the pressure reduction during the process, the surface of the
The opposite side is entirely exposed .

According to the second probe card, an annular seal member is provided on the main surface of the card body around the plurality of probe terminals so as to be in close contact with the peripheral edge of the element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer; It is provided in the main body, and by reducing the pressure of a sealed space formed by the element forming surface of the semiconductor wafer, the main surface of the card main body, and the sealing member , the semiconductor wafer is held, and each of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements Since there is provided a pressure reducing means for electrically connecting the electrodes and the respective probe terminals of the card body, the semiconductor wafer can be held in the card body without using a container for housing the semiconductor wafer as in the related art. The surface on the side opposite to the element forming surface of the semiconductor wafer held in close contact with the seal member is exposed.

[0019]

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention.
An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional configuration of a probe card for wafer burn-in according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a peripheral portion is held by a rigid ring 11 made of ceramics or the like. For example, a card body 12 made of an insulating thin film of polyimide or the like has an integrated circuit element on a semiconductor wafer 13 on its main surface. A plurality of bumps 15 are formed as probe terminals provided at positions corresponding to the respective electrodes 14 for inspection. This bump 1
5 has an input / output terminal 19 formed through a surface (rear surface) opposite to the main surface of the card body 12, and the input / output terminal 19 is electrically connected to a wiring board (not shown). You.

A hollow rubber ring 16 as a wafer holding means made of silicon rubber is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the rigid ring 11.
Is fixed.

The hollow rubber ring 16 has a constricted portion forming a concave surface on the inner surface, and the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer 13 is sandwiched between the constricted portions, thereby forming the semiconductor wafer 1.
3, the semiconductor wafer 13 can be securely held even when the pressure in the sealed space 17 formed between the main surface of the card body 12 and the element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 is not reduced. Can be held. Below the constricted portion of the hollow rubber ring 16, a peripheral edge opposite to the element forming surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 for maintaining airtightness even when a notch is provided at the end of the semiconductor wafer 13 is provided. It has a tapered portion extending in a tapered shape at the center of the ring for covering.

On the outer peripheral surface of the rigid ring 11, an air valve 18 is connected to the inside of the hollow rubber ring 16 and opens and closes a passage for inflow and outflow of a fluid to and from the inside of the hollow rubber ring 16.
Is provided.

Further, a suction port 12a is provided in a region inside the rigid ring 11 in the card body 12, which is in communication with the closed space 17, and serves as a pressure reducing means.

Hereinafter, an outline of a method of using the probe card configured as described above will be described.

First, with the internal pressure of the hollow rubber ring 16 at or below atmospheric pressure, the peripheral end of the semiconductor wafer 13 is sandwiched between the narrow portions of the hollow rubber ring 16. afterwards,
After matching the position of the bump 15 on the card body 12 with the position of the electrode 14 on the semiconductor wafer 13, air is injected from the air valve 18 to increase the internal pressure of the hollow rubber ring 16. As a result, the radial cross-sectional dimension of the hollow rubber ring 16 is increased, so that pressure is evenly applied to the semiconductor wafer 13 from the peripheral end to the center, so that the position of the semiconductor wafer 13 with respect to the card body 12 is stabilized. .

When the air is injected and the air in the sealed section 17 is sucked from the suction port 12a of the card body 12 to decompress the sealed space 17, the back surface of the card body 12 and the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 become large. Each bump 15 formed on the main surface of the card body 12 is pressed by the atmospheric pressure.
And the respective electrodes 14 formed on the semiconductor wafer 13 are closer to each other and further pressed, so that the respective bumps 15 of the card body 12 and the respective electrodes 14 of the semiconductor wafer 13 are electrically connected. Become.

Next, the card body 12 and the semiconductor wafer 1
When the back surface of the card body 12 and the wiring board are brought into contact with each other in a state in which the wiring board 3 is integrated, and the wiring board is connected to a burn-in device (not shown), wafer burn-in can be performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when performing the wafer burn-in, the semiconductor wafer 1 to be inspected is
3, the temperature distribution of the main body of the semiconductor wafer 13 can be easily detected, and it is not necessary to use a metal wafer tray having a large heat capacity as in the related art. Temperature control becomes easy.

(Second Embodiment) Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional configuration of a probe card for wafer burn-in according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral portion is held by a rigid ring 21 made of ceramics or the like. For example, the card body 12 made of an insulating thin film such as polyimide has an integrated circuit element on a semiconductor wafer 13 on its main surface. A plurality of bumps 15 are formed as probe terminals provided at positions corresponding to the respective electrodes 14 for inspection. This bump 1
5 has an input / output terminal 19 formed through a surface (rear surface) opposite to the main surface of the card body 12, and the input / output terminal 19 is electrically connected to a wiring board (not shown). You.

A seal member 22 made of silicone rubber is fixed inside the rigid ring 21 at the peripheral edge of the main surface of the card body 12. Here, the semiconductor wafer 13
In the peripheral portion of the element forming surface, a region where the element is not formed over a width of 3 mm from the peripheral end portion is provided in advance,
A seal member 22 is provided so that the seal member 22 is in close contact with this area.

The area inside the seal member 22 in the card body 12 is electrically connected to the main surface of the card body, the element forming surface of the semiconductor wafer 13 and the sealed space 17 surrounded by the seal member 22 to reduce the pressure. Suction port 12a as
Is provided.

Hereinafter, an outline of a method of using the probe card configured as described above will be described.

First, the bumps 15 on the card body 12
Is aligned with the position of the electrode 14 on the semiconductor wafer 13, and the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 13 is
2 Then, the suction port 12 of the card body 12
When the air in the sealed section 17 is sucked from the space a, the pressure in the sealed space 17 is reduced.
Are pressed against each other by the atmospheric pressure.
2 and bumps 15 formed on the main surface of semiconductor wafer 13 and semiconductor wafer 13
The electrodes 14 formed on the semiconductor wafer 13 are electrically connected to the bumps 15 of the card body 12 and the electrodes 14 of the semiconductor wafer 13.

Next, the card body 12 and the semiconductor wafer 1
When the back surface of the card body 12 and the wiring board are brought into contact with each other in a state in which the wiring board 3 is integrated, and the wiring board is connected to a burn-in device (not shown), wafer burn-in can be performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when performing the wafer burn-in, the semiconductor wafer 1 to be inspected is
3, the temperature distribution of the main body of the semiconductor wafer 13 can be easily detected, and it is not necessary to use a metal wafer tray having a large heat capacity as in the related art. Temperature control becomes easy.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the first or second embodiment, for example, an electric signal is passed from the back surface of the card body 12 to the semiconductor wafer 13 through the external connector 31 provided on the peripheral portion. Wiring board 32 for
Is used in close contact with the back surface of the card body 12 to improve the rigidity of the wiring board 32.
It is preferable to further provide a holding plate 34 made of a rigid body on the back surface of the second member. In this case, with respect to the wiring board 32,
Suction port 32a that communicates with suction port 12a of card body 12.
It is necessary to provide.

When the holding plate 34 and the wiring board 32 are fixed to each other with the seal ring 33 interposed therebetween, the holding plate 34
Even if the air is sucked from the vacuum valve 35 provided between the substrate and the wiring board 32, the atmospheric pressure only pushes the back surface of the holding plate 34, and the atmospheric pressure is not transmitted to the wiring board 32 and the card body 12. It is preferable to appropriately sandwich the spacer 36 made of.

Therefore, since the spacer 36 is made of an elastic material, even if the height of the spacer 36 varies, the atmospheric pressure is not locally applied to the card body 12, so that the pressure can be uniformly received. . As a result, the respective electrodes 14 of the semiconductor wafer 13 and the respective bumps 15 of the card body 12 are uniformly pressed.

[0041]

According to the first and second probe cards according to the present invention, the semiconductor wafer can be held in the card body without using a container for accommodating the semiconductor wafer as in the prior art. The surface opposite to the element formation surface is exposed. As a result, since the semiconductor wafer held by the card body is exposed in the inspection apparatus, the temperature distribution of the semiconductor wafer body can be easily detected, and a wafer storage device having a large heat capacity unlike the related art can be used. Since the temperature can be controlled, the temperature of the semiconductor wafer can be easily controlled.

In the first probe card, the wafer holding means is provided on a hollow ring-shaped member having a concave surface for holding the semiconductor wafer on the inner surface, and provided on the ring-shaped member.
Having a valve for opening and closing a passage for inflow and outflow of fluid to the inside of the ring-shaped member, before mounting the semiconductor wafer, if the internal pressure of the hollow rubber ring is set to about atmospheric pressure or less, The semiconductor wafer can be easily clamped on the concave surface of the rubber ring. Also, if the internal pressure of the rubber ring is increased after being clamped, the radial cross-sectional dimension of the rubber ring increases, so that the pressure is applied evenly from the peripheral edge to the center of the semiconductor wafer. The position with respect to is stabilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration sectional view showing a probe card according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration sectional view showing a probe card according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration sectional view showing an application example of the probe card according to the first or second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration sectional view showing a conventional probe card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 rigid ring 12 card body 12a suction port 13 semiconductor wafer 14 electrode 15 bump 16 hollow rubber ring (wafer holding means) 17 closed space 18 air valve 19 input / output terminal 21 rigid ring 22 seal member 31 external connector 32 wiring board 32a suction port 33 Seal ring 34 Holding plate 35 Vacuum valve 36 Spacer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/66 G01R 1/073

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for applying a voltage to each electrode of a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit devices formed on a semiconductor wafer to collectively inspect electrical characteristics of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit devices at a wafer level. A probe card, comprising: a card body; a plurality of probe terminals provided at positions corresponding to respective electrodes of the semiconductor integrated circuit element on a main surface of the card body; and the plurality of probe terminals on a main surface of the card body. A wafer holding means provided at a peripheral portion of a probe terminal and formed of an annular elastic body for holding the semiconductor wafer in close contact with a peripheral end portion of the semiconductor wafer; and A closed space formed by the element forming surface of the wafer, the main surface of the card body, and the wafer holding means is decompressed, and the pressure of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements is reduced. Probe card characterized in that it comprises a pressure reducing means for electrically connecting each probe terminal of the the electrode card body. 2. The wafer holding means includes: a hollow ring-shaped member having a concave surface holding the semiconductor wafer on an inner surface; and a hollow ring-shaped member provided on the ring-shaped member. The probe card according to claim 1, further comprising a valve that opens and closes a passage. 3. A method for applying a voltage to each electrode of a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements formed on a semiconductor wafer to collectively inspect electrical characteristics of the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit elements at a wafer level. A probe card, comprising: a card body; a plurality of probe terminals provided at positions corresponding to respective electrodes of the semiconductor integrated circuit element on a main surface of the card body; and the plurality of probe terminals on a main surface of the card body. An annular seal member provided in a peripheral portion of a probe terminal so as to be in close contact with a peripheral portion of an element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer; and an annular seal member provided on the card body, and an element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer and the card by reducing the pressure of the enclosed space formed by said sealing member and the main surface of the body, holds the semiconductor wafer, said plurality of half And a pressure reducing means for connecting each probe terminal of the card body and the electrode body integrated circuit elements electrically, during decompression of the enclosed space, in the semiconductor wafer
A probe card, wherein the entire surface opposite to the element forming surface is exposed .