JP4423991B2 - Anisotropic conductive connector, probe member, wafer inspection apparatus and wafer inspection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an anisotropic conductive connector suitably used for performing electrical inspection of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer in the state of a wafer, a probe member including the anisotropic conductive connector, and the probe More specifically, for example, a wafer inspection apparatus using the probe member and a wafer inspection method using the probe member is a wafer having a diameter of 8 inches or more, and the total number of electrodes to be inspected in an integrated circuit formed on the wafer is 5000. An anisotropic conductive connector suitably used for performing electrical inspection of the integrated circuit in a wafer state, a probe member including the anisotropic conductive connector, and a probe member including the probe member. The present invention relates to a wafer inspection apparatus and a wafer inspection method using the probe member.

In general, in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor integrated circuit device, a large number of integrated circuits are formed on a wafer made of, for example, silicon, and then each of these integrated circuits has a defect by inspecting basic electrical characteristics. A probe test is performed to select the integrated circuit. Next, a semiconductor chip is formed by cutting the wafer, and the semiconductor chip is housed in an appropriate package and sealed. Further, each packaged semiconductor integrated circuit device is subjected to a burn-in test for selecting a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a potential defect by inspecting electrical characteristics in a high temperature environment.
In such an electrical inspection of an integrated circuit such as a probe test or a burn-in test, a probe member is used to electrically connect each of the electrodes to be inspected in the inspection object to a tester. Such a probe member is composed of an inspection circuit board on which an inspection electrode is formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected, and an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet disposed on the inspection circuit board. It has been known.

  As such an anisotropically conductive elastomer sheet, those having various structures are conventionally known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an anisotropically conductive elastomer sheet obtained by uniformly dispersing metal particles in an elastomer ( Hereinafter, this is referred to as a “dispersed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet”), and Patent Document 2 discloses that the conductive magnetic particles are unevenly distributed in the elastomer, thereby extending in the thickness direction. An anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet (hereinafter, referred to as “unevenly anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet”) in which a large number of conductive portions and insulating portions that insulate them from each other are formed is disclosed. Patent Document 3 discloses an unevenly distributed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet in which a step is formed between the surface of the conductive portion and the insulating portion. And, since the unevenly distributed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet has a conductive portion formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected of the integrated circuit to be inspected, compared to the dispersed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet, This is advantageous in that the electrical connection between the electrodes can be achieved with high reliability even for an integrated circuit in which the arrangement pitch of the electrodes to be inspected, that is, the distance between the centers of adjacent electrodes to be inspected is small. Among anisotropically conductive elastomers, those having a conductive portion formed so as to protrude from the surface of the insulating portion are advantageous in that high conductivity can be obtained with a small applied pressure.

Such an unevenly distributed anisotropically conductive elastomer sheet needs to be held and fixed with a specific positional relationship with the circuit board for inspection and the inspection object in electrical connection work.
However, the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet is flexible and easily deformed, and its handleability is low. Moreover, in recent years, with the downsizing of electrical products or the increase in the density of wiring, integrated circuit devices used therein tend to have a higher density due to an increase in the number of electrodes and a further reduction in the arrangement pitch of the electrodes. Therefore, it is becoming difficult to align and hold and fix the unevenly anisotropic anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet when electrically connecting the inspection object to the electrode to be inspected.
Also, in the burn-in test, even if the required alignment and holding / fixing of the integrated circuit device and the unevenly distributed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet have been realized, Since the expansion coefficient differs greatly between the material constituting the integrated circuit device to be inspected (for example, silicon) and the material constituting the unevenly distributed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet (for example, silicone rubber), the unevenly distributed anisotropic conductivity As a result of displacement between the conductive portion of the conductive elastomer sheet and the electrode to be inspected of the integrated circuit device, there is a problem that the electrical connection state is changed and a stable connection state is not maintained.

  In order to solve such a problem, a metal frame plate having an opening, and an anisotropic conductive sheet disposed at the opening of the frame plate and having a peripheral edge supported by an opening edge of the frame plate An anisotropic conductive connector is proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

This anisotropically conductive connector is generally manufactured as follows.
As shown in FIG. 31, a die for forming an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet comprising an upper die 81 and a lower die 85 paired therewith is prepared, and a frame plate 90 having an opening 91 is provided in this die. A molding material in which conductive particles exhibiting magnetism are dispersed in a polymer substance-forming material that is arranged in alignment and becomes an elastic polymer substance by a curing process is used as an opening 91 of the frame plate 90 and its opening edge. The molding material layer 95 is formed by supplying to the region including Here, the conductive particles P contained in the molding material layer 95 are in a state of being dispersed in the molding material layer 95.
Each of the upper mold 81 and the lower mold 85 in the above-mentioned mold has a plurality of patterns according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the conductive portion of the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet to be molded on the substrates 82 and 86 made of a ferromagnetic material, for example. Ferromagnetic layers 83 and 87 are formed, and nonmagnetic layers 84 and 88 are formed at locations other than the locations where these ferromagnetic layers 83 and 87 are formed. The nonmagnetic material layers 84 and 88 form a molding surface. Further, recesses 84a and 88a for forming protrusions on the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet are formed at locations where the ferromagnetic layers 83 and 87 are located on the molding surfaces of the upper die 81 and the lower die 85. Yes. The upper die 81 and the lower die 85 are arranged so that the corresponding ferromagnetic layers 83 and 87 face each other.

  Then, for example, a pair of electromagnets are arranged on the upper surface of the upper die 81 and the lower surface of the lower die 85 to operate them, so that the molding material layer 95 corresponds to the ferromagnetic layer 83 of the upper die 81. In a portion between the lower die 85 and the ferromagnetic layer 87, that is, a portion serving as a conductive portion, a magnetic field having a stronger intensity than the other portions is applied in the thickness direction of the molding material layer 95. As a result, the conductive particles P dispersed in the molding material layer 95 correspond to the portion of the molding material layer 95 to which a high-intensity magnetic field is applied, that is, the ferromagnetic layer 83 of the upper mold 81. The lower mold 85 is gathered at a portion between the lower layer 85 and the ferromagnetic layer 87, and is further aligned in the thickness direction. In this state, the molding material layer 95 is cured to insulate the plurality of conductive parts contained in a state in which the conductive particles P are aligned in the thickness direction from each other. An anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet comprising an insulating part and having a conductive part protruding from the surface of the insulating part is formed in a state where the peripheral part is supported by the opening edge of the frame plate. An anisotropic conductive connector is manufactured.

  According to such an anisotropic conductive connector, since the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet is supported on the metal frame plate, it is difficult to be deformed and is easy to handle. ) Can be easily aligned and held and fixed to the integrated circuit device in the electrical connection work of the integrated circuit device, and the material constituting the frame plate has a low coefficient of thermal expansion. Since the thermal expansion of the anisotropic conductive sheet is restricted by the frame plate, the conductive portion of the unevenly distributed anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet and the integrated circuit device can be used even when receiving a thermal history due to a temperature change. As a result of preventing the displacement from the electrode to be inspected, a good electrical connection state is stably maintained.

By the way, in a probe test performed on an integrated circuit formed on a wafer, conventionally, an integrated circuit group including, for example, 16 or 32 integrated circuits among a large number of integrated circuits formed on a wafer is collectively processed. A method of performing a probe test and sequentially performing a probe test on other integrated circuit groups is employed.
In recent years, in order to improve the inspection efficiency and reduce the inspection cost, for example, 64, 124, or all of the integrated circuits are collectively subjected to a probe test among a large number of integrated circuits formed on the wafer. It is requested.

  On the other hand, in the burn-in test, the integrated circuit device to be inspected is very small and inconvenient to handle. Therefore, it is long to perform electrical inspection of many integrated circuit devices individually. Time is required, which leads to a considerably high inspection cost. For these reasons, a WLBI (Wafer Level Burn-in) test has been proposed in which a burn-in test of a large number of integrated circuits formed on a wafer is performed in a wafer state.

However, if the wafer to be inspected is a large one having a diameter of, for example, 8 inches or more and the number of electrodes to be inspected is, for example, 5000 or more, particularly 10,000 or more, the wafer to be inspected in each integrated circuit. Since the pitch of the inspection electrodes is extremely small, there are the following problems when the above anisotropic conductive connector is applied as a probe member for a probe test or a WLBI test.
That is, in order to inspect a wafer having a diameter of, for example, 8 inches (about 20 cm), it is necessary to use an anisotropic conductive connector having an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet having a diameter of about 8 inches. However, such an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet has a large overall area, but each conductive part is fine, and the ratio of the surface area of the conductive part to the surface of the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet is small. Since it is small, it is extremely difficult to reliably manufacture the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet.

Further, since the conductive portions to be formed are fine and have a very small pitch, it is difficult to reliably manufacture an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet having a required insulating property between adjacent conductive portions. This is considered to be due to the following reasons.
As described above, when an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet is manufactured, a magnetic field having a strength distribution is applied to a molding material layer in which conductive particles exhibiting magnetism are dispersed in a polymer material forming material. By acting in the direction, the conductive particles gather to form a dense part, and the conductive particles become a sparse part. A densely contained conductive portion and an insulating portion containing little or no conductive particles are formed.
However, when manufacturing an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet corresponding to a wafer having a diameter of 8 inches or more and a number of inspection electrodes of 5000 or more, the above-mentioned mold is used to provide a strength distribution in the molding material layer. Even when the magnetic field is applied, the magnetic field due to the adjacent ferromagnetic layer is affected, making it difficult to collect the conductive particles in the intended part. In particular, when manufacturing an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet having a protruding portion, the lateral movement of the conductive particles is hindered by the recesses formed on the molding surface of the mold. It becomes more difficult to gather in the desired part.
Therefore, in the anisotropically conductive elastomer sheet obtained, the conductive portion is not filled with a required amount of conductive particles, thereby not only reducing the conductivity of the conductive portion but also having conductive particles in the insulating portion. Since it remains, the electrical resistance value between the adjacent conductive parts decreases, and it becomes difficult to ensure the required insulation between the adjacent conductive parts.

Recently, a wafer on which an integrated circuit having protruding electrodes (bumps) is formed is manufactured, and an electrical inspection of the integrated circuit formed on the wafer is performed in the manufacturing process.
However, in the electrical inspection of such a wafer, when an anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet having protrusions is used, there is a problem that durability in repeated use of the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet is lowered.
That is, by repeating the operation of pressing the protruding electrode, which is the electrode to be inspected on the wafer to be inspected, against the conductive portion of the anisotropic conductive elastomer sheet, the protruding portion in the conductive portion is quickly crushed, and the conductive Since the part is permanently deformed, a stable electrical connection between the conductive part and the electrode to be inspected cannot be obtained.

  Further, as a method of performing a probe test on an integrated circuit formed on a wafer having a diameter of 8 inches or 12 inches with a high degree of integration, a method of performing a probe test on all the integrated circuits formed on the wafer collectively. In addition, there is a method in which a wafer is divided into two or more areas, and for each divided area, a probe test is performed on the integrated circuit formed in the area. The conductive connector is desired to have high durability in repeated use in order to reduce inspection costs.

JP 51-93393 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53-147772 JP-A-61-250906 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-40224

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and a first object thereof is to form a wafer to be inspected having a large area of, for example, a diameter of 8 inches or more. Even if the pitch of the electrodes to be inspected in the integrated circuit is small, alignment and holding / fixing to the wafer can be easily performed, and good conductivity can be ensured for all the conductive portions for connection. Another object of the present invention is to provide an anisotropically conductive connector that can be obtained and can reliably obtain insulation between adjacent conductive portions for connection, and can maintain good conductivity over a long period of time even when used repeatedly. .
In addition to the above object, a second object of the present invention is to provide an anisotropic conductive connector that can obtain good conductivity in a conductive part for connection even when pressurized with a small load.
In addition to the above object, a third object of the present invention is to provide an anisotropic conductive connector that can maintain a stable electrical connection state against environmental changes such as thermal history due to temperature changes. It is to provide.
The fourth object of the present invention is that, even if the wafer to be inspected has a large area of, for example, a diameter of 8 inches or more and the pitch of the electrodes to be inspected in the formed integrated circuit is small, A probe member that can be easily aligned and held and fixed to the wafer, has high connection reliability to each electrode to be inspected, and maintains good conductivity for a long time even when used repeatedly. It is to provide.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide an anisotropic conductive connector and probe having high durability in repeated use when a probe test is performed on an integrated circuit formed with a high integration degree on a wafer having a diameter of 8 inches or 12 inches. It is to provide a member.
A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a highly anisotropic conductive connector and probe member that are repeatedly used when an electrical inspection is performed on an integrated circuit having protruding electrodes formed on a large-area wafer with a high degree of integration. Is to provide.
A seventh object of the present invention is to provide a wafer inspection apparatus and a wafer inspection method for performing electrical inspection of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer in the state of a wafer using the probe member. .

An anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention is an anisotropic conductive connector used for performing electrical inspection of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer in the state of the wafer.
A plurality of anisotropic conductive film placement holes penetrating in the thickness direction are formed corresponding to the electrode regions where the electrodes to be inspected are arranged in all or some of the integrated circuits formed on the wafer to be inspected. The frame plate and a plurality of elastic anisotropic conductive films arranged in each anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole of the frame plate and supported by the peripheral part of the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole,
Each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films extends in the thickness direction in which the conductive particles exhibiting magnetism are densely disposed corresponding to the electrodes to be inspected in the integrated circuit formed on the wafer to be inspected. Comprising a functional part having a plurality of conductive parts for connection and an insulating part that insulates the conductive parts for connection from each other;
When the thickness of the conductive portion for connection in the functional portion of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is T1, and the thickness of the insulating portion in the functional portion is T2, the ratio (T2 / T1) is 0.9 or more,
At least one surface of each functional portion of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is a flat surface;
Each functional part of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is formed so that at least one flat surface protrudes from a supported part fixedly supported in the peripheral part of the anisotropic conductive film disposition hole of the frame plate. When the sum of the areas of the flat surfaces of the functional portions of all the elastic anisotropic conductive films is S1, and the area of the surface of the wafer to be inspected where the electrodes to be inspected are formed is S2, The ratio S1 / S2 is 0.001 to 0.3.

In such an anisotropically conductive connector, it is preferable coefficient of linear thermal expansion of the frame plate is 3 × 10 ^-5 / K or less.

The probe member of the present invention is a probe member used for performing electrical inspection of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer in the state of the wafer,
An inspection circuit board in which inspection electrodes are formed on the surface according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected in the integrated circuit formed on the wafer to be inspected, and the frame arranged on the surface of the inspection circuit board And an anisotropic conductive connector having a plate.

In the probe member of the present invention, the coefficient of linear thermal expansion of the frame plate in the anisotropic conductive connector is 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less, and the coefficient of linear thermal expansion of the substrate material constituting the circuit board for inspection is It is preferable that it is 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less.
Further, an insulating sheet on the anisotropic conductive connector, and a plurality of electrode structures extending through the insulating sheet in the thickness direction and arranged according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected The sheet-like connector which becomes may be arrange | positioned.

A wafer inspection apparatus according to the present invention is a wafer inspection apparatus that performs electrical inspection of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer in a wafer state.
The probe member is provided, and electrical connection to the integrated circuit formed on the wafer to be inspected is achieved through the probe member.

  In the wafer inspection method of the present invention, each of the plurality of integrated circuits formed on the wafer is electrically connected to the tester via the probe member, and the integrated circuit formed on the wafer is electrically inspected. It is characterized by doing.

According to the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, the elastic anisotropic conductive film has the supported portion formed on the periphery of the functional portion having the connecting conductive portion, and the supported portion is different from the frame plate. Since it is fixed to the periphery of the hole for arranging the conductive film, it is difficult to deform and easy to handle, and in the electrical connection work with the wafer to be inspected, the wafer can be easily aligned and held and fixed. it can.
In addition, since there is no difference between the thickness of the conductive portion for connection and the thickness of the insulating portion in the functional portion of the elastic anisotropic conductive film, the mold used in the formation of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is a flat molding. It has a surface with a surface or a surface with a small depth of recess, and when a magnetic field is applied to the molding material layer, the movement of the conductive particles is not hindered and the conductive particles are molded. The conductive particles can be easily gathered in the portion that becomes the conductive portion for connection, while hardly remaining in the portion that becomes the insulating portion in the material layer. As a result, with respect to all the connecting conductive portions to be formed, good conductivity can be obtained and sufficient insulation between the adjacent connecting conductive portions can be reliably obtained.
In addition, since there is no or small difference between the height level of the conductive portion for connection and the height level of the insulating portion on the surface of the functional portion of the anisotropic conductive film, the wafer to be inspected has a protruding inspection target electrode. Even if it has, since it is avoided or suppressed that the deformation | transformation by the crushing of a protrusion part arises in the electrically conductive part for a connection, the high durability in repeated use is acquired.

Further, one surface of the functional part that is a flat surface is formed so as to protrude from the other part, and the ratio of the area of the one surface of the functional part to the surface area of the wafer to be inspected is in a specific range. According to the present invention, when the anisotropic conductive connector is pressed in the thickness direction, the load concentrates and acts only on the functional part, so that the conductive part for connection has good conductivity even when pressed with a small load. It is definitely obtained.
Each of the holes for arranging the anisotropic conductive film on the frame plate is formed corresponding to an electrode region in which the inspection target electrode of the integrated circuit is formed on the wafer to be inspected. Since the elastic anisotropic conductive film disposed in each hole may have a small area, it is easy to form individual elastic anisotropic conductive films. Moreover, the elastic anisotropic conductive film having a small area has a small thermal expansion coefficient in the surface direction of the elastic anisotropic conductive film even when it receives a thermal history. By using the one having a small size, the thermal expansion in the surface direction of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is reliably regulated by the frame plate. Therefore, even when the WLBI test is performed on a large-area wafer, a good electrical connection state can be stably maintained.

  According to the probe member of the present invention, in the electrical connection work with the wafer to be inspected, the wafer can be easily aligned and held and fixed, and an integrated circuit having a protruding electrode is formed. In the inspection of the wafer, the required conductivity can be maintained for a long time even when it is repeatedly used.

  According to the wafer inspection apparatus and the wafer inspection method according to the present invention, since the electrical connection of the wafer to be inspected to the inspection electrode is achieved via the probe member, the inspection electrode has a small pitch. However, alignment and holding / fixing with respect to the wafer can be easily performed, and even when a wafer on which an integrated circuit having protruding electrodes is formed is repeatedly inspected, the required electrical Inspection can be performed stably over a long period of time.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
[Anisotropic conductive connector]
1 is a plan view showing an example of an anisotropic conductive connector according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a part of the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing an elastic anisotropic conductive film in the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing an enlarged elastic anisotropic conductive film in the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. is there.

  The anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. 1 is used, for example, for performing electrical inspection of each of the integrated circuits in a wafer state on a wafer on which a plurality of integrated circuits are formed. Thus, it has the frame board 10 in which the several hole 11 (it shows with a broken line) for anisotropic conductive film arrangement | positioning which each penetrates and extends in the thickness direction was formed. The anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 11 of the frame plate 10 is formed corresponding to the pattern of the electrode region where the inspection target electrode of the integrated circuit is formed on the wafer to be inspected. In each of the anisotropic conductive film arrangement holes 11 of the frame plate 10, an elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 having conductivity in the thickness direction is provided at the periphery of the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 11 of the frame plate 10. It is arranged in a supported state and in an independent state from the adjacent elastic anisotropic conductive film 20. Further, in the frame plate 10 in this example, when a pressure reducing means is used in a wafer inspection apparatus described later, air between the anisotropic conductive connector and a member adjacent thereto is circulated. The air circulation hole 15 is formed, and further, a positioning hole 16 for positioning the wafer to be inspected and the circuit board for inspection is formed.

The elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is formed of an elastic polymer material, and as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of connection conductive portions 22 extending in the thickness direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 3), and the connection The conductive portion 22 is formed around each of the conductive portions 22, and includes a functional portion 21 including an insulating portion 23 that insulates the conductive portions 22 for connection from each other. It arrange | positions so that it may be located in the hole 11 for electrically conductive film arrangement | positioning. The conductive portion 22 for connection in the functional portion 21 is arranged according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected of the integrated circuit in the wafer to be inspected, and is electrically connected to the electrode to be inspected in the inspection of the wafer. Is.
A supported portion 25 fixed and supported on the periphery of the anisotropic conductive film disposition hole 11 in the frame plate 10 is integrally and continuously formed on the periphery of the function portion 21. Specifically, the supported portion 25 in this example is formed in a bifurcated shape, and is fixedly supported in close contact with the peripheral portion of the anisotropic conductive film arranging hole 11 in the frame plate 10. . As shown in FIG. 4, the conductive particles 22 exhibiting magnetism are densely contained in the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 in an aligned state in the thickness direction. On the other hand, the insulating part 23 contains no or almost no conductive particles P. In this example, the supported portion 25 in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 contains conductive particles P.

  In the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, when the thickness of the conductive portion 22 for connection in the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is T1, and the thickness of the insulating portion 23 in the functional portion 21 is T2, the connection The ratio (T2 / T1) of the thickness of the insulating portion 23 to the thickness of the conductive portion 22 for use is 0.9 or more, preferably 0.92 to 1.2. In this example, the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is flat on both sides, and the ratio of the thickness of the insulating portion 23 to the thickness of the connecting conductive portion 22 (T2 / T1) is 1. . Thus, when the ratio (T2 / T1) is 1, the yield is improved in the manufacture of the anisotropic conductive connector, and even if the electrode to be inspected has a protrusion shape, It is particularly preferable because the electrical resistance of the connecting conductive part is suppressed by deformation and durability in repeated use is further improved. When this ratio (T2 / T1) is too small, when a magnetic field having a strength distribution is applied to the molding material layer in the formation of the anisotropic conductive film 20, the conductive particles in the molding material layer are removed. As a result, it is difficult to gather at the portion to be the connection conductive portion 22, and the electrical resistance of the obtained connection conductive portion 22 is increased, or the electrical resistance between the adjacent connection conductive portions 22 is decreased.

Further, in the anisotropic conductive connector of this example, each functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 has a thickness larger than the thickness of the supported portion 25, and one surface of each functional portion 21 and The other surface is formed so as to protrude from the supported portion 25.
In such an anisotropic conductive connector, the sum of the areas of one surface of the functional portion 21 of all the elastic anisotropic conductive films 20 is S1, and the surface of the wafer on the inspection target surface on which the electrode to be inspected is formed is S1. When the area is S2, the ratio S1 / S2 is preferably 0.001 to 0.3, and more preferably 0.002 to 0.2.
When the value of this ratio S1 / S2 is too small, each functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is free from the weight of the circuit board for inspection when the anisotropic conductive connector is released from the pressurized state. Or due to the tack property of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 itself, each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films 20 may remain in a compressed state, making it difficult to restore the original shape. Therefore, the durability due to repeated use of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 may be significantly reduced. On the other hand, when the value of this ratio S1 / S2 is excessive, the anisotropic conductive connector must be pressurized with a considerably large load in order to achieve electrical connection to the wafer to be inspected. For this reason, it is necessary to provide the wafer inspection apparatus with a large pressure mechanism. As a result, the entire wafer inspection apparatus becomes large and the manufacturing cost of the wafer inspection apparatus increases. Further, since the anisotropic conductive connector is pressurized with a considerably large load, there arises a problem that the anisotropic conductive connector, the inspection circuit board, and the wafer to be inspected are easily damaged.

Although the thickness of the frame board 10 changes with materials, it is preferable that it is 20-600 micrometers, More preferably, it is 40-400 micrometers.
When this thickness is less than 20 μm, the strength required when using an anisotropically conductive connector is not obtained, the durability tends to be low, and the shape of the frame plate 10 is maintained. Thus, the handleability of the anisotropically conductive connector is low. On the other hand, when the thickness exceeds 600 μm, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 formed in the anisotropic conductive film disposing hole 11 becomes excessively thick, and the connection conductive portion 22 is good. It may be difficult to obtain conductivity and insulation between the adjacent conductive portions 22 for connection.
The shape and size in the plane direction of the anisotropic conductive film disposing hole 11 of the frame plate 10 are designed according to the size, pitch, and pattern of the electrodes to be inspected on the wafer to be inspected.

The material constituting the frame plate 10 is not particularly limited as long as the frame plate 10 is not easily deformed and has a rigidity that allows the shape to be stably maintained. For example, a metal material or a ceramic material Various materials such as a resin material can be used. Further, when the frame plate 10 is made of, for example, a metal material, an insulating coating may be formed on the surface of the frame plate 10.
Specific examples of the metal material constituting the frame plate 10 include metals such as iron, copper, nickel, chromium, cobalt, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, indium, lead, palladium, titanium, tungsten, aluminum, gold, platinum, and silver. Or the alloy or alloy steel which combined 2 or more types of these is mentioned.
Specific examples of the resin material constituting the frame plate 10 include a liquid crystal polymer and a polyimide resin.

In addition, the frame plate 10 is at least around the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 11 in that the conductive particles P can be easily contained in the supported portion 25 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 by a method described later. It is preferable that the portion, that is, the portion supporting the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 exhibits magnetism, specifically, the saturation magnetization thereof is preferably 0.1 Wb / m ² or more. From an easy point, it is preferable that the entire frame plate 10 is made of a magnetic material.
Specific examples of the magnetic body constituting such a frame plate 10 include iron, nickel, cobalt, alloys of these magnetic metals, alloys of these magnetic metals and other metals, or alloy steels.

When the anisotropic conductive connector is used for the WLBI test, it is preferable to use a material having a linear thermal expansion coefficient of 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less as the material constituting the frame plate 10, more preferably. −1 × 10 ⁻⁷ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K, particularly preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to 8 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K.
Specific examples of such materials include Invar type alloys such as Invar, Elinvar type alloys such as Elinvar, magnetic metal alloys such as Super Invar, Kovar, and 42 alloy, or alloy steel.

The total thickness of the functional part 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is preferably 40 to 3000 μm, more preferably 50 to 2500 μm, and particularly preferably 70 to 2000 μm. If this thickness is 40 μm or more, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 having sufficient strength can be obtained reliably. On the other hand, if this thickness is 3000 μm or less, the connecting conductive portion 22 having the required conductive characteristics can be obtained reliably.
Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness (one thickness of the forked part in the example of illustration) of the to-be-supported part 25 is 5-600 micrometers, More preferably, it is 10-500 micrometers.
Further, it is not essential that the supported portion 25 is formed in a bifurcated shape and is fixed to both surfaces of the frame plate 10, and may be fixed to only one surface of the frame plate 10.

As the elastic polymer substance forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20, a heat-resistant polymer substance having a cross-linked structure is preferable. Various materials can be used as the curable polymeric substance-forming material that can be used to obtain such a crosslinked polymeric substance, and liquid silicone rubber is preferred.
The liquid silicone rubber may be an addition type or a condensation type, but an addition type liquid silicone rubber is preferred. This addition-type liquid silicone rubber is cured by a reaction between a vinyl group and a Si—H bond, and is a one-pack type (one-component type) made of polysiloxane containing both a vinyl group and a Si—H bond. And two-component type (two-component type) composed of a polysiloxane containing a vinyl group and a polysiloxane containing a Si-H bond. In the present invention, a two-component addition-type liquid silicone is used. It is preferable to use rubber.

As the addition-type liquid silicone rubber, those having a viscosity of 100 to 1,250 Pa · s at 23 ° C. are preferably used, more preferably 150 to 800 Pa · s, particularly preferably 250 to 500 Pa · s. . When the viscosity is less than 100 Pa · s, the molding material for obtaining the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 described later tends to cause sedimentation of the conductive particles in the addition-type liquid silicone rubber, and has good storage stability. In addition, when a parallel magnetic field is applied to the molding material layer, the conductive particles are not aligned in the thickness direction, and it is difficult to form a chain of conductive particles in a uniform state. May be. On the other hand, when the viscosity exceeds 1,250 Pa · s, the molding material obtained is high in viscosity, so that it may be difficult to form a molding material layer in the mold. Even when a parallel magnetic field is applied to the material layer, the conductive particles do not move sufficiently, and therefore it may be difficult to orient the conductive particles so that they are aligned in the thickness direction.
The viscosity of such an addition type liquid silicone rubber can be measured by a B type viscometer.

In the case where the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is formed of a cured liquid silicone rubber (hereinafter referred to as “silicone rubber cured product”), the cured silicone rubber has a compression set at 150 ° C. of 10% or less. Preferably, it is 8% or less, more preferably 6% or less. When this compression set exceeds 10%, the resulting anisotropic conductive connector is repeatedly used in a high-temperature environment. As a result, the chain of conductive particles in the connecting conductive portion 22 is disturbed. It becomes difficult to maintain the sex.
Here, the compression set of the cured silicone rubber can be measured by a method based on JIS K 6249.

Further, the cured silicone rubber forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 preferably has a durometer A hardness of 10 to 60 at 23 ° C., more preferably 15 to 60, and particularly preferably 20 to 60. Is. When the durometer A hardness is less than 10, the insulating portions 23 that insulate the connecting conductive portions 22 from each other when pressed are easily distorted, and the required insulation between the connecting conductive portions 22 is obtained. May be difficult to maintain. On the other hand, when the durometer A hardness exceeds 60, a pressing force with a considerably large load is required to give an appropriate strain to the connection conductive portion 22, so that, for example, a large deformation or Destruction is likely to occur.
Here, the durometer A hardness of the cured silicone rubber can be measured by a method based on JIS K 6249.

The cured silicone rubber forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 preferably has a tear strength at 23 ° C. of 8 kN / m or more, more preferably 10 kN / m or more, and more preferably 15 kN / m. As described above, it is particularly preferably 20 kN / m or more. When the tear strength is less than 8 kN / m, the durability tends to be lowered when the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is excessively strained.
Here, the tear strength of the cured silicone rubber can be measured by a method based on JIS K 6249.

  As the addition type liquid silicone rubber having such characteristics, those commercially available as liquid silicone rubbers “KE2000” series, “KE1950” series, and “KE1990” series manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. can be used.

In the present invention, an appropriate curing catalyst can be used to cure the addition-type liquid silicone rubber. As such a curing catalyst, a platinum-based catalyst can be used. Specific examples thereof include chloroplatinic acid and salts thereof, platinum-unsaturated siloxane complex, vinylsiloxane-platinum complex, platinum and Examples include known complexes such as 1,3-divinyltetramethyldisiloxane complex, triorganophosphine or phosphite and platinum complex, acetyl acetate platinum chelate, and cyclic diene and platinum complex.
The amount of the curing catalyst used is appropriately selected in consideration of the type of the curing catalyst and other curing treatment conditions, and is usually 3 to 15 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the addition type liquid silicone rubber.

Further, in the addition type liquid silicone rubber, for the purpose of improving the thixotropy of the addition type liquid silicone rubber, adjusting the viscosity, improving the dispersion stability of the conductive particles, or obtaining a substrate having high strength, etc. If necessary, an inorganic filler such as normal silica powder, colloidal silica, aerogel silica, and alumina can be contained.
The amount of such inorganic filler used is not particularly limited, but if it is used in a large amount, it is not preferable because the orientation of the conductive particles by the magnetic field cannot be sufficiently achieved.

The number average particle diameter of the conductive particles P is preferably 3 to 30 μm, more preferably 6 to 15 μm.
In addition, as the conductive particles P, when the number average particle diameter is Dn and the weight average particle diameter is Dw, the ratio Dw / Dn of the weight average particle diameter to the number average particle diameter (hereinafter simply referred to as “ratio Dw”). / Dn ") is preferably 5 or less, and more preferably the ratio Dw / Dn is 3 or less. By using such conductive particles, it is possible to more reliably obtain the required insulation between the adjacent conductive portions 22 for connection.
In the present invention, the average particle diameter of particles refers to that measured by a laser diffraction scattering method.

The conductive particles P preferably have a particle diameter variation coefficient of 50% or less, more preferably 35% or less.
Here, the variation coefficient of the particle diameter is obtained by the formula: (σ / Dn) × 100 (where σ represents the value of the standard deviation of the particle diameter).
When the variation coefficient of the particle diameter of the conductive particles P exceeds 50%, it is difficult to reliably obtain the required insulation between the adjacent conductive portions 22 for connection.

  Further, the shape of the conductive particles P is not particularly limited, but spherical particles, star-shaped particles, or agglomerated particles 2 can be easily dispersed in the polymer substance-forming material. It is preferable that it is a lump with secondary particles.

As the conductive particles P, it is preferable to use particles in which the surface of magnetic core particles (hereinafter also referred to as “magnetic core particles”) is coated with a highly conductive metal.
Here, “highly conductive metal” refers to a metal having a conductivity of 5 × 10 ⁶ Ω ⁻¹ m ⁻¹ or more at 0 ° C.
As the material constituting the magnetic core particles, iron, nickel, cobalt, those obtained by coating these metals with copper, resin, or the like can be used, but those having a saturation magnetization of 0.1 Wb / m ² or more are preferable. More preferably, it is 0.3 Wb / m ² or more, particularly preferably 0.5 Wb / m ² or more, and specific examples include iron, nickel, cobalt, or alloys thereof. Of these, nickel is preferred.
If the saturation magnetization is 0.1 Wb / m ² or more, the conductive particles P can be easily moved in the molding material layer for forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 by the method described later. Thereby, the electroconductive particle P can be reliably moved to the part used as the connection conductive part in the said molding material layer, and the chain | strand of the electroconductive particle P can be formed.
Gold, silver, rhodium, platinum, chromium, and the like can be used as the highly conductive metal that coats the magnetic core particles. Among these, gold is used because it is chemically stable and has high conductivity. Is preferred.
Moreover, in order to obtain the conductive part 22 for connection which has high electroconductivity, as the electroconductive particle P, the ratio of the high electroconductive metal with respect to a core particle [(mass of high electroconductive metal / mass of core particle) x100] Is preferably 15% by mass or more, more preferably 25 to 35% by mass.

  The moisture content of the conductive particles P is preferably 5% or less, more preferably 3% or less, still more preferably 2% or less, and particularly preferably 1% or less. By using the conductive particles P satisfying such conditions, bubbles are prevented or suppressed from occurring in the molding material layer when the molding material layer is cured in the manufacturing method described later.

Such conductive particles P can be obtained by the following method, for example.
First, the ferromagnetic material is made into particles by a conventional method or commercially available ferromagnetic particles are prepared, and the particles are subjected to classification treatment as necessary.
Here, the particle classification process can be performed by a classification device such as an air classification device or a sonic sieving device.
Specific conditions for the classification treatment are appropriately set according to the number average particle diameter of the target magnetic core particles, the type of the classification device, and the like.
Next, the surface of the magnetic core particle is treated with an acid, and further, for example, washed with pure water to remove impurities such as dirt, foreign matter, and oxide film present on the surface of the magnetic core particle. By coating the surface of the particles with a highly conductive metal, conductive particles exhibiting magnetism can be obtained.
Here, hydrochloric acid etc. can be mentioned as an acid used in order to process the surface of a magnetic core particle.
As a method for coating the surface of the magnetic core particles with the highly conductive metal, an electroless plating method, a displacement plating method, or the like can be used, but the method is not limited to these methods.

The method for producing conductive particles by the electroless plating method or the displacement plating method will be described. First, a slurry is prepared by adding acid-treated and washed magnetic core particles to the plating solution, and the slurry is stirred. Then, electroless plating or displacement plating is performed on the magnetic core particles. Next, the particles in the slurry are separated from the plating solution, and then the particles are washed with, for example, pure water to obtain conductive particles in which the surface of the magnetic core particles is coated with a highly conductive metal.
Further, after the base plating layer is formed on the surface of the magnetic core particles to form the base plating layer, a plating layer made of a highly conductive metal may be formed on the surface of the base plating layer. The method of forming the base plating layer and the plating layer formed on the surface thereof is not particularly limited, but the base plating layer is formed on the surface of the magnetic core particles by the electroless plating method, and then the base plating layer is formed by the displacement plating method. It is preferable to form a plating layer made of a highly conductive metal on the surface of the plating layer.
The plating solution used for electroless plating or displacement plating is not particularly limited, and various commercially available products can be used.

In order to make the conductive particles obtained in this way have the above-mentioned particle size and particle size distribution, classification treatment is performed.
As a classification device for performing the classification treatment of the conductive particles, those exemplified as the classification device used for the above-described classification treatment of the magnetic core particles can be used, but it is preferable to use at least an air classification device. By classifying the conductive particles with an air classifier, the conductive particles having the above particle diameter and particle size distribution can be obtained with certainty.

Moreover, the electroconductive particle P may be processed with coupling agents, such as a silane coupling agent, as needed. By treating the surface of the conductive particles P with a coupling agent, the adhesiveness between the conductive particles P and the elastic polymer substance is increased, and as a result, the obtained elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is repeatedly formed. Durability in use is high.
The amount of the coupling agent used is appropriately selected within a range that does not affect the conductivity of the conductive particles P, but the coupling agent coverage on the surface of the conductive particles P (the cup relative to the surface area of the conductive core particles). The ratio of the ring agent covering area) is preferably 5% or more, more preferably 7 to 100%, further preferably 10 to 100%, and particularly preferably 20 to 100%. Amount.

The content ratio of the conductive particles P in the connection conductive part 22 of the functional part 21 is preferably 10 to 60%, preferably 15 to 50% in terms of volume fraction. When this ratio is less than 10%, the connection conductive portion 22 having a sufficiently small electric resistance value may not be obtained. On the other hand, when this ratio exceeds 60%, the obtained conductive part 22 for connection tends to be fragile, and the elasticity required for the conductive part 22 for connection may not be obtained.
Moreover, although the content rate of the electroconductive particle P in the to-be-supported part 25 changes with the content rate of the electroconductive particle in the molding material for forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20, it is for the connection in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 The content ratio of the conductive particles in the molding material is that it is reliably prevented that an excessive amount of the conductive particles P is contained in the connecting conductive portion 22 located on the outermost side of the conductive portions 22. The volume fraction is preferably 30% or less in terms of obtaining a supported portion 25 having sufficient strength.

The anisotropic conductive connector can be manufactured, for example, as follows.
First, a frame plate 10 made of a magnetic metal in which an anisotropic conductive film arranging hole 11 is formed corresponding to a pattern of an electrode region in which an inspection target electrode of an integrated circuit is formed on a wafer to be inspected is manufactured. Here, as a method of forming the anisotropic conductive film arranging hole 11 of the frame plate 10, for example, an etching method or the like can be used.

  Next, a molding material for an elastic anisotropic conductive film is prepared in which conductive particles exhibiting magnetism are dispersed in addition-type liquid silicone rubber. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, a mold 60 for forming an elastic anisotropic conductive film is prepared, and an elastic anisotropic conductive film is formed on each molding surface of the upper mold 61 and the lower mold 65 of the mold 60. The molding material layer 20A is formed by applying the molding material according to a required pattern, that is, an arrangement pattern of the elastic anisotropic conductive film to be formed.

Here, the mold 60 will be specifically described. The mold 60 is configured such that an upper mold 61 and a lower mold 65 that is paired with the upper mold 61 are arranged to face each other.
In the upper mold 61, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 6, a ferromagnetic material is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 62 according to a pattern opposite to the arrangement pattern of the connecting conductive portions 22 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 to be molded. A layer 63 is formed, and a nonmagnetic layer 64 is formed at a portion other than the ferromagnetic layer 63, and a molding surface is formed by the ferromagnetic layer 63 and the nonmagnetic layer 64. .
On the other hand, in the lower die 65, a ferromagnetic layer 67 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 66 in accordance with the same pattern as the arrangement pattern of the connecting conductive portions 22 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 to be molded. A nonmagnetic layer 68 is formed at a portion other than the layer 67, and a molding surface is formed by the ferromagnetic layer 67 and the nonmagnetic layer 68.
Further, recesses 64 a and 68 a are formed on the molding surfaces of the upper die 61 and the lower die 65 in order to form the functional portion 21 having a thickness larger than the thickness of the supported portion 25.

  The substrates 62 and 66 in each of the upper die 61 and the lower die 65 are preferably made of a ferromagnetic material. Specific examples of such a ferromagnetic material include iron, iron-nickel alloy, iron-cobalt. Examples include ferromagnetic metals such as alloys, nickel, and cobalt. The substrates 62 and 66 preferably have a thickness of 0.1 to 50 mm, have a smooth surface, are chemically degreased, and are mechanically polished.

  In addition, as a material constituting the ferromagnetic layers 63 and 67 in each of the upper die 61 and the lower die 65, a ferromagnetic metal such as iron, iron-nickel alloy, iron-cobalt alloy, nickel, or cobalt may be used. it can. The ferromagnetic layers 63 and 67 preferably have a thickness of 10 μm or more. If the thickness is 10 μm or more, a magnetic field having a sufficient intensity distribution can be applied to the molding material layer 20A. As a result, the conductive material 22 is electrically connected to the portion of the molding material layer 20A that becomes the connection conductive portion 22. The conductive particles 22 can be gathered at high density, and the conductive portion 22 for connection having good conductivity can be obtained.

  In addition, as the material constituting the nonmagnetic layers 64 and 68 in each of the upper mold 61 and the lower mold 65, a nonmagnetic metal such as copper, a high-molecular substance having heat resistance, or the like can be used. In view of the fact that the nonmagnetic layers 64 and 68 can be easily formed by the above method, a polymer material cured by electromagnetic waves can be preferably used. Examples of the material include acrylic dry film resists and epoxy. A photoresist such as a liquid resist or a polyimide liquid resist can be used.

  As a method of applying the molding material to the molding surfaces of the upper mold 61 and the lower mold 65, it is preferable to use a screen printing method. According to such a method, it is easy to apply the molding material according to a required pattern, and an appropriate amount of the molding material can be applied.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the frame plate 10 is positioned and arranged on the molding surface of the lower mold 65 on which the molding material layer 20 </ b> A is formed via the spacer 69 a, and on the frame plate 10. The upper die 61 on which the molding material layer 20A is formed is aligned and disposed through the spacer 69b, and further, these are overlapped to form an upper die 61 and a lower die 65 as shown in FIG. In the meantime, a molding material layer 20A having a desired form (form of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 to be formed) is formed. In this molding material layer 20A, as shown in FIG. 9, the conductive particles P are contained in a state of being dispersed throughout the molding material layer 20A.
Thus, by disposing the spacers 69a and 69b between the frame plate 10 and the upper mold 61 and the lower mold 65, an elastic anisotropic conductive film of a desired form can be formed and adjacent elastic films can be formed. Since the conductive films are prevented from being connected to each other, a large number of independent elastic anisotropic conductive films can be reliably formed.

  After that, for example, a pair of electromagnets are arranged on the upper surface of the substrate 62 in the upper die 61 and the lower surface of the substrate 66 in the lower die 65 and are operated, whereby the ferromagnetic layers 63 and 67 of the upper die 61 and the lower die 65 are operated. Functions as a magnetic pole, a magnetic field having a greater strength than the peripheral region is formed between the ferromagnetic layer 63 of the upper die 61 and the corresponding ferromagnetic layer 67 of the lower die 65. As a result, in the molding material layer 20A, the conductive particles P dispersed in the molding material layer 20A are, as shown in FIG. 10, the ferromagnetic layer 63 of the upper die 61 and the lower die corresponding thereto. The conductive layers 22 are connected to 65 ferromagnetic layers 67 and are aligned to be aligned in the thickness direction. In the above, since the frame plate 10 is made of a magnetic metal, a magnetic field having a larger intensity than that of the upper die 61 and the lower die 65 and the frame plate 10 is formed. As a result, the frame plate in the molding material layer 20A. The conductive particles P above and below 10 are not gathered between the ferromagnetic layer 63 of the upper die 61 and the ferromagnetic layer 67 of the lower die 65 and are held above and below the frame plate 10. Will remain.

  In this state, by curing the molding material layer 20A, a plurality of connection conductive portions 22 that are contained in a state in which the conductive particles P are aligned in the thickness direction in the elastic polymer substance, A functional part 21 arranged in a state of being insulated from each other by an insulating part 23 made of a polymer elastic material with no or almost no conductive particles P, and continuously formed integrally around the functional part 21 Further, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 including the supported portion 25 in which the conductive particles P are contained in the elastic polymer material is provided in the peripheral portion of the hole 11 for arranging the anisotropic conductive film on the frame plate 10. The support portion 25 is formed in a fixed state, and thus an anisotropic conductive connector is manufactured.

In the above, it is preferable that the strength of the external magnetic field applied to the portion to be the connection conductive portion 22 and the portion to be the supported portion 25 in the molding material layer 20A is 0.1 to 2.5T on average.
The curing treatment of the molding material layer 20A is appropriately selected depending on the material used, but is usually performed by heat treatment. When the molding material layer 20A is cured by heating, a heater may be provided in the electromagnet. The specific heating temperature and heating time are appropriately selected in consideration of the type of the polymer substance forming material constituting the molding material layer 20A, the time required for movement of the conductive particles P, and the like.

According to the above anisotropic conductive connector, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 has the supported portion 25 formed on the periphery of the functional portion 21 having the connecting conductive portion 22, and the supported portion 25 is the frame. Since it is fixed to the peripheral portion of the anisotropic conductive film arranging hole 11 of the plate 10, it is difficult to be deformed and is easy to handle, and in electrical connection work with the wafer to be inspected, alignment and holding and fixing to the wafer It can be done easily.
Moreover, since there is no difference between the thickness of the conductive portion 22 for connection in the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 and the thickness of the insulating portion 23, the mold used in forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is: It has a flat molding surface, and when a magnetic field is applied to the molding material layer 20A, the movement of the conductive particles P is not hindered, and the conductive particles P are insulated in the molding material layer 20A. The conductive particles P can be easily gathered in the portion to be the conductive portion 22 for connection without remaining almost in the portion to be. As a result, with respect to all the connecting conductive portions 22 to be formed, good conductivity can be obtained, and sufficient insulation can be reliably obtained between the adjacent connecting conductive portions 22.
Further, since there is no difference between the height level of the connecting conductive portion 22 and the height level of the insulating portion 23 on the surface of the functional portion 21 of the anisotropic conductive film 20, the wafer to be inspected is a projection-like inspection. Even if it has an electrode, since permanent deformation due to crushing of the protruding portion in the connecting conductive portion 22 is avoided, high durability in repeated use can be obtained.

Further, one surface of the functional portion 21 which is a flat surface in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is formed so as to protrude from the supported portion 25, and the area of the one surface of the functional portion 21 and the surface area of the wafer to be inspected are Since the ratio is in a specific range, when the anisotropically conductive connector is pressed in the thickness direction, the load concentrates on only the functional part, so that the conductive material for connection can be applied even with a small load. Good electrical conductivity can be reliably obtained in the portion 22.
Further, each of the anisotropic conductive film arranging holes 11 of the frame plate 10 is formed corresponding to an electrode region in which an inspection target electrode of the integrated circuit is formed on the wafer to be inspected, and the anisotropic conductive film Since the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 disposed in each of the placement holes 11 may have a small area, it is easy to form each elastic anisotropic conductive film 20. Moreover, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 having a small area has a small absolute amount of thermal expansion in the surface direction of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 even when it receives a thermal history. By using the one having a small thermal expansion coefficient, the thermal expansion in the surface direction of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is reliably regulated by the frame plate. Therefore, even when the WLBI test is performed on a large-area wafer, a good electrical connection state can be stably maintained.

  Further, by using the frame plate 10 made of a ferromagnetic material, in the formation of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20, for example, a magnetic field is applied to the portion that becomes the supported portion 25 in the molding material layer 20 </ b> A, and the portion is made conductive. By carrying out the curing treatment of the molding material layer 20A in the state where the conductive particles P are still present, the portion of the molding material layer 20A that becomes the supported portion 25, that is, the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 11 in the frame plate 10 is formed. The conductive particles P present in the portions located above and below the peripheral portion do not collect in the portion to be the conductive portion 22 for connection, and as a result, the conductive portion for connection in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 obtained as a result. It is possible to prevent an excessive amount of the conductive particles P from being contained in the outermost conductive portion 22 for connection. Therefore, since it is not necessary to reduce the content of the conductive particles P in the molding material layer 20A, good electrical conductivity can be reliably obtained for all the connecting conductive portions 22 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 and adjacent to each other. Insulating property with the connecting conductive portion 22 is reliably obtained.

Further, since the positioning hole 16 is formed in the frame plate 10, it is possible to easily perform alignment with the wafer to be inspected or the circuit board for inspection.
Further, by forming an air flow hole 15 in the frame plate 10, in the wafer inspection apparatus to be described later, when using a decompression method as a means for pressing the probe member, when the inside of the chamber is decompressed, Air existing between the anisotropic conductive connector and the inspection circuit board is discharged through the air flow hole 15 of the frame plate 10, so that the anisotropic conductive connector and the inspection circuit board are securely adhered to each other. Therefore, the required electrical connection can be reliably achieved.

[Wafer inspection equipment]
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the outline of the configuration of an example of a wafer inspection apparatus using the anisotropic conductive connector according to the present invention. This wafer inspection apparatus is for performing an electrical inspection of each of the plurality of integrated circuits formed on the wafer in the state of the wafer.

The wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 11 has a probe member 1 that electrically connects each of the electrodes 7 to be inspected of the wafer 6 to be inspected and a tester. In this probe member 1, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 12, a plurality of inspection electrodes 31 are formed on the surface (lower surface in the drawing) according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode 7 to be inspected on the wafer 6 to be inspected. 1 to 4 is provided on the surface of the inspection circuit board 30, and the conductive portion for connection in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is provided on the surface of the inspection circuit board 30. 22 is provided so as to be in contact with each of the inspection electrodes 31 of the circuit board 30 for inspection. On the surface (lower surface in the drawing) of the anisotropic conductive connector 2, the insulating sheet 41 and the wafer 6 to be inspected are provided. The sheet-like connector 40 in which a plurality of electrode structures 42 are arranged in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode 7 to be inspected, It is provided so as to be in contact against the respective conductive parts 22 for connection in the sexual anisotropic conductive film 20.
Further, a pressure plate 3 for pressing the probe member 1 downward is provided on the back surface (upper surface in the drawing) of the inspection circuit board 30 in the probe member 1, and below the probe member 1, a wafer to be inspected. A wafer mounting table 4 on which 6 is mounted is provided, and a heater 5 is connected to each of the pressure plate 3 and the wafer mounting table 4.

As a substrate material constituting the inspection circuit board 30, various conventionally known substrate materials can be used. Specific examples thereof include a glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin, a glass fiber reinforced phenol resin, and a glass fiber reinforced type. Examples thereof include composite resin materials such as polyimide resin and glass fiber reinforced bismaleimide triazine resin, and ceramic materials such as glass, silicon dioxide, and alumina.
Further, when configuring a wafer inspection apparatus for performing a WLBI test, it is preferable to use one having a linear thermal expansion coefficient of 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less, more preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ to 1 ×. 10 ⁻⁵ / K, particularly preferably 1 × 10 ^{−6 to} 6 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K.
Specific examples of such a substrate material include Pyrex (registered trademark) glass, quartz glass, alumina, beryllia, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, and boron nitride.

The sheet-like connector 40 in the probe member 1 will be described in detail. The sheet-like connector 40 has a flexible insulating sheet 41, and the insulating sheet 41 extends in the thickness direction of the insulating sheet 41. Electrode structures 42 made of a plurality of metals are arranged apart from each other in the surface direction of the insulating sheet 41 according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode 7 to be inspected on the wafer 6 to be inspected.
Each of the electrode structures 42 includes a protruding surface electrode portion 43 exposed on the surface (lower surface in the drawing) of the insulating sheet 41 and a plate-like back electrode portion 44 exposed on the back surface of the insulating sheet 41. The insulating sheet 41 is integrally connected to each other by a short-circuit portion 45 that extends through the thickness direction of the insulating sheet 41.

The insulating sheet 41 is not particularly limited as long as it is flexible and has an insulating property. A sheet impregnated with the above resin can be used.
In addition, the thickness of the insulating sheet 41 is not particularly limited as long as the insulating sheet 41 is flexible, but is preferably 10 to 50 μm, and more preferably 10 to 25 μm.

As the metal constituting the electrode structure 42, nickel, copper, gold, silver, palladium, iron or the like can be used. As the electrode structure 42, the whole is made of a single metal, It may be made of an alloy of two or more kinds of metals or a laminate of two or more kinds of metals.
Further, gold, silver, palladium, etc. are provided on the surface of the front electrode portion 43 and the back electrode portion 44 in the electrode structure 42 in that the electrode portion is prevented from being oxidized and an electrode portion with low contact resistance is obtained. It is preferable that a chemically stable and highly conductive metal film is formed.

The protruding height of the surface electrode portion 43 in the electrode structure 42 is preferably 15 to 50 μm, more preferably in that stable electrical connection can be achieved with respect to the electrode 7 to be inspected on the wafer 6. Is 15-30 μm. Moreover, although the diameter of the surface electrode part 43 is set according to the dimension and pitch of the to-be-inspected electrode of the wafer 6, it is 30-80 micrometers, for example, Preferably it is 30-50 micrometers.
The diameter of the back electrode portion 44 in the electrode structure 42 may be larger than the diameter of the short-circuit portion 45 and smaller than the arrangement pitch of the electrode structures 42, but is preferably as large as possible. Thereby, stable electrical connection can be reliably achieved even for the connection conductive portion 22 in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 of the anisotropic conductive connector 2. In addition, the thickness of the back electrode portion 44 is preferably 20 to 50 μm, more preferably 35 to 50 μm in that the strength is sufficiently high and excellent repeated durability can be obtained.
The diameter of the short-circuit portion 45 in the electrode structure 42 is preferably 30 to 80 μm, more preferably 30 to 50 μm, from the viewpoint that sufficiently high strength can be obtained.

The sheet-like connector 40 can be manufactured as follows, for example.
That is, a laminated material in which a metal layer is laminated on the insulating sheet 41 is prepared, and the insulating sheet 41 in the laminated material is subjected to laser processing, wet etching processing, dry etching processing, or the like. A plurality of through holes penetrating in the thickness direction of 41 are formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode structure 42 to be formed. Next, the laminated material is subjected to photolithography and plating to form a short-circuit portion 45 integrally connected to the metal layer in the through hole of the insulating sheet 41, and the surface of the insulating sheet 41 In addition, a protruding surface electrode portion 43 integrally connected to the short-circuit portion 45 is formed. Thereafter, the metal layer in the laminated material is subjected to a photo-etching process and a part thereof is removed, thereby forming the back electrode portion 44 and the electrode structure 42, thereby obtaining the sheet-like connector 40. .

  In such an electrical inspection apparatus, the wafer 6 to be inspected is placed on the wafer mounting table 4, and then the probe member 1 is pressed downward by the pressure plate 3, thereby the sheet-like connector. Each of the surface electrode portions 43 in the 40 electrode structures 42 is in contact with each of the electrodes 7 to be inspected on the wafer 6, and each of the surface electrodes 43 of the wafer 6 is added by each of the surface electrode portions 43. Pressed. In this state, each of the connecting conductive portions 22 in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 of the anisotropic conductive connector 2 is the surface electrode of the inspection electrode 31 of the inspection circuit board 30 and the electrode structure 42 of the sheet-like connector 40. The conductive portion 22 is sandwiched and compressed in the thickness direction, whereby a conductive path is formed in the connecting conductive portion 22 in the thickness direction. As a result, the inspection target electrode 7 of the wafer 6 and the inspection electrode 7 are inspected. Electrical connection with the inspection electrode 31 of the circuit board 30 is achieved. Thereafter, the wafer 6 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 5 via the wafer mounting table 4 and the pressure plate 3, and in this state, a required electrical inspection is performed on each of the plurality of integrated circuits on the wafer 6. Is done.

According to such a wafer inspection apparatus, the electrical connection of the wafer 6 to be inspected to the inspection electrode 7 is achieved via the probe member 1 having the anisotropic conductive connector 2 described above. Even if the pitch of the electrodes 7 is small, the wafer can be easily aligned and held and fixed, and the conductive portion 22 for connection of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 in the anisotropic conductive connector 2 is provided. Since it has good conductivity and insulation between the adjacent conductive portions 22 for connection is sufficiently ensured, high connection reliability for each electrode to be inspected is obtained, and further, when repeated inspection is performed However, the required electrical inspection can be performed stably over a long period of time.
Further, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 in the anisotropic conductive connector 2 has a small area, and even when subjected to a thermal history, the absolute thermal expansion in the surface direction of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is not possible. Since the amount is small, thermal expansion in the surface direction of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is reliably regulated by the frame plate by using a material having a small linear thermal expansion coefficient as a material constituting the frame plate 10. Therefore, even when the WLBI test is performed on a large-area wafer, a good electrical connection state can be stably maintained.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the outline of the configuration of another example of the wafer inspection apparatus using the anisotropic conductive connector according to the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a probe member in the wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows.
This wafer inspection apparatus has a box-shaped chamber 50 having an upper surface opened in which a wafer 6 to be inspected is stored. An exhaust pipe 51 for exhausting air inside the chamber 50 is provided on the side wall of the chamber 50, and an exhaust device (not shown) such as a vacuum pump is connected to the exhaust pipe 51. ing.
A probe member 1 having the same configuration as the probe member 1 in the wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 11 is disposed on the chamber 50 so as to airtightly close the opening of the chamber 50. Specifically, an elastic O-ring 55 is disposed in close contact with the upper end surface of the side wall of the chamber 50, and the probe member 1 includes the anisotropic conductive connector 2 and the sheet-like connector 40. And the peripheral portion of the inspection circuit board 30 is disposed in close contact with the O-ring 55, and the inspection circuit board 30 is provided on the back surface (upper surface in the drawing). The pressure plate 3 is pressed downward.
A heater 5 is connected to the chamber 50 and the pressure plate 3.

  In such a wafer inspection apparatus, by driving an exhaust apparatus (not shown) connected to the exhaust pipe 51 of the chamber 50, the inside of the chamber 50 is depressurized to, for example, 1000 Pa or less. 1 is pressed downward. Thereby, since the O-ring 55 is elastically deformed, the probe member 1 moves downward. As a result, each of the surface electrodes 43 in the electrode structure 42 of the sheet-like connector 40 causes each of the electrodes 7 to be inspected on the wafer 6. Is pressurized. In this state, each of the connecting conductive portions 22 in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 of the anisotropic conductive connector 2 is the surface electrode of the inspection electrode 31 of the inspection circuit board 30 and the electrode structure 42 of the sheet-like connector 40. The conductive portion 22 is compressed in the thickness direction by being pinched by the portion 43, whereby a conductive path is formed in the connecting conductive portion 22 in the thickness direction. Electrical connection with the inspection electrode 31 of the circuit board 30 is achieved. Thereafter, the wafer 6 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 5 through the chamber 50 and the pressure plate 3, and in this state, a required electrical inspection is performed on each of the plurality of integrated circuits on the wafer 6. .

  According to such a wafer inspection apparatus, the same effect as that of the wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 11 can be obtained, and furthermore, since a large pressure mechanism is unnecessary, the entire inspection apparatus can be reduced in size. Even if the wafer 6 to be inspected has a large area of, for example, a diameter of 8 inches or more, the entire wafer 6 can be pressed with a uniform force. Moreover, since the air flow hole 15 is formed in the frame plate 10 of the anisotropic conductive connector 2, the space between the anisotropic conductive connector 2 and the inspection circuit board 30 is reduced when the pressure in the chamber 50 is reduced. The air existing in the anisotropic conductive connector 2 is discharged through the air flow holes 15 of the frame plate 10 in the anisotropic conductive connector 2, so that the anisotropic conductive connector 2 and the circuit board 30 for inspection can be securely brought into close contact with each other. As a result, the required electrical connection can be reliably achieved.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following various modifications can be added.
(1) In the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is formed with a non-connection conductive portion that is not electrically connected to the electrode to be inspected on the wafer, in addition to the connection conductive portion 22. It may be. Hereinafter, an anisotropic conductive connector having an elastic anisotropic conductive film in which a non-connection conductive portion is formed will be described.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged plan view showing an elastic anisotropic conductive film in still another example of the anisotropic conductive connector according to the present invention, and FIG. 16 shows an elastic difference of the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows a direction conductive film. In the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 of this anisotropic conductive connector, a thickness direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 15) is electrically connected to the functional portion 21 of the inspection target electrode of the wafer to be inspected. A plurality of connecting conductive portions 22 extending in a line are arranged in a line according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected, and each of the connecting conductive portions 22 has a conductive particle exhibiting magnetism aligned in the thickness direction. They are densely contained in such an oriented state, and are insulated from each other by an insulating portion 23 containing no or almost no conductive particles.
Of these connection conductive portions 22, the two adjacent connection conductive portions 22 located in the center are arranged with a separation distance larger than the separation distance between the other adjacent connection conductive portions 22. A non-connection conductive portion 26 extending in the thickness direction that is not electrically connected to the inspection target electrode of the wafer to be inspected is formed between the two adjacent connection conductive portions 22 located at the center. Yes. Further, in the direction in which the connecting conductive portions 22 are arranged, between the connecting conductive portion 22 located on the outermost side and the frame plate 10 in the thickness direction that is not electrically connected to the inspection target electrode of the wafer to be inspected. An extending non-connection conductive portion 26 is formed. These non-connection conductive portions 26 are densely contained in a state where the conductive particles exhibiting magnetism are aligned in the thickness direction, and are connected by the insulating portion 23 containing no or almost no conductive particles. It is insulated from the conductive portion 22 for use.
A supported portion 25 fixed and supported on the periphery of the anisotropic conductive film disposition hole 11 in the frame plate 10 is integrally and continuously formed on the periphery of the functional portion 21. The supported portion 25 contains conductive particles.
Other specific configurations are basically the same as those of the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIGS.

  The anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 is an arrangement pattern of the connecting conductive portion 22 and the non-connecting conductive portion 26 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 to be molded, instead of the mold shown in FIG. A ferromagnetic layer is formed in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the above-described pattern, and a mold including an upper mold and a lower mold in which a non-magnetic layer is formed is used in a portion other than the ferromagnetic layer, so that FIG. It can be manufactured in the same manner as the method for manufacturing the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG.

That is, according to such a mold, for example, a pair of electromagnets are arranged on the upper surface of the substrate in the upper die and the lower surface of the substrate in the lower die, and this is operated, so that between the upper die and the lower die. In the formed molding material layer, the conductive particles dispersed in the portion to be the functional portion 21 in the molding material layer are gathered in the portion to be the connecting conductive portion 22 and the portion to be the non-connecting conductive portion 26. Thus, the conductive particles that are oriented above and below the frame plate 10 in the molding material layer remain held above and below the frame plate 10.
In this state, by curing the molding material layer, the plurality of connecting conductive portions 22 and the non-connecting portions that are contained in the elastic polymer substance in a state where the conductive particles are aligned in the thickness direction are arranged. A functional part 21 in which the conductive part 26 is arranged in a state of being insulated from each other by an insulating part 23 made of a polymer elastic material with no or almost no conductive particles, and continuously around the functional part 21 The elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 formed integrally with the supported portion 25 in which conductive particles are contained in the elastic polymer substance is formed in the periphery of the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 11 of the frame plate 10. The supported portion 25 is formed in a fixed state, whereby an anisotropic conductive connector is manufactured.

  The non-connecting conductive portion 26 in the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. 15 is formed by applying a magnetic field to a portion that becomes the non-connecting conductive portion 26 in the molding material layer in forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20. Conductive particles that exist between two adjacent conductive portions 22 arranged at a large distance in the material layer, and the outermost conductive portions 22 and frame plate 10. The conductive particles existing between the two are gathered at the portion to be the non-connection conductive portion 26, and in this state, the molding material layer is cured. Therefore, in the formation of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20, the conductive particles are the two adjacent connecting conductive portions 22 arranged at a large separation distance in the molding material layer, and the outermost connecting connection portion. There is no excessive gathering in the portion that becomes the conductive portion 22. Therefore, even if the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 to be formed has two or more connection conductive portions 22 arranged at a large distance from each other, an excessive amount of the connection conductive portions 22 is present in the connection conductive portions 22. The conductive particles for connection located on the outermost side of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 even if the conductive particles 22 are reliably prevented from being contained and the conductive particles 22 for connection are relatively large. The portion 22 is reliably prevented from containing an excessive amount of conductive particles.

(2) In the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, if the ratio of the thickness of the insulating portion 23 to the thickness of the connecting conductive portion 22 in the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 is 0.9 or more, As shown in FIG. 17, the conductive portion 22 for connection and the peripheral portion thereof may be formed on one surface of the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 so as to protrude from the surface of the other portion. The connecting conductive portion 22 and its peripheral portion may protrude from the surface of the other portion on both surfaces of the functional portion 21 of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20.
(3) In the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, a metal layer may be formed on the surface of the connecting conductive portion 22 in the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20.
(4) In the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, a DLC layer may be formed on the surface of the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20.
(5) In the production of the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, when a non-magnetic material is used as the base material of the frame plate 10, a method of applying a magnetic field to the portion to be the supported portion 25 in the molding material layer 20A As a means for applying a magnetic field by plating a magnetic material or applying a magnetic paint on the periphery of the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 11 in the frame plate 10, A means for forming a ferromagnetic layer corresponding to the supported portion 25 and applying a magnetic field can be used.
(6) In forming the molding material layer, it is not essential to use a spacer, and a space for forming an elastic anisotropic conductive film is secured between the upper mold and the lower mold and the frame plate by other means. May be.
(7) In the wafer inspection apparatus of the present invention, the sheet-like connector in the probe member is not essential, and the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 in the anisotropic conductive connector 2 is inspected as shown in FIGS. The structure which achieves an electrical connection by contacting the target wafer may be used.

(8) The anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention or the probe member of the present invention is not limited to the inspection of a wafer on which an integrated circuit having a planar electrode made of aluminum is formed, as shown in FIGS. The wafer 6 on which an integrated circuit having protruding electrodes (bumps) made of gold, solder, or the like is formed as the inspected electrode 7 can also be used.
Since an electrode made of gold, solder, or the like is harder to form an oxide film on the surface than an electrode made of aluminum, an integrated circuit having such a protruding electrode as the electrode 7 to be inspected was formed. In the inspection of the wafer 6, it is not necessary to pressurize with a large load necessary to break through the oxide film, and the connecting conductive portion 22 of the anisotropic conductive connector 2 is inspected without using a sheet-like connector. The inspection can be performed in a state where the electrode 7 is in direct contact.
When inspecting a wafer with the conductive electrode for connecting the anisotropic conductive connector in direct contact with the projecting electrode, which is the electrode to be inspected, if the anisotropic conductive connector is repeatedly used, the connection conductive As a result of the part being worn by the pressure applied by the protruding electrode or being permanently compressed and deformed, the conductive part for connection has increased electrical resistance and poor connection to the electrode to be inspected. Frequently it was necessary to replace the anisotropically conductive connector with a new one.
Thus, according to the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention or the probe member of the present invention, since the durability in repeated use is high, the wafer 6 to be inspected has a diameter of 8 inches or 12 inches. Therefore, even if an integrated circuit is formed with a high degree of integration, and the inspected electrode 7 is a protruding electrode, the required conductivity is maintained over a long period of time. Inspection frequency can be reduced because the frequency of replacement with an object is reduced.

(9) In the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention, the anisotropic conductive film placement hole of the frame plate has an electrode region in which the electrodes to be inspected are arranged in a part of the integrated circuit formed in the wafer to be inspected. The elastic anisotropic conductive film may be disposed in each of these anisotropic conductive film disposition holes.
According to such an anisotropic conductive connector, a wafer can be divided into two or more areas, and a probe test can be collectively performed on the integrated circuits formed in the divided areas.
In other words, in the wafer inspection method using the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention or the probe member of the present invention, it is not essential to perform all the integrated circuits formed on the wafer in a lump.
In the burn-in test, since the inspection time required for each integrated circuit is as long as several hours, a high time efficiency can be obtained if all the integrated circuits formed on the wafer are inspected collectively. Because the inspection time required for each of the integrated circuits is as short as several minutes, the wafer is divided into two or more areas, and a probe test is performed on the integrated circuits formed in the areas for each divided area. A sufficiently high time efficiency can be obtained even if it is performed.
As described above, according to the method of performing the electrical inspection for each divided area on the integrated circuit formed on the wafer, the integrated circuit formed on the wafer having a diameter of 8 inches or 12 inches with a high degree of integration is electrically connected. When performing a physical inspection, it is possible to reduce the number of inspection electrodes and the number of wirings of the inspection circuit board to be used, compared with a method of performing inspection on all integrated circuits at once. The manufacturing cost can be reduced.
Since the anisotropic conductive connector of the present invention or the probe member of the present invention has high durability in repeated use, the integrated circuit formed on the wafer is electrically inspected for each divided area. In the case of using the method, since the frequency of replacement of the anisotropic conductive connector with a new one becomes low, the inspection cost can be reduced.

(10) In the anisotropic conductive connector according to the present invention, it is not essential to form the supported portion 25 stacked on the frame plate 10 as shown in FIG. 4, and as shown in FIG. The elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 may be supported by the frame plate 10 by adhering the side surface of the anisotropic conductive film 20 to the inner surface of the anisotropic conductive film disposition hole 11 of the frame plate 10.
In order to obtain such an anisotropic conductive connector, in the process of forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20, a molding material layer is formed without arranging spacers between the upper mold and the lower mold and the frame plate. Good.
In this anisotropic conductive connector, when forming the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20, it is not necessary to arrange spacers between the upper mold and the lower mold and the frame plate. Since the thickness of the film 20 is determined by the thickness of the frame plate 10 and the depth of the recess formed in the molding surface of the mold, it is easy to form the elastic anisotropic conductive film 20 having a small thickness of, for example, 100 μm or less.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[Production of wafer for evaluation]
As shown in FIG. 23, square integrated circuits L each having a size of 8 mm × 8 mm are totaled on a wafer 6 made of silicon (linear thermal expansion coefficient 3.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K) having a diameter of 8 inches. 393 were formed. Each of the integrated circuits L formed on the wafer 6 has an inspected electrode region A in the center thereof as shown in FIG. 24, and each of the inspected electrode regions A is vertically arranged as shown in FIG. Fifty rectangular test electrodes 7 having a dimension in the direction (vertical direction in FIG. 25) of 200 μm and a dimension in the horizontal direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 25) of 50 μm are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction at a pitch of 100 μm. . The total number of electrodes 7 to be inspected on the entire wafer 6 is 19650, and all the electrodes to be inspected are electrically connected to a common extraction electrode (not shown) formed on the peripheral edge of the wafer 6. ing. The area S2 of the surface of the wafer 6 on which the electrode 7 to be inspected is formed is 3.14 × 10 ⁴ mm ² . Hereinafter, this wafer is referred to as “evaluation wafer W1”.
Further, for the 50 electrodes to be inspected (7) in the integrated circuit (L), the lead electrodes are not formed, and the electrodes to be inspected are electrically insulated from each other, and are the same as those for the evaluation wafer W1. 393 integrated circuits (L) having the structure described above were formed on the wafer (6). The total number of electrodes to be inspected on the entire wafer is 19650. The area S2 of the surface of the wafer (6) on which the electrode to be inspected (7) is formed is 3.14 × 10 ⁴ mm ² . Hereinafter, this wafer is referred to as “evaluation wafer W2”.

[Production of test wafer]
In the integrated circuit (L), two electrodes to be inspected (7) are electrically connected to each other, counting from the electrode (7) at the end of the 50 electrodes to be inspected (7). Except that the extraction electrode was not formed, 393 integrated circuits (L) having the same configuration as the evaluation wafer W1 were formed on the wafer (6). The total number of electrodes to be inspected on the entire wafer is 19650. Hereinafter, the total number of electrodes to be inspected on the entire wafer is 19650. The area S2 of the surface of the wafer (6) on which the electrode to be inspected (7) is formed is 3.14 × 10 ⁴ mm ² . This wafer is referred to as “test wafer W3”.
In addition, two of the two electrodes to be inspected (7) are electrically connected to each other from the farthest electrode to be inspected (7) among the 50 electrodes to be inspected (7) in the integrated circuit (L). 393 integrated circuits (L) having the same configuration as the evaluation wafer W1, except that they are connected and no extraction electrode is formed, and the electrode to be inspected is a projection having a diameter of 70 μm and a height of 30 μm. Was formed on the wafer (6). The total number of electrodes to be inspected on the entire wafer is 19650. The area S2 of the surface of the wafer (6) on which the electrode to be inspected (7) is formed is 3.14 × 10 ⁴ mm ² . Hereinafter, this wafer is referred to as “test wafer W4”.

<Examples and Comparative Examples>
(1) Preparation of conductive particles:
100 g of nickel particles having a number average particle diameter of 10 μm (saturation magnetization of 0.6 Wb / m ² ) are put into a treatment tank of a powder plating apparatus, and further ² L of a 0.32N hydrochloric acid aqueous solution is added and stirred. A slurry containing core particles was obtained. The slurry was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes to treat the core particles with acid, and then left to stand for 1 minute to precipitate the core particles, and the supernatant was removed.
Next, 2 L of pure water was added to the acid-treated core particles, stirred at room temperature for 2 minutes, and then allowed to stand for 1 minute to precipitate magnetic core particles, and the supernatant was removed. By repeating this operation two more times, the core particles were washed.
Then, 2 L of a gold plating solution having a gold content of 20 g / L is added to the core particles that have been subjected to the acid treatment and the washing treatment, and the temperature in the treatment tank is raised to 90 ° C., followed by stirring. Prepared. In this state, gold displacement plating was performed on the core particles while stirring the slurry. Thereafter, the slurry was allowed to stand while cooling to precipitate the particles, and the supernatant was removed to obtain conductive particles in which the surface of core particles made of nickel was coated with gold.

2 L of pure water was added to the conductive particles thus obtained, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 minutes, and then allowed to stand for 1 minute to precipitate the conductive particles, and the supernatant was removed. This operation was further repeated twice, and then 2 L of pure water heated to 90 ° C. was added and stirred, and the resulting slurry was filtered through filter paper to collect conductive particles. And this electroconductive particle was dried with the drying machine set to 90 degreeC.
Next, by using an air classifier “Turbo Classifier TC-15N” manufactured by Nissin Engineering Co., Ltd., conductive particles 200 g, specific gravity 8.9, air volume 2.5 m ³ / min, rotor rotation speed 1,600 rpm, Classification is performed under the conditions of a classification point of 25 μm and a supply speed of conductive particles of 16 g / min to collect 180 g of conductive particles. Further, 180 g of this conductive particle has a specific gravity of 8.9 and an air volume of 25 m ^3. / Min, the rotor rotation speed was 3,000 rpm, the classification point was 10 μm, and the supply speed of the conductive particles was 14 g / min, and 150 g of the conductive particles were collected.

  The obtained conductive particles have a number average particle size of 8.7 μm, a weight average particle size of 9.9 μm, a ratio Dw / Dn of 1.1, a standard deviation of the particle size of 2.0, and a particle size of The coefficient of variation was 23%, and the ratio of gold to the core particles was 30% by mass. This conductive particle is referred to as “conductive particle (a)”.

(2) Production of frame plate:
In accordance with the configuration shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, a frame plate having a diameter of 8 inches and having 393 anisotropic conductive film arrangement holes formed corresponding to each electrode area to be inspected in the evaluation wafer W1 under the following conditions. A total of 20 sheets were produced.
The material of the frame plate 10 is Kovar (saturation magnetization 1.4 Wb / m ² , linear thermal expansion coefficient 5 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K), and its thickness is 50 μm.
Each of the anisotropic conductive film disposing holes 11 has a horizontal dimension (horizontal direction in FIGS. 26 and 27) of 5500 μm and a vertical dimension (vertical direction in FIGS. 26 and 27) of 320 μm.
A circular air inflow hole 15 is formed at a central position between the anisotropic conductive film arranging holes 11 adjacent in the vertical direction, and the diameter thereof is 1000 μm.

(3) Production of spacer:
Two spacers for forming an elastic anisotropic conductive film having a plurality of through holes formed corresponding to the electrode area to be inspected in the evaluation wafer W1 were produced under the following conditions. These spacers are made of stainless steel (SUS304) and have a thickness of 10 μm.
The through-hole corresponding to each electrode area to be inspected has a horizontal dimension of 6000 μm and a vertical dimension of 1200 μm.

(4) Mold production:
According to the configuration shown in FIGS. 7 and 28, a mold (K1) for forming an elastic anisotropic conductive film was produced under the following conditions.
The upper mold 61 and the lower mold 65 in the mold (K1) have substrates 62 and 66 made of iron each having a thickness of 6 mm. On the substrates 62 and 66, the electrodes to be inspected in the evaluation wafer W1 are formed. A ferromagnetic layer 63 (67) for forming a conductive portion for connection and a ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) for forming a non-connection conductive portion are arranged in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the pattern. Specifically, each dimension of the ferromagnetic layer 63 (67) for forming the conductive portion for connection is 40 μm (horizontal direction) × 200 μm (vertical direction) × 100 μm (thickness), and 50 ferromagnetic layers. 63 (67) are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction at a pitch of 100 μm. Further, in the direction in which the ferromagnetic layers 63 (67) are arranged, a ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) for forming a non-connection conductive portion is formed outside the outermost ferromagnetic layer 63 (67). Is arranged. The dimension of each ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) is 40 μm (horizontal direction) × 200 μm (vertical direction) × 100 μm (thickness).
The region in which 50 ferromagnetic layers 63 (67) for forming conductive portions for connection and two ferromagnetic layers 63a (67a) for forming conductive portions for non-connection are formed is an evaluation wafer. A total of 393 electrodes corresponding to the electrode area to be inspected in W 1 are formed, and 19650 ferromagnetic layers 63 (67) for forming the conductive portions for connection and 786 conductive portions for forming the non-connection are formed on the entire substrate. A ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) is formed. The non-magnetic layer 64 (68) is formed by curing a dry film resist, and the size of the recess 64a (68a) for forming the functional part is 5250 μm (horizontal direction) × 210 μm (vertical direction). Direction) × 25 μm (depth), and the thickness of the portion other than the recess is 125 μm (the thickness of the recess is 100 μm).

In accordance with the configuration shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, a mold (K2) for forming an elastic anisotropic conductive film was manufactured under the following conditions.
The upper mold 61 and the lower mold 65 in the mold (K2) have substrates 62 and 66 made of iron each having a thickness of 6 mm. On the substrates 62 and 66, the electrodes to be inspected in the evaluation wafer W1 are formed. A ferromagnetic layer 63 (67) for forming a conductive portion for connection and a ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) for forming a non-connection conductive portion are arranged in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the pattern. Specifically, each dimension of the ferromagnetic layer 63 (67) for forming the conductive portion for connection is 40 μm (horizontal direction) × 200 μm (vertical direction) × 100 μm (thickness), and 50 ferromagnetic layers. 63 (67) are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction at a pitch of 100 μm. Further, in the direction in which the ferromagnetic layers 63 (67) are arranged, a ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) for forming a non-connection conductive portion is formed outside the outermost ferromagnetic layer 63 (67). Is arranged. The dimension of each ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) is 40 μm (horizontal direction) × 200 μm (vertical direction) × 100 μm (thickness).
The region in which 50 ferromagnetic layers 63 (67) for forming conductive portions for connection and two ferromagnetic layers 63a (67a) for forming conductive portions for non-connection are formed is an evaluation wafer. A total of 393 electrodes corresponding to the electrode area to be inspected in W 1 are formed, and 19650 ferromagnetic layers 63 (67) for forming the conductive portions for connection and 786 conductive portions for forming the non-connection are formed on the entire substrate. A ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) is formed. Further, the nonmagnetic layer 64 (68) is formed by curing a dry film resist, and a region where the connecting conductive portion forming ferromagnetic layer 63 (67) is located and a nonconnecting conductive portion are formed. Recesses 64b (68b) and 64c (68c) for forming protrusions in the elastic anisotropic conductive film are formed in a region where the ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) for use is located. Each dimension of the recess 64b (68b) in which the ferromagnetic layer 63 (67) for forming the conductive portion for connection is located is 60 μm (horizontal direction) × 210 μm (vertical direction) × 25 μm (depth), and is not Each dimension of the recess 64c (68c) in which the ferromagnetic layer 63a (67a) for forming the conductive portion for connection is located is 90 μm (horizontal direction) × 260 μm (vertical direction) × 25 μm (depth). The thickness of the portion other than the place is 125 μm (the thickness of the recessed portion is 100 μm).

(5) Production of anisotropic conductive connector:
[Production of anisotropically conductive connectors (A1) to (A10)]
An elastic anisotropic conductive film was formed on the frame plate using the above frame plate, spacer, and mold.
30 parts by weight of conductive particles (a) is added to and mixed with 100 parts by weight of addition-type liquid silicone rubber, and then subjected to defoaming treatment under reduced pressure to prepare a molding material for forming an elastic anisotropic conductive film. did.

In the above, the addition type liquid silicone rubber is a two-component type in which the viscosity of the liquid A is 250 Pa · s and the viscosity of the liquid B is 250 Pa · s, and the cured product has a permanent compression strain at 150 ° C. A 5% cured product having a durometer A hardness of 32 and a cured product having a tear strength of 25 kN / m was used.
The characteristics of the addition type liquid silicone rubber were measured as follows.
(I) Viscosity of addition-type liquid silicone rubber:
The viscosity at 23 ± 2 ° C. was measured with a B-type viscometer.
(Ii) Compression set of cured silicone rubber:
The liquid A and the liquid B in the two-pack type addition type liquid silicone rubber were stirred and mixed at an equal ratio. Next, after pouring this mixture into a mold and subjecting the mixture to defoaming treatment under reduced pressure, a curing treatment is performed under the conditions of 120 ° C. and 30 minutes, so that the thickness is 12.7 mm and the diameter is 29 mm. A cylindrical body made of a cured silicone rubber was prepared, and post-curing was performed on the cylindrical body at 200 ° C. for 4 hours. The cylindrical body thus obtained was used as a test piece, and compression set at 150 ± 2 ° C. was measured in accordance with JIS K 6249.
(Iii) Tear strength of cured silicone rubber:
The addition type liquid silicone rubber was cured and post-cured under the same conditions as in the above (ii) to prepare a sheet having a thickness of 2.5 mm. A crescent-shaped test piece was produced by punching from this sheet, and the tear strength at 23 ± 2 ° C. was measured according to JIS K 6249.
(Iv) Durometer A hardness:
Five sheets produced in the same manner as in the above (iii) were overlapped, and the resulting stack was used as a test piece, and the durometer A hardness at 23 ± 2 ° C. was measured according to JIS K 6249.

By applying the prepared molding material on the upper and lower mold surfaces of the above mold by screen printing, a molding material layer is formed according to the pattern of the elastic anisotropic conductive film to be formed, and the molding surface of the lower mold The frame plate was aligned and overlapped on the lower mold side via the spacer on the lower mold side, and the upper mold was positioned and overlapped on the frame board via the spacer on the upper mold side.
Then, with respect to the molding material layer formed between the upper mold and the lower mold, a 2 T magnetic field is applied to the portion located between the ferromagnetic layers in the thickness direction by an electromagnet at 100 ° C. for 1 hour. The elastic anisotropic conductive film was formed in each of the anisotropic conductive film disposition holes of the frame plate by performing a curing process under the conditions.

The obtained elastic anisotropic conductive film will be specifically described. The total number of elastic anisotropic conductive films in the anisotropic conductive connector is 393, and each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films has a lateral dimension of 6000 μm, The vertical dimension is 1200 μm.
The functional portion of each elastic anisotropic conductive film has a horizontal dimension of 5250 μm, a vertical dimension of 210 μm, and an area of one surface of 1.1025 mm ² . Accordingly, the sum S1 of the areas of one surface of the functional portions of all the elastic anisotropic conductive films is 433 mm ² , and all the elastic anisotropic conductivity with respect to the area S2 of the surface of the evaluation wafer W1 on which the electrode to be inspected is formed. The ratio S1 / S2 of the sum S1 of the area of one surface of the functional part of the film is 0.0138.
In the functional portion of each elastic anisotropic conductive film, 50 conductive portions for connection are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction at a pitch of 100 μm. Each of the conductive portions for connection has a thickness of 120 μm and has a lateral direction. The dimension is 40 μm, and the vertical dimension is 200 μm. Further, the non-connecting conductive portion is disposed between the connecting conductive portion located on the outermost side in the lateral direction and the frame plate in the functional portion. Each of the non-connecting conductive portions has a horizontal dimension of 40 μm and a vertical dimension of 200 μm. Moreover, the thickness of the insulating part in the functional part is 120 μm, and the ratio of the thickness of the insulating part to the thickness of the conductive part for connection (T2 / T1) is 1. Therefore, each of the functional units is flat on both sides, and each functional unit has a uniform thickness. Each functional part is formed so that both surfaces thereof protrude from the supported part, and the protruding height of the functional part is 25 μm. The total thickness of the supported portion in each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films is 70 μm, and the thickness of one of the forked portions is 10 μm.

As described above, the elastic anisotropic conductive film was formed on each of the ten frame plates, and a total of ten anisotropic conductive connectors were manufactured. Hereinafter, these anisotropic conductive connectors are referred to as anisotropic conductive connectors (A1) to (A10).
Further, when the insulating portion in the supported portion and the functional portion of the elastic anisotropic conductive film was observed, it was confirmed that conductive particles were present in the supported portion, and the conductive particles were present in the insulating portion in the functional portion. It was confirmed that there was almost no existence.

[Production of anisotropically conductive connectors (B1) to (B10)]
Except for using the mold (K2) in place of the mold (K1), a total of 10 anisotropic conductive films for comparison are the same as the anisotropic conductive connectors (A1) to (A10). A connector was produced.
The elastic anisotropic conductive film of the obtained anisotropic conductive sheet will be specifically described. The total number of elastic anisotropic conductive films in the anisotropic conductive connector is 393, and each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films The dimension in the direction is 6000 μm, the dimension in the vertical direction is 1200 μm, and the 50 conductive portions are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction at a pitch of 100 μm. It is 40 μm, the vertical dimension is 200 μm, and the thickness is 120 μm. In addition, a non-connection conductive portion is disposed between the connection conductive portion located on the outermost side in the lateral direction and the frame plate. Each of the non-connection conductive portions has a horizontal dimension of 40 μm, a vertical dimension of 200 μm, and a thickness of 120 μm. Further, the protrusions formed on the connection conductive portion have a protrusion height of 25 μm on each surface, a horizontal dimension of 60 μm, and a vertical dimension of 210 μm, and are formed on the non-connection conductive portion. The protrusions have a protrusion height of 25 μm on each surface, a horizontal dimension of 90 μm, and a vertical dimension of 260 μm. Accordingly, the sum of the areas of the end faces of the protrusions in all the elastic anisotropic conductive films is 266 mm ² , and in all the elastic anisotropic conductive films with respect to the area of the surface on the side where the electrode to be inspected is formed in the evaluation wafer W1. The ratio of the total area of the end faces of the protrusions is 0.0085. The thickness of the insulating portion is 70 μm, and the ratio of the thickness of the insulating portion to the thickness of the connecting conductive portion (T2 / T1) is 0.58. Further, the thickness of the supported portion (one thickness of the bifurcated portion) in each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films is 10 μm.
Hereinafter, these anisotropic conductive connectors are referred to as anisotropic conductive connector (B1) to anisotropic conductive connector (B10).

(6) Circuit board for inspection:
A test circuit board in which test electrodes are formed in accordance with a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the test electrode on the evaluation wafer W1 using alumina ceramics (linear thermal expansion coefficient 4.8 × 10 ⁻⁶ / K) as a substrate material is manufactured. did. The inspection circuit board has a rectangular shape with a total dimension of 30 cm × 30 cm, and the inspection electrode has a horizontal dimension of 60 μm and a vertical dimension of 200 μm. Hereinafter, this inspection circuit board is referred to as “inspection circuit board T”.

(7) Sheet connector:
By preparing a laminated material in which a copper layer having a thickness of 15 μm is laminated on one surface of an insulating sheet made of polyimide having a thickness of 20 μm, and applying the laser processing to the insulating sheet in the laminated material, the insulating property is obtained. 19650 through-holes each having a diameter of 30 μm that penetrate in the thickness direction of the sheet were formed according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected in the evaluation wafer W1. Next, by performing photolithography and nickel plating treatment on the laminated material, a short-circuit portion integrally connected to the copper layer is formed in the through hole of the insulating sheet, and on the surface of the insulating sheet, A projecting surface electrode portion integrally connected to the short-circuit portion was formed. The diameter of the surface electrode portion was 40 μm, and the height from the surface of the insulating sheet was 20 μm. Thereafter, the copper layer in the laminated material is subjected to a photo-etching process and a part thereof is removed to form a rectangular back electrode part of 60 μm × 210 μm, and further, a gold plating process is performed on the front electrode part and the back electrode part Was applied to form an electrode structure, thereby producing a sheet-like connector. Hereinafter, this sheet-like connector is referred to as “sheet-like connector M”.

(8) Initial characteristics of elastic anisotropic conductive film:
Initial characteristics of the elastic anisotropic conductive film in the anisotropic conductive connector (A1) to the anisotropic conductive connector (A10) and the anisotropic conductive connector (B1) to the anisotropic conductive connector (B10) are as follows. Was measured.
An anisotropic conductive connector is arranged on the inspection circuit board T so that each of the conductive portions for connection is positioned on the inspection electrode of the inspection circuit board T, and anisotropic conductive is formed by RTV silicone rubber. The peripheral part of the connector was adhered to the circuit board T for inspection, and a flow member was produced. Thereafter, the probe member was fixed to the pressure plate, and the evaluation wafer W1 was mounted on the wafer mounting table. Next, a CCD camera capable of photographing both the upper and lower directions is inserted between the probe member and the evaluation wafer W1, and each of the conductive portions for connecting the anisotropic conductive connectors is evaluated based on the image of the CCD camera. The evaluation wafer W1 was aligned with the probe member so as to be positioned immediately above the inspection target electrode of W1. Next, the CCD camera is retracted from between the probe member and the evaluation wafer W1, and then the probe member is pressed downward with a load of 58.95 kg (the load applied to each conductive portion for connection is 3 g on average). Thus, the elastic anisotropic conductive film of the anisotropic conductive connector was brought into pressure contact with the evaluation wafer W1. Then, at room temperature (25 ° C.), the electrical resistance between the 19650 test electrodes on the test circuit board T and the extraction electrode of the evaluation wafer W1 is defined as the electrical resistance (hereinafter referred to as “conductive resistance”) in the connecting conductive portion. And the ratio of the conductive portions for connection having a conduction resistance of less than 1Ω was calculated.
Further, instead of the evaluation wafer W1, the evaluation wafer W2 is mounted on the wafer mounting table, and a CCD camera capable of photographing both in the vertical direction is inserted between the probe member and the evaluation wafer W2, and an image of this CCD camera is inserted. Based on the above, the evaluation wafer W2 was aligned with the probe member so that each of the conductive portions for connection of the anisotropic conductive connector was positioned immediately above the electrode to be inspected of the evaluation wafer W2. Next, the CCD camera is retracted from between the probe member and the evaluation wafer W2, and then the probe member is pressed downward with a load of 58.95 kg (the load applied to each conductive portion for connection is 3 g on average). Thus, the elastic anisotropic conductive film of the anisotropic conductive connector was brought into pressure contact with the evaluation wafer W2. Then, at room temperature (25 ° C.), the electrical resistance between two adjacent test electrodes on the test circuit board T is between two adjacent conductive parts for connection (hereinafter referred to as “conductive part pair”). The electrical resistance (hereinafter referred to as “insulation resistance”) was sequentially measured, and the ratio of the conductive part pair having an insulation resistance of 10 MΩ or more was calculated.
The results are shown in Table 1.

(9) Test 1:
Durability test under high temperature environment for anisotropic conductive connector (A1), anisotropic conductive connector (A2), anisotropic conductive connector (B1) and anisotropic conductive connector (B2) as follows Went.
An anisotropic conductive connector is arranged on the inspection circuit board T so that each of the conductive portions for connection is positioned on the inspection electrode of the inspection circuit board T, and anisotropic conductive is formed by RTV silicone rubber. The peripheral part of the connector was adhered to the circuit board T for inspection, and a flow member was produced. Thereafter, the probe member was fixed to the pressure plate, and the test wafer W4 was mounted on a wafer mounting table provided with an electric heater. Next, a CCD camera capable of photographing both the upper and lower directions is inserted between the probe member and the test wafer W4. Based on the image of the CCD camera, each of the conductive portions for connecting the anisotropic conductive connectors is connected to the test wafer. The test wafer W4 was aligned with the probe member so as to be positioned immediately above the electrode to be inspected of W4. Next, the CCD camera is retracted from between the probe member and the test wafer W4, and then the probe member is pressed downward with a load of 158 kg (the load applied to each conductive portion for connection is 8 g on average). The elastic anisotropic conductive film of the anisotropic conductive connector was brought into pressure contact with the test wafer W4. Next, after the wafer mounting table is heated to 125 ° C. and the temperature of the wafer mounting table is stabilized, the 19650 test electrodes on the test circuit board T are electrically connected to each other via the anisotropic conductive connector and the test wafer W4. The electrical resistance between two test electrodes connected in series is measured sequentially, and the half of the measured electrical resistance value is recorded as the conduction resistance of the conductive portion for connection in the anisotropic conductive connector. The number of conductive parts for connection having a conduction resistance of 1Ω or more was determined. Thereafter, the wafer was left in this state for 1 hour, and then the wafer mounting table was cooled to room temperature, and then the pressure on the probe member was released.
And said operation was made into 1 cycle, and 500 cycles were performed in total.
As described above, it is difficult to actually use the connection conductive portion having a conduction resistance of 1Ω or more in the electrical inspection of the integrated circuit formed on the wafer.
The results are shown in Table 2.

(10) Test 2:
Durability test under high temperature environment for anisotropic conductive connector (A3), anisotropic conductive connector (A4), anisotropic conductive connector (B3) and anisotropic conductive connector (B4) as follows Went.
An anisotropic conductive connector is arranged on the inspection circuit board T so that each of the conductive portions for connection is positioned on the inspection electrode of the inspection circuit board T, and anisotropic conductive is formed by RTV silicone rubber. The peripheral part of the connector is bonded to the circuit board T for inspection, and the sheet-like probe M is placed on the anisotropic conductive connector, and the back electrode part is placed on the conductive part for connection of the anisotropic conductive connector. A flow member was prepared by aligning and positioning the sheet connector so that the peripheral portion of the sheet-like connector M was adhered to the inspection circuit board T with RTV silicone rubber. Thereafter, the probe member was fixed to the pressure plate, and the test wafer W3 was mounted on a wafer mounting table provided with an electric heater. Next, a CCD camera capable of photographing both the upper and lower directions is inserted between the probe member and the test wafer W3, and based on the image of the CCD camera, each of the surface electrode portions of the sheet-like connector is covered with the test wafer W3. The test wafer W3 was aligned with the probe member so as to be positioned immediately above the inspection electrode. Next, the CCD camera is retracted from between the probe member and the test wafer W3, and then the probe member is pressed downward with a load of 158 kg (an average load of 8 g per connecting conductive portion). The elastic anisotropic conductive film of the anisotropic conductive connector was brought into pressure contact with the test wafer W4. Next, after the wafer mounting table is heated to 125 ° C. and the temperature of the wafer mounting table is stabilized, the anisotropic conductive connector, the sheet-like connector M, and the test wafer W3 are used for 19650 test electrodes on the test circuit board T. By sequentially measuring the electrical resistance between two inspection electrodes that are electrically connected to each other through the conductor, the conduction resistance of the conductive portion for connection in the anisotropic conductive connector is recorded, and the conduction resistance is 1Ω or more The number of conductive parts for connection was determined. Thereafter, the wafer was left in this state for 1 hour, and then the wafer mounting table was cooled to room temperature, and then the pressure on the probe member was released.
And said operation was made into 1 cycle, and 500 cycles were performed in total.
As described above, it is difficult to actually use the connection conductive portion having a conduction resistance of 1Ω or more in the electrical inspection of the integrated circuit formed on the wafer.
The results are shown in Table 3.

  As is apparent from the results of Tables 1 to 3, according to the anisotropic conductive connector according to the example, even if the pitch of the conductive portions for connection in the elastic anisotropic conductive film is small, the conductive for connection Good electrical conductivity is obtained in the part, and good electrical connection is stably maintained against environmental changes such as thermal history due to temperature changes. In addition, it was confirmed that good conductivity was maintained over a long period of time. Further, according to the anisotropic conductive connector according to the embodiment, the wafer to be inspected has a large number of electrodes to be inspected, and even if these electrodes to be inspected are protruding, they are high in repeated use. It was confirmed that durability was obtained.

It is a top view which shows an example of the anisotropically conductive connector which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which expands and shows a part of anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. It is a top view which expands and shows the elastic anisotropic conductive film in the anisotropic conductive connector shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the elastic anisotropically conductive film in the anisotropically conductive connector shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the molding material was apply | coated to the metal mold | die for elastic anisotropic conductive film formation, and the molding material layer was formed. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the one part the metal mold | die for elastic anisotropic conductive molding. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the frame board was arrange | positioned through the spacer between the upper mold | type and lower mold | type of the metal mold | die shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the molding material layer of the target form was formed between the upper mold | type and lower mold | type of metal mold | die. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the molding material layer shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the state in which the magnetic field which has intensity distribution in the thickness direction was formed in the molding material layer shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure in an example of the wafer inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure of the principal part of the probe member in the wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure in the other example of the wafer inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure of the principal part of the probe member in the wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. It is a top view which expands and shows the elastic anisotropic conductive film in the other example of the anisotropically conductive connector which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows the elastic anisotropic conductive film in the other example of the anisotropically conductive connector which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which expands and shows the elastic anisotropic conductive film in the further another example of the anisotropic conductive connector which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure in the further another example of the wafer inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure of the principal part of the probe member in the wafer inspection apparatus shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the structure of the wafer test | inspection apparatus for test | inspecting the wafer which has a protruding electrode. FIG. 21 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a main part of a probe member in the wafer inspection apparatus illustrated in FIG. 20. It is a top view which expands and shows the elastic anisotropic conductive film in the further another example of the anisotropic conductive connector which concerns on this invention. It is a top view of the wafer for evaluation used in the example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the position of the to-be-tested electrode area | region of the integrated circuit formed in the wafer for evaluation shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the to-be-inspected electrode of the integrated circuit formed in the wafer for evaluation shown in FIG. It is a top view of the frame board produced in the Example. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows a part of frame board shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the molding surface of the metal mold | die produced in the Example. It is sectional drawing for description which expands and shows a part of metal mold | die for elastic anisotropic conductive molding used in order to obtain the anisotropic conductive connector for a comparison. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the molding surface of the metal mold | die for elastic anisotropic conductive molding used in order to obtain the anisotropic conductive connector for a comparison. In the process of manufacturing the conventional anisotropically conductive connector, it is sectional drawing for description which shows the state by which the frame board was arrange | positioned in a metal mold | die and the molding material layer was formed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Probe member 2 Anisotropic conductive connector 3 Pressure plate 4 Wafer mounting stand 5 Heater 6 Wafer 7 Electrode 10 Frame plate 11 Anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole 15 Air flow hole 16 Positioning hole 20 Elastic anisotropic conductive film 20A Molding material layer 21 Functional portion 22 Connecting conductive portion 23 Insulating portion 24 Protruding portion 25 Supported portion 26 Non-connecting conductive portion 30 Inspection circuit board 31 Inspection electrode 41 Insulating sheet 40 Sheet-like connector 42 Electrode structure 43 Surface electrode Portion 44 back electrode portion 45 short-circuit portion 50 chamber 51 exhaust pipe 55 O-ring 60 mold 61 upper die 62 substrate 63, 63a ferromagnetic layer 64 non-magnetic layer
64a, 64b, 64c Recess 65 Lower mold 66 Substrate 67, 67a Ferromagnetic layer 68 Nonmagnetic layer 68a, 68b, 68c Recess 69a, 69b Spacer 81 Upper mold 82 Substrate 83 Ferromagnetic layer 84 Nonmagnetic layer 84a recess 85 lower mold 86 substrate 87 ferromagnetic layer 88 nonmagnetic layer 88a recess 90 frame plate 91 opening 95 molding material layer P conductive particles

Claims (7)

For each of the plurality of integrated circuits formed on the wafer, in the anisotropic conductive connector used to perform electrical inspection of the integrated circuit in the state of the wafer,
A plurality of anisotropic conductive film placement holes penetrating in the thickness direction are formed corresponding to the electrode regions where the electrodes to be inspected are arranged in all or some of the integrated circuits formed on the wafer to be inspected. The frame plate and a plurality of elastic anisotropic conductive films arranged in each anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole of the frame plate and supported by the peripheral part of the anisotropic conductive film arrangement hole,
Each of the elastic anisotropic conductive films extends in the thickness direction in which the conductive particles exhibiting magnetism are densely disposed corresponding to the electrodes to be inspected of the integrated circuit formed on the wafer to be inspected. Comprising a functional part having a plurality of conductive parts for connection and an insulating part for mutually insulating the conductive parts for connection;
When the thickness of the conductive portion for connection in the functional portion of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is T1, and the thickness of the insulating portion in the functional portion is T2, the ratio (T2 / T1) is 0.9 or more,
At least one surface of each functional portion of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is a flat surface;
Each functional part of the elastic anisotropic conductive film is formed so that at least one flat surface protrudes from a supported part fixedly supported in the peripheral part of the anisotropic conductive film disposition hole of the frame plate. When the sum of the areas of the flat surfaces of the functional portions of all the elastic anisotropic conductive films is S1, and the area of the surface of the wafer to be inspected on which the electrode to be inspected is formed is S2, An anisotropic conductive connector characterized in that the ratio S1 / S2 is 0.001 to 0.3. The anisotropic conductive connector according to claim 1, wherein the thermal expansion coefficient of the frame plate is 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less. For each of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer, a probe member used to perform electrical inspection of the integrated circuit in the state of the wafer,
An inspection circuit board in which an inspection electrode is formed on a surface according to a pattern corresponding to a pattern of an electrode to be inspected in an integrated circuit formed on a wafer to be inspected, and the inspection circuit board is disposed on the surface of the inspection circuit board. A probe member comprising the anisotropic conductive connector according to claim 1. The linear thermal expansion coefficient of the frame plate in the anisotropic conductive connector is 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less, and the linear thermal expansion coefficient of the board material constituting the circuit board for inspection is 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ / K or less. The probe member according to claim 3.   On the anisotropic conductive connector, an insulating sheet, and a sheet formed of a plurality of electrode structures that extend through the insulating sheet in the thickness direction and are arranged according to a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the electrode to be inspected The probe member according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a connector is disposed. For each of a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a wafer, in a wafer inspection apparatus for performing an electrical inspection of the integrated circuit in a wafer state,
A probe member according to any one of claims 3 to 5 is provided, and electrical connection to an integrated circuit formed on a wafer to be inspected is achieved through the probe member. Wafer inspection equipment.   Each of the plurality of integrated circuits formed on the wafer is electrically connected to the tester via the probe member according to any one of claims 3 to 5, and the electric power of the integrated circuit formed on the wafer is measured. A wafer inspection method characterized by performing a physical inspection.

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