JP4534868B2 - IC tester - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC tester in which the number of pins can be varied for each pin holding block, manufacturing cost can be reduced, and dummy load generating means is provided to achieve good electrical contact with a wafer.

  Prior art documents related to the IC tester include the following.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-28478

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional example that is generally used conventionally. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a test head and a wafer prober of an IC tester. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the main part of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the test | inspection state connected.

  1 is a test head of an IC tester, 2 is a contact ring substrate attached to the test head, 3 is a contact probe holding block attached to the contact ring substrate 2, 4 is a contact probe embedded in the contact probe holding block 3, 5 Is a prober holder, 6 is a probe card holder, 7 is a wafer transfer table of the prober, 8 is a probe card, 9 is a wafer, and 10 is a wafer contact needle standing on the probe card.

In the above configuration, the signal flow during wafer inspection is 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 8 → 10 → 9 or vice versa.
The probe card holder 6 is fixed to the prober 5, has a role of holding the probe card 8 and needs to be strong enough to withstand the contact load of the contact probe 4.

Such an apparatus has the following problems.
Depending on the type of device to be inspected, the number of signal lines and signal types required for inspection will change.
In order to realize a low cost tester, it is desirable to mount only the necessary number of contact probes.

  When the required number of contact probes 4 is mounted, an area where the contact probes 4 are present and an area where the contact probes 4 are present are formed. Therefore, the distribution of the contact load of the contact probes 4 loaded on the probe card 8 and the probe card holder 6 varies. Further, the deflection of the probe card holder 6 becomes non-uniform, and as a result, the heights of the wafer contact needles 10 are not uniform and electrical contact with the wafer 9 is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to provide an IC tester in which the number of pins can be varied for each pin holding block in order to cope with a change in the number of contact probes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an IC tester in which dummy load generating means equivalent to a contact probe load is provided in an area where there is no contact probe in order to make the deflection of the probe card and the probe card holder uniform.

In order to achieve such a problem, in the present invention, in the IC tester of claim 1,
In an IC tester in which a measurement signal is obtained by a contact probe, a plurality of pin holding blocks provided with a predetermined number of contact probes and freely attached to and detached from a contact ring substrate, a base plate provided on the contact ring substrate, and a base plate A plurality of shaft holding bushings provided, a shaft slidably inserted into the shaft holding bushing and having one end locked to the shaft holding bushing, and a spring provided between the shaft and the shaft holding bushing And a load plate fixed to the other end of the shaft. The number of the pin holding blocks is reduced corresponding to the number of measurement signals, and the pin holding block is provided at a place where the pin holding blocks are removed. Dummy equivalent to the load generated by the block Causing heavy dummy - IC tester, characterized by comprising a load generating means.

In the IC tester according to claim 2 of the present invention, the IC tester according to claim 1 ,
The load plate includes a plurality of small load plates.

In the IC tester according to claim 3 of the present invention, the IC tester according to claim 2 ,
At least one of the load units is attached to the small load plate.

In IC tester according to claim 4 of the present invention, the IC tester according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The spring is a coil spring.

In IC tester according to claim 5 of the present invention, the IC tester according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The shaft holding bushing is screwed to the base plate by a screw provided on the outer periphery of the shaft holding bushing.

In IC tester according to claim 6 of the present invention, the IC tester according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The one end of the shaft is locked to the base block by an E-ring.

In IC tester according to claim 7 of the present invention, the IC tester according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The other end of the shaft is fixed to the load plate with a screw.

According to claim 1 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since a predetermined number of contact probes are provided and a plurality of pin holding blocks are provided that can be freely attached to and detached from the contact ring substrate, and the pin holding blocks are freely attached and detached, it is possible to change the number of pins for each pin holding block. Only the necessary number of contact probes can be used, and an inexpensive IC tester can be obtained.

  Since a dummy load generating means for generating a dummy load equivalent to the load generated by the pin holding block is provided instead of the portion where the contact probe is not mounted, that is, the portion where the pin holding block is removed, the probe card and the probe card holder IC tester that can achieve good electrical contact with the wafer because the force applied to the contact probe is the same as when there is a contact probe, the deflection of the probe card and probe card holder is made uniform, the height of the wafer contact needle is uniform Is obtained.

According to claim 2 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the load plate is divided into a plurality of small load plates, an IC tester capable of realizing a uniform dummy load by dispersing dummy loads corresponding to the load generated by the pin holding block is obtained.

According to claim 3 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since at least one load unit is attached to the small load plate, a dummy load can be generated reliably and an inexpensive IC tester can be obtained.

According to claim 4 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the spring is a coil spring, an IC tester capable of realizing a dummy load averaged in the axial direction of the shaft can be obtained.

According to claim 5 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the shaft holding bushing is screwed to the base plate by a screw provided on the outer periphery of the shaft holding bushing, an IC tester in which the load unit can be easily replaced and maintained can be obtained.

According to claim 6 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since one end of the shaft is locked to the base plate by the E-ring, it is possible to obtain an IC tester in which the shaft is securely locked and the load unit can be easily replaced and maintained.

According to claim 7 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the other end of the shaft is fixed to the load plate with a screw, an IC tester can be obtained that is securely fixed and that allows easy replacement and maintenance of the load unit.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are explanatory views of a main part configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view seen from a contact probe tip side of a contact ring, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the dummy load generating means, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.
In the figure, the same symbol structure as in FIG. 4 represents the same function.
Only differences from FIG. 4 will be described below.

In the figure, a plurality of pin holding blocks 21 are provided with a predetermined number of contact probes 4 and are freely attached to and detached from the contact ring substrate 2.
In this case, the contact ring is divided into six pieces.
The screw 22 fixes the pin holding block 21 to the contact ring substrate 2.

Since the contact probe 3 is embedded in the pin holding block 21, the number of pins can be changed in units of blocks by attaching and detaching the pin holding block 21.
Since the pin holding block 21 is fixed to the contact ring substrate 2 with screws 22, it can be easily attached and detached.
B and C in FIG. 1 show a state in which dummy load generating means 30 described later is attached instead of the pin holding block 21.

The dummy load generating means 30 is provided in a place where the number of the pin holding blocks 21 is reduced corresponding to the number of measurement signals and the pin holding blocks 21 are removed, and generates a dummy load corresponding to the load generated by the pin holding blocks.
2 and 3 show the dummy load generating means 30.

The dummy load generating means 30 includes a base plate 31, a load unit 32 and a load plate 33.
The load unit 32 includes a shaft holding bushing 321, a shaft 322, and a coil spring 323.

The base plate 31 is attached to the contact ring substrate 2.
The outer shape of the base plate 31 is the same as the outer shape of the pin holding block 21 of FIG. 1 and can be attached to the contact ring substrate 2.
The shaft holding bushing 321 is attached to the base plate 31. In this case, the base plate 31 is screwed with a screw provided on the outer periphery of the shaft holding bushing and is locked with a nut 34.

The shaft 322 is slidably inserted into the shaft holding bushing 321, and one end is locked to the shaft holding bushing 321. In this case, it is locked by the E-ring 35.
The spring 323 is provided between the shaft 322 and the shaft holding bushing 321. In this case, a coil spring is used.

The load plate 33 is fixed to the other end of the shaft 322. In this case, the load plate 33 is fixed to the other end of the shaft 322 by a screw 36.
The load plate 33 is divided into a plurality of small load plates 331. In this case, at least one load unit 32 is attached to the small load plate 331.

In the above configuration, the compression force of the compression coil spring 323 applies a spring compression force to the load plate 33 and moves in the compression direction.
The generated force is set to be the same as the load of the pin holding block 21.

In FIG. 2, a required load is obtained by three coil plates 331 and two coil springs 323 per plate.
The compression stroke amount and the spring constant of the load plate 33 are the same as those of the pin holding block 21.

As a result,
A plurality of pin holding blocks 21 that are provided with a predetermined number of contact probes 4 and are freely attached to and detached from the contact ring substrate 2 are provided, and the pin holding block 21 is freely attached and detached. Therefore, only the necessary number of contact probes 4 can be used, and an inexpensive IC tester can be obtained.

  Since a dummy load generating means 30 for generating a dummy load corresponding to the load generated by the pin holding block 21 is provided instead of the portion where the contact probe 4 is not mounted, that is, the portion where the pin holding block 21 is removed, a probe card is provided. 8 and the force applied to the probe card holder 6 are the same as when the contact probe 4 is present, the deflection of the probe card 8 and the probe card holder 6 is made uniform, the height of the wafer contact needle 10 is uniform, and the wafer 9 An IC tester capable of realizing good electrical contact with the.

  A base plate 31 provided on the contact ring substrate 2, a shaft holding bushing 321 provided on the base plate 31, a shaft 322 slidably inserted into the shaft holding bushing 321 and one end locked to the base plate 31, and the shaft 322 And the load holding plate 33 fixed to the other end of the shaft 322, the pin holding block 21 is generated. An IC tester capable of easily realizing a dummy load equivalent to the load is obtained.

  Since the load plate 33 is divided into a plurality of small load plates 331, a dummy load corresponding to the load generated by the pin holding block 21 is dispersed to obtain an IC tester capable of realizing a uniform dummy load.

Since at least one load unit 32 is attached to the small load plate 331, a dummy load can be generated reliably and an inexpensive IC tester can be obtained.
Since the spring 323 is a coil spring, an IC tester capable of realizing a dummy load averaged in the axial direction of the shaft 322 is obtained.

  Since the shaft holding bushing 321 is screwed to the base plate 31 with a screw provided on the outer periphery of the shaft holding bushing 321, an IC tester in which the load unit 32 can be easily replaced and maintained can be obtained.

Since one end of the shaft 322 is locked to the base plate 21 by the E-ring 35, an IC tester that is securely locked and that can be easily replaced and maintained by the load unit 32 is obtained.
Since the other end of the shaft 322 is fixed to the load plate 33 with the screw 36, an IC tester in which the load unit 32 can be easily replaced and maintained can be obtained.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pin holding block 21 has been described as having a shape in which the contact ring is divided into six. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of divisions of the pin holding block 21 is as follows. Any number of divisions may be used as necessary.

  Further, since the pin holding block 21 and the base plate 31 have mounting compatibility, the dummy load generating means 30 can be mounted instead of the pin holding block 21 at an arbitrary position.

Moreover, although the small load plate 331 of the dummy load generating means 30 has been described as being divided into three for each dummy load generating means 30 in the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be one or more.
Although it has been described in the embodiment that two coil springs 323 that apply force to the small load plate 331 are used for one plate, the present invention is not limited to this, and one or more coil springs may be used.

The above description merely shows a specific preferred embodiment for the purpose of explanation and illustration of the present invention.
Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes many changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of one Example of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is principal part sectional drawing. It is a top view of a dummy load generation means. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is structure explanatory drawing of the prior art example generally used conventionally. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Test head 2 Contact ring board 3 Contact probe holding block 4 Contact probe 5 Wafer prober 6 Probe card holder 7 Wafer transfer table 8 Probe card 9 Wafer 10 Wafer contact needle 21 Pin holding block 22 Screw 30 Dummy load generating means 31 Base plate 32 Load Unit 321 Shaft holding bushing 322 Shaft 323 Coil spring 33 Load plate 331 Light load plate 34 Nut 35 E-ring 36 Screw

Claims (7)

In an IC tester where a measurement signal can be obtained by a contact probe,
A plurality of pin holding blocks provided with a predetermined number of contact probes and freely attached to and detached from the contact ring substrate;
A base plate provided on the contact ring substrate;
The shaft holding bushing provided on this base plate
A shaft that is slidably inserted into the shaft holding bushing and has one end locked to the shaft holding bushing;
A plurality of load units each having a spring provided between the shaft and the shaft holding bushing;
A load plate fixed to the other end of the shaft;
Comprising
A dummy load generating means for reducing the number of the pin holding blocks corresponding to the number of measurement signals and providing a dummy load corresponding to the load generated by the pin holding blocks provided at a place where the pin holding blocks are removed. IC tester characterized by this. The load plate is a plurality of small load plates
  The IC tester according to claim 1, further comprising: At least one load unit is attached to the small load plate.
  The IC tester according to claim 2. The spring is a coil spring.
  The IC tester according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein: The shaft holding bushing is screwed to the base plate with a screw provided on the outer periphery of the shaft holding bushing.
  The IC tester according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The one end of the shaft is locked to the base block by an E-ring.
  The IC tester according to claim 1, wherein: The other end of the shaft was fixed to the load plate with a screw.
  The IC tester according to claim 1, wherein:

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