JP6796782B2 - Prober - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a prober, and particularly relates to a technique for improving the cleanliness inside the prober.

In the configuration of the prober, a test head for inspecting a semiconductor device is generally arranged on the upper part of the prober main body (provider chamber). For this reason, the fan filter unit (FFU) cannot be placed above the prober chamber. Therefore, by attaching the FFU to the side wall of the prober chamber and allowing highly clean air to flow inside the prober chamber, It is designed to ensure the cleanliness of the prober room.

In the prober described in Patent Document 1, the FFU is arranged on the ceiling of the loader chamber, and the internal piping in which the nozzle is arranged is arranged on the upper part of the wall surface of the prober chamber (paragraphs [0021], [0027], [0027]. ], Fig. 1). The FFU arranged on the ceiling of the loader room sucks the air in the clean room and supplies the sucked air to the loader room through a filter. The internal pipe arranged in the upper part of the side wall of the prober chamber is connected to the dry air source, and the dry air is supplied to the inside of the prober chamber through the nozzle arranged in the internal pipe.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-179109

4 and 5 are front perspective views and top perspective views showing an example in which the FFU is arranged on the prober, respectively, and FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of the prober chamber of FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively.

In the prober 100 shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, FFUs (hereinafter referred to as loader side FFU 152 and main body side FFU 101, respectively) are provided on the ceiling 150A of the loader chamber 150 and the side wall 102A on the rear side (−X side) of the prober chamber 102, respectively. It is installed. The loader-side FFU 152 and the main body-side FFU 101 are each provided with a filter, and dust is removed by sucking air in a clean room in which a prober 100 is installed and passing the filter through the filter. Then, the loader side FFU 152 and the main body side FFU 101 supply the dust-removed air to the inside of the loader chamber 150 and the prober chamber 102, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, an exhaust port 154 is provided in the lower part of the wall surface 150B of the loader chamber 150 opposite to the prober chamber 102. The air supplied to the inside of the loader chamber 150 by the loader side FFU 152 flows downward (in the −Z direction) of the loader chamber 150 and is discharged from the exhaust port 154.

As shown in FIG. 6, an exhaust port 114 is provided on the side wall 102B on the front side (+ X side) of the prober chamber 102. The air supplied to the inside of the prober chamber 102 by the main body side FFU 101 flows toward the front side (+ X direction) of the prober chamber 102 and is discharged from the exhaust port 114.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a probing area A100 is provided inside the prober chamber 102 in which the wafer W adsorbed on the wafer chuck 108 and the probe needle 106 of the test head 104 are in contact with each other. A structure such as an alignment camera 112 is arranged on the rear side (-X side) of the probing area A100. Further, a probe card changer 110 is arranged on the front side (+ X side) of the probing area A100.

As shown in FIG. 5, when air is flowed from the main body side FFU 101 attached to the side wall on the rear side (−X side) of the prober chamber 102 to the front side (+ X side), the structure on the rear side of the probing area A100 is released. There is a problem that it becomes an obstacle and it becomes difficult for clean air to flow into the probing area A100. Further, there is a problem that the probe card changer 110 on the front side (+ X side) of the probing area A100 becomes an obstacle to the air flow, and air cannot be sufficiently exhausted to the outside of the prober chamber 102. Further, the probe card changer 110 acts as a barrier to the flow of air, and as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5, the air flows back into the probing area A100, which causes a problem that the cleanliness inside the prober chamber 102 is lowered. there were.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the loader chamber 150, there is a problem that the air supplied from the loader side FFU 152 is not sufficiently exhausted from the exhaust port 154, and the unexhausted airflow stays. Therefore, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 4, air is wound up in the vicinity of the robot arm 156, which is a dust generation source, during wafer transfer. Therefore, when the wafer W is taken out from the lower cassette (not shown) in FIG. 4 and conveyed, there is a problem that the wafer W is contaminated by the particles (dust) wound up by the air flow. ..

The probe device described in Patent Document 1 includes a shield cover that shields a transport mechanism of an object to be inspected in a loader chamber that communicates with a prober chamber, and means for supplying dry air into the shield cover and the prober chamber. There is. By setting the inside of the shield cover to be more pressurized than the loader room, the air in the loader room is not allowed to enter the shield cover, and the low dew point is maintained (paragraph [0023]).

In Patent Document 1, air in the loader chamber can be prevented from entering the shield cover. However, in Patent Document 1, contamination of the wafer cannot be prevented outside the shield cover. Further, since it is necessary to provide a shield cover and a configuration for supplying dry air in the shield cover, there is a problem that the structure of the device is complicated and the cost is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a prober capable of improving the cleanliness of the prober with a simpler configuration and preventing contamination during wafer transfer. The purpose.

In order to solve the above problems, the prober according to the first aspect of the present invention is provided through a wafer transfer opening formed in a partition wall between a loader chamber having a transfer mechanism for semiconductor wafers and the loader chamber. A prober chamber communicating with the loader chamber, a first gas supply unit disposed on the ceiling of the loader chamber and supplying dust-removed gas from above to below inside the loader chamber, and a prober chamber. A second gas supply unit, which is arranged below the wafer transfer opening of the partition wall, sucks gas supplied to the inside of the loader chamber to remove dust, and supplies the gas to the inside of the prober chamber. Be prepared.

In the first aspect, the first gas supply unit is arranged on the ceiling of the loader chamber, and the second gas supply unit is arranged below the wafer transfer opening of the partition wall between the prober chamber and the loader chamber. As a result, the gas wound up from below the loader chamber can be sucked by the second gas supply unit before reaching the wafer transfer opening. As a result, it is possible to prevent the wafer from being contaminated with a simpler configuration. Further, since the gas supplied to the prober chamber is dusted twice by the first and second gas supply units, the prober chamber can be kept cleaner.

In the first aspect, the prober according to the second aspect of the present invention exhausts the gas supplied from the second gas supply unit to the wall surface of the prober chamber facing the second gas supply unit. The exhaust port for this is formed.

According to the second aspect, the gas supplied to the second gas supply unit can be smoothly exhausted to the outside of the prober chamber through the exhaust port.

In the second aspect, the prober according to the third aspect of the present invention is placed inside the prober chamber, and the wafer chuck on which the semiconductor wafer is placed and held, and the prober chamber are inside the prober chamber. A probe card arranged so as to face the wafer chuck and a structure other than the wafer chuck and the probe card arranged in the prober chamber are further provided, and in the space between the wafer chuck and the probe card. A probe area is arranged between the second gas supply unit and the exhaust port, and the probe area is viewed from a direction in which the structure connects the second gas supply unit and the exhaust port. It is arranged so that it does not overlap with.

According to the third aspect, the gas supplied to the second gas supply unit can flow into the inside of the prober chamber without being blocked by the structure, and can be smoothly exhausted.

In the prober according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the supply amount of the gas supplied to the loader chamber by the first gas supply unit is the second gas. It is larger than the supply amount of the gas supplied to the prober chamber by the supply unit.

According to the fourth aspect, the gas supplied to the first gas supply unit is larger than the gas sucked into the second gas supply unit, and the second gas supply unit supplies the first gas supply unit. Not all of the gas is sucked. Therefore, the gas supplied from the first gas supply unit can be introduced below the second gas supply unit. In addition, the loader chamber can be kept under pressure with respect to the prober chamber.

According to the present invention, the gas wound up from below the loader chamber can be sucked by the second gas supply unit before reaching the wafer transfer opening. As a result, it is possible to prevent the wafer from being contaminated with a simpler configuration.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prober according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the prober according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the prober chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front perspective view showing an example in which the FFU is arranged on the prober. FIG. 5 is a top perspective view showing an example in which the FFU is arranged on the prober. FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of the prober chamber.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the prober according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 are a front perspective view and a top perspective view of the prober according to the embodiment of the present invention, respectively. FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the prober chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the following, an XYZ Cartesian coordinate system in which a plane parallel to the wafer chuck 18 is an XY plane will be described.

The prober 10 according to the present embodiment is installed in a clean room (not shown) and includes a prober chamber 12 and a loader chamber 50. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the prober chamber 12 and the loader chamber 50 are installed side by side in the Y direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wafer transfer robot 58 provided with a robot arm 56 is arranged inside the loader chamber 50. At the lower part of the wafer transfer robot 58, a cassette (not shown) for vertically storing a plate-shaped wafer W on which a plurality of chips (semiconductor devices) are formed (in a state substantially parallel to the ZX plane) is arranged. To.

The wafer transfer robot 58 uses the robot arm 56 to take out wafers from a cassette (not shown) arranged in the loader chamber 50. Then, the wafer transfer robot 58 rotates the wafer W and holds it in a state substantially parallel to the XY plane, and the prober chamber 12 passes through the wafer transfer opening 26 formed between the loader chamber 50 and the prober chamber 12. Carry in to. Further, the wafer transfer robot 58 uses the robot arm 56 to carry out the wafer W from the prober chamber 12, raise the wafer W, and store the wafer W in the cassette.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a test head 14 is arranged on the ceiling of the prober chamber 12. A wafer chuck 18 is arranged inside the prober chamber 12. A probe card changer 20 is arranged on the front side (+ X side) of the wafer chuck 18, and an alignment camera is arranged on the rear side (−X side) of the wafer chuck 18 and on the upper side (+ Z side) of the wafer chuck 18. 22 is arranged.

The wafer chuck 18 is attached to a base 17 installed in the prober chamber 12. The base 17 includes a moving rotation mechanism that moves the wafer chuck 18 in the XYZ3 axis direction and rotates around the Z axis.

The wafer chuck 18 holds the wafer W carried into the prober chamber 12 by the wafer transfer robot 58 by vacuum suction.

The probe card 15 is arranged above the wafer chuck 18 (+ Z side). The probe card 15 is detachably attached to the opening (probe card mounting portion) of the lower surface (head stage) of the test head 14 constituting the ceiling of the prober chamber 12.

The probe card 15 has a probe needle 16 corresponding to the electrode arrangement of the chip to be inspected. The prober 10 includes a storage device (not shown) in which a plurality of probe cards 15 in which the probe needles 16 are arranged differently according to the electrode arrangement of the chip to be inspected are stored. The probe card changer 20 includes a transfer mechanism for transporting the probe card 15. The probe card changer 20 takes out the probe card 15 according to the electrode arrangement of the chip to be inspected from the storage device and attaches it to the probe card mounting portion of the test head 14. Further, the probe card changer 20 removes the probe card 15 mounted on the probe card mounting portion of the test head 14 and stores it in the storage device.

The alignment camera 22 is used to take an image of the wafer W and detect the position of the electrode of the chip on the wafer W.

In the prober 10 according to the present embodiment, the wafer chuck 18 and the probe card 15 are relatively moved by a moving rotation mechanism of the base 17. Then, in the prober 10, the wafer chuck 18 and the probe card 15 are relatively moved based on the detection result of the electrode position on the wafer W. Then, by bringing the electrodes of each chip of the wafer W into contact with the probe needle 16, the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device are inspected.

A loader-side FFU 52 (first gas supply unit) is attached to the ceiling 50A of the loader chamber 50. A partition wall (side wall 12A) between the prober chamber 12 and the loader chamber 50, and a main body side FFU 11 (second gas supply portion) is attached below the wafer transfer opening 26 (−Z side).

An exhaust port 24 for exhausting air supplied from the main body side FFU 11 to the prober chamber 12 is formed on the side wall 12B facing the side wall 12A of the prober chamber 12. A backflow prevention damper may be attached to the exhaust port 24 so that the air exhausted from the prober chamber 12 does not flow back.

The loader-side FFU 52 is a unit in which a fan for sucking air in the clean room and supplying it to the loader room 50 and a filter for removing dust sucked by the fan are incorporated in a housing. Further, in the main body side FFU 11, a fan for sucking the air inside the loader chamber 50 and supplying it to the prober chamber 12 and a filter for removing the air sucked by the fan are incorporated in the housing. It is a unit.

As the main body side FFU11, Panasonic Corporation BV-R07TU2G can be used, and as the loader side FFU52, Panasonic Corporation BV-R15TU2G can be used. All of these are driven by a DC power supply and are equipped with a ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air Filter) filter. Here, according to the Japanese Industrial Standard JIS Z 8122, the ULPA filter has a particle collection rate of 99.9995% or more and an initial pressure loss with respect to particles having a particle size of 0.15 μm at a rated air volume. Is an air filter with a performance of 245 Pa or less. The types of FFU, the power supply of FFU, and the types of filters are not limited to the above.

In the present embodiment, the main body side FFU 11 is arranged between the prober chamber 12 and the loader chamber 50 and directly below the wafer transfer opening 26 through which the robot arm 56 of the wafer transfer robot 58 passes when the wafer W is transferred. With such an arrangement, the downflow (downward airflow) of the air supplied to the loader chamber 50 by the loader side FFU 52 is wound up by the floor surface or other structures in the loader chamber and reaches the vicinity of the robot arm 56. Before, it can be sucked by the FFU 11 on the main body side and flowed to the prober chamber 12 side. As a result, dust generated by the operation of the wafer transfer robot 58 can be prevented from reaching the wafer W on the robot arm 56.

In the present embodiment, it is preferable to use a smaller FFU 11 on the main body side than the FFU 52 on the loader side. Alternatively, the main body side so that the amount of air sucked from the loader chamber 50 by the main body side FFU 11 and supplied to the prober chamber 12 is smaller than the amount of air supplied from the loader side FFU 52 to the inside of the loader chamber 50. It is preferable to adjust the air supply amount of the FFU 11 and the loader side FFU 52. As a result, the loader chamber 50 can be kept under pressure with respect to the prober chamber 12. Further, since the amount of air supplied to the loader chamber 50 is larger than the amount of air supplied to the prober chamber 12, the gas supplied from the loader side FFU 52 can reach below the main body side FFU 11 of the loader chamber 50. It will be possible.

Further, in the present embodiment, the loader side FFU 52 and the main body are prevented so that the air supplied from the loader side FFU 52 into the loader chamber 50 does not reach the wafer transfer opening 26 after flowing below the wafer transfer opening 26. It is preferable that the amount of gas supplied by the side FFU 11 is adjusted. In other words, because the amount of air supplied from the loader side FFU 52 is too small, the amount of air to be wound up is such that the air is not completely sucked into the main body side FFU 11 before reaching below the main body side FFU 11. It is preferable that the amount of gas supplied by the loader side FFU 52 and the main body side FFU 11 is adjusted so that the amount becomes too large and does not reach above the main body side FFU 11. The amount of gas supplied by the loader-side FFU 52 and the main body-side FFU 11 varies depending on the size of the loader chamber 50, the size and arrangement of the structures in the loader chamber 50, and the like, and thus can be determined experimentally.

Further, in the present embodiment, the structure (probe card changer 20, alignment camera 22, etc.) that obstructs the flow of air supplied to the prober chamber 12 is a space between the wafer chuck 18 and the probe card 15. It is arranged in the X direction with respect to the probing area A10, and is not arranged in the Y direction. In other words, the probing area A10 is arranged between the main body side FFU 11 and the exhaust port 24 at a position where the gas supplied from the main body side FFU 11 flows. The structure that obstructs the air flow is arranged so as not to overlap the probing area A10 when viewed from the direction connecting the main body side FFU 11 and the exhaust port 24. Therefore, when the clean air is flowed from the loader chamber 50 side in the −Y direction by the main body side FFU 11, the clean air flows into the probing area A10. Then, the air supplied to the inside of the prober chamber 12 can be exhausted to the outside of the prober chamber 12 without being hindered by these structures.

The air supplied to the prober chamber 12 is air that has been cleaned (dust removed) twice by the loader side FFU 52 and the main body side FFU 11. Therefore, the cleanliness of the probing area A10 can be maintained without being affected by the environment around the prober 10 (for example, the clean room in which the prober chamber 12 is installed).

In the present embodiment, by adjusting the amount of air supplied by the main body side FFU 11 and the loader side FFU 52, the primary side of the main body side FFU 11 can always be in a state of being pressurized by the loader side FFU 52. As a result, in particular, the pressure difference required to be created by the FFU 11 on the main body side is reduced, so that energy saving can be realized.

Further, since the air flowing into the prober chamber 12 always passes through the inside of the loader chamber 50, it must be warmed by the heat generated by the motor or the like used in the wafer transfer robot 58 and then flow into the inside of the prober chamber 12. become. Therefore, the temperature inside the main body stabilizes faster than the motor included in the moving rotation mechanism of the base 17 can heat the base 17 from scratch.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the main body side FFU 11 is arranged inside the loader chamber 50, the footprint is not affected.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to improve the cleanliness of the prober with a simpler configuration, and in particular, it is possible to prevent contamination during the removal and transfer of the wafer from the cassette.

In the present embodiment, FFU is used as a means for supplying clean air to the prober chamber 12 and the loader chamber 50, but the gas supply unit of the present application is not limited to this. For example, a pipe connecting the air source or a dry air source (hereinafter referred to as a tank), the tank, the prober chamber 12, and the loader chamber 50, a filter provided in the pipe (for example, a ULPA filter), and the pipe. A gas supply unit having a gas supply port (nozzle) provided on the downstream side of the filter may be used.

10 ... prober, 11 ... main body side FFU, 12 ... prober chamber, 14 ... test head, 15 ... probe card, 16 ... probe needle, 17 ... base, 18 ... wafer chuck, 20 ... probe card changer, 22 ... alignment camera , 24 ... Exhaust port, 26 ... Wafer transfer opening, 50 ... Loader chamber, 52 ... Loader side FFU, 56 ... Robot arm, 58 ... Wafer transfer robot, A10 ... Probe area

Claims (4)

A loader room with a semiconductor wafer transfer mechanism and
A prober chamber communicating with the loader chamber through a wafer transfer opening formed in a partition wall between the loader chamber and the loader chamber.
A first gas supply unit, which is arranged on the ceiling of the loader chamber and supplies the dedusted gas from above to below inside the loader chamber, and
A second gas disposed below the wafer transfer opening of the partition wall of the prober chamber, sucking and removing dust from the gas supplied to the inside of the loader chamber, and supplying the gas to the inside of the prober chamber. Supply department and
Prober equipped with. The prober according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust port for exhausting the gas supplied from the second gas supply unit is formed on a wall surface of the prober chamber facing the second gas supply unit. A wafer chuck that is arranged inside the prober chamber and on which the semiconductor wafer is placed and held.
A probe card arranged inside the prober chamber so as to face the wafer chuck,
Further provided with a structure other than the wafer chuck and the probe card arranged in the prober chamber.
A probing area, which is a space between the wafer chuck and the probe card, is arranged between the second gas supply unit and the exhaust port.
The prober according to claim 2, wherein the structure is arranged at a position that does not overlap with the probing area when viewed from a direction connecting the second gas supply unit and the exhaust port. Claims 1 to 3 in which the supply amount of the gas supplied to the loader chamber by the first gas supply unit is larger than the supply amount of the gas supplied to the prober chamber by the second gas supply unit. The prober according to any one of the above.

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