JPH01239947A - Test of semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify an input procedure of a piece of test information by a method wherein a piece of test information classified by contents of a test and a piece of test information classified by chips for monitor use are stored in advance, a test operation procedure is decided on the basis of each piece of stored test information and the test is executed. CONSTITUTION:A piece of test information corresponding to a type S1 of a chip for monitor use is retrieved from a type storage part 15 where each type of chip for monitor use has been arranged as a group and stored; the information S1 is accessed; when this information is input; a test program S1 (A1+B1+C1) for S1 use is executed. When the type S1 is not registered, individual monitors A1, B1, C1 are accessed from a monitor storage part 14 where a monitor and a test condition have been combined in advance, each type of chip to be monitored has been arranged as a group and stored; these monitors are input; the test program for the type S1 is executed. The information of the type S1 which has been input is stored in the type storage part 15. Only when the type S1 is input during a next test onward, the test program can be executed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a method for inspecting semiconductor wafers.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a semiconductor wafer manufacturing process includes an inspection process for evaluating the manufacturing process.

As an inspection method for evaluating such manufacturing processes, the fourth
As shown in the figure, for example, a plurality of monitoring chips 2 for inspection are formed on a semiconductor wafer \1, and the manufacturing process is evaluated by inspecting the monitoring chips 2.

Hereinafter, such a conventional inspection method will be explained.

This monitor chip 2 is composed of a pattern collection of basic elements such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc.
It is possible to evaluate the manufacturing process by measuring this monitoring chip 2 with, for example, a prober.

Incidentally, since the inspection contents differ depending on the type of semiconductor wafer, IC chip type, etc., various types of monitor chips 2 are formed corresponding to the inspection contents.

In this way, the inspection procedures and inspection contents differ depending on the type of monitor chip, so monitor chip inspection equipment has different inspection procedures and inspection contents depending on the type of monitor chip. (hereinafter referred to as test conditions) For example, the applied voltage or the n1 of the probe needle.
Inspection information such as the fixed arrangement and the type of probe card is stored in advance in the device storage section, and the above-mentioned inspection information corresponding to the type of monitor chip is called up at the time of inspection to perform a predetermined inspection.

By the way, with the recent increase in the degree of integration of semiconductor devices,
The content of inspections is also becoming more advanced and complex.
Increasingly, a single monitor chip 2 has monitor patterns having a plurality of test contents formed thereon. For example, as shown in FIG. 5(a), a monitor chip 2 of one type S1 is composed of a plurality of types, for example, three types of monitor patterns A1, B1, and C1.

Here, A1, B1, C1 are monitor patterns A, B,
A1 shows the combination of C and test conditions 1.2.3 corresponding to this monitor pattern. Specifically, A1 combines the inspection contents for monitor pattern A with the inspection conditions of test condition 1. It shows what to do with
The same applies to B I and C1, indicating that the type S1 has inspection contents consisting of a combination of these.

A method for testing monitor chips of type S1 (A1+B+ +CI) is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

As input work 101, first, test contents for monitor A are called up from the monitor storage section 3 in which many types of monitors are stored in advance (102).

Next, a test condition corresponding to the inspection content for the monitor A, such as applied voltage,
No. 1 is called from information such as the probe needle measurement procedure and the probe card to be used (103).

Thereafter, in the same manner, the test contents and test conditions for monitor B and monitor C are respectively called from the storage unit 3.4, and the test program S1 for the monitor chip of type S1 is executed.
(A1+sl +cl) is executed (104).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Incidentally, in recent years, in the manufacturing of semiconductor wafers, production of a wide variety of products and in small quantities is becoming more and more advanced, and inspection contents are also becoming more diverse. Therefore, even semiconductor wafers in the same production loft may be produced of different types or for different purposes.For example, it is not sufficient to perform the same inspection on all semiconductor wafers from the same production lot in the production process. Semiconductor Ueno 1 in the first half of the lot had a monitor chip of type S1 (A1+81+C+), but in the second half of the production lot, it had a monitor chip of type S1 (A1+81+C+), as shown in Fig. 5(b).
Variety S2 (A2 +BT +CI) as shown in
In some cases, the semiconductor wafer may be changed to a semiconductor wafer having a monitor chip.

However, in the conventional semiconductor wafer inspection method described above, when there is a change in the inspection contents, the operator has to go into the lower part of the test program every time there is a change in the contents. For example, when changing from A1 to A2, it is necessary to go back to the test condition storage unit and then perform the change procedure, which takes time and makes the work complicated. There was a problem.

Furthermore, with the recent diversification of products, the number of types of monitor patterns constituting monitor chips has also increased, and it is problematic from the viewpoint of work efficiency for the operator to input them one by one.

As described above, conventional semiconductor wafer inspection methods have not been able to flexibly respond to the recent trend toward high-mix, low-volume production.

The present invention consists of 1. J- This was developed to solve the above problems, and by simplifying the inspection information input procedure, it can flexibly respond to high-mix, low-volume production and improve work efficiency. The purpose is to provide a method.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The method for inspecting a semiconductor wafer of the present invention includes performing a predetermined inspection on predetermined inspection contents of a monitor chip consisting of an aggregate of basic element patterns formed on a semiconductor wafer. In a semiconductor wafer inspection method in which the semiconductor wafer production process is evaluated based on the 1TllJ constant measurement conditions, inspection content information corresponding to the monitor chip and inspection conditions corresponding to this inspection content information are determined in advance. information, and store the type-specific inspection information of the inspection contents (and the type-specific inspection information of the monitor chip, which is a combination of at least one of the above-mentioned monitor chips; The present invention is characterized in that an inspection work procedure is determined based on each of the stored inspection information and an inspection is performed.

(Function) By storing pre-stored test information by type of test contents and test information by type of monitor chip, and by storing each of the above-mentioned stored test information, the test corresponding to the monitor chip can be performed. Work procedures can be easily determined and changed.

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

Each monitor pattern (A.

A monitor registration file 11 in which test content information corresponding to each monitor is registered, and a test in which test conditions (hereinafter referred to as test conditions) such as applied voltage and probe needle measurement procedure corresponding to each monitor are registered. A condition registration file 12 and a product type registration file 13 in which types of monitor chips are registered are stored in advance.

Furthermore, each of the above monitor patterns (A, BSC...
) and the corresponding test condition (1, 2,
3, ...), and stores these in groups for each type of monitor pattern.
4 and the monitor (A1) stored in this monitor storage unit 14.
, B1, cl, .

Here, the monitor (At, B+, C+...)
are the monitor patterns ASB and C and the test conditions (1, 2, 3, etc.) corresponding to these monitor patterns, respectively.
...), indicating that the product type s1 has inspection contents consisting of these combinations.

Then, a test program 16 is output based on the information selected from the product type storage section 15, and an inspection is performed, for example, by blow μ, etc. according to this test program.

An inspection method using an inspection apparatus that stores such various inspection information in advance will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2.

In this example, the monitor chip of type S1 has a monitor pattern (
A case where the data is composed of A1+B++C+) will be explained.

As the type input work 201, first, inspection information corresponding to the type S1 of the monitor chip is searched from the type storage unit 15 in which a large number of types are stored in advance (202).

If the information S1 can be called up, by inputting it,
Test program for S1 S1 (A10Bl +(:,
) is executed (203).

Here, if the type S1 is not registered, each monitor Ai, Bl, C1 is called up from the monitor storage unit 14 which has previously combined the monitor and test condition, formed a group for each monitor type, and stored it. (204).

At this time, the monitor (ASB.

C...) and test conditions (1, 2, 3
. No further work is required.

In this way, by inputting each monitor (At, B1, (+)), the test program S+ (At+81
+C+) is executed (203).

At this time, the information on the input type S1 (At+81+C+) is stored in the type storage unit 15 (205),
In the next inspection, the test program can be executed only by human power for the product type s1.

Incidentally, due to the recent trend toward high-mix, low-volume production, even semiconductor wafers from the same production lot may be manufactured in slightly different types, for example, semiconductor wafers with the same monitor pattern but different test conditions. In such a case, it is necessary to change the test program of the inspection device in order to correspond to the inspection contents of the changed product type, for example, product type S2.

The inspection method when such a change in product type occurs will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 3.

In this example, a case will be described in which the type S1 (, A+ +B+ +CI) is changed to the type S2 (A2 +B+ +C+).

As for the manual labor of the variety (301), first, the variety 52 (A
2 +E31+cl) is registered (302), and if so, input it and run the test program 82 (A20B, +C,) for the product S2.
(303).

If type S2 is not registered, type 51 (AH1B
304)
, calls the corresponding monitor group from the monitor storage unit 14 (3
05). For example, if monitor A1 is to be changed to monitor A2, monitor A2 is called from monitor storage section 14.

Then input the above monitors A2, B1, cl (301
3) Execute the test program (303).

At this time, the product PfiS2 (A2 +81 +C1)
is registered in the product type storage unit 15, so from the next inspection, you only need to input the product type S2 L+.

In this way, when changing the product type, the conventional method allows for slight changes, such as changing only the test conditions without changing the monitor type, without going into the lower layer of the test information storage unit. On the other hand, in the method of the above-described embodiment, it is only necessary to select a change section from a group of combinations of monitors and test conditions stored in the monitor storage section, and the work of changing the type of monitor chip can be easily performed.

In addition, by sequentially storing inspection information for new varieties,
The amount of inspection information stored in the product type storage unit 15 becomes enormous as the number of inspection processes increases, and eventually, if there is only a slight change in product type, all of the information stored in the product type storage unit 15 will be stored in the product type storage unit. Therefore, the above-mentioned type change work is almost unnecessary.

In this way, by associating each monitor with a test condition to form a monitor group, and further forming a product group by combining monitors and storing these in the storage unit, the product type of the monitor chip can be changed. It is easy to change the
It becomes possible to flexibly respond to high-mix, low-volume production.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the semiconductor wafer inspection method of the present invention, by simplifying the procedure for changing the inspection contents of monitor chips, it is possible to flexibly support high-mix, low-volume production of semiconductor wafers. It becomes possible to correspond to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an inspection information storage unit in an embodiment according to the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the method of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the type change operation in FIG. 2. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing a monitoring chip formed on a semiconductor wafer, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a conventional inspection method. 1...Semiconductor wafer, 2...Monitor chip, 14...Monitor storage unit, 15...
... Variety storage section. Applicant Tokyo Electron Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Sasa Suyama - December 1 ]j Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] Predetermined inspection contents of a monitor chip consisting of a collection of basic element patterns formed on a semiconductor wafer are measured under predetermined inspection conditions, and the production process of the semiconductor wafer is evaluated based on the measurement results. In the method for inspecting semiconductor wafers, in advance, inspection information for each type of inspection content is stored, which is a combination of inspection content information corresponding to the monitor chip and inspection condition information corresponding to this inspection content information, and storing inspection information by type of the monitor chip, which is a combination of at least one or more pieces of inspection information by type;
A semiconductor wafer inspection method characterized in that the inspection is performed by determining an inspection work procedure based on each of the stored inspection information.