JPH022947A - Inspecting and repairing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the constitution and to make it possible to shorten the time for alignment and conveyance of a body to be inspected by providing a stage, an inspecting device and a repairing device. CONSTITUTION:A body to be inspected is supported on a common stage 40 for an inspecting device comprising a probe device 2 and a tester 30 and a laser repairing device 3. At first, a probe is brought into contact with the electrode of the body to be inspected in the inspecting device to electrify the body. The current value is measured with the tester 30, and the electric characteristics such as wire breakdown and short circuits are inspected. The contents of the defects and their addresses are stored in a memory 46. When the inspection is finished and the defects are found, the stage 40 is moved into the repairing device 3. Then, the stage 40 is driven so that the defective position agrees with a laser spot in accordance with the address data in the memory 46, and alignment is performed. For example, when the short-circuit part is cut with laser light, the defective part of the body to be inspected is repaired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting and repairing objects to be inspected such as LCD (liquid crystal display) substrates or semiconductor wafers.

(Prior Art) In recent years, with the miniaturization of electronic devices, there has been a growing need for LCDs, for example, as display panels.

Before filling a liquid crystal into this type of LCD, the electrical function of the liquid crystal drive element, such as TPT, is inspected, and the horizontal scanning lines and vertical signal lines formed in a matrix or their intersections are inspected. Short-circuit and oven inspections are now essential.

For this reason, LCD inspection equipment has been provided for a long time.
This inspection device performs an electrical characteristic inspection of the LCD, and transmits the pair information such as the defective location and defect details to a separately provided pair device (also called a rescue device), and detects pattern defects, open defects, etc. I am trying to repair it.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) According to the above-described conventional configuration, the LCD inspection device and the repair device are separate units, so the repair information is stored in a floppy disk, for example, and a carrier containing the LCD is stored. It was necessary to transport the cassette together with the repair equipment to carry out the repair process.

However, in this case, if the ID management of the LCD board is not performed accurately, there is a risk of confusion, and it is necessary to redo the alignment from the beginning with the inspection equipment and repair equipment, which increases the inspection and repair time. At the same time, the operation has become complicated.

Incidentally, such problems occur not only in the case of LCD boards but also in the case of inspection and repair of other objects to be inspected.

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, to facilitate the transmission of repair information by integrating an inspection device and a repair device, and to improve the alignment operation and object to be inspected. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inspection/repair device that can improve the throughput of inspection and repair by shortening the transportation operation time and the like.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is capable of controlling the movement of an object to be inspected in art support in directions of three orthogonal axes and in a direction of rotation in a two-dimensional plane, and , a stage movable between a probing position and a repair position; an inspection device that tests the electrical characteristics of a test object by energizing electrodes of the test object at the probing position; A memory that stores the content and address of the measured defect and a stage that is fixed at the repair position and driven based on the address stored in the memory are used to align the laser spot with the defective location including at least the short-circuit location, and then the laser beam is An inspection/repair device is constructed by irradiating the device with a pair device.

(Function) The test object is supported on a stage common to the test device and the paired device. First, the test device energizes the electrodes of the test object with a stylus, and the current value is sent to the tester. It is possible to perform electrical characteristic inspections such as wire breakage and 'fI circuits by measuring.

Note that this defect content and its address are stored in memory.

When this inspection is completed and a defect is found, move the L stage to the repair device, and drive the stage so that the defective location matches the laser spot according to the address information in the memory. By aligning and then laser-cutting, for example, a standard portion using a laser beam, it is possible to repair a defective portion of the object to be inspected.

In the case of the present invention, in order to eliminate the deviation of the optical axis of the laser beam and irradiate the appropriate location with the laser, the laser source is fixed above the repair position, and the laser spot position is adjusted to the defective location by driving the stage. It is possible to set.

Moreover, when the repair is performed, the stage can be moved to the inspection apparatus side again, and at least only the repaired area can be re-inspected.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to an inspection/repair device for an LCD board will be specifically described with reference to the illustrated example.

As shown in FIG. 1, this inspection/repair device consists of a rotor device 1 placed on the right side of the casing, and a probe device placed on the left side of the loader device 1 on the front side of the casing. 2 and a laser repair device 3 placed behind it.
The probe device 2 has an operation panel 4 for the inspection device on the front side, an operation panel 5 for the laser repair device on the left side of the casing, and a monitor V6 on the rear side. It is located.

The loader device v,1 is an LC housed in a carrier cassette.
Take out the D substrates one by one and supply them to the probe device 2,
The inspected, repaired, or re-inspected LCD carried out from the probe device 2 is returned to the carrier cassette and transported.

In this embodiment, the probe device w2 is used to measure the insulation resistance value of the scanning line of the LCD board, the oven of the signal line, the spot between each of the lines, and the intersection of the lines. As shown in the figure, four probe boards are arranged so as to be able to contact each of the electrode regions 11, 12, 13, and 14 arranged on the four sides of the LCD l0.

Here, electrode areas 11 and 12 are scan line lead electrodes and signal line lead electrodes, respectively, and electrode areas 13 and 13 are respectively scan line lead electrodes and signal line lead electrodes.
14 are electrodes opposite to the electrode areas 11 and 12, respectively.

In this embodiment, as a probe board for the electrode areas 11 and 12, as shown in FIG. 3(A), one end of the flexible film electrode 20 is curled, and the substrate
f with a flexible member such as felt 22 interposed between
j: ridge structure, and the film electrode 21 is placed in the electrode area 1
1. Electrical connections are made by press-contacting each of the 12 electrodes.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3(B), the probe board used for the electrode areas 13 and 14 of the counter electrode is
5, a large number (3) of probe needles 26 are provided, and the tips of the probe needles 26 are bent so as to be able to contact each electrode in the electrode areas 13 and 14. The reason why two types of probe boards are used in this way is that the electrode area 13.1 of the counter electrode
4 is provided only for this type of inspection,
Since the pad space of the LCD 10 is limited due to the high density of the LCD 10, conduction is ensured by the probe needle 26 which can reliably make contact even in a small space.

Further, this counter electrode is used when inspecting each line of the signal line or the scanning line for disconnection or the standard between lines, and this type of defect is relatively rare and the requirements for inspection are low. And, in this way, the standards for lines with low needs, Fl! If a film electrode method were to be used at four locations for inspection, the adjustment mechanism to bring the film electrode into contact with the electrodes with uniform pressure over a predetermined width would require a large-scale adjustment mechanism. By adopting a probe needle method, we aim to reduce costs.

Each probe board is connected to a tester 30 shown in FIG. 4, which can determine whether each line is open or shorted between lines, and the insulation resistance value at a line intersection. In addition, the probe device 2 and tester 3
0 constitutes an inspection device.

In this probe device 2, the stage 40 on which the LCD 10 is placed and supported is arranged along two axes X, which are orthogonal to the mounting surface of the stage 40, and
Yld+, the Z axis which is the height direction perpendicular to these two axes, and the θ direction which is the rotational direction around the Z axis and rotates the XY plane, and the stage 40 In addition to the probing position A in the probe device 2,
Repair position y where repair is performed by the repair device 3 described above
It is also possible to move to B. And this stage 4
0 is controlled by a controller 42.

Further, as a feature of this probe device 2, it is possible to perform alignment of the above-mentioned probing position WA''C'' LCD 10. That is, - of the above test position fiA
On the E side, there is a microscope 8 as shown in No. 1131].
By fitting a mount into the eyepiece of the microscope 8, an alignment camera 41 (shown in FIG. 4) such as a COD camera can be placed. Then, L is enlarged through the microscope 41.
A part of CD10 is photographed by the alignment camera 41,
The 19th image report from the alignment camera 41 is input to the controller 42 shown in FIG. 4, and the image can be displayed on the monitor 1'V6 by switching the video.

Then, while looking at this screen, operate the joystick on the operation panel 4 to perform alignment, or in order to automate alignment, use the image pattern (1).
For example, a scanning line, a matrix pattern of signal lines) is sent to the controller 42, and, for example, the probe device 2
The alignment drive of the stage 40 can be automatically controlled based on the comparison result by comparing the pattern with the pattern at the normal position stored in the memory 46 provided within the stage.

In this way, by making the probing position and the alignment position common, it is possible to prevent positional deviations caused by mechanical errors in the moving system after alignment is performed at different locations as in the past. The needle position can be 811 degrees.

The measurement results from the tester 30 are stored in the memory 46 via the controller 42, and the details of the defect and its address are stored as repair information. Note that the above repair information is stored in the host CPU (described later).
The information may be stored in the memory within 411.

Next, the laser repair device 3 will be explained.

In this embodiment, the stage 4 used in the probe device 2
Repair equipment rF for 0! , 3 is also used, and the LCD l0 is movable by the drive of the stage 40.
A laser repair unit 50 fixed to the user side is provided.

This laser repair unit 50 includes a laser oscillator 51 that emits a laser for trimming a short pattern on the LCD l0, and a CCD that collects alignment information of the LCD l0 or operator monitor information.
A pair monitor camera 60 with an autofocus function, which is composed of a camera or the like, is provided, and the laser optical axis is configured to coincide with the optical axis for alignment and monitoring.

That is, the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 51 is passed through the N and D filters 52 . It is reflected at a right angle by a reflection mirror 54 through an aperture 53, and further reflected by a shutter 5.
5 and a lens 56, the beam is guided to a beam splitter 57 disposed on the optical axis of a double-pair monitor camera 60. By being reflected by this beam splitter 57, the objective lens 58 disposed on the same optical axis
Laser light is irradiated onto the LCD l0 through the.

On the other hand, an illumination lamp 61 is arranged inside the laser repair unit 50, and the light of this illumination lamp 61 is
It is reflected by the CD 10 and passes through the objective lens 58. Through the beam splitter 57 and the image magnifying lens system, the LC
A partial image of D10 is enlarged and focused on the repair monitor camera 60, so that image information on LCD10 can be collected.

In this way, by aligning the optical axis of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 51 with the optical axis for the repair monitor camera 61, the aligned position can be reliably irradiated with the laser beam. Misalignment can be prevented.

In addition, since the optical system of i can be shared, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the device.

Note 1. Emission of laser light by the laser oscillator 51 is performed in the following manner. That is, a laser cut switch 70 (details will be described later) is provided on the machining panel 5 as shown in FIG.
When 0 is pressed, the laser excitation signal is output to the laser power supply 62.
The laser power source 62 outputs a laser excitation signal to the laser oscillator 51, which emits a laser beam.

In addition, an illumination lamp 61 inside the laser repair unit 50
is also driven by the operation panel 5, and the lamp 61 is set to 0N10FFL by the lighting switch 71, and
The brightness of the lamp 61 can be changed continuously by the illuminance changeover switch 72.

In addition to the above-mentioned switches, the E-leg operation panel 5 is provided with various switches as shown in FIG. 5.

Power switch 73...Turns on the power of the laser repair device rrt3.

Cursor movement switch 74 (X-axis, Y-axis) is used to move the orthogonal cursor 5a (see FIG. 6) superimposed on the repair pattern displayed on the monitor 1'V6. In addition, at the time of initialization, the above laser is irradiated once, and the monitor TV 6 is irradiated as shown in FIGS.
The intersection point of the cursor 5a is aligned with the irradiation point 5b displayed on the screen, and is fixed thereafter. That is, the intersection of the cursors 5a becomes the laser irradiation position (laser spot).

Start switch 75...This is a switch that starts the laser repair device 3, and after cutting the defective pattern,
By pressing this switch, the pattern moves to the next defective pattern.

Stop switch 76: This is a switch that is operated to terminate the laser repair device 3 or to interrupt the operation.

Z-axis movement switch 77: A switch for moving the stage 40 in the Z direction.

Display 78: Displays information necessary for repair.

Joystick 79...Moves the pixels of the LCD 10 displayed on the monitor TV 6 in the X and Y directions.

The laser cut switch 70 is used to automatically perform laser cutting according to a preset cutting pattern, and a switch is installed for each mode so that cutting can be performed with "one action". .

Further, a host CPU 44 is provided to manage all control of this probe/repair device, and this host CPU 44
The test sequence and various test conditions will be set.

Next, the operation will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, perform initial settings according to steps 1 to 4.
In step 1, various initial settings are performed by operating the operation panel 5 of the laser repair device 3. Here, (2) in step 1 of FIG.

The setting (3) is shown in FIG. 6(A) as described above.

This is executed according to the procedure (B).

Next, in steps 2 to 4, initial settings of the laser optical system, initial settings of the host CPU 44, setting of the substrate cassette in the loader device 1, etc. are executed, respectively.

Next, the LCD board 10 is loaded from the loader device 1 to the probe device 2 (step 5), and in step 6 test and repair are selected, so a probing test will be performed in the probe device 2 from then on (step 5). 7).

Before explaining the operation of this probe device 2, the structure of the LCD board 10 will be explained with reference to FIG. 8.

A large number of pixels 80 each having a transparent electrode, a pudgebait film, an alignment film, etc. are formed on an active i-lix type liquid crystal substrate.

Each of these pixels 80 has an MO3 type 1'F
'r81 is placed and 1. :NO MO3 type 'T' F
The gates of T'81 are respectively connected to gate lines (also referred to as signal lines) 82a, 82b, 82cm=, and the sources are respectively connected to source lines (also referred to as scan lines).
83a, 83b, 83c... Furthermore, the drains of the MO8 type TF'I'81 are connected to transparent electrodes within each pixel 80.

Further, the gate lines 83a, 83b, 83c...
・ is a gate lead electrode 84 formed at the end of the substrate 10
a, 84b, 84c... and their opposing electrodes 84a-,
84b-, 84c--, respectively.

Also, the source line 83a.

Similarly, source lead electrodes 85a, 83b and 83c
5b, 85cm and its opposite': M, t @ 85
They are connected to a85b-85cm respectively.

In the probe device 2, the gate line,
Tests include checking the insulation resistance value at the intersection of source lines, checking whether standards are met between adjacent lines, and checking whether each line is disconnected.

For this purpose, the probe board shown in FIG. 3 is brought into contact with the electrodes and the lines to be energized are switched to perform the above-mentioned tests.

For example, when inspecting the insulation resistance value at the intersection of the source line and the gate line, the source lead electrode 85a is
This can be carried out by applying a voltage of 12V and measuring the current flowing to the gate line 82a through the intersection of the source line 83a and the gate line 82a. Thereafter, the insulation resistance value at each intersection can be measured in the same manner.

In addition, when inspecting the standard between lines and [ttrviL of each line, it is possible to inspect using a counter electrode.

In carrying out the above inspection, the inspection method previously proposed by the present applicant (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-286872, Japanese Patent Application No. 62-303951) can be suitably employed.

Here, when performing various inspections as mentioned above,
The premise is that the contact portion of the 10-board is in proper contact with each of the above electrodes. For this purpose,
The LCD board 10 must be aligned.

In this example, the above alignment is performed at blow pink position 2.
With the LCD 10 set at position A, a part of the surface of the LCD 10 is enlarged and photographed by the alignment camera 41 through the microscope 8 installed directly above the alignment position tA, and this is displayed on the monitor TV 6. Alignment can be done by manually adjusting with a joystick, etc., or by comparing the shooting pattern with a pre-stored pattern at a regular position and automatically aligning it so that they match. There is.

In this way, by making the probing position A and the alignment position the same, compared to conventional IC inspection equipment that executes alignment before reaching the probing position, the mechanical Deterioration of search position accuracy due to superimposition of errors can be prevented.

If a disconnection defect, short circuit defect, etc. occurs in the above inspection, the address and contents of this defect are stored in the memo IJ 46 by the tester 30 via the controller 42.

When all inspections are completed, it is determined whether or not there is a defect in this LCD board 10 (step 8). If a defect occurs, the next operation in the repair device 3 is started.

In other words, if the LCD board 1 has this defect, especially a short circuit,
0 is loaded into the laser initial position of the repair device 3 by driving the stage 40 (step 9).

Next, the stage 40 is moved according to the address information in the memory 46, and the position of the first defective pattern of the night is set to match the laser spot position (step 10). Here, it is determined whether it is automatic or manual. In the manual mode, the stage 40 is driven in the Z direction by the Z-axis movement switch 77 to focus the repair monitor camera 60, and this is repeated until the focus is achieved (Step 12.13>).

If the focus is achieved in the manual mode or if the auto mode is selected, fine alignment between the laser spot position and the defective pattern position is then executed using the joystick 79 (step 14).
.

In this fine alignment, the repair monitor camera 60 enlarges and photographs the defective pattern, displays it on the monitor TV 6, and matches the defective pattern with the intersection of the cursor 5a displayed superimposed on the monitor TV 6. The joystick 79 will be operated as shown in FIG.

If there is a position, then the cut mode is selected (step 16), and the laser cut switch 70 is pressed (step 17).

Next, it is determined whether the drive is step drive or continuous drive, and if it is continuous drive, it is determined whether there are any more defective patterns after cutting (step 20), and if there are any defective patterns, the process returns to step 10. Repeat the same action.

In the case of step drive, it is determined whether the cut is OK or not (step 18), and if it is OK, the start switch 76
By pressing (step 19), the process moves to step 20, and if a defective pattern exists, the process returns to step 10 and the same operation is repeated.

In addition, in the above-mentioned pattern cutting with laser light, in this embodiment, the laser can be reliably irradiated to the alignment position of the defective pattern performed using the alignment camera 60, and therefore the position of laser irradiation will not shift. Able to perform reliable laser cuts.

This is because the optical axis of the alignment camera 60 described in - and the optical axis of the laser beam are coaxial as shown in FIG. Since the parts are shared, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the device.

Furthermore, if insulation failure occurs in wiring at line intersections, one side of the line will be laser cut, and rewiring processing will be required later using a method such as wire bonding in another process. In order to reliably execute this post-process, if the information is transmitted using some kind of medium (floppy disk, printer paper), etc., it is not only inconvenient because the person in charge is in charge, but also errors in the post-process are likely to occur.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when one line is laser-cut due to poor insulation at the line intersection, a laser beam is irradiated to, for example, the end (area other than the pattern) of the cut line. I'm trying to use it as a marker.

Since this marker can be identified in a subsequent process to recognize a defective address, it is possible to reliably perform the rewiring process without requiring any media. Note that when using a cutting laser as a marker for post-processing, the marking position can be modified in various ways. Bye.

When laser cutting has been completed for all defective patterns, the stage 40 is driven to transport the LCD board 10 back to the prober device 2, and retest only the defective patterns (step 21).

If the inspection and repair are completed in this way and the retest is OK (step 22), the board 10 is returned to the carrier cassette of the loader device 1 and transported (step 23).
The same inspection and repair are repeated for all the substrates 10 set in the loader device, and the sequence ends when all lots are completed (step 24).

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
Various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

In the above embodiment, the object to be inspected is a CD substrate, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various objects that require inspection and laser repair.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, an inspection device for inspecting an object to be inspected and a repair device for repairing a portion determined to be defective by this inspection can be integrated. ,
Repair information can be transmitted accurately and pairing can be performed reliably. Also, by sharing the transport system for the inspected object, the configuration is simplified, and alignment operation, transporting operation time of the inspected object, etc. can be reduced. Can be compressed to increase inspection and repair throughput

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of an inspection/repair device in which the present invention is applied to inspection and repair of LCDs, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an inspection/repair device for LCDs. I
3(A) and 3(B) are schematic explanatory diagrams for explaining two types of probe boards, and FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining the t-pole region. The block diagram, FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing the operation panel for the repair device, and FIGS. 6 (A) and (B) are for explaining the operation of aligning the laser spot and the cursor intersection at the initial time. FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment device; FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining the pattern configuration of the LCD board. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Loader device, 2.30... Inspection device, 3... Laser repair device, 10... Inspected object (LCD board), 40... Stage, 44... Memory, 51... ...Laser repair unit, 81...Liquid crystal drive element, 82a, 82b, 82c--signal line, 83a, 83b, 83c...-scanning line.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A stage capable of mounting and supporting an object to be inspected, drive-controllable in directions of three orthogonal axes and rotation in a two-dimensional plane, and movable between a probing position and a repair position. and an inspection device that inspects the electrical characteristics of the object to be inspected by energizing the electrodes of the object at the probing position; and a memory that stores the contents and addresses of defects measured by this inspection device; A repair device is fixed at a repair position and drives a stage based on an address stored in the memory to align a laser spot with a defective location including at least a short-circuit location, and irradiates the laser beam to perform the repair. Characteristic inspection/repair equipment.