JPH0341465Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a wafer prober.

(Prior art) A wafer prober contributes to cost reduction or productivity improvement by measuring the electrical characteristics of each chip within a wafer and eliminating chips determined to be defective before the assembly process. It is extremely important for

Incidentally, in recent years, semiconductor manufacturing has required improvements in productivity, yield, and quality, and at the same time, wafers have become larger in diameter and manufacturing equipment has been automated. There is a shift to a structure that allows wafers to be automatically transferred from a cassette and automatically measured.

However, with the recent increase in the degree of integration of chips, the number of low-volume, high-mix production processes has increased, and the reality is that the number of operations required by operators has increased significantly. For example, after measuring a wafer of type X, if a wafer of type Y is to be measured subsequently, the probe card must be replaced from the type of X to one suitable for type Y.

For this reason, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of positioning pins 3 are provided on the lower surface of the flange 1a of the ring insert 1 which integrally has the probe card 2 at the bottom, while the head plate of the wafer prober is A storage hole 5 for storing the ring insert 1 main body and an insertion hole 6 for inserting each of the above-mentioned positioning pins 3 are formed in the storage hole 5, and at the same time, each positioning pin 3 is inserted into the storage hole 5. The above-mentioned replaceability is achieved by adopting a structure in which the ring insert 1 can be removably positioned and attached to the head plate 4 by inserting it into the corresponding insertion hole 6.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in such a conventional simple insertion structure, as shown in FIG. 4B, the inner diameter of the storage hole 5, the outer diameter of the ring insert 1 body, and the insertion Since it is completely impossible in processing to make the tolerances between the inner diameter of the hole 6 and the outer diameter of the positioning pin 3 zero, it is undeniable that gaps will inevitably occur between the respective inner diameters and outer diameters.

For this reason, in the conventional case, the ring insert 1 attached to the head plate 4 moves laterally within the range of the above-mentioned gap, so naturally the probe card 2 also moves in the same direction in conjunction with the ring insert 1. It was fully conceivable that the stylus 2a provided on the probe card 2 would be located outside the range of the pad of the wafer tip, resulting in poor measurement.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention was developed to effectively solve the above-mentioned problems with the conventional methods. In a wafer prober that is attached to a plate, a housing is provided in the head plate in which an insertion hole for the above-mentioned positioning pin is formed, and a plurality of spheres facing the insertion hole are placed inside the housing, and each sphere is synchronously inserted into the insertion hole. Positioning within the insertion hole is performed using the spheres by disposing elevating and retracting members respectively, and moving the elevating members in a predetermined direction using air pressure supplied into the housing to project each of the spheres into the insertion hole. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer prober configured to center and lock the pins.

(Function) According to the present invention, after each positioning pin of the ring insert is inserted into the insertion hole of the housing, when air is supplied to move the elevating member in a predetermined direction within the housing, the elevating member As the members move, each sphere in the housing synchronously protrudes into the insertion hole, so the protrusion of the spheres ensures that the locating pin is centered within the insertion hole, and eventually each sphere reaches the centering position. It will be locked.

Therefore, since the ring insert is always mounted on the head plate of the prober in a highly precisely positioned state, there is no fear that measurement errors will occur due to misalignment of the ring insert.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment illustrating the present invention.The positioning device according to the embodiment also has a ring insert 1 integrally having a probe card 2, and a positioning device according to the embodiment. It is assumed that the insert 1 is attached to the head plate 4 via a plurality of positioning pins 3 provided on the flange 1a of the insert 1, but the feature is that the insert 1 corresponds to the positioning pins 3 of the head plate 4. In some places,
Housings 10, which will be described later, are provided individually, and the positioning pin 3 is centered and locked within each housing 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 10 consists of an upper housing part 10a and a lower housing part 10b, and an insertion hole 11 into which the positioning pin 3 is inserted is formed in the center of the upper and lower housing parts 10a and 10b. .

Moreover, the upper housing part 10a and the lower housing part 1
Inside the housing 10 defined by 0b,
A plurality of metal spheres 13 are disposed at the inner position, and an annular elastic member 21 composed of the following elevating member 15 and a rubber tube is disposed at the outer position in the vertical direction.

Specifically, an annular retractable window 12 is formed between the inner walls of the upper and lower housing parts 10a and 10b defining the insertion hole 11, and at least three or more of the spheres 13 are inserted into the annular retractable window 12. Then, each sphere 13 faces the insertion hole 11. Furthermore, such sphere 1
3, a fall prevention claw part 14 is formed on the upper surface of the inner wall of the lower housing part 10b, and each sphere 13 is placed at a constant interval via the fall prevention claw part 14. .

Further, as shown in the figure, the elevating member 15 is integrally molded into an annular shape with a substantially U-shaped cross section, and is disposed inside the housing 10 so as to be located outside the sphere 13. However, if the O-ring 17 is fitted into the annular groove 16 of the O-ring 16 and air is supplied through the nipple 18 and tube 19 into the annular groove 16 closed by the O-ring 17,
The supplied air pressure causes an elastic member 21 such as a rubber or metal spring to
The structure is such that when the annular groove 16 is lowered against the elastic force of the annular groove 16 and the air in the annular groove 16 is removed, the elastic member 21 automatically ascends.

Furthermore, the elevating member 15 continuously forms an upwardly inclined tapered surface 20 on the upper part of the wall surface in contact with the sphere 13, and when descending, the tapered surface 20
At zero, each sphere 13 is made to protrude into the insertion hole 11 from the protruding/retracting window 12, and conversely, when it rises, it is made to retreat into the protruding/retracting window 12.

Therefore, when attaching the ring insert 1 to the head plate 4 using the positioning device having such a configuration, first, as shown in FIG.
The flange 1a of the ring insert 1 is provided in each insertion hole 11 of the housing 10 with the elevating member 15 being raised by the elastic member 21 without supplying air into the annular groove 16 of the ring insert. Insert the respective positioning pins 3.

Incidentally, during such insertion, the elevating member 15 rises and the tapered surface 20 of the elevating member 15 retreats each sphere 13 into the retractable window 12.
There is no problem in inserting the positioning pin 3.

After each positioning pin 3 is inserted, air is supplied into the annular groove 16 of the elevating member 15 via an external supply/exhaust mechanism (not shown), and as shown in FIG. The member 15 is lowered.

Then, each sphere 13 synchronizes and gradually protrudes into the insertion hole 11 by the tapered surface 20 of the elevating member 15, and the positioning pin 3 is moved into the insertion hole 11.
While centering within the sphere, finally each sphere 1
3, the positioning pin 3 is securely clamped and locked in the centering position, so the ring insert 1 is always mounted on the head plate 4 in a highly precisely positioned state.

Therefore, the probe card 2 of the ring insert 1 is also guaranteed to be in the correct position according to the product to be measured, so even if the probe card 2 is replaced together with the ring insert 1 depending on the product to be measured, there will be no measurement errors due to misalignment. There will be no worries at all.

Also, if it becomes necessary to replace the probe card 2 currently in use, the annular groove 1 of the elevating member 15 should be replaced via the supply/exhaust mechanism described above.
When the air inside 6 is removed, the elevating member 15 rises due to the elastic force of the elastic member 21, moving each sphere 13 to the retractable window 1.
2, thereby releasing the lock on the positioning pin 3 and making it possible to easily remove the ring insert 1 from the head plate 4.

Therefore, it goes without saying that by repeating the above-mentioned operations, the ring insert 1 having the probe card 2 corresponding to the type to be measured can be easily attached to the head plate 1.

Note that this invention is not only applicable to the installation of the ring insert of a wafer prober;
The present invention is also sufficiently effective in other devices where high precision is required for mounting parts and the like.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, the present invention provides a housing in which a positioning pin insertion hole is formed in the head plate,
a plurality of spheres facing the insertion hole inside the housing;
Elevating and lowering members are respectively disposed for causing each of the spheres to move in and out of the insertion hole in synchronization, and the elevating and lowering members are moved in a predetermined direction by air pressure supplied inside the housing to project each of the spheres into the insertion hole. By centering the positioning pin in the insertion hole with the sphere,
Since the positioning pins of the ring insert are inserted into the insertion holes of the housing, when air is supplied and the elevating member is moved in a predetermined direction within the housing, the elevating member As a result of this movement, each sphere in the housing synchronously protrudes into the insertion hole, so that the positioning pin is centered within the insertion hole due to the protrusion of the spheres, and ultimately each sphere is locked in the centering position. That will happen.

Therefore, with the present invention, the ring insert can be attached to the head plate of the prober while always being positioned with high precision, so there is no need to worry about measurement errors caused by misalignment of the ring insert, as in the conventional case. It's completely gone.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts of a wafer prober according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts showing the state in which the positioning device is not operating, and FIG. 3 is the state in which the positioning device is in operation. Main part sectional view shown, No. 4
Figure A is a cross-sectional view showing the positioning relationship between a conventional ring insert and a head plate, and Figure B is a cross-sectional view showing the same mounted state. 1... Ring insert, 2... Probe card, 3... Positioning pin, 4... Head plate, 10... Housing, 11... Insertion hole, 13
... Sphere, 15 ... Lifting member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a wafer prober in which a ring insert having a probe card equipped with a stylus is attached to a head plate via a positioning pin and inspected by a tester, the head plate is provided with a housing in which an insertion hole for the positioning pin is formed, A plurality of spheres facing the insertion hole and an elevating member for moving each sphere into and out of the insertion hole in synchronization are arranged inside the housing, and the elevating member is moved in a predetermined direction by air pressure supplied into the housing. A wafer prober characterized in that the spheres are moved to project into the insertion hole, thereby centering and locking a positioning pin in the insertion hole with the spheres.