JPH0392778A - Semiconductor inspector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve an efficiency of testing with a shortened test time by arranging a carrier for an object to be inspected and a moving mechanism for moving the carrier to a position of a test head. CONSTITUTION:A tray transferring mechanism 9 holds an empty tray and places the empty tray thereon when the top tray of a receiving mechanism 5 is filled with semiconductor chips. When a number of defective chips come out and hence, the top tray of a sender mechanism 4 becomes empty before the top tray of the receiving mechanism 5 is filled, the tray transferring mechanism 9 stores the empty tray held into a tray buffer mechanism 6 once and carries out the top empty tray of the sender mechanism 4 holding it by suction. This eliminates the need for stopping the carrying out of semiconductor chips from the sender mechanism 4 until the top tray of the receiving mechanism 5 becomes full even when a number of defective chips come out thereby improving the throughput of test time.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a semiconductor inspection device.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in a semiconductor testing device that electrically tests each packaged semiconductor chip, the semiconductor chips to be tested are transferred as follows. That is, the semiconductor chips are taken out one by one from an L-ray containing a plurality of packaged semiconductor chips and placed on a load table. Next, the semiconductor chip is transferred from the row 1 table to the measurement stage. At this time, the inspected semiconductor chip that was on the measurement stage is moved to the unload table. Fine alignment (fine alignment 1.) is performed on the uninspected semiconductor chip transferred to the measurement stage. After this alignment has been completed, the measurement stage is
It is moved to the bottom of the head. Then, electrical connections are made between the test head and each terminal of the semiconductor chip, the test head supplies a test signal to the semiconductor chip, and the test head receives an output signal from the semiconductor chip.
Perform inspection. When the inspection is completed, the measurement stage returns to the next chip delivery position, transfers the inspected semiconductor chip to the unload table, and at the same time transfers the next semiconductor chip to the measurement stage. The measurement stage moves in the same manner below. Defective semiconductor chips are removed from the semiconductor chips transferred to the unload table, and only good chips are stored in the tray.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in this type of semiconductor inspection equipment, for example, 1
There are cases where it is necessary to test semiconductor chips at high temperatures of 00 to 150°C. In a semiconductor inspection apparatus capable of performing such a temperature test, a heating means is provided on the measurement stage to heat the semiconductor chip to a target temperature. However, in the conventional semiconductor inspection equipment for temperature testing of this scale, the measurement stage and the semiconductor chips mounted on it are not placed inside the processing chamber, so they are in direct contact with the air outside the testing equipment. This has the disadvantage that it has poor thermal efficiency and is affected by the outside temperature (room temperature), making it impossible to maintain the target temperature correctly during testing. In particular, after placing the semiconductor chip on the measurement stage, fine alignment 1
・After that, while moving the AIlJ standard stage to the test 1 head position, the temperature of the semiconductor chip drops below the 1 temperature due to the influence of room temperature, making it impossible to test at an accurate temperature. There is a problem. In view of the above points, the present invention aims to provide a semiconductor inspection apparatus that is capable of inspecting an object to be inspected under accurate temperature conditions.

[Means to solve the problem]

A semiconductor inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a mounting table having a temperature control means and on which an object to be inspected is placed, a moving mechanism for moving this mounting table to a test I/head position, and a moving mechanism for moving at least the above-mentioned pilfering table and the object to be inspected. and a heat-retaining chamber provided so as to cover the moving space.

[Effect]

The test object mounting table, that is, the measurement stage, including the test object placed thereon, is located in a heat-retaining chamber, and within this chamber, the full measurement stage moves to the test head position. Since the measurement stage and the semiconductor to be tested are located inside the heat-retaining chamber, the temperature of the test object is maintained without causing a drop in temperature even when the test object is transported, making it possible to perform tests at accurate temperatures. can.

【Example】

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of a semiconductor inspection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the main parts thereof. The device in this example has a loader system 1, δp[fixed stage system 2]
These are connected by a plurality of connection parts 3 having a vibration isolation mechanism. The loader system 1 takes out untested semiconductor chips one by one from a tray T capable of storing a plurality of semiconductor chips C, and sequentially stores semiconductor chips that have been tested into the empty 1-ray T. This loader system 1 includes a sender mechanism 4, a receiver mechanism 5, a ray buffer mechanism 6, a chip unloading mechanism 7, a chip loading machine 8, a tray transport mechanism 9, a load table 10, an unload table 11, and a chip double transport mechanism. A mechanism 12 is provided. Further, a preheating mechanism 13 including the load table 10 is provided. In this loader system 1, the sender mechanism 4 accommodates a plurality of stacked trays T for accommodating a plurality of untested semiconductor chips in, for example, a matrix shape. This sender mechanism 4 is vertically movable. The lever mechanism 5 accommodates a plurality of stacked trays T each containing a plurality of inspected semiconductor chips in a matrix. This receiver mechanism 5 is also configured to be able to move up and down. The chip ejection mechanism 7 is connected to the top tray T of the sender mechanism 4.
The semiconductor chips C are transferred to the load table 10 one by one. Therefore, in the chip unloading mechanism 7, the transport arm 7] extending in the Y direction above the sender mechanism 4 is attached to the X stage 72 so as to be movable in the X direction, and the transport arm 7] A holding portion 73, which serves as a moving mechanism, is arranged so as to be movable in the Y direction along this transport arm 71. The X stage 72 includes, for example, an LM guide, a hole screw, or a timing bell 1. The suction/holding section 73 has a tip made of, for example, a rubber suction body, and uses vacuum suction to take out the ``1'' conductor chip C from the tray T, hold it 12f, and transfer it to the load table 10. There are things that can be done. The chip carrying mechanism 8 transfers the inspected semiconductor chips from the unloading table 1''2 to the 1-ray T of the receiver mechanism 5, and has exactly the same structure as the chip carrying mechanism 7. That is, the transport arms 81 connected in the Y direction on both sides of the receiver unit 5 are mounted on the X stage 82 so as to be movable in the X direction. Then, the inspected conductor C placed on the unroofing table 11 is simply sucked up by the suction holding unit 83 having a Z direction moving mechanism attached to the transport arm 81 so as to be movable in the Y direction. 1 and hold it, and transfer it to the vacant place of 1-ray T at the top of the receiver mechanism 5 and store it there. 7 The tray transfer mechanism 9 includes a sender mechanism 4, a receiver mechanism 5,
On both sides of the tray buffer mechanism 6, a transport arm 91 extending in the X direction is attached to the base 14 extending in the Y direction so as to be movable in the Y and Z directions just above the tray. . The transport arm 91 of the tray transport mechanism 9 is provided with four suction holding sections 92 for vacuum suction, holding and transporting the tray T. When all of the semiconductor chips C in the second tray T of the sender mechanism 4 have been transferred and the tray becomes an empty tray, the I-ray transfer mechanism 9 holds it by vacuum suction and transfers it to the receiver mechanism 5. When there is room for storing unused semiconductor chips in the uppermost tray T of the receiver mechanism 5, the tray transfer mechanism 9
wait while holding the tray. However, if the next 1-ray in the sender mechanism 4 becomes empty during that time, the tray held in the I-ray transfer mechanism 9 is temporarily stored in the buffer 1-ray mechanism 6, and Adsorb and transport vacant i-rays. Furthermore, the tip double transfer mechanism 12 is mounted on the base 184 so that it can be transferred in the Y direction and the Z direction. And this chip double transfer machine {item 12
, there are suction holding parts 15, 1.6 which suction and hold the semiconductor chip by vacuum suction at a distance d which is 1/2 of the distance between the load table 10 and the unload table 11.
can be installed. A fully testing stage 21, which will be described later, is provided whose chip transfer position is located exactly at the center between the load table 10 and the unload table 1. Transfer the inspected lower conductor chip on the measurement stage 10 to the chip double transfer machine +M 1. 2 are simultaneously held by suction and transferred in the Y direction by the distance d, so that untested semiconductor chips can be transferred to the measurement stage 2 and tested semiconductor chips can be transferred to the unloading table 11. . Note that an image recognition device 17 for pre-alignment (rough positioning) is provided above the load table 10. Further, a defective chip storage box 18 is provided at a lower part of the chip transport path of the chip transport mechanism 8 for storing chips that are found to be defective as a result of inspection. Although the preheating mechanism 13 can be configured in various ways, it can be configured as follows. In other words, the load table] 0 is constructed of a semiconductor element holding block, which is transferred in a circular manner as shown by the arrow in the figure, and between the circular paths, rubber heaters are arranged above and below to sandwich the circular paths. The structure is such that it is heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, 150° C., by a heating means such as the like. Note that there is no heater on either side of the illustrated load table 10, and the loading of semiconductor chips to the load table 10 is carried out by the suction holding section 73 of the unloading mechanism 7 and the suction holding section 5 of the chip double transfer mechanism 12. , it is possible to carry it out. Next, the measurement stage system 2 has a measurement stage 21,
This measurement stage 21- receives uninspected semiconductor chips from the loader system, performs alignment (fine alignment 1), and then moves the measurement stage 21 to the test 1 head position and performs inspection. The semiconductor chips that have been inspected are delivered to the loader system 1 from the measurement stage 21. In this measurement stage system 2, as shown in FIG. 2, the measurement stage 2 includes a mounting table 22 and, below it,
The mobile device side 23 is provided to adjust the position of the mounting table 22 in the direction. Further, the mounting table 22 is provided with a heating means (not shown), and the product is placed on this! The 1'7 conductor chip is kept heated at a predetermined temperature. As the heating means, means such as embedding a nichrome wire heater in the mounting table 22 or providing a thin film heater on the surface of the mounting table 22 can be adopted. In the movement space of the measurement stage 21 in the X direction in the figure, the position P1 shown by the dashed line in FIG.
These are the loading/unloading positions of the semiconductor chip, and position P2 indicated by the dotted line is the fine alignment 1 position, and position P3 indicated by the length line is the test 1 position where the test 1 head is placed on both sides. be. Then, a heat-retaining river chamber is constructed to cover the mounting table 22 of the measurement stage 21 in the movement space of the d111 measurement stage 21 in the X direction, that is, in a state that includes all of these position values PI, P2, and P3. -24 is provided. In this case, since the measurement stage 21 is movable, in order to form a chamber that includes the movement space of the 'All measurement stage 21, it is necessary to cover the entire measurement stage 21 including the movement mechanism 23. It is relatively easy to construct a chamber. However, when the chamber is formed to cover the entire measurement stage, the moving mechanism 23 and the drive motor are housed in the chamber, which inconveniences that they are heated and the chamber becomes large. Therefore, there is a problem that the inspection device becomes large accordingly. Therefore, in this example, as is clear from FIG. 2, the heat-retaining chamber 22 is configured to include the mounting table 22 of the measurement stage 21 and cover only the area above it. However, in this case, since the mounting table 22 moves in the X direction, the heat retention chamber 24 must be configured in a movable state. Therefore, in this example, this is achieved using a bellows moon. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mounting table 22
A bellows member mounting frame 25 in the X direction is attached to the bellows member 26.2 at both ends of the mounting frame 25 in the
7 is fixed at one end in the expansion/contraction direction. and,
The other ends of each of the bellows members 26 and 27 in the expansion/contraction direction are fixed to one end and the other end of the heat retention chamber 24 in the X direction, respectively. Both ends of the bellows part +J'26.27 in the direction orthogonal to the expansion/contraction direction are housed in guide grooves 28.29 provided in the heat retention chamber 24, and the bellows part material 2
6.27 expands and contracts in the X direction along this guide groove 28.29. In addition, a mounting table 22 is provided in the bellows shrine mounting frame 25 in the X direction.
Y-direction bellows attachment frame 4 for moving in the Y direction
0 is attached, and one end of each of the bellows members 41 and 42 in the expansion/contraction direction is fixed to both ends of the attachment frame 40 in the Y direction. And 12 this bellows part material 41. , 42 in the expansion/contraction direction are respectively fixed to one end and the other end in the Y direction of the bellows member mounting frame 25 in the X direction. Bellows material 41. , 42 in a direction orthogonal to the expansion/contraction direction are accommodated in guide grooves 43, 44 provided in the bellows member mounting frame 25 in the X direction, and the ends of the bellows member 41. , 42 expand and contract in the Y direction along these guide lines 43 and 44. Further, the heat-retaining chamber 24 is made of transparent quartz glass in this example. Above the semiconductor chip loading/unloading position P of the measurement stage 21 of the heat-retaining chamber 24, there is a window section for loading and unloading chips by the suction holding parts 15 and 16 of the chip double movement mechanism 12. 30 is worn. The size of this window portion 30 is made slightly larger than the size of the semiconductor chip C. Moreover, the upper part of the test position WP3 of the measurement stage 21 of the heat retention chamber 24 is the head plate 1 of the test apparatus main body.
・Connected to 31. Although not shown, a contact board is provided on the head plate 31 to be elastically connected to the performance port of the test 1 head 32 using, for example, pogo pins, and below the contact 1 board, the contact board is provided on the head plate 31. Rings, Brobcar F, etc. are arranged. Then, the test 1 probe needle of the probe card comes into contact with the semiconductor chip to establish an electrical connection with the test head F'32. Head play-1- For the 3rd king,
For connection with the test 1 head 32, a gap of 100 mm is seated. Due to the window 30 and the gap mentioned above, the heat retention chamber 24 may not be completely sealed, or the window and gap are small when viewed from the chamber 24 as a whole, so they have little effect on temperature maintenance. stomach. Note that δI [fine alignment 1 of regular stage 21
An image recognition device 33 for the fine alignment 1 is provided on both sides of the position P2. In this example, since the heat retention chamber 24 is transparent, this chamber 24
It is possible to obtain an image of the semiconductor chip position through this, and there is no need to drill a window in this area. 15 Next, the operation when performing a temperature test on the semiconductor chip C at a high temperature of, for example, 150° C. using the semiconductor inspection apparatus configured as described in (2) below will be described. First, in the sender mechanism 4, a plurality of L-rays each having a plurality of semiconductor chips arranged in a matrix are placed in a stacked manner. On the other hand, one empty tray is placed in the receiver mechanism 5 at the beginning of i. In this state, in the chip unloading mechanism 7, the suction holding section 73 is moved to the position of one semiconductor chip on the second tray T next to the sender machine 4, and the semiconductor chip is suctioned and held. The semiconductor chip is transferred to the load table 10 by the stage 72. Load table 1
The semiconductor chip placed in the mouth is heated to 150° C. in the preheating mechanism 13 as described above, and then returned to the load table position shown in the figure. Then, at the position of [load table] 0, the image recognition device 17
The location is recognized by Then, after waiting for the regular stage 21 to come to the loading/unloading position P 11 6 , the measuring stage 21 is aligned using the moving mechanism 23 based on the image recognition information. The mounting table 22 of the measurement stage 21 is heated to 150° C. by the heating means described above. Here, if the semiconductor chip placed on the load table 10 is not the first semiconductor chip, the semiconductor chip on which the previous inspection has been completed is placed on the mounting table 22 of the measurement stage 2. has been done. When the Briar alignment is completed, the suction holding part 15 of the chip double transfer mechanism ↓2 is moved to the position of the load table 10.
Move the suction holding unit] 6 to the position of the measurement stage 21,
The semiconductor chips placed on both stages 10 and 21 are sucked and held and carried out, and then the transfer mechanism 12
are transferred in the Y direction, and the tested semiconductor chips are placed on the unload table 11, and the preheated untested semiconductor chips are placed on the mounting table 22 of the measurement stage 2 in the heat-retaining chamber 24. Thereafter, the mounting table 22 of the measurement stage 21 is moved to the fine alignment position P2, and the probe needle is correctly aligned with the semiconductor chip at the position P3 by the moving mechanism 23 based on the position information of the semiconductor chip provided by the image recognition device 33. Fine alignment i so that it contacts the terminal of
·do. When this fine alignment I. is completed, the measurement stage 2] is moved to the test position P3, the mounting table 22 is raised by the moving mechanism 23, and the probe needles of the probe card are brought into contact with the terminals of the semiconductor chip. Then, a test 1 of the semiconductor chip is performed using the test head 32 positioned on the head plate 31. When the test i is completed, the mounting table 22 is lowered and the stage 21 for iri
returns to the load/unload position P1. At this time, the fine alignment and test of the semiconductor chip on the measurement stage 21 are performed in the heating chamber 2.
Since all the processes are carried out within 4, the temperature of the semiconductor chip can be kept stable. Therefore, temperature tests can be performed with extremely small errors. During the movement of the δIII standard stage 21 and the test 1, the next semiconductor chip is transferred from the second tray T of the sender mechanism 4 to the load table 10 by the carry-out mechanism 7. Further, the inspected L' conductor chip placed on the unloading table 11 is stored in an empty position in the tray of the receiver mechanism 5 by the carry-in mechanism 8. However, if the semiconductor chip is found to be a defective product as a result of the inspection, the semiconductor chip is placed in a defective product box 18 on the way to the receiver mechanism 5 by the carry-in mechanism 8. Thereafter, in the same manner, the V conductor chips are sent one by one from the sender mechanism 4 to the load table 10, tested on the measurement stage 21, and sent to the receiver mechanism 5 or unloaded via the unload table 11. Good product box] Can be stored in 8. When the second tray T of the sender mechanism 4 becomes empty, the tray transfer mechanism 9 carries out this empty tray T from the sender mechanism 4. Therefore, this time, 2 of the sender mechanism 4
Semiconductor chips will be unloaded from the first tray. The 1.ray transfer mechanism 9 holds this empty 1.ray and places this empty tray on top of the top tray of the receiver mechanism 5 when it is full of semiconductor chips. If there are many defective chips and the second tray of the sender mechanism 4 becomes empty before the uppermost tray of the receiver mechanism 5 becomes full, the ray transfer mechanism 9 The empty 1-ray is temporarily stored in the 1-ray buffer mechanism 6, and the empty 1-ray at the top of the sender mechanism 4 is held by suction and carried out. Therefore, even if there are many defective products, there is no need to stop the unloading of semiconductor chips from the sender mechanism 4 until the top tray of the receiver mechanism 5 is full, and the throughput in test time can be increased. . In addition, the suction holding part 15 of the chip double transfer mechanism 12 is
As shown in FIG. 2, by configuring the suction holding part 15 to be covered by a cover part 34 having an opening at its tip, the measuring stage 21 can be removed from the load table 10.
It would be more effective19 to try to keep the preheated semiconductor chip warm. Further, the window 30 of the heat-retaining chamber 24 may be a window with an opening/closing mechanism that opens only when loading or unloading a semiconductor chip and closes at other times. In addition, as a mechanism for moving the mounting table 22 of the 7llll fixed stage 21 within the chamber 24, instead of using the bellows part as described above, for example, each of two plate-shaped bodies is used. One end may be fixed to both ends of the attachment member 25 in the X direction, and the other ends of these two plate-shaped bodies may be wound up, or various other structures may be used. I can do it. In addition to ceramic as in the above example, the material of the heat-retaining chamber may be any material that has a heat-insulating effect.
Furthermore, it does not need to be particularly transparent. When using an opaque material for the heat-retaining chamber, only the portion where the image recognition device for fine alignment 1 is located may be made transparent. Moreover, although the above example has been explained about the case of an inspection apparatus for packaged semiconductor chips 2 0 , it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to an inspection apparatus for semiconductor wafers. Further, in the above example, a preheating mechanism was particularly provided, but if the object to be inspected is one that heats at a high rate, the preheating mechanism may not be provided. Furthermore, although the above example has been described for the case of a temperature test in a high temperature state, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a cooling mechanism is provided on the mounting table of the measurement stage and a test is performed in a low temperature state.

【Effect of the invention】

As explained above, according to the present invention, the chamber is formed so as to cover at least the moving space of the mounting table, which is the part above the mounting table of the measurement stage, so that a predetermined temperature condition is maintained. The test can be performed accurately.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an outline of an embodiment of a semiconductor inspection device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of its essential parts, and FIGS. 3 and 4 show the structure of an example of its essential parts. It is a diagram. 21; Measurement stage 22・i{111 Mounting table 23 of the measurement stage 21・Movement mechanism 2 of the measurement stage 21 4 Yasobigawa chamber

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A mounting table provided with a temperature control means and on which an object to be inspected is placed; a moving mechanism for moving this mounting table to a test head position; A semiconductor inspection device equipped with a heat-retaining chamber provided to cover a moving space.