JPH04330750A - Semiconductor inspection method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically align a semiconductor device to be inspected for bringing an inspecting probe in contact with a lead of the semiconductor device. CONSTITUTION:An alignment plate 5 is fed from a plate feeding means 6 to the semiconductor device mounting position on a mounting base 22 and then the plate 5 and an inspecting probe are pressure-welded to exhibit an alignment probe trace. Next, the probe trace is detected by a probe trace detector 32 so as to store the date on the probe trace as image data by a probe trace memory 33. Next, a driving part 54 is operated according to the image data to make alignment of the semiconductor device 1 mounted on the base 22. Finally, the semiconductor device 1 can be brought into contact with an inspecting probe so as to inspect the various electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor testing method and device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor testing method and device for automatically aligning semiconductor elements and testing various electrical characteristics. It is something.

0002

[Prior Art] Generally, packaged semiconductor devices are supplied one by one to an inspection process, and the leads of the semiconductor devices are connected to the electrical signals of a tester in a constant test environment (constant temperature, room temperature, high temperature). Electrical characteristics have been tested.

That is, semiconductor devices are taken out one by one from a tray containing a plurality of packaged semiconductor devices and supplied to an inspection stage, and on the inspection stage, the aligned semiconductor devices are moved below the test head. After moving, the test needle is brought into contact with the leads of the semiconductor element to test the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor element.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in this type of conventional inspection method, an operator uses a microscope or the like to align the leads of the semiconductor device supplied to the inspection stage and the inspection needle. The lead inspection needle of the semiconductor device was subsequently aligned with the lead inspection needle based on the reproducibility of the drive system of the mounting table of the inspection stage.

[0005] Therefore, in this type of conventional inspection, skill is required and careful attention is required for positioning, which has resulted in a problem of reduced inspection efficiency. Moreover, since the positioning is done by visual inspection, there is a problem in that accuracy errors occur and the reliability of the inspection is reduced.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a semiconductor testing method and its method that automatically aligns the leads of a semiconductor element and a testing needle to improve testing efficiency and reliability. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a first semiconductor testing method of the present invention tests the leads of a semiconductor device placed on a mounting table that is movable in horizontal and vertical directions. The semiconductor testing method is based on a semiconductor testing method that tests the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device by bringing a needle into contact with it, and the test is performed by pressing the test needle against a positioning plate that is supplied to the semiconductor device mounting position on the mounting table mentioned above. A placement needle trace is formed, the needle trace is detected and stored as image information, and the semiconductor element placed on the mounting table is aligned based on the data of the needle trace, and the semiconductor element is aligned. This method is characterized by aligning the test needle with the lead. Further, a second semiconductor testing device of the present invention embodies the semiconductor testing method described above, and includes plate supply means for supplying a positioning plate to the semiconductor mounting position on the mounting table;
a needle trace forming means for forming a needle trace of a test needle on the plate; a needle trace detecting means for detecting the needle trace formed on the plate; and a needle trace detecting means for detecting the needle trace in response to a signal from the needle trace detecting means. The apparatus includes a needle trace storage means for storing image information, and a positioning means for aligning the semiconductor element based on the needle trace data from the needle trace storage means.

In the present invention, the plate is preferably made of an opaque or transparent material with high reflectance such as metal, as long as a needle mark is formed by the test needle at the test needle position of the lead of the semiconductor element. It is preferable to use a transparent synthetic resin member such as polycarbonate. In this case, it is preferable that at least the upper surface of the plate placement part of the mounting table is made into a mirror surface, and the needle mark detection means is a light detector that detects reflected light from a light source irradiated toward the needle marks on the plate. It is better to form it by means.

The plate supply means may be a dedicated plate supply means or may be used in combination with a semiconductor element supply means, as long as it conveys the plate to the semiconductor element mounting position on the mounting table.

[0010] The needle trace forming means may be one that presses the test needle against the plate to form the needle trace, or one that presses the test needle against the plate, or one that presses the plate together with the mounting table against the test needle. It can be any of the following.

The needle track storage means may be of any type as long as it receives a signal from the needle track detection means and stores the needle track as image information, for example, a central processing unit (C
It can be formed from PU).

In addition, the above-mentioned positioning means may be of any type as long as it aligns the semiconductor element based on the needle track data from the needle track storage means. It can be formed by a mounting table drive unit that controls the moving mechanism.

[0013]

[Operation] With the above configuration, the alignment plate supplied to the semiconductor element mounting position on the mounting table and the inspection needle come into pressure contact to form a needle mark, and this needle mark is detected. Then, the semiconductor device mounted on the mounting table is aligned based on the data of the needle trace, and the test needle can be accurately aligned with the leads of the semiconductor device. In this case, the plate is made of a transparent material, at least the top surface of the plate placement part of the mounting table is made a mirror surface, and light is irradiated onto the needle mark formed on the transparent material, and the reflected light is detected. By doing so, the trace of the needle can be detected accurately, and the lead of the semiconductor element and the test needle can be aligned with high precision.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a semiconductor inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

[0016] The semiconductor inspection device of the present invention
The transport section 2 and the inspection section 3 are connected by a connecting member 4 having an anti-vibration mechanism.

The transport section 2 is provided with a supply section 6 for untested semiconductor elements 1 and alignment plates 5, and a take-out section 7 for semiconductor elements 1 and plates 5 after inspection.
Untested semiconductor devices 1 are taken out one by one from a tray 8 that accommodates a plurality of semiconductor devices 1, and the semiconductor devices 1 after testing are sequentially stored in empty trays 8. Note that the first tray 8 on the supplying section side accommodates a plate 5 together with the semiconductor element 1, and the plate 5 is transported to the inspection section 3 before the semiconductor element 1 is supplied.

In this case, a plurality of trays 8 for accommodating a plurality of untested semiconductor devices 1 in a matrix are stacked in the supply section 6, and these trays 8 are arranged to be vertically movable. There is. As shown in FIG. 3, the tray 8 has rectangular accommodation recesses 8a arranged in a matrix at appropriate intervals on its surface. The plate 5 is accommodated in one of the accommodation recesses 8a, and the semiconductor elements 1 are accommodated in all the remaining recesses.

Further, above the uppermost tray 8 of the supply section 6, a transport mechanism 10 is provided for transporting the plates 5 and semiconductor elements 1 one by one from the tray 8 to the load table 9. This transport mechanism 10 has a transport arm 11 that extends in the Y direction above the supply section 6 and is movably attached to the transport arm 11 in the X direction along an X stage 12. ) The holding part 13 having a moving mechanism is attached so as to be movable in the Y direction along the transport arm 11.

In this case, the X stage 12 is, for example, LM
It consists of a guide and a ball screw or timing belt. Further, the holding section 13 has an adsorbent made of rubber at the tip thereof, and by vacuum adsorption, it takes out the semiconductor element 1 or the plate 5 from the tray 8, and also holds it and transfers it to the load table 9. It has become.

The take-out section 7 is for transferring the inspected semiconductor device 1 from the unloading table 14 to an empty tray 8 by means of a carry-in mechanism 15. Like the transport mechanism 10, the carry-in mechanism 15 is composed of a transport arm 11 that is movable in the X direction along the X stage 12, and a suction holding section 13 that is movable in the Y direction along this transport arm 11. The inspected semiconductor device 1 placed on the unloading table 14 is held by vacuum suction, and is transferred to an empty space on the tray 8 at the top of the takeout section 7. There is.

A base 16 is installed between the supply section 6 and the take-out section 7 configured as described above, and a semiconductor element double transfer mechanism 17 is mounted on this base 16 so as to be movable in the Y direction and the Z direction. installed. The semiconductor element double transfer mechanism 17 is provided with a distance that is half the distance between the load table 9 and the unload table 14.
Attached are suction holding parts 18, 18 that suction and hold the semiconductor element 1 by vacuum suction. Therefore, with respect to the inspection stage 20 provided at the center position between the load table 9 and the unload table 14, the untested semiconductor device 1 on the load table 9 and the inspection stage
At the same time, the inspected semiconductor device 1 on top of 0 is held by suction,
By transferring the above-mentioned 1/2 distance in the Y direction, the untested semiconductor device 1 can be transferred to the testing stage 20, and the tested semiconductor device 1 can be transferred to the unloading table 14, respectively.

Note that above the load table 9, a pre-alignment image recognition device 19 is provided. In addition, a defective element storage box 21 is provided at a lower portion of the semiconductor transport path of the take-out section 7 for accommodating semiconductor elements 1 that are determined to be defective as a result of inspection. Further, a tray buffer mechanism 39 is provided between the supply section 6 and the take-out section 7 , and the tray buffer mechanism 39 temporarily waits for the empty tray 8 in the supply section 6 to be conveyed to the take-out section 7 .

On the other hand, the inspection section 3 uses the mounting table 22 and the mounting table 22 horizontally and vertically, that is, X, Y, Z and θ(X
, rotation on the Y plane) and a moving mechanism 23 that adjusts the position in the direction (rotation on the Y plane), and the mounting table 22 is at the load/unload position P1 of the semiconductor element 1 shown by the dashed line in FIGS. 1 and 2, and shown by the dotted line. It is possible to move to an alignment position P2 and an inspection position P3 shown by a solid line. Further, the mounting table 22 is moved to the moving mechanism 2 by a drive unit 34 which is a positioning means.
3 is operated, the alignment is controlled.

As shown in FIG. 4, the mounting table 22 has four mounting recesses 24 arranged on a concentric circle symmetrical about the center on its surface, in which the semiconductor element 1 or the plate 5 is placed at a predetermined position. At least the bottom surface of the mounting recess 24 is a mirror surface 25. Therefore, four semiconductor elements 1 can be accommodated at the same time. The plate 5 is made of a transparent synthetic resin member such as polycarbonate, and the transparent plate 5 is placed on the mirror surface 25 of the mounting table 22.
By placing the needle mark 26 on top, the needle mark 26 can be easily and accurately detected as described later. Furthermore, since the plate 5 can be manufactured at low cost, it can be disposable.

[0026] Above the inspection position P3, there is a test head 2.
A test needle 29 protrudes downward from a probe card 28 attached to the lower part of the test head 27. At this inspection position P3,
When the mounting table 22 is raised by the moving mechanism 23, which is a needle trace forming means, the plate 5 placed on the mounting table 22 and the test needle 29 are brought into pressure contact, and the leads 1a of the semiconductor element 1 are formed on the upper surface of the plate 5. A needle trace 26 corresponding to the pattern is formed (see FIGS. 6 and 7), and the test needle 29 comes into contact with the lead 1a of the semiconductor element 1 during inspection (see FIGS. 6 and 7).
(See Figure 8).

At the alignment position P2, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a light source 30 such as a light emitting diode that emits light toward the needle mark 26 formed on the plate 5, and a light source 30 that detects the light reflected from the plate 5. A needle trace detection means 32 is provided, which includes a photosensor 31 that detects the needle trace. In this case, the needle mark detection means 32 detects the position of the needle mark 26 using bright field illumination that illuminates the optical axis of the light source 30 substantially perpendicularly to the needle mark 26. The information signal detected by the needle trace detection means 32 configured as described above is stored in the CPU 33 as comparison data. Further, the comparison data stored in advance in the CPU 33 and the image information are compared, and based on the data, the drive section 34
is activated, the moving mechanism 23 is controlled, and the semiconductor element 1 is positioned. In FIG. 5, numeral 35 is a half mirror, numeral 36 is a converging lens, and numeral 37 is an objective lens.

A preheating means 38 is provided above the inspection stage 20 to heat the semiconductor element 1 to a predetermined temperature, for example, 150.degree.

Next, the semiconductor inspection method of the present invention will be explained.

First, the plate 5 accommodated in the tray 8 set on the supply section side of the conveyance section 2 is suction-held by the holding section 13 and transferred onto the load table 9 by the conveyance mechanism 10. At position 9, the position is recognized by the image recognition device 19. Next, the plate 5 is again sucked and held by the holding parts 18, 18 of the semiconductor element double transfer mechanism 17, and placed in the mounting recess 24 of the mounting table 22 waiting at the pre-alignment position of the inspection stage 20. At the same time, it is supplied in a pre-aligned state based on information from the image recognition device 19.

When the pre-alignment is completed, the mounting table 2
2 moves to alignment position P2, and this alignment position P2
After the plate 5 is precisely aligned on the mounting table 22
moves to inspection position P3. At the inspection position P3, the mounting table 22 is raised by the moving mechanism 23 and the plate 5 is
and the test needles 29 of the probe card 28 are brought into pressure contact, and needle marks 26 corresponding to the leads 1a of the semiconductor element 1 are formed on the surface of the plate 5.

After the needle mark 26 is formed, the mounting table 22 is moved again to the alignment position P2, and this alignment position P2 is moved again to the alignment position P2.
2, when the light source 30 illuminates the needle mark 26, the needle mark 26 is diffusely reflected due to the relationship between the transparent plate 5 and the mirror surface 25 of the mounting table 22, and the reflected light is detected by the needle mark detection means 32. Accurately detected. Then, the needle mark detection means 32
A signal from the needle mark 26 is transmitted to the CPU 33, and the data of the needle mark 26 is stored as image information.

Plate 5 in which data of needle marks 26 is stored
is moved to the load/unload position P1 by the mounting table 22, and at this position is discharged to the take-out section 7 side by the semiconductor double transfer mechanism 17. At this time, the semiconductor element 1 is simultaneously transferred from the supply section 6 to the load/unload position P1.
and prealigned in the same manner as described above. After the pre-alignment, the mounting table 22 is moved to the alignment position P2, and the mounting table 22 is moved to the alignment position P2.
2, the moving mechanism 23 is operated by the drive section 34 driven based on the image information of the needle trace 26 to perform precise positioning. Then, by moving the mounting table 22, the inspection position P
3, the test needles 29 of the probe card 28 accurately come into contact with the leads 1a of the semiconductor element 1, and various electrical characteristics of the semiconductor element 1 are measured.

When the inspection is completed, the mounting table 22 is lowered by the moving mechanism 23, and the mounting table 22 returns to the load/unload position P1. Then, the semiconductor device double transfer mechanism 17 transports the inspected semiconductor device 1 to the take-out section 7 side, and at the same time, the next semiconductor device 1 is transferred from the supply section side to the loading/unloading position P1, and the same process continues. By repeating the operation, the semiconductor elements 1 are sequentially aligned and then inspected. In this case, if four semiconductor devices 1 are placed in the four placement recesses 24 at the same time,
The alignment and inspection of the semiconductor element 1 can be performed more efficiently.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the tray 8 for accommodating the semiconductor element 1 is also used to accommodate the plate 5, and the plate 5 is supplied from the transport section 2 for the semiconductor element 1. However, this is not necessarily the case. It is not necessary to adopt such a structure, and a dedicated transport section for the plate 5 may be provided separately from the transport section 2 for the semiconductor element 1.

[0036]

As explained above, according to the present invention, with the above structure, the leads of the semiconductor element and the inspection needle can be aligned accurately and efficiently, and the inspection reliability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a semiconductor inspection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a tray for accommodating semiconductor devices and plates in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a semiconductor element and a plate are placed in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing needle trace detection means in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a state in which needle marks are formed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which needle marks are formed on the plate.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of contact between a semiconductor element and a test needle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Semiconductor element 1a lead 2 Conveyance section 3 Inspection Department 5 Plate 6 Supply section 22 Mounting table 23 Moving mechanism (needle mark forming means) 25 Mirror surface 26　needle mark 27 Test head 29 Test needle 30 Light source 31 Photo sensor 32 Needle trace detection means 33 CPU (needle track storage means) 34 Drive section (positioning means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor testing method as described above, in which various electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device are tested by bringing a test needle into contact with the leads of a semiconductor device placed on a mounting table that is movable in horizontal and vertical directions. A positioning plate supplied to the semiconductor element mounting position on the mounting table is pressed against the test needle to form a test mounting needle mark, and the needle mark is detected and stored as image information. A semiconductor testing method characterized in that the semiconductor device placed on the mounting table is aligned based on trace data, and the test needle is aligned with the lead of the semiconductor device. 2. The semiconductor testing method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning plate is formed of a transparent member, and at least the upper surface of the plate mounting portion of the mounting table is made a mirror surface, and the positioning plate is formed on the transparent member. 1. A semiconductor inspection method characterized by irradiating a needle mark with light and detecting the reflected light to obtain image information. 3. A semiconductor testing device for testing various electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device by bringing a test needle into contact with the leads of the semiconductor device placed on a mounting table movable in horizontal and vertical directions, as described above. A plate supply means for supplying a positioning plate to a semiconductor mounting position on a mounting table, a needle trace forming means for forming a needle trace of a test needle on the plate, and a needle trace forming means for detecting the needle trace formed on the plate. A needle trace detection means, a needle trace storage means that receives a signal from the needle trace detection means and stores the needle trace as image information, and aligns the semiconductor element based on the needle trace data from the needle trace storage means. 1. A semiconductor inspection device comprising: alignment means. 4. The semiconductor inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the alignment plate is formed of a transparent member, at least the upper surface of the plate mounting portion of the mounting table is a mirror surface, and the needle mark detection means is configured to include: A semiconductor inspection device characterized in that it is formed by a light detection means for detecting reflected light from a light source irradiated toward the needle marks on the plate.