JPH05249182A - Semiconductor chip socket - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a dieprobe socket which can be brought into an electrical contact with split semiconductor chips. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of probes the front end sections of which are inserted into pinholes of a stylus guide plate for specifying the tip position of the probes and which are composed of thin wires having fixed intermediate sections and spring properties are fitted to positions corresponding to the electrodes of a semiconductor chip and the electrodes of the semiconductor chip are positioned to the positions of the tips of the probes by means of a chip guide. After positioning the electrodes, the semiconductor chip is pressed against the probes by means of a chip keeper. Since the front ends of the probes having the spring properties are protruded from the pinholes of the stylus guide plate and accurately brought into contact with the electrodes of the semiconductor chip, the probes can be brought into electric contact with the semiconductor chip with high reliability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor chip socket, and more particularly to a technique effective for use in a semiconductor chip socket which enables a burn-in test of a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The burn-in test (aging) is an accelerated test for identifying initial defects of elements in a semiconductor integrated circuit device. The conventional burn-in test method is generally performed by mounting a semiconductor integrated circuit device on an IC socket provided on an aging board. Regarding the burn-in test, there is, for example, page 727 of "Microcomputer Handbook" published by Ohmsha, Ltd. on December 25, 1960.

[0003]

In recent years, a semiconductor technology called a microchip module has been proposed, in which a necessary semiconductor chip is mounted and wired on a wiring substrate such as a silicon substrate to form one microcomputer system or the like. Has been done. In such a microchip module, when a defect is found in one semiconductor chip that constitutes the microcomputer system, the wiring board and other non-defective semiconductor chips mounted thereon are discarded as defective. Therefore, the quality check of each individual chip affects the yield of the microchip module.

However, since the semiconductor chip includes the above-mentioned initial defects, there is a limit to the quality check in the probing process. Therefore, the inventor of the present application considered carrying out a burn-in test in which an initial defect in the state of the semiconductor chip is washed out. In performing such a burn-in test, a socket for stably obtaining electrical contact with a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a die probe socket which realizes electrical contact with divided semiconductor chips. The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0006]

The outline of the representative one of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows. That is, a plurality of probes consisting of thin linear strips having a spring property, in which the tip part is inserted into the needle hole of the needle guide plate that specifies the tip position of the probe at the position corresponding to the electrode of the semiconductor chip, and the middle part is fixed. Is attached, the electrode of the semiconductor chip is aligned with the position of the tip of the probe by the tip guide, and the semiconductor chip is pressed against the probe by the tip holder.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned means, since the tip of the probe having a spring property protrudes from the needle hole of the needle guide plate and comes into contact with the electrode of the semiconductor chip accurately, it is possible to make electrical contact with the semiconductor chip with high reliability. Obtainable.

[0008]

1 is a top view of a die probe socket according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an embodiment corresponding thereto. As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor chip socket is roughly intended to sandwich the semiconductor chip from above and below to perform alignment and electrical contact. That is, the probe is placed with its tip facing upward. The tips of these probes are fixed to the needle retainer with high precision corresponding to the positions of the electrodes of the semiconductor chip to be measured. The needle presser and the free end on the probe tip side have the same structure as a fixed probe used for an electrical test of a semiconductor chip completed on a semiconductor wafer.

On the upper surface side of the semiconductor chip socket, there are provided guide frames having guide surfaces having tapered grooves at four corners corresponding to the size of the semiconductor chip to be measured. FIG. 3 shows a top view of one embodiment of the guide solem. In the semiconductor chip mounted in the semiconductor chip socket of this embodiment, the surface on which the electrodes are provided faces downward, and the four corners of the chip have tapered shapes provided on the guide surface of the guide frame. It slides down along the groove and is aligned with a predetermined position corresponding to the size of the semiconductor chip provided in the central portion.

In this way, as a contact electrode that is brought into contact with the surface of the semiconductor chip socket aligned with the guide frame, in other words, the electrode of the semiconductor chip placed on the surface of the needle guide, from the lower surface side thereof. Is provided. The tip of the probe penetrates the needle hole of the needle guide and contacts the surface of the electrode of the semiconductor chip. The needle guide has a function as a mounting surface on which the semiconductor chip is placed, and a function for properly contacting the tip of the probe with the electrode of the semiconductor chip by the needle hole provided in the needle guide.

Below the needle guide corresponding to the above semiconductor chip, a space is provided in the central portion as shown in the top view of FIG. A central space and a peripheral space are partitioned by a frame-shaped needle retainer provided at a position corresponding to the middle part of the probe. The probe extends from the outer side toward the center toward the electrode of the semiconductor chip, and is bent upward by about 90 ° so as to be inserted into the needle hole of the needle guide at the tip. The middle portion of the probe is fixed by a fixing means such as an adhesive layer provided on the surface of the needle holder. The connection end side of the probe is bent downward by about 90 ° along the needle presser, and is connected to a wiring means provided on a mounting board such as an aging board on which the needle presser and the needle guide are mounted. Such a configuration is similar to the relationship between the conventional aging board and the IC socket, for example.

In addition to this structure, a connecting pin may be provided at the connection end, and the connecting pin may be connected to the test cable. Alternatively, a flexible wiring board may be connected to the wiring means and used as part or all of the cable. in this way,
The means for obtaining an electrical connection with an IC tester or the like can take various embodiments depending on the application of the semiconductor chip socket.

In order to efficiently connect a large number of probes to the wiring layer of the mounting board, the connection ends of the probes are adjacent to each other, but the bent portions are staggered. That is, the connection end of the probe on the mounting substrate is formed in a zigzag shape.

The contact end side of the probe is bent upward as described above and inserted into the needle hole of the needle guide.
The needle guide is attached to the guide frame by a leaf spring or the like as described later. Therefore, the chip holder to be described below moves downward, and as a result, the semiconductor chip is pressed toward the tip of the probe.
The thickness of the semiconductor chip is different for each product, but the stylus pressure needs to be constant. Therefore, the pressing amount of the tip holder can be adjusted by the rotation speed or the angle of the tension dial. That is, when the semiconductor chip has a relatively large thickness, the rotation angle of the tension dial is reduced to reduce the pushing amount by the thickness of the semiconductor chip. On the other hand, in the case where the semiconductor chip has a relatively small thickness, the rotation angle of the tension dial is increased to increase the pushing amount by the thinner the thickness of the semiconductor chip. By adjusting the tension dial as described above, the contact pressure can be made uniform by adjusting the amount of the semiconductor chip driven into the tip of the probe. Further, in order to make the needle pressure of each probe uniform, the free end lengths of the probes are made equal.

The tip portion becomes free from the fixed portion of the probe, and as a result of pressing the semiconductor chip by the chip presser, the probe tip comes into contact with the electrode of the semiconductor chip with a spring property corresponding to the length of the free end. Since the electrode of the semiconductor chip is supported by the surface of the needle guide, the stylus pressure is determined in accordance with the elasticity of the free end length and the amount of pushing by the tip pressing. Since the materials of all the probes, the free end lengths, and the bent tips are set to be the same, all the stylus pressures on the semiconductor chips can be made substantially equal. The material of the needle is not particularly limited, but it is composed of thin filaments containing tungsten as a main component, and its surface is plated with a metal having good conductivity such as gold in order to obtain good electrical characteristics. ing. As such a needle, a needle used for a fixed probe board for electrical measurement of a semiconductor chip completed on a semiconductor wafer can be used.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view for explaining a method for attaching and detaching a semiconductor chip in the semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention. When mounting the semiconductor chip, the lid is opened by the hinge mechanism. A lock is provided on the opposite side of the hinge mechanism, and when the lid is closed to electrically contact the semiconductor chip, the lock mechanism closes the lid. The lock mechanism shown in the figure has a different structure from that shown in FIG. 2, but is provided for the same purpose. The lid is provided with a tip holder whose amount of depression is adjusted according to the rotation angle of the tension dial. When the lid is opened, the guide surface of the guide frame appears, and the semiconductor chip is slid down on the surface of the semiconductor chip, and the semiconductor chip is aligned and mounted at a predetermined position. .. After this,
By simply closing the lid, the chip holder presses the electrode of the semiconductor chip against the tip of the probe to mount the semiconductor chip. When the semiconductor chip is taken out after the burn-in test is completed, the lid is opened and the semiconductor chip is taken out by an arm such as vacuum suction.

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged sectional view of an embodiment of the probe tip portion of the semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention. When the semiconductor chip is mounted on the surface of the needle guide, a gap such as Δd is provided between the tip of the probe and the electrode surface of the semiconductor chip. Therefore, only by mounting the semiconductor chip on the needle guide surface, the probe tip and the electrode of the semiconductor chip do not come into contact with each other. As a result, the semiconductor chip can be aligned with the guide frame smoothly and accurately.

The needle guide is provided with a needle guide plate receiving spring.
It is attached to the guide frame or the needle holder. This allows the needle guide to move up and down. Therefore, the semiconductor chip is pressed against the tip of the probe by pushing down from the back surface of the semiconductor chip by pressing down the chip. That is, the semiconductor chip is lowered by pressing the chip, and the tips of the probes come into contact with each other while rubbing the electrode surface of the semiconductor chip according to the amount of driving.
As a result, it is possible to break through an oxide film or the like formed on the electrode surface and make good electrical contact. The needle hole provided in the needle guide is formed as an elongated hole corresponding to the rubbing direction of the tip so as not to prevent such a minute movement of the probe tip.

In FIG. 2, a glass plate is provided below the needle holder. An O-ring for maintaining the airtightness is provided between the glass plate and the needle holder.
Similarly, a similar O-ring is provided between the upper surface of the needle holder and the guide frame. As a result, a space having confidentiality is provided by the needle retainer, the glass plate and the needle guide. Since the needle guide has the needle holes as described above, perfect confidentiality cannot be obtained, but it is sufficient for the following purpose.

In the burn-in test, it is necessary to operate the circuit formed on the semiconductor chip for a long time at a high temperature.
For this purpose, it is necessary to maintain stable electrical contact even under the above-mentioned adverse conditions. Therefore, if an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is injected into the airtight space as described above, the tip of the probe and the electrode surface of the semiconductor chip with which it comes into contact are placed in such an inert gas atmosphere, so the electrode surface It is possible to prevent the disadvantage that an insulating oxide film is formed on the substrate. Further, by using the above glass plate, it is possible to observe the contact state between the tip of the probe and the electrode surface of the semiconductor chip. Further, for the burn-in test as described above, each component forming the semiconductor chip socket is formed of a material having heat resistance.

The effects obtained from the above embodiment are as follows. That is, (1) a thin linear strip having a spring property in which the tip portion is inserted into the needle hole of the needle guide plate that specifies the tip position of the probe at a position corresponding to the electrode of the semiconductor chip and the middle portion is fixed. By attaching multiple probes, aligning the electrode of the semiconductor chip with the tip of the probe with the tip guide, and pressing the semiconductor chip against the probe with the tip presser, the probe tip with spring property makes the needle guide plate of the needle guide plate. Since the needle hole is projected to accurately contact the electrode of the semiconductor chip, it is possible to obtain an effect that the semiconductor chip can be electrically contacted with high reliability.

(2) By providing a tension dial on the tip retainer and adjusting the amount of drive-in, the stylus pressure of the probe can be set optimally.

(3) According to the above (1), since the burn-in test can be performed in the state of the semiconductor chip, the product yield of the microchip module can be significantly increased and the burn-in test can be simplified. Is obtained.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the invention of the present application is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say. For example, the semiconductor chip socket may be one in which the vertical relationship between the probe and the semiconductor chip is reversed. That is, in FIG. 2, the needle presser may be opened and closed by a hinge mechanism. In this structure, the semiconductor chip is mounted upward at a predetermined position of the chip holder after being aligned by the guide frame. The tip holder may be configured such that the tip is pushed up by a tension dial or the like and brought into contact with the probe. Alternatively, the needle guide plate and the needle guide plate receiving spring may be omitted, and the tip of the probe whose middle portion is fixed by the needle pressing may be in contact with the electrode surface of the semiconductor chip.

The probe and the guide frame may be configured corresponding to a plurality of semiconductor chips. In this case, the tension dial may be commonly used to similarly adjust the stylus pressure with a plurality of semiconductor chips.
The connecting end of the probe does not have to extend directly to the wiring board. The connecting end from the fixed part of the needle extends straight,
It may be led to the wiring board through a lead wire having an insulating film or a flexible wiring board.
The wiring board may be omitted, and a portion corresponding to the wiring board may be used as a base board, and may be directly connected to a cable or the like guided to the tester by the lead wire or the flexible wiring board. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention can be widely used in addition to the burn-in test as a socket for making electrical contact with a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer.

[0026]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows. That is, a plurality of probes consisting of thin linear strips having a spring property, in which the tip part is inserted into the needle hole of the needle guide plate that specifies the tip position of the probe at the position corresponding to the electrode of the semiconductor chip, and the middle part is fixed. Attach the electrode of the semiconductor chip to the position of the tip of the probe with the tip guide, and press the semiconductor chip against the probe with the tip presser, so that the probe tip with spring property makes the needle hole of the needle guide plate Since it protrudes and contacts the electrodes of the semiconductor chip accurately, it is possible to obtain electrical contact with the semiconductor chip with high reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an embodiment of a semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing an embodiment of the guide frame of the semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing an embodiment of the needle holder of the semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view for explaining a method of attaching and detaching a semiconductor chip in the semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a probe tip portion showing an embodiment of a semiconductor chip socket according to the present invention.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A needle retainer for fixing and supporting an intermediate portion of a plurality of probes each having a tip as a contact electrode disposed at a position corresponding to an electrode of a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer, and a probe holder for the probe. A semiconductor chip socket comprising: a chip guide for aligning a tip with an electrode of a semiconductor chip; and a chip retainer for pressing the semiconductor chip against a probe. 2. A needle guide plate having a substantial needle hole for specifying a tip position of a probe as a contact electrode at a position corresponding to an electrode of a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer, and the needle. A plurality of probes each having a thin linear strip having a spring property in which a tip portion is inserted into a hole and an intermediate portion is fixed, a tip guide for aligning a tip of the probe and an electrode of a semiconductor chip, and A semiconductor chip socket comprising a chip holder for pressing a semiconductor chip against a probe. 3. The tip guide has a tapered guide surface, and a semiconductor chip whose surface is on the lower side slides down along the guide surface to be aligned with a predetermined position, and the probe is the surface. Is attached to the needle holder so that the tip faces the upper side so that the tip is directed to the semiconductor chip that is placed on the lower side. The semiconductor chip socket according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that 4. The tip retainer is such that the amount of drive-in from the state in which the tip of the probe has started contacting the electrode of the semiconductor chip is adjustable. The semiconductor chip socket according to claim 3. 5. The semiconductor chip socket is made of a heat-resistant material and is used for a burn-in test of a semiconductor chip, claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3. 4 semiconductor chip socket.