JPH056927A - Semiconductor integrated circuit device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To measure a high-frequency characteristic in a wafer state without increasing a chip area by a method wherein an electrode connected to a grounding electrode inside a chip is formed on a scribing line, the electrode is used as a ground and the characteristic is measured by using a high-frequency probe. CONSTITUTION:A high-frequency probe head 1 used on the input side of a monolithic IC (MIC) and a high-frequency probe head 2 used on the output side of the MIC are constituted respectively of signal terminals 7, 9 and grounding terminals 8, 10. In order to use the heads 1, 2, the MIC provided with a constitution in which a signal is close to a grounding electrode is required. An electrode in which at least one part is connected to a grounding electrode 5 for an integrated circuit itself is formed on a scribing line 2 in a semiconductor chip where the integrated circuit has been formed. The formed electrode is connected to at least one part on a substrate. Thereby, chips can be sorted on a wafer by means of their high-frequency characteristic.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device, and more particularly to improvement of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit intended for high frequency measurement on a wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Demand for high frequency related equipment such as satellite broadcasting, car phones, mobile phones, and data transmission systems has been increasing so far, and various amplifiers, mixers, oscillators, etc. for the purpose of applying to these equipment have been in demand. BACKGROUND ART Microwave integrated circuits (MIC) are being actively developed. Then, in order to miniaturize these devices and improve their reliability, research and development for making these devices monolithic (Monolithic MIC: MMIC) have been advanced and are being put to practical use. Especially for devices used in mobile phones,
It is required to be lightweight and mass-producible,
There is a strong demand for ultra-small MMICs.

However, when the above-mentioned MMICs are put into practical use, their high-frequency performance cannot be evaluated until now, unless the chips are almost in a product state, that is, a state in which they are sealed by a package or a mold. There was a point.

Therefore, after the wafer process is completed, the process must be advanced to the final assembly regardless of the quality of each chip in terms of high frequency characteristics. As a result, material costs such as a package of a chip that does not meet the high frequency characteristic specifications, and the time and labor required for the process of dividing the wafer into chips and assembling them are wasted.

Recently, although a probe for measuring high-frequency characteristics in a wafer state has been commercially available, a pattern for applying the probe is required on the wafer, and the chip size becomes large.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a case where a conventional MMIC constitutes a one-stage amplifier and a probe is used to measure high-frequency characteristics in a wafer state.

In FIG. 3, 1 and 2 are probe heads,
Input pads 3 and 4 are provided on the IC chip 11. The probe head 1 is provided with a signal terminal 7 and a ground terminal 8, and the probe head 2 is provided with a signal terminal 9 and a ground terminal 10.

Reference numeral 12 is a ground pattern, and 13
Is an input matching circuit, 14 is an output matching circuit, 15 is an FET,
Reference numeral 16 is a bias pad, which is provided on each of the IC chips 11.

Conventionally, in order to measure high-frequency characteristics using the above-described probe heads 1 and 2, a ground pattern 12 only for measurement has been required as shown in FIG.

[0010]

As described above, the MMI is used.
In order to put C into practical use, that is, to realize mass production, it is indispensable to measure high-frequency characteristics in a wafer state and perform selection.

However, in order to perform high-frequency measurement in a wafer state, it is necessary to have a structure in which the entire chip is surrounded by a ground pattern as shown in FIG. 3, which causes a problem that the chip size becomes large. there were.

Further, the ground pattern necessary for performing high-frequency measurement in a wafer state becomes unnecessary when the chip is actually formed, and an IC having an extra circuit in the periphery is manufactured, which is not preferable.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an MMIC capable of high-frequency characteristics in a wafer state without increasing the chip size and adding unnecessary circuits. With the goal.

[0014]

In the present invention, an electrode is first provided on the scribe line so as to be connected to the ground electrode in the chip (IC) at least at one place. And
It is possible to perform measurement using a high frequency probe with this electrode as the ground.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the quality of the chip is determined based on the state of the wafer. Then, when all the measurements are completed, the chip is divided along the scribe line where the ground electrode is formed.

Therefore, the high frequency characteristics can be measured in a wafer state without increasing the chip area, and it becomes possible to determine whether or not to perform the subsequent process.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those of the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a top view best showing the features of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a high-frequency probe head used on the input side of the MMIC, 2 is a high-frequency probe head used on the output side of the MMIC, and these heads are connected to a measuring device such as an NF meter via a coaxial cable. ing.

The heads 1 and 2 are composed of signal terminals 7 and 9 and ground terminals 8 and 10, respectively.
In order to measure the microwave characteristics of the MIC chip 11, at least the above two terminals are required. And this head 1, 2
In order to use, the MMIC having a configuration in which the signal and the ground electrode are close to each other is required. A hatched portion 5 in the drawing shows an electrode formed on the scribe line 20, which is a feature of the present invention, and this electrode 5 serves as a ground pattern.

FIG. 2 is a top view schematically showing an embodiment having the same structure as the conventional one-stage amplifier shown in FIG.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, in order to measure the high frequency characteristics using the probe heads 1 and 2 described above, the ground pattern 12 only for the measurement was required. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The scribe line 20 is not on the C chip pattern 11.
It is formed on the top and uses this pattern for measurement. Then, when all the measurements are completed, the chip is divided by the scribe line 20 on which the electrode is formed. Therefore, there is no extra ground line in the divided chips, and the chip size can be reduced.

To manufacture the MMIC as shown in FIG. 2, first, a pattern of active devices and passive devices is formed by a usual method to manufacture the MMIC. Then, after that, the electrode 5 is formed on the scrub line 20 so as to be connected to the ground electrode 6 in the IC chip 11. With this as the ground, the high-frequency probes 1 and 2 composed of the signal terminals 7 and 9 and the ground terminals 8 and 10 are respectively applied to the input pad 3 and the output pad 4, and the high-frequency characteristics of the chip are measured on the wafer to determine whether they are good or bad. judge. For example,
The amplifier shown in FIG. 2 uses the above-mentioned NF meter to measure its gain and noise characteristics. Finally, after all the high-frequency measurement on the wafer is completed, the process moves to a process of dividing each chip into chips, and only the chips determined to be non-defective by the on-wafer measurement are packaged.

Although the present embodiment has been described with reference to a single-stage amplifier, the present invention can be applied not only to an amplifier but also to all high-frequency devices such as mixers and oscillators as well as transistors alone.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Chips can be selected on the wafer by high frequency characteristics. As a result, only good chips are assembled to the end. Therefore, it is possible to omit a wasteful process of assembling even a chip having poor high frequency characteristics as in the conventional case,
The productivity can be remarkably improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view schematically showing an embodiment when the present invention is used in a one-stage amplifier.

FIG. 3 is a top view schematically showing a conventional one-stage amplifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 probe head 2 probe head 3 input pad 4 input pad 5 grounding electrode 6 grounding pattern in IC 7 signal terminal 8 ground terminal 9 signal terminal 10 ground terminal 11 IC chip 12 ground pattern 13 input matching circuit 14 output matching circuit 15 FET 16 bias 20 scrub lines

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H01P 3/08 7741-5J

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A monolithic microwave integrated circuit in which an active element such as a transistor and a distributed constant circuit with the active element and a passive element such as an inductor are formed on a semiconductor substrate. On the scribe line of the semiconductor chip, an electrode is formed so that at least one place is connected to the ground electrode of the integrated circuit itself, and the produced electrode is connected at least one place on the substrate. Integrated circuit device.