JPH07111280A - Probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a probe card capable of mounting probes with high density and of locating an externally attached circuit such as a bypass capacitor closely to a semiconductor wafer. CONSTITUTION:Wiring is laid on the upper surface of a probe board 4, a probe 5 is bent downward at an almost outer peripheral edge of a positioning hole 4a from the upper surface of a probe board 4 and, moreover, the probe is further bent in the direction of a central part of the positioning hole 4a. Length of the probe 5 and the bending angle can be varied. An externally attached circuit 8 is provided on the top surface of the probe board 4, and this circuit 8 is electrically connected to the wiring.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe card, and more particularly to a technique which is effective when applied to a probe card which enables high-density mounting of a probe and can be equipped with an external circuit such as a bypass capacitor and a correction circuit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A probe is brought into contact with an electrode on the surface of a semiconductor chip, a signal is input and output from a tester and a power is supplied through the probe, and the probe is sequentially moved to check the electrical characteristics of an electronic circuit. A wafer prober to be tested uses a probe card in which a plurality of probes are attached to the back surface of a probe board according to the type of semiconductor chip.

The probe mounting density of the probe card is increasing from the viewpoint of high integration of the semiconductor integrated circuit device and reduction of test time due to simultaneous measurement of a large number of chips.

[0004]

However, in the conventional probe card in which the probes are attached to the back surface of the probe board, the distance between the probes becomes short, which makes mounting difficult.
Even if there is no problem in the performance of the tester, it may be impossible to manufacture a high-density mounted probe card in terms of mounting the probe. As a result, not only does it take a long time to test the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor chip and the inspection efficiency is deteriorated,
I was unable to fully utilize the capabilities of an expensive tester,
The loss was large economically.

Further, the wafer prober is provided with an external circuit such as a bypass capacitor for cutting high frequency noise and a response waveform correction circuit. Due to the importance of the test, it is necessary to prevent the impedance and inductance from increasing by installing them in the immediate vicinity of the semiconductor chip and further improve the measurement accuracy.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional probe card, the probe is attached to the back surface of the probe board, and therefore the wiring is formed on the back surface. Therefore, if a bypass capacitor or the like is attached to the probe card in the vicinity of the semiconductor chip. If you try to place it, its position will be on the back.

Then, an external circuit is mounted on the back surface of the probe card, which has a gap of only a few millimeters at the time of the test, so that the semiconductor wafer and the bypass capacitor may come into contact with each other. Therefore, conventionally, it has been virtually impossible to arrange an external circuit in the immediate vicinity of the semiconductor chip.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique relating to a probe card which enables high-density mounting of probes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique relating to a probe card in which external circuits such as a bypass capacitor and a correction circuit can be arranged in the immediate vicinity of a semiconductor wafer.

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.

[0011]

The typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be outlined below.

That is, the probe card of the present invention comprises a plurality of wirings formed on the probe board and a plurality of probes electrically connected to the wirings, and the probes are attached to the electrodes of the semiconductor chip. A probe card of a wafer prober for contacting to test the electrical characteristics of an electronic circuit, wherein the wiring is formed on an upper surface of the probe board, and the probe is located at a substantially outer peripheral edge of a positioning hole from an upper surface of the probe board. The probe is bent downward, and is bent again toward the central portion of the positioning hole, and the length and the bending angle of the probe are set to various different lengths and bending angles.

In this case, the probe may be fixed in the middle by a fixing means.
An external circuit may be provided on the upper surface of the probe board, and the external circuit may be electrically connected to wiring.

[0014]

According to the probe card configured as described above,
The flexibility of the probe layout is greatly improved. Therefore, the probe can be mounted at a high density, the highly integrated semiconductor integrated circuit device and a large number of chips can be simultaneously measured, and the test time can be significantly shortened.

Further, wiring is formed on the upper surface of the probe board, and by connecting an external circuit such as a bypass capacitor or a response waveform correction circuit to this wiring, the external circuit can be installed in the immediate vicinity of the semiconductor chip. Therefore, the measurement accuracy can be improved.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the probe card.

First, the structure of the probe card of this embodiment will be described.

The probe card 1 of the present embodiment is used for a wafer prober for testing the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor chip 3 mounted on the wafer chuck 2, and for example, glass, cloth and epoxy resin are solidified. A positioning hole 4a for positioning with the semiconductor chip 3 is formed in the center of the formed probe board 4, and electrodes of a predetermined semiconductor chip 3 are formed from the outer periphery of the positioning hole 4a toward the center. A plurality of probes 5 arranged according to the arrangement (not shown) are provided.

The probe 5 is bent so that the tip portion 5a is in contact with the electrodes of the semiconductor chip 3 perpendicularly, and the other end portion 5b is a plurality of wirings formed on the upper surface of the probe board 4 by soldering, for example. 6 are electrically connected to each other.

The mounting shape extends from the upper surface of the soldered probe board 4 to the positioning hole 4a, is bent downward from the substantially outer peripheral edge of the positioning hole 4a, and further toward the central portion of the positioning hole 4a. It is bent again toward the semiconductor chip 3 and is bent so as to contact the semiconductor chip 3 vertically. Further, the length and bending angle of the probe 5 are set to various different lengths and bending angles.

The contact surface of the probe 5 with the semiconductor chip 3 is chemically polished, has a high elastic limit, has sufficient mechanical strength, and is made of a conductive metal having a low contact resistance. ing. Therefore, even if it contacts the electrode of the semiconductor chip 3 during the test, the shape can be easily restored to the original shape, and the matching of the impedance and the inductance with the semiconductor chip 3 is improved, which enables highly accurate measurement.

The probe 5 is fixed on the inner wall of the positioning hole 4a by a thermosetting resin (fixing means) 7 so as to prevent displacement, and secures the free movement of the tip 5a. The thermosetting resin 7 is not deformed by heat, has a high insulation resistance, and has sufficient mechanical strength to support the probe.

An external circuit 8 such as a bypass capacitor 8a for cutting off high frequency noise and a response waveform correction circuit 8b is provided on the upper surface of the probe board 4, and electrically connected to a predetermined wiring 6 formed therein. It is connected.

Next, the operation of the probe card of this embodiment will be described.

The operator looks into the positioning hole 4a formed in the probe board 4 to find the tip 5 of the probe 5.
The position a is aligned with the electrode of the semiconductor chip 3, and then the probe 5 is brought into contact with the electrode of the semiconductor chip 3 which is the object to be measured to test the electrical characteristics of the formed electronic circuit.

Here, as described above, in the probe card 1 of the present embodiment, the plurality of probes 5 provided are soldered to the wiring 6 on the upper surface of the probe board 4, and the substantially outer peripheral edge of the positioning hole 4a is formed. From the bottom to the center of the positioning hole 4a, and the length and bending angle of the probe 5 are set to various different lengths and bending angles. The degree of freedom of the layout of the needle 5 is significantly improved.

As a result, even with respect to the probes 5 which come into contact with the electrodes adjacent to each other, the tips 5a of the probes 5 are close to each other, but a constant interval can be secured in the other parts. become.

Therefore, the probe 5 can be mounted at a high density, the highly integrated semiconductor integrated circuit device and a large number of chips can be simultaneously measured, and the test time can be greatly shortened.

Since the wiring 6 is formed on the upper surface of the probe board 4, the external circuit 8 such as the bypass capacitor 8a and the response waveform correction circuit 8b is connected to the wiring 6 and installed in the immediate vicinity of the semiconductor chip 3. However, since the impedance and the inductance can be prevented from increasing, the measurement accuracy can be improved.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention 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, although the wiring 6 is formed only on the upper surface of the probe board 4 in this embodiment, the wiring 5 may be formed on the back surface and inside thereof to electrically connect the probe 5 thereto. It is possible, and therefore, a part of the wiring 6 may be formed on the upper surface of the probe board 4.

Further, the probe 5 is fixed to the inner wall of the positioning hole 4a by the thermosetting resin which is the fixing means 7. However, if sufficient strength can be obtained only by soldering, this may be omitted. In addition, the fixing position is not limited to the inner wall of the positioning hole 4a when fixed, and the fixing means 7 may be, for example, an annular body fitted to the inner peripheral wall of the positioning hole 4a. .

[0034]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

(1) That is, according to the probe card of the present invention, the plurality of probes provided are soldered to the wiring on the upper surface of the probe board, bent downward from substantially the outer peripheral edge of the positioning hole, and Since the probe is bent again toward the center of the positioning hole, and the length and bend angle of the probe are set to various different lengths and bend angles, the flexibility of the probe layout is greatly increased. Improve to.

(2) Therefore, it becomes possible to manufacture a probe card in which the probe is mounted at a high density, and it is possible to simultaneously measure a highly integrated semiconductor integrated circuit device and a large number of chips, which has been difficult in the past. Therefore, the test time can be greatly shortened and the throughput can be improved.

(3) Further, since the probe card in which the probes are mounted at a high density becomes possible, the ability of the expensive tester can be fully utilized.

(4) Further, according to the probe card in which the external circuit is provided on the upper surface of the probe board and the external circuit is electrically connected to the wiring, the external circuit such as the bypass capacitor and the response waveform correction circuit is provided. Since the attachment circuit can be arranged in the immediate vicinity of the semiconductor chip, it is possible to prevent the impedance and the inductance from increasing, and it is possible to further improve the measurement accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the probe card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 probe card 2 wafer chuck 3 semiconductor chip 4 probe board 4a positioning hole 5 probe 5a tip 5b other end 6 wiring 7 thermosetting resin (fixing means) 8 external circuit 8a bypass capacitor 8b response waveform correction circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A probe board comprising: a plurality of wirings; and a plurality of probes electrically connected to the wirings, respectively. A probe card of a wafer prober for testing static characteristics, wherein the wiring is formed on an upper surface of the probe board, and the probe is bent downward from an upper surface of the probe board at a substantially outer peripheral edge of a positioning hole. A probe card, wherein the probe is bent again toward the central portion of the positioning hole, and the probe has various lengths and bending angles. 2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the probe is fixed midway by a fixing means. 3. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein an external circuit is provided on the upper surface of the probe board, and the external circuit is electrically connected to the wiring.