JPH07111987B2 - Probe device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a probe device.

(Prior Art) A probe apparatus measures the electrical characteristics of each of a large number of chips formed on an object to be measured, for example, a semiconductor wafer, and eliminates the chips determined to be defective before the assembly process to reduce costs. It is a device that contributes to the improvement of productivity.

In recent years, the number of small-quantity, high-mix production processes has been increasing due to the high integration of chips and the high-mix production of chips, and as a result, the number of operations by operators has increased significantly. In particular, the probe card needs to be replaced for each product of the symmetrical IC chip to be measured and each time the arrangement pattern of the electrode pads is different, and the replacement has been performed appropriately. For this replacement, the operator manually loosens the screws or the like at about eight locations on the probe card attachment portion to remove the probe card, and then attaches another probe card.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional technique described above, the operator has to attach and detach the probe card with screws at about eight places, which is troublesome and poor in workability. there were.

In addition, if the screw fastening order is incorrect, the probe card may be distorted. When mounting the probe card, the electrode pad of the IC chip is extremely small, so the probe card must be installed and replaced with high accuracy in order to obtain highly reliable measurement results. Since the probe needle of the card and the electrode pad of the IC chip do not contact accurately and contact failure occurs, a lot of time is spent on this accuracy adjustment, which is an obstacle to shortening the work time. There was a point.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and a probe device capable of shortening the probe card replacement time by providing the probe card holding portion with vertical movement means and further preventing distortion of the probe card. Is to provide.

[Structure of Invention]

(Means for Solving Problems) In a probe device for measuring the substrate to be measured by replacing it with a probe card corresponding to the type of substrate to be measured, the probe card holder and the probe card holder are rotatable with respect to the probe card holder. The probe card holder that is pivotally supported on the probe card holder that can be erected at least diagonally when rotated and that can be laid down at the time of measurement, and the probe card holder provided in the probe card holder that is in the laid state. At this time, it is configured with a sensor that detects and notifies this.

(Operation) When replacing the probe card, rotate the probe card holder that is rotatably supported by the probe card holder to stand up diagonally, and then attach and detach the probe card to and from the probe card holder. To do. When the probe card holder is laid down after the replacement of the probe card, the sensor provided in the probe card holder detects this and notifies that the probe card has been set to the normal state.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of the probe device will be described.

The probe device (1) is provided with a wafer cassette (2) such that, for example, 25 wafers (3) can be installed at predetermined intervals. The wafer cassette (2) is provided in the cassette storage section (4) and can be transferred to the preliminary positioning stage (5) by a transfer mechanism (not shown).
The pre-positioning stage (5) is provided so as to be pre-positioned to an accuracy of ± 1 ° or so with reference to the orientation / fla of the wafer (3) by rotating the pre-positioning stage (5).
A transfer mechanism (not shown) that transfers the wafer (3) to the measurement stage (6) is provided. The measurement stage (6) is movable in X, Y, and Z directions, and is configured to move appropriately when measuring the wafer (3). At the time of this measurement, the probe card (7) is provided so as to bring the wafer (3) into contact with the probe needle (8) of the probe card (7) provided on the probe device (1). (7) is exchangeably held in the probe card holder (9). As shown in FIG. 2, the probe card holder (9) is provided with a holder (10) having an L-shaped cross section so that the probe card (7) can be held at both ends, and the probe card is slid into the rail (11). (7) can be fixed by, for example, screwing action of screws (12) provided at the above-mentioned holding portion. The two arms (13) supporting the upper probe card (7) and the holder (10) are attached to a rotary shaft (14) and are rotatable around the rotary shaft (14). There is. A stopper (15) is provided for supporting the arm (13) at a slight angle when the arm (13) is rotated about the rotation axis (14). The stopper (15) is a plurality of stoppers (15). The support shaft (16) provided on the side surface of the arm (13) is inserted into the grooves (15a) (15b) provided at two places, for example, to support the arm (13). At this time, the operation of inserting the support shaft (16) into the grooves (15a) and (15b) is performed by the spring force of the spring (17) connected to one end of the stopper (15) and the other end of the stopper (15). A downward force is applied to the portion, and when the arm (13) is lifted by this force, the arm (13) is naturally inserted to support the arm (13). Further, a plurality of screws (18), for example, 2 are provided at the tip of the arm (13).
The arm (13) is detachably provided by the screwing action of the screw (18). A shutter (19) is provided on the other side surface of the arm (13),
The shutter (19) of the probe card holder (9)
Sensors at corresponding positions, eg transmissive sensors (20)
Is provided to detect the rotation of the arm (13),
The operation of the measuring stage (6) is prohibited during rotation. The probe device is configured in this way.

Next, a method for measuring a semiconductor wafer and a method for replacing a probe card with the above-described probe device will be described.

In FIG. 1, the wafer (3) is sucked and held from the wafer set (2) accommodating a plurality of wafers (3) by a transfer mechanism (not shown), for example, vacuum suction tweezers, and inserted. The inserted wafer (3) is transferred to the preliminary positioning stage (5) by a transfer arm (not shown) rotatable about one end. With this preliminary positioning stage (5), the orientation flat of the wafer (3) is detected by a transmissive sensor (not shown) such as a photo interrupter, and pre-alignment is performed. The wafer (3) which has completed this pre-alignment is transferred to and placed on the measurement stage (6) by the transfer arm. The measurement stage (6) holds the wafer (3), for example, sucks and holds the wafer (3), performs alignment at an optical system bridge (not shown), and then moves to the measurement unit immediately below the probe card (7). Then, the electrode pads of the plurality of chips formed on the wafer (3) are aligned with the probe needles (8) of the probe card (7), and the probe needles (8) are attached to the electrode pads. The chips are brought into contact with each other and the above-mentioned chips are measured.

Then, the above measurement is carried out until it becomes necessary to measure wafers of different types, and when wafers of different types are produced, the probe card (7) is replaced. For this exchange, first, the screws (18) at two locations of the probe card holder (9) shown in FIG. 2 are loosened, and the arm (13) is rotated about the rotation shaft (14). The support shaft (16) provided on the side surface of the arm (13) is inserted into the groove (15a) of the stopper (15) to support the arm (13) (Fig. 3). In this state, loosen the screws (12) on each of the left and right sides and slide the probe card (7) out along the rail (11). Then, a probe card corresponding to the type of wafer to be measured next is slid and inserted along the rail (11), and this probe card is fixed with a screw (12).
Then, the arm (13) and the stopper (15) are slightly lifted at the same time, and the support shaft (16) provided in the arm (13) inserted into the groove (15a) of the stopper (15).
Is inserted into the groove (15a), and the return screw (18) is tightened and fixed in the state shown in FIG. Such an arm (1
The rotation operation of 3) may be automatically performed by using an air cylinder or the like. At this time, the probe card (7) can be connected to a connector (not shown) for electrical inspection.

At the time of this inspection, in order to prevent contact failure between the chip formed on the wafer (3) and the probe needle (8) due to improper fixing of the arm (13) and for safety, the measuring stage (6) For example, for the purpose of prohibiting the operation of the probe card holder (9), a sensor such as a transmissive sensor (2
0) is provided, a shutter (19) is provided on the arm (13) side at a position corresponding to the transmission type sensor (20), and the shutter (19) is a transmission type sensor when the arm (13) is in a lowered state. When the arm (13) is inserted into the armature (20) and the sensor light such as infrared light is blocked, the lowering of the arm (13) is detected. Such a state is electrically reported to the probe device (1) to control the measurement operation.

The probe card holder (9) described above is not limited to the above mechanism, and the stopper (15) has a fourth shape.
As shown in the figure, the arm (13) can be lifted without touching the stopper (15 ').
May be provided in a structure for locking. Further, a mechanism for lowering and locking the arm (13) is also provided with a fixing mechanism (21) as shown in FIG. 4, and the fixing shaft (22) is further locked by lowering the arm (15). The probe card exchange time can be shortened.

Also. Grooves of the stopper (15) are formed at a plurality of positions so that they can be supported in at least two stages, and a groove (15a) at one position
May be used when replacing the probe card (7), and the other groove (15b) may be used when cleaning the probe needle (8).

In the above-described embodiment, an embodiment in which a stopper is provided on one arm to support this arm has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this mechanism, and a stopper may be provided at the center of two arms. Even if it is supported by a plurality of stoppers, the same effect can be obtained.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the description was made using the prism-shaped probe card, but the same effect can be obtained with other shapes such as a circle. Further, since the probe device for high frequency measurement has a test head, the probe card can be replaced with the test head when the probe card is replaced.

As described above, according to this embodiment, part of the probe card holder is configured to be rotatable, so that the replacement of the probe card can be performed in about 1/2 to 1/3 of the conventional replacement time. Therefore, the replacement time can be shortened.

Also, by rotating the arm holding the probe card and supporting it in two stages, it can be used for exchanging the probe card, cleaning the probe needle, etc., and more efficiently using the vertical movement of the probe card. be able to.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the probe card holder is rotatably and pivotally supported with respect to the probe card holder, and the probe card holder can be rotated to stand up when the probe card is replaced. The probe card can be easily replaced, and the probe card replacement time can be shortened. In addition, when the probe card holder is laid down during measurement, the sensor detects and notifies it, so that the measurement operation can be controlled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a probe device for explaining one embodiment of the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a probe card holder for explaining one embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. Two
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the probe card holder shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a view of the probe card holder for explaining another embodiment of FIG. 7 ... probe card, 9 ... probe card holder 13 ... arm, 15 ... stopper 16 ... support shaft, 17 ... spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A probe device for measuring a substrate to be measured by replacing it with a probe card corresponding to a type of substrate to be measured, and a probe card holder and a probe rotatably supported on the probe card holder. When the card is exchanged, the probe card holder that can be rotated to stand up at least diagonally and can be laid down at the time of measurement, and the probe card holder provided in the probe card holder, which is detected when the probe card holder is in a laid state, are detected. A probe device, comprising: