JPH0727939B2 - Semiconductor element inspection method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a semiconductor element.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the IC handler, which is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, was used to inspect the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor element such as an IC after the packaging process of a finished product. IC handlers are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

That is, a plurality of ICs set in a line in a cylindrical magazine are conveyed to the inspection section provided on the side of the handler by the action of gravity and the autoloader mechanism, and after inspection, sorted by performance by the action of gravity and the autoloader mechanism. Was there.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) IC diversification is progressing due to technological innovation of IC. Due to the diversification of ICs, the shape of the IC package is required to be compatible, and a wide variety of package-shaped semiconductor elements are manufactured. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus for inspecting semiconductor elements having various package shapes immediately. However, conventional IC
In the handler, when inspecting ICs of different types,
A cylindrical magazine that matches the IC package shape had to be prepared, and the inspection section had to be replaced with one that matches the new product type, which put a considerable burden on the operator.

Furthermore, the method of transporting ICs in an IC handler largely depends on the action of gravity, and this method
Were often stuck on the way and lacked reliability.

Further, in the inspection section of the IC, the length of the measuring cable between the contact position of the IC and the tester is about 150 mm, which makes it impossible to perform an accurate inspection.

The present invention has been made to improve the above points and provides a versatile and highly reliable IC inspection method.

[Structure of Invention]

(Means for Solving Problems) According to the present invention, a semiconductor device packaged in each of the hollow holes of a pallet having a large number of hollow holes arranged in the XY direction on the upper surface is housed one by one. And second means for carrying out a pallet containing a large number of semiconductor elements from a cassette, transferring it to an inspection stage, and adsorbing the pallet to the inspection stage by a vacuum adsorption means provided on the inspection stage. A third means for transporting the inspection stage sucking the pallet to an inspection unit having a probe card having a probe needle on the lower surface,
Fourth means for moving the inspection stage in the XY directions to position the pallet and the probe card attracted to the inspection stage, and the inspection stage repeatedly moved in the XY direction and the Z direction to be housed in the hollow hole of the pallet. The probe terminal of the probe card is brought into contact with the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element, and the oxide film of the electrode terminal is broken by the spring force of the probe needle to electrically conduct, and a large number of semiconductor elements are inspected one by one. And a fifth means.

(Function) The packaged semiconductor element is provided at a predetermined position on the pallet, and the stylus connected to the tester is brought into contact with the pallet to inspect the electrical characteristics to improve versatility and improve reliability. The effect is obtained.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The device under test is, for example, a semiconductor element such as an IC (1) after mounting and packaging a semiconductor chip as shown in FIG. 6 (A). The pallet (2) on which this IC (1) is placed is, for example, 450 mm long by 450 mm high as shown in FIG.
Hollow-out hole (3) configured to 10mm and used to set the IC
For example, a length of 20 mm, a width of 10 mm, and a depth of 5 mm are formed at a distance of 1 mm from about 5 mm from the peripheral edge. Hollow hole (3)
21 × 40 = 840 pieces are formed in total. This pallet (2) can be stored horizontally in the cassette (5) with an appropriate interval of 20 sheets each.

The IC (1) is provided in, for example, the hollowed holes (3) formed in the grid pattern of the pallet (2), and the IC (1) in a state in which a large number of ICs (1) are arranged in this package The structure of the device for measuring the static characteristics will be described.

A plurality of pallets (2) for setting the above IC (1), for example
The cassette (5) having 20 sheets loaded therein is placed on the placing table 6. The mounting table (6) can be moved up and down by rotating a support shaft (8) connected to a motor (7). A take-out mechanism is provided to take out the pallets (2) one by one from the cassette (5) placed on the placing table (6). This take-out mechanism is set on the inspection stage (10). The take-out mechanism of the pallet (2) has a structure in which it slides on one axis, and the plate-shaped arm (11
The structure is such that a) (11b) moves along the guide formed by the plate-like bodies (12a) (12b) (12c). This arm (11a) (11b) slides on the electric motor (1
Belt (15) engaged with rotating shaft (14) by rotation of 3)
Is rotated, and the screw (16) is operated by the rotation of the belt (15) to be engaged and slid by a screwing action. A vacuum suction mechanism is set on the plate arms (11a) (11b) and the plate bodies (12a) (12b) (12c). The plate-like bodies (12a) (12b) (12c) can move up and down. The inspection stage (10) equipped with this mechanism is connected to a motor and can be driven in the X direction, Y direction, Z direction, and θ direction. The inspection stage (1
A probe card (20) is provided at a position opposite to (0), and a probe needle (21) is attached to this probe card (20). The probe needle (21) and the tester are electrically connected.

A magnifying glass, for example, a microscope is set above the probe card (20), and an operation panel is provided on the front surface. A CPU for controlling the operation of the inspection apparatus is set below the operation panel. The operation procedure is input to the CPU from the operation panel.

Next, a method of inspecting the electrical characteristics of the IC (1) packaged by this inspection apparatus will be described.

First, the packaged IC (1) which is a finished product is arranged in the hole (3) formed in the pallet (2) in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG. Since 840 ICs (1) can be installed per pallet (2), 2
A total of 16,800 ICs (1) can be set in the cassette (5) that can store 0 pallets (2). In order to place the pallet (2) on the inspection stage (10) from the cassette (5), the inspection stage (10) is first set in front of the cassette (5) by driving in the X and Y directions. Here, after moving the plate-like bodies (12a) (12b) (12c) downward, the plate-like arms (11a) (11b) are slid in parallel into the gap of the pallet, and here the cassette (5) mounting table is placed. The pallet (2) is placed on the plate-like arms (11a) (11b) by moving the (6) downward by a predetermined distance. The plate-like arms (11a) and (11b) suction the pallet (2) under vacuum and slide it out in parallel. After sliding the plate-like arms (11a) (11b), the plate-like bodies (12a) (12b)
(12c) is moved upwards, and the pallet (2) is vacuum-sucked with the upper surface of the inspection stage (10) as a uniform plane. Next, the pallets (2) placed on the inspection stage (10) are aligned. For this alignment, for example, the well-known laser recognition mechanism (not shown) detects the X direction and the Y direction of the corner portion of the pallet (2), and the result is used to inspect the inspection stage (10).
Is rotated in the θ direction so as to match the driving of the inspection stage (10) in the X and Y directions with the X and Y directions of the corner portion of the pallet (2). After the alignment of the pallet (2), the inspection stage (10) is relatively moved to the setting position of the probe card (20) as shown in FIG. 3 (A).
Here, the inspection stage (10) is vertically moved upward in the Z direction, and as shown in FIG. 3 (B), the pin row (which is the electrode terminal of one IC (1) set in the pallet (2) ( 1a) and probe needle (21) attached to the probe card (20)
Touch the rows. This contact pressure is controlled to a predetermined set value. That is, the inspection stage (10) is moved upward and the IC (1) is moved by the spring force of the probe needle (21) as shown in FIG. 3 (C).
The oxide film on the pin (1a) is broken to accurately connect the IC (1) and the stylus of the tester, for example, the probe needle (21). The operation of moving up the inspection stage (10) is actually executed in a continuous process. After inspecting the electrical characteristics of the IC in the contact state between the IC (1) and the probe needle (21), the inspection stage (10)
Down, then drive in the X and Y directions to move to the next IC
Move to the set position of (1) and repeat the above operation. After the inspection of all ICs (1) set on the pallet (2) is completed, the inspection stage (10) is moved and the cassette (5) is restored to its original state by using the loading / unloading mechanism of the pallet (2). Return to position. Next, the cassette mounting table (6) is moved up, the next pallet (2) is mounted on the inspection stage (10), and the IC (1) is inspected by the above-described inspection operation.

As another embodiment, inspection of an IC having a different package shape from the above embodiment will be described.

Since this IC (30) has a different shape from the above embodiment as shown in FIG. 6 (B), if the pallet (2) is used as it is, the IC (30) is not fixed and accurate inspection is impossible. is there. Therefore, a cover is provided as shown in FIG. 5, which is hollowed out in a shape corresponding to the shape of this IC (30). This cover (3
3) For example, the thickness is 1 mm, which corresponds to the number of holes (3) formed in the pallet (2) and the size of the pallet (2).
Accurately attach the cover (33) to the pallet (2).
In order to accurately position the pallet (2) and the cover (33), a guide hole (4) is provided in the square of the pallet (2), and the cover (33) has a guide pin (34) in the square of the cover (33). To provide. The guide pin (34) corresponds to the guide hole (4).

After mounting the cover (33) on the pallet (2), the IC (30) matching this shape is set on the pallet (2), and the pallet (2) is loaded into the cassette (5). The IC (30) is inspected in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

By providing the cover (33) in this way, it is possible to handle ICs of any shape. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the state in which the IC is placed on the cutout portion of the pallet has been described.
An IC socket may be installed in the hollowed-out portion of the pallet, and the IC may be inserted into this socket. in this case
Automating the insertion and extraction of ICs into and from the pallet requires insertion and extraction forces.

Furthermore, when the stylus of the tester is brought into contact with the electrode pin row that is arranged on the pallet, the electrode terminals become thinner when the IC becomes more accurate, and when the alignment accuracy is required, it can be used with a wire bonder. As described above, the image of the electrode terminal array is picked up by the TV camera, the positional deviation from the predetermined position is detected, and the automatic position recognition is performed, whereby the stylus can be brought into contact with high accuracy and reliability.

〔The invention's effect〕

By configuring the present invention as described above, a pallet containing one packaged semiconductor element each is unloaded from the cassette and transferred to the inspection stage, and the inspection stage is conveyed to the inspection unit for inspection. Section moves the inspection stage in the XY direction to position the probe card and pallet, and further moves the inspection stage in the XY direction and Z direction.
The semiconductor device can be efficiently inspected by repeatedly moving the device in the direction and inspecting the semiconductor device by automatically contacting the probe terminals of the probe card with the electrode terminals of the semiconductor device housed in the hollow holes of the pallet. Can be done.

Moreover, by breaking the oxide film of the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element by the spring force of the probe needle to make it electrically conductive, the electrode terminal and the probe needle can be reliably connected, and the reliability of the inspection is improved. To be

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a pallet for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram of an apparatus for inspecting the electrical characteristics of the IC of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an IC inspection of FIG. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of Fig. 1
FIG. 5 is a view of the inspection stage shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a view of the pallet of FIG. 1 with a cover attached, and FIG. 6 is a view of an IC set on the pallet of FIG. 1 …… IC (Integrated Circuit) 2 …… Pallet, 5 …… Cassette 10 …… Inspection stage, 20 …… Probe card 33 …… Cover

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first means for accommodating one semiconductor device packaged in each of the hollow holes of a pallet having a large number of hollow holes arranged in the XY direction on the upper surface, and a plurality of semiconductor devices. The pallet accommodated is carried out from the cassette and transferred to the inspection stage, and the second means for adsorbing the pallet to the inspection stage by the vacuum adsorbing means provided on the inspection stage, and the inspection stage adsorbing the pallet. A third means for transporting the probe card having a probe needle on the lower surface to an inspection part, and a fourth means for moving the inspection stage in the XY directions to position the pallet attracted to the inspection stage and the probe card. Means and the inspection stage are repeatedly moved in the XY direction and the Z direction, so that the semiconductor elements stored in the hollow holes of the pallet are electrically charged. A fifth means for inspecting a large number of semiconductor elements one by one by bringing the electrode terminals into contact with the probe needles of the probe card, breaking the oxide film of the electrode terminals by the spring force of the probe needles, and electrically conducting them. A method for inspecting a semiconductor device, comprising: