JPH0766934B2 - Probing card and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Description

Description: [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a probe card with high accuracy and a method of manufacturing a probe card that can easily manufacture the probe card.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, in order to inspect a chip formed on a semiconductor wafer, a probe contact end of a probe card is brought into contact with an electrode pad of each chip on which a conductor pattern is formed, so that various electrical characteristics can be obtained. Is being measured. As a method of manufacturing such a probe card, for example, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-23798.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a large number of independent conductor patterns 1 are radially printed so as to surround a circular window formed in the center of the printed circuit board 2 and concentric with the circular window of the printed circuit board 2. An electrically insulating support ring 3 is adhered to the circuit board 2, and a large number of probes 4 are arranged on the support ring 3. That is, the probes 4 are radially aligned and arranged, and the probes 4 are bonded and fixed with a thermosetting resin a such as an epoxy resin. The rear ends of the probes 4 are soldered to different conductor patterns 1 on the printed circuit board 2.

Pins 5 are provided which are electrically connected to the respective conductor patterns 1 each having a through hole for electrical continuity with the opposite surface of the printed circuit board 2.

Concentric with the circular hole of the support ring 3, there is a mortar-shaped taper surface 6 having the same inclination as the inclination of the ring 3 and having a cross-section inclined downward inward as shown in FIG. The formed probe holding member 8 is provided. A film 9 having fine holes corresponding to pads of each chip of the semiconductor wafer was attached to the circular hole 7, and a positioning member 10 for positioning the contact end 4a of the probe 4 was provided.

First, a release agent is applied to the tapered surface 6 of the probe holding member 8 and the bent contact end 4a of the tip of the first probe 4 is inserted into one of the micro holes of the film 9 to make the probe holding member 8 Place along a radial pattern on top of. Then, similarly, the contact ends 4a of the second, third, ... Probes 4 are sequentially inserted into the other minute holes of the film 9, and the respective probes 4 are arranged along the radial pattern on the probe holding member 8. In this way, the contact end 4a of the probe 4 is positioned. After that, a thermosetting resin a such as an epoxy resin is applied to the concave groove of the support ring 3, and the application surface of the probe holding member 8 so that the probe 4 fits into the concave groove of the support ring 3. When the thermosetting resin a is cured by concentrically making contact with the tapered surface of the above and holding this state, the thermosetting resin a is not adhered to the holding member 8 coated with the release agent, and the support ring 3 is formed. Each probe 4 is fixed. Then, the support ring 3 and the probe 4 are peeled off from the probe holding member 8 and the film 9. Then, the support ring 3 is fitted into the circular window of the printed circuit board 2 so that each probe 4 is aligned with the conductor pattern 1 and fixed by an adhesive,
Further, the rear end of each probe 6 is soldered to the conductor pattern 1 of the printed circuit board 2 to complete the probe card.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional method of manufacturing a probe card, the center alignment between the support ring 3 and the probe holding member 8 and the alignment of the contact end 4a of the probe 4 are manually performed. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and labor to insert the film into the fine holes of the film, and it takes a long time to solidify the thermosetting resin, and the position of the probe 4 tends to shift due to thermal expansion and contraction during the solidifying process. was there.

In addition, since the probe card is produced in a wide variety of small lots,
There is a problem in that it takes a great deal of time to form the minute holes corresponding to the pads of the film semiconductor wafer.

Further, the positional accuracy between the contact ends of the probe is required to be about ± 5 μm, but as shown in FIG. 10, if the contact end 4a of the probe 4 is brought into contact with the pad 12 of the semiconductor wafer 11 and pressure is applied thereto. Since the contact end 4a moves in the direction of the arrow, in order to position the contact end 4a at the center A of the pad 12 at the time of measurement, the positions of the micro holes formed in the film 9 are slightly biased to the front side of the center of the pad 12. It needs to be formed at point B. However, since the pads 12 of the semiconductor wafer 11 are linearly arranged, but the probes 4 are arranged radially, as shown in FIG. Therefore, perforating the film is extremely difficult.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a probe card with high accuracy and a method of manufacturing a probe card that enables its manufacture by automation.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The probe card of the present invention has a ceramic support in which a large number of concave grooves in which a metal thin film is formed are radially formed. The probe is fitted in the groove in a predetermined positional relationship with the contact end toward the center side, and these probes are characterized by being fixed in the groove by soldering, and the manufacturing method thereof is The probe is moved to a predetermined position by a robot hand on the basis of at least two imaging patterns in front and side of the probe contact end, and the probe is positioned in space so that the contact end occupies a predetermined space position. And a step of bringing the positioned probe and the support body relatively close to each other so as to have a predetermined positional relationship, and the relationship between the probe and the support body. It is characterized by comprising the step of fixing while lifting.

(Operation) Since the probe card of the present invention does not use an organic adhesive for fixing the probe, the coefficient of thermal expansion of each portion is made uniform and high accuracy is obtained. According to the manufacturing method of the present invention,
Each probe is directly aligned in space by, for example, a 6-axis driving robot hand and a high-magnification industrial television camera so that the contact end thereof becomes an array of pads of a semiconductor wafer. Then, the probe and the support are relatively brought close to each other by, for example, numerical control so as to have a predetermined positional relationship, and the two are fixed by solder or the like. According to this method, various jigs that have been conventionally used for assembling a probe card are unnecessary, and automation can be achieved by using servo control and numerical control. In this case, if the position data after being deflected by the contact with the pad is input as the position data of the contact end of each probe, it is possible to manufacture the probe card in which the displacement is corrected.

(Example) Next, the Example of this invention is described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing an apparatus used in an embodiment of the present invention.

This apparatus installs two high-magnification first and second industrial television cameras 20 and 21 vertically downward and horizontally toward a reference point (probe contact end) in a predetermined space. . A pattern recognition device 22 for performing pattern recognition processing on the image pickup output from these industrial television cameras 20 and 21 is provided, and the probe 23 is connected to the X, Y, and Z axis directions and U, V, and
It is held by a 6-axis drive robot hand 24 that rotates in three directions of W. A control device 25 for controlling the robot hand 24 is provided. Further, a ring-shaped ceramic support ring 26 for supporting the probe is placed and mounted on an XY table 27 configured to be rotatable in the X, Y, Z directions and the Z axis. Furthermore, the probe mounting surface of the ring 26
A laser irradiation device 28 is provided so as to output a laser beam downward in the vertical direction with respect to 26a.

The first industrial television camera 20 has the contact end 23 of the probe 23 moved by the robot hand 24 near the reference point.
The circular pattern in front of the tip (contact end 23a) of the probe 23 is magnified and imaged by directly looking a in the axial direction from the tip side. On the other hand, the second industrial television cameras 21 are arranged so that the side surface of the contact end 23a of the probe 23 is directly viewed substantially parallel to the axis and the rod-shaped pattern of the tip (contact end 23a) is enlarged and imaged. There is. The pattern recognition device 22 compares and collates the patterns photographed by the first and second industrial television cameras 20 and 21 with the respective reference patterns when the preset contact end 23a is at the reference position. Then, according to the output of the pattern recognition device 22, each TV camera
The robot hand 24 is servo-controlled by the controller 25 so that the image patterns of 20 and 21 match the respective reference patterns. That is, the front end and the side surface of the contact end 23a are positioned. This controller 25 is thus a robot hand
In addition to servo-controlling 24, the robot hand 24 is numerically controlled according to a preset program.

In addition, the XY table 27 has a distance l from the reference position for each probe.
Then, the robot hand 24 descends vertically downward to insert and fix the probe 23 into the predetermined groove 26b of the support ring 26. Such a process is executed for all the probes 23, and the movement and rotation thereof are omitted so that the support ring 26 and the probes 23 finally have the positional relationship as shown in FIG. Numerically controlled by 25.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the ceramic support ring 26 used in this embodiment has a conical truncated taper surface 26a on one side.
The upper part is slightly wider than the outer diameter of the probe 23, and
The concave grooves 26b are formed in a radial shape having a depth slightly larger than the outer diameter of 23. As shown in FIG. 3, a metal thin film 29 having good wettability of nickel, copper, gold, and other solder is formed on the bottom surface and the side surface of the groove 26b. This metal thin film 29 is used as a support ring 26 as shown in FIG. 4, for example.
A metal thin film 29 is formed on the entire tapered surface 26a by a known method such as electroless plating, vapor deposition, and sputtering, and then the tapered surface 26 is left only in the concave groove 29 as shown by an arrow.
By cutting and removing the metal thin film 28 on a by machining or the like, it can be formed only on the wall surface of each groove 26b.

Next, a method of manufacturing the probe card will be described.

First, the support ring 26 is set on the mounting jig 27a on the XY table 27 while strictly controlling the positioning such as direction and height. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the support ring 26 should be pre-filled with solder 30 in a shape that does not hinder the insertion of the probe 23 such as powder solder or solder cream in each groove 26b. To use. Next, the probes 23 aligned in the tray stocker (not shown) are attached to the first probe 23.
From the stocker by hand or automatically by the robot hand 24. And this robot hand 24
The probe 23 is moved so that the contact end 23a of the probe 23 is located near the reference point in the field of view of the first and second industrial television cameras 20 and 21. Then, the contact ends 23a of the probe 23 are imaged from different directions by the first and second industrial television cameras 20 and 21 by the program described above, and the image output signal is binarized and supplied to the pattern recognition device 22 in advance. The robot hand 24 is moved to move the probe 23 along the X-, Y-, and Z-axes so that the reference pattern (standard position signal) is compared with the set reference pattern (standard position signal). By rotating in the V and W directions, the contact end 23a of the probe 23 is positioned at the reference position in space.

On the other hand, in the XY table 27, when the robot hand 24 holds the first probe and then lowers the probe 23 vertically downward from the reference position, the probe 23 is inserted into a predetermined groove and It rotates and moves in the X, Y, and Z directions and waits so that the contact end has a predetermined positional relationship with the support ring 26.

Then, after the positioning, the solder 3
By keeping 0 in the molten state, the robot hand 24
When the coincidence is obtained by the servo control, and then, the probe 23 is vertically lowered by a predetermined distance 1 by the numerical control, the probe 23 is moved to the bottom surface in the space of the concave groove 26b of the support ring 26 as shown in FIG. It can be moved and set to float from the side. In this state, the solder is solidified.

The melting of the solder 30 is performed by irradiating a laser beam from the laser irradiation device 28 for a short time into the groove 26b into which the probe 26 is inserted, and melting the solder 30 in the groove 26b to melt the probe 23.
Is fixed and solidified while maintaining the state of being inserted and positioned in the concave groove 26b of the support ring 26.

After that, the robot hand 24 releases the first probe 23, returns to the original position again, and grips the second probe 23. On the other hand, in the XY table, when the probe descends vertically downward from the reference position by the distance 1 by the numerical control, the probe 23 is inserted into the second concave groove and its contact end.
Rotation and movement are controlled so that 23a has a predetermined relative positional relationship with the support ring 26, and a standby state is set. Then, the same operation as in the case of the first probe 23 described above is repeated, so that the probe 23 causes the adjacent groove 26 of the support ring 26 to be adjacent.
fixed to b.

In this way, the above operation ends when the probe 23 is fixed to all the concave grooves 26b. And support ring
The probes 26 are removed from the mounting jig 27a together with the respective probes, and the probes 23 are bonded by an adhesive in a state of being provided in the window formed in the printed circuit board so as to match the conductor pattern. The attachment to the printed circuit board is positioned such that it is centered on the edges of the conductive pattern printed on the circuit board. Subsequently, the rear end of the probe 23 and the corresponding conductor pattern on the printed circuit board are soldered by a known means to complete the probe card.

In the above embodiment, the probe 23 is used as the robot hand 23.
Although the example in which the robot hand 23 is moved down by numerical control to be positioned in the concave groove of the support ring 26 after the servo control is performed with the robot hand 23, the robot hand 23 can move in six axes, and The table 27 can also be moved and rotated in the X, Y, and Z directions so that any combination of these movements can be used to bring the probe 23 and the support ring into close proximity. Is.

Further, in this embodiment, an example in which solder is used to fix the probe 23 in each groove 28 of the support ring 26 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and a comparison is made. Any fixing means can be used as long as it can fix the probe to the support in a relatively short time.

Although the means for positioning the probe 23 has been described in the above embodiment, in order to align the groove 23b of the support ring 26 more accurately, after the probe 23 is positioned, the groove 26b is imaged by the first television camera 20. By recognizing the position of the groove 26b, the groove can be accurately inserted and positioned in the groove 26b.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the probe card of the present invention does not use an organic adhesive, so that the thermal expansion coefficient of each part is made uniform, and the heat treatment for a long time at a high temperature is not required, so that high accuracy is achieved. Can be obtained. Further, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a highly accurate probe without the need for complicated and manual steps as in the past. It is also possible to automate all steps of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a support ring used in this embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining a method of manufacturing the concave groove of the support ring, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the groove of the support ring of FIG. 7, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the probe card,
FIG. 8 is a side view thereof, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a conventional method of manufacturing a probe card, and FIG. 10 is a side view showing a movement state of a contact end of a probe on a pad.
Figure 11 is the plan view. 1 ... Conductor pattern 1, 2 ... Printed circuit board, 20, 21
…… Industrial TV camera, 22 …… Pattern recognition device,
4,23 ... Probe, 24 ... Robot hand, 25 ... Control device, 3,26 ... Support ring, 27 ... XY table,
28: Laser irradiation device, a: Thermosetting resin

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A ceramic support is provided with a large number of concave grooves in which a metal thin film is formed, and the probe has a predetermined positional relationship with the contact ends facing toward the center in the concave grooves. And a probe card in which these probes are fixed in the groove by soldering. 2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the probe is positioned in the concave groove of the support body while being floated from the bottom surface and the side surface thereof. 3. The probe is moved to a predetermined position by a robot hand on the basis of at least two imaging patterns of the front and side of the probe contact end so that the contact end occupies a predetermined space. In a space, a step of bringing the positioned probe and the support body relatively close to each other so as to have a predetermined positional relationship, and a step of fixing the probe and the support body while maintaining the relationship. A method of manufacturing a probe card, comprising: 4. The method of manufacturing a probe card according to claim 3, wherein the support is a ceramic ring. 5. The support is provided with concave grooves radially wider and deeper than the outer diameter of the probe in a radial pattern. Manufacturing method of probe card. 6. The method of manufacturing a probe card according to claim 5, wherein a metal coating is formed on the inner surface of the groove. 7. The method of manufacturing a probe card according to claim 6, wherein the probe is fixed to the support by soldering. 8. The method of manufacturing a probe card according to claim 7, wherein the melting of the solder is performed by a high energy beam.