JPH0777560A - Inspection equipment for multielectrode device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an inspection equipment for multielectrode device which can easily deal with modification of the device and in which the probe is not affected by the undulation of a substrate to be inspected. CONSTITUTION:The inspection equipment comprises a stage 14 surrounding the inspection region of a device 10, e.g. an IC or an LSI, having multielectrodes, and an inspection means, e.g. a probe card 22, having probes touchable to respective electrodes of the device 10 is fixed to the stage 14. The stage 14 is provided with a rail mechanism having adjustable interval and each rail in the rail mechanism is provided with a plurality of fixing heads for supporting the inspection means so that the position thereof can be adjusted. Each head is provided with the inspection means which is elevatably/lowering fixed through an elevating/ lowering means and a sensor which stops the elevating/lowering means by detecting the landing of probe.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-electrode device inspection apparatus, and more particularly to an improvement of an inspection apparatus suitable for use in a continuity inspection of semiconductor devices such as liquid crystal panels, ICs and LSIs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor device such as a liquid crystal panel, an IC, or an LSI is generally formed in a rectangular shape, and a large number of terminal electrodes are provided on its edge. Such a device is subjected to a continuity inspection or the like in an inspection process after manufacturing to eliminate defective products.

Conventionally, a probe card in which a large number of probe needles corresponding to a fine electrode pitch of the device are arranged is used in an inspection apparatus used for this kind of inspection, and each of the devices is sent to the inspection position. An electrode is brought into contact with a probe card to establish electrical connection between the measuring instrument and the device for inspection. For the inspection, probe cards having several tens of probe needles are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the device, and the device electrodes (thousands)
Is performed by performing an index operation (stepping operation or stepping stone operation). In such an inspection work, the number of operations of the probe card for each device is very large, and the inspection time is long. For this reason, it has been proposed to arrange probe needles corresponding to all the electrodes of one device and bring them into contact with the device electrodes all at once. This is a device in which a probe stage surrounding a device is provided so as to be able to move up and down, and the contact needles of a large number of probe cards fixed to the stage are simultaneously brought into contact with the device electrodes by the raising and lowering operation of the stage.

[0004]

However, in this type of inspection apparatus, in order to perform a stable inspection, it is required that the variation of the contact of the probe needle is minute.
In the conventional collective contact type inspection method, there is a problem in the reliability of the measurement data because the flatness of the surface with which the probe needle contacts varies due to the processing accuracy of the inspection table and the undulation of the device substrate. Also, in the case of inspecting a wide variety of devices, the probe card has a fixed dimensional positional relationship with the stage in the conventional method, so it is necessary to replace the entire probe stage. Also, there has been a problem that the adjustment work becomes complicated and the work efficiency and eventually the production efficiency are lowered.

In view of the above conventional problems, the present invention provides a multi-electrode device inspection apparatus capable of efficiently inspecting semiconductor devices of high-mix low-volume production, particularly with high accuracy. To aim.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a multi-electrode device inspection apparatus according to the present invention has a stage surrounding a test area of a device such as a liquid crystal panel having a multi-electrode, an IC or an LSI. In this inspection device, an inspection device such as a probe card having a conductive needle capable of contacting each electrode of the device is attached to the stage, and the stage is provided with an adjustable rail mechanism. A plurality of mounting heads for supporting the inspection means are provided on each rail of the rail mechanism so that the position of the inspection head is adjustable. And a sensor for detecting the above and stopping the elevating means.

[0007]

According to the above construction, when inspecting the device sent to the inspection position, the stage surrounding the device is provided with a rail mechanism along the edge of the device inspection area, and a plurality of inspection means are attached to each rail. It is attached via the head. Each inspection unit is driven up and down, and descends when the inspection starts, and the sensor detects that the conductive needle has landed on the device electrode, and the elevation is stopped.
This lifting stop is performed independently for each mounting head, and stops after the conductive needle accurately makes contact, so that it is possible to prevent contact failure due to the shape of the device or stage. Further, the mounting head supporting the inspection means can be moved by the rail mechanism, and the distance and position of the inspection means can be adjusted to easily deal with the change of the device, so that the device type of the inspection target is changed. But you can easily adjust it. In addition, basically, this inspection device can simultaneously bring the conductive needles into contact with the multiple electrodes of the device at the same time, so that the inspection time can be extremely shortened and the contact of the conductive needles can be ensured to improve the inspection accuracy. It has become a thing.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of a multi-electrode device inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a multi-electrode device inspection apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIGS. 2 to 3 are a side view and a plan view of an essential part thereof. As shown in these figures, the device according to the embodiment is
This is for conducting a continuity test of a semiconductor device 10 having a large number of terminal electrodes, such as an IC, an LSI, or a liquid crystal panel, and has a stage 14 in which an opening window 12 for facing the device 10 is opened. The stage 14 is formed in a rectangular frame shape and is operated by a guide mechanism and a drive device (not shown) so that it can be moved up and down and moved in a plane. The device 10 to be inspected is sent below the stage 14 and fixed at the inspection position.
The device 10 itself is operated and moved to a position where the inspection surface of the device 10 faces the central opening window 12.

On the upper surface of the stage 14, there is installed a rail mechanism equipped with inspection means described later. That is, the fixed guide rails 16 extending over substantially the entire length of the two adjacent sides of the stage 14 (the upper side and the left side in FIG. 1).
U and 16L are provided, and one fixed guide rail 1
A short auxiliary guide rail 16S is provided on the side facing 6R. In addition, the fixed guide rails 16 facing each other
A slider 18 is attached across R and 16L so that the slider 18 can be moved in parallel and guided. This slider 1
On the upper surface of 8, a moving guide rail 16D set to be parallel to the fixed guide rail 16U is laid. The second slider 20 straddles the fixed guide rail 16U and the moving guide rail 16D that face each other.
Is provided, which is also movable in parallel while being guided to travel. On the upper surface of the slider 20, a moving guide rail 16R that is paired with the left fixed guide rail 16L is laid. Therefore, when the sliders 18 and 20 are moved, the fixed guide rails 16U and 1U on the stage 14 are moved.
The area of the rectangular region surrounded by 6L and the movement guide rails 16D and 16R can be changed.

Each of the rails 16 (16U, 16D, 16R, 16L) in the thus constructed rail mechanism is provided with a plurality of probe heads 24 carrying and supporting a probe card 22 for conducting a continuity test of the device 10. ing. Details of the probe head 24 are shown in FIGS. A plurality of probe heads 24 are attached to the guide rail 16, and each probe head 24 holds two probe cards 22. The probe head 24 has a slider 26 movable along the guide rail 16 as shown. This is almost the reverse L
It is formed in a letter shape, and the tip vertical portion is arranged on the inner edge side of the opening window 12, and the head main body 28 is attached and supported here so that it can be raised and lowered. An elevating motor 30 is installed at the tip of the slider 26 for elevating the head body 28, and the head body 28 is attached to a ball screw 32 driven by this, so that the operation of the motor 30 elevates and lowers the head body 28. It is possible.

Here, the probe card 22 is attached to the head main body 28, but a fine adjustment mechanism 34 for adjusting the probe 22A, which is a conduction needle of the attached probe card 22, so as to accurately correspond to the device electrode. The probe card 22 is mounted and the probe card 22 is attached to the fine adjustment mechanism 34. That is, the head body 28
A front-rear adjustment microhead 3 formed by a wedge mechanism, which is formed by a character-shaped plate and is arranged in parallel, and the front-rear moving plate 36 is mounted on each head main body 28.
The front and rear positions can be adjusted by setting 8. Further, the left and right moving plate 40 is provided on the front and rear moving plate 36.
Is mounted, and the front-back position can be adjusted by the left-right adjustment micro head 42 which is also composed of a wedge mechanism. A swiveling member 44, which is directly held by the probe card 22, is provided at the tip of the left and right moving plate 40.
It is mounted so that it can rotate around. The rotation angle is adjusted by the θ direction adjusting micro head 48. The probe card 22 is fixed to the lower surface of the swiveling member 44, and the closely arranged probes 22A are attached so as to be located on the most distal end side.

By the way, the probe card 22 has a large number of probes 22A, and a landing sensor 50 for detecting landing on the inspection device 10 is provided at the edge of this probe row. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, this is composed of a stylus 52 which has the same shape as the probe 22A and can be landed on the device 10, and a contact needle 54 which is in contact with the lower surface of the probe 22A. This is due to the fact that the upward deflection of 52 causes the contact needle 54 to separate from the contact needle 54. The ON / OFF operation is detected by the photo coupler 56, and the landing signal is output to the controller 58 as a stop signal to the lifting motor 30. There is.
For landing detection, a method in which a reflecting mirror is attached to the upper surface of the stylus 52, laser light is applied to the reflecting mirror, and the reflected light is captured to measure the distance displacement can also be adopted.

Each probe head 24 to which two probe cards 22 can be attached is a slider 2
A stopper 60 is attached to the back surface of 6 to fix it at a set position.

In the inspection apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the inspection apparatus shown in FIG.
As shown in, the device 10 itself is moved and driven so that the inspection region is located at the center of the opening surrounded by the guide rails 16. From this state, the lifting motor 30 of each probe head 24 is driven to lower the head body 28 toward the device 10. As a result, all the probes 22A necessary for the continuity test of the device 10 are simultaneously lowered. Each probe 22A of the probe card 22 is adjusted in advance by the fine adjustment mechanism 34 so as to correspond to the terminal electrode of the inspection device 10, and the probe 22A is landed on the terminal electrode by the descending operation. A landing sensor 50 is provided on each probe card 22, and the lifting motor 30 of each probe head 24 is stopped by detecting the landing. Since the stop signal is generated for each individual probe head 24, even if the device 10 has a warp, the probe implantation according to the state is realized. This does not make the probe implantation uncertain.

Therefore, all the probe cards 22 necessary for the continuity inspection of the device 10 can be arranged around the inspection area 10A to perform the collective inspection, and at the same time, even when the device 10 has a swell or the like. , Probe 2
2A and the device electrode can be reliably landed without deteriorating the contact accuracy, so that the inspection can be made highly reliable. In addition, the device to be inspected 10
If there is a change, adjust the rail mechanism, rail 1
The number and position of the probe heads 24 on the 6 and the adjustment work by the fine adjustment mechanism 34 can be dealt with promptly, and replacement of each stage 14 is not required. From this, it is possible to improve the contact stability of the conductive needle of the collective contact type inspection device and improve the reliability of the inspection data. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the inspection work time can be greatly shortened as compared with the conventional inspection device using the index operation.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
There is a stage surrounding an inspection area of a device such as a liquid crystal panel having multiple electrodes or IC or LSI, and an inspection means such as a probe card having a conductive needle capable of contacting each electrode of the device is attached to this stage. In this inspection apparatus, the stage is provided with a rail mechanism with adjustable spacing, and a plurality of mounting heads for supporting the inspection means are provided on each rail of the rail mechanism so as to be positionally adjustable. Each of them is equipped with a sensor for detecting the landing of the conductive needle and stopping the elevating means while mounting the inspecting means so as to be able to ascend and descend through the elevating means. Also, since the conduction needle can be accurately brought into contact with the terminal electrode to ensure electrical conduction, the inspection can be performed with high accuracy and efficiency. Moni, also easily implement changes adjustment inspection position during device change, rapid response can be effective in the device inspection-mix is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an inspection device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a probe head portion mounted on the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a landing sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Semiconductor Device 12 Opening Window 14 Stage 16 (16U, 16D, 16R, 16L) Guide Rails 18, 20 Slider 22 Probe Card 22A Probe 24 Probe Head 26 Slider 28 Head Body 30 Lifting Motor 32 Ball Screw 34 Fine Adjustment Mechanism 36 Front and Back Moving Plate 38 Front-rear adjustment microhead 40 Left-right movement plate 42 Left-right adjustment microhead 44 Turning member 46 Vertical axis 48 θ-direction adjustment microhead 50 Landing sensor 52 Touch needle 54 Contact needle 56 Photocoupler 58 Controller 60 Stopper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal panel having multiple electrodes, an IC, and an LS.
A test apparatus having a stage surrounding a test region of a device such as I, and a test means such as a probe card having a conductive needle capable of contacting each electrode of the device is attached to the stage. The stage is provided with a rail mechanism with adjustable spacing, and a plurality of mounting heads for supporting the inspecting means are provided on each rail of the rail mechanism so that the position can be adjusted. Each head is inspected by an elevating means. And a sensor for detecting the landing of the conductive needle and stopping the elevating means, the multi-electrode device inspection apparatus.