JPH08111438A - Probe for integrated circuit element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To probe a plurality of specimens, e.g. integrated circuit elements, simultaneously with high accuracy and reliability by disposing a contact in an opening at a shaped part through an insulating elastic member or embedding the contact in a soft shaped part so that deformation at the shaped part or the conductive elastic member provides the buffering. CONSTITUTION: A shaped part 2 is made of a material having high rigidity and low coefficient of thermal expansion and openings 21A, 22A are made at positions corresponding to a pad 8 of a specimen 7, e.g. an integrated circuit element. A contactor 1 is disposed to pass through the openings 21A, 22A vertically. An insulating elastic member 3 is embedded in the opening while surrounding the contact 1 and serves as a holder and a shock absorber for the contact 1. The contact 1 is made of a thin conductor wire having flexibility and resiliency and touches the pad 8 of the specimen 7 or the conductive land 10 of an interconnection board 5. The insulating elastic member 3 is made of silicon rubber, for example.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as an IC), an inspection device for a liquid crystal display device, and an aging device (hereinafter, both are collectively referred to as a main device). Is higher than the electrode parts (hereinafter, referred to as pads) on the pattern related to individual IC parts (hereinafter, referred to as a test object) in a wafer state before being cut into a pellet or a plurality of pellets or pellets. The present invention relates to a prober for an integrated circuit device, which aims at a contact with high accuracy and high reliability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional prober is constructed by individually assembling needle-shaped or plate-shaped contact points for contact with a pad of a subject, but probing is performed in comparison with the area per subject. It is impossible to fabricate a prober that measures many specimens at the same time because the area for performing the probe is large, and the needle-shaped contacts are delicate and expensive, and the number of labors required for fabrication is large. Therefore, there is a problem in that the productivity is very poor due to the need for minute parts, and therefore it is difficult to manufacture a large-scale integrated body such as a plurality of specimens or wafers in which probing is symmetrical.

[0003]

As described above, many conventional probers are needle-shaped, and therefore, the adjustment of the position relating to the contact with each pad during the manufacturing process is very troublesome, and a large number of test objects are required. Probing at once was difficult.

An object of the present invention is to perform probing with high precision and high reliability at a time on a plurality of subjects related to integrated circuit elements and liquid crystal display devices, a large scale integrated body such as a wafer, or a subject such as a liquid crystal display. It is possible to provide an inexpensive prober which is excellent in productivity and productivity.

[0005]

According to one feature of the present invention, an integrated circuit device prober is formed of a material having high rigidity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion, and is used for an object such as an integrated circuit device. A shaping part having an opening portion at a position corresponding to the arrangement of the pad, a contactor arranged so as to vertically penetrate the opening portion, and the contactor surrounding the opening portion. It is provided with an insulative elastic portion which is embedded and performs a holding function of the contactor and a buffer function.

In a preferred embodiment of such a prober for an integrated circuit device, the shaping section has a relatively small hole forming a part of the opening so as to mainly perform the positioning function of the contact. The formed relatively thin first plate portion and the remaining portion of the opening portion are superposed on the first plate portion so as to mainly perform the function of holding and cushioning the contact. The contactor has a double structure including a relatively thick second plate portion, and the contactor is formed of a material having flexibility and elasticity.

[0007] In another preferred embodiment, the opening portion mainly functions as a hole portion having a relatively small diameter so as to mainly perform the positioning function of the contactor, and functions as a holding and buffering margin of the contactor. As described above, the contactor is made of a material having flexibility and elasticity.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a prober for an integrated circuit device, which includes a shaping portion formed of a soft material.
And a contact made of a rigid material that is embedded so as to penetrate vertically through the shaping portion at a position corresponding to the arrangement of the pad of the subject such as an integrated circuit element.

In a preferred embodiment of such a prober for integrated circuit elements, at least a plurality of the contactors are arranged in parallel with respect to one of the corresponding pads.

In another preferred embodiment, a core member is inserted in the shaping section in order to improve the shape retainability.

According to another preferred embodiment, a prober for an integrated circuit element comprises a shaping substrate having a partition frame, and the shaping section is divided and arranged in each partition frame.

[0012] In another preferred embodiment, a conductive substrate is provided at a position corresponding to the pad of the object to be examined, and a relay board for electrically connecting to the main unit is provided, and the contactor of the shaping unit. Are configured to be brought into contact with respective corresponding conductive lands of the relay substrate by pressing directly or through elastic conductors. .

In still another preferred embodiment, the relay substrate is made of a film-shaped printed circuit board and is adhered to a supporting base, and the supporting base is ceramic or glass, or an insulating coating on the surface. Is formed of a material having a small thermal expansion coefficient, high rigidity, and a low thermal expansion coefficient.

In still another preferred embodiment, the contactor, when pressed against the pad of the subject, is coupled with an oxide film on the surface of the pad by a capacitance interposed therebetween. Is configured to exchange signals with the subject.

[0015]

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an integrated circuit device prober as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an application of the integrated circuit device prober of FIG. 1 to a subject for inspection. It is sectional drawing which shows a state. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the integrated circuit device prober of this embodiment is formed of a material having a high rigidity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion, and is a pad 8 of an object 7 such as an integrated circuit device. Shaping part 2 having openings 21A and 22A at positions corresponding to the arrangement of
And a contactor 1 arranged so as to vertically penetrate through the openings 21A and 22A, and a contact member 1 which is embedded so as to surround the contactor 1 in the openings and a buffering effect. And the insulating elastic portion 3 that fulfills the above function. The integrated circuit element prober of this embodiment further includes a relay board 5 having a circuit 4 for electrically connecting each contact 1 to another circuit such as a main device (not shown).
The relay board 5 is provided with a connector 6 for connecting to the main device.

The shaping part 2 can be formed in a plate shape with a material having high rigidity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion such as metal, ceramic or glass. The contactor 1 can be formed of a thin wire of a conductor such as carbon or metal having flexibility and elasticity that contacts the pad 8 of the subject 7 and the conductive land 10 of the relay substrate 5. Insulating elastic part 3
Can be formed of an insulating elastic material having flexibility and elasticity and insulating properties such as silicone rubber for the purpose of insulation and cushioning.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in which the subject 7 is added to the cross-section taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. An opening for arranging the contact 1 is formed on the substrate so as to correspond to the arrangement accuracy of the pads 8 formed on the subject 7 shown by the dotted line. The opening may be a simple hole, but in order to improve the arrangement accuracy of the contact 1, the first plate 21 which is relatively thin is used.
And a relatively thick second plate portion 22 whose main purpose is to hold the contactor 1 and to hold a cushioning allowance.
The first plate portion 21 is formed with a small-diameter hole 21A so that the contactor 1 can be precisely positioned. Meanwhile, the second
The plate portion 22 has a hole 22A having a relatively large diameter. With these small diameter holes 21A and large diameter holes 22A,
Each opening for disposing the contactor 1 is formed.

The shaping section 2 does not necessarily have to have a double structure as described above, but even if it is a shaping section having a single structure, in order to obtain the same effect, each hole related to the opening section has a small diameter. It is preferable that the structure is composed of the portion of (1) and the portion of relatively large diameter. However, when the rigid contactor 1 is used, the hole may have a simple shape, and further, since it is not necessary to increase the distance related to the deformation of the contactor 1, the whole thickness can be reduced. Further, the insulating elastic portion 3 does not need to fill the entire opening portion, and may be installed in only one portion such as the upper portion and the lower portion of the opening portion.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the details of the vicinity of the opening portion in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. A ring 31 made of an insulating material is fitted between the two. Thereby, when the contactor 1 is held at a position near the tip, the contactor 1 and the shaping part 2 are insulated, and the damper 32 is made of a curable insulative elastic material, each opening part is manufactured. It is possible to make the liquid leakage preventive action after the injection until the curing. In this case, the insulating elastic portion 3
Is composed of a ring 31 and a damper 32.

Regarding the connection between the contacts 1 and the relay substrate 5, the upper part of each contact 1 shown in FIG. 1 is printed, printed circuit board technology, etc. by using a conductive adhesive means such as solder, silver solder, welding or conductive paint. There is a general method of adhering to the conductive land 10 connected to the circuit 4 provided on the relay board 5 by the method, but as shown in FIG. 2, the contact 1 and the conductive land 10 are pressed by the pressure applied to the contact 1 during probing. They may be brought into contact with each other. In this case, there is an advantage that the contactor 1 can be easily manufactured and replaced. In this case, it is convenient that the conductive land 10 is formed in a larger size because it can cope with the displacement of the contact 1. Furthermore, by interposing an elastic conductor such as curable conductive rubber between each conductive land 10 and the contact 1, it is possible to stabilize the contact at this portion. With the configuration of this example, a prober that covers the entire wafer can be created, but it is also possible to expand the applicable area by combining the blocks in arbitrary units with the subject as a unit. .

Although the shaping section 2 is made of a material having high rigidity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this and can be made of an insulating elastic material. Such an embodiment of the present invention is shown in a sectional view in FIG. Also in this case, the contactor can be made of various conductive elastic materials or metal thinned. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the shaping section 2A is made into an anisotropic conductive element by embedding a contactor 1A made of several thin metal wires in an insulating elastic material. In general, the insulating elastic material is soft, and therefore, it is difficult to maintain the relative positional accuracy with the arrangement of the pads 8 with a single contact of a fine metal wire, so that a relative error between the two can be expected in one pad 8. On the other hand, a contactor 1A composed of several thin metal wires is used.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the structure of a shaping unit in still another embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the shaping unit 2B has the same shape as the shaping unit 2A in the embodiment of FIG. Although it is formed of an insulating elastic material, a core 11 made of an insulating material such as glass or ceramic or a conductor such as metal is inserted in the central portion. By doing so, it is possible to improve the retention of the shape of the shaping portion 2B against the ambient pressure. Also, this shaping unit 2
In B, a contactor 1A made up of several thin metal wires for one pad 8 and a contactor 1B made up of a large number of thin metal wires are buried in a region corresponding to the pad 8. Core 1
1 has an injection port 1 which has two functions as described below.
2 are provided.

Further, in order to support the contactor 1 in a wide range corresponding to a large-scale integrated body such as a wafer with an accuracy capable of accommodating the arrangement of the pads of the subject, the following embodiment may be adopted. Shaper 2 or 2 as described above
The unit of the anisotropic conductive element constituted by A or 2B is formed so as to cover a range of about one unit or several units with the subject as a unit. And FIG.
As shown in the perspective view, a shaping substrate 14 having a partition frame 13 and made of a material such as ceramic or glass or a metal having a low coefficient of thermal expansion is prepared. By accommodating the shaping part 2 or 2A or 2B in each frame defined by the partition frame 13 of such a shaping substrate 14, a large number of contacts can be arranged with high precision over a wide range corresponding to a large-scale integrated body. Can be a prober. The partition frame 13 may be machined integrally with the shaping substrate 14, or may be formed separately from a metal plate having a low coefficient of thermal expansion and high rigidity, and assembled.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the shaping substrate 1
It is possible to form the fixing holes 15 at four positions on the periphery of the connector 4 and to mount the shaping substrate 14 on the relay substrate 5 by using these fixing holes 15. At this time, an insulating sheet or the like is interposed in order to prevent a short circuit of the wiring on the relay board 5. The partition frame 13 is the shaping unit 2 or 2
It has a grid-like structure according to the size of A or 2B,
At the time of assembling, the anisotropic conductive unit (the unit of the shaping unit in which the contact is arranged) is pushed into each individual grid structure, and
In the case of the shaping section 2B as shown in FIG. 5, the adhesive can be poured from the injection port 12 and fixed to the relay board 7.

As the electrical connection means between the contact 1 and the wiring formed on the surface of the relay substrate 5, the conductive lands 1 of the same arrangement are provided on both sides by the printed circuit board technique as described above.
0 is provided, and the contact is made by pressing directly or through an elastic conductor such as conductive rubber.

The shaping substrate 1 having the partition frame 13 as described above
4 is a shaping part 2 made of a material with high rigidity and low thermal expansion coefficient
Can be applied to an anisotropic conductive element according to the above, and a prober for a large-scale integrated body can be easily constructed, and by adopting a system in which a conductive land 10 is provided on the contact 1 and the relay substrate 5, Since the anisotropic conductive units can be replaced in units, maintenance is facilitated, and a rigid contactor 1 is used by disposing an elastic conductor such as conductive rubber on the conductive land 10 of the relay board 5. It can also be accommodated.

The relay board 5 is not a normal printed circuit board-like support, but is formed of a material having high rigidity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion, such as ceramic or glass, or a metal having a small coefficient of thermal expansion and having an insulating coating on the surface. By adhering the relay substrate 5 to a base (not shown), it is possible to reduce the effects of thermal expansion and the like, but a supporting substrate having an insulating coating formed on its surface by means such as electrodeposition, vapor deposition, and sticking. Wiring for connecting to other electric circuits can be formed on the base by a direct printed wiring technique or the like.

Regarding the contact resistance and the resistance of the contactor 1 itself, the pad for handling the signal of the object may have a relatively high resistance, but the pad for the power supply system needs to have a low resistance. Conductive elastic body is used for the signal contactor 1, and the contactor 1 using different kinds of conductive materials such as the contactor 1 using a metal thin wire for power supply is mixed. Of course, it is possible for elements.

The contact 1 of the anisotropic conductive element is usually made of a hard metal wire such as tungsten carbide or steel, or a hard elastic material such as hardened by quenching or surface treatment. Although a wire is applied, the tip of the metal wire slightly moves on the pad due to the moment generated by the pressure during probing, so that the so-called self-cleaning action is performed, and the oxide film that normally exists on the pad surface is destroyed, so that probing is performed reliably. be able to.

Further, when the contactor 1 is made of a carbon-based conductive rubber or the like having a great elasticity and flexibility, it is easy to adhere to the pad, but the oxide film as described above is formed. When present, it is difficult to obtain DC conductivity. However, for example, in the case of a pad for a signal, the contactor corresponding thereto may have a relatively high impedance. Therefore, by coupling the oxide film with a capacitance using a dielectric substance, it is possible to influence the operation of the subject. It can be configured to send and receive a pulse or an alternating signal.

For example, if the effective facing area S between the pad and the prober is 6400 μm ² and the thickness t of the oxide film grown on the surface of the pad is 0.1 μm, the capacitance C
₁ is C ₁ = ε ₀ · ε _s · S / t, where ε ₀ = vacuum dielectric constant 8.854 × 10 ⁻¹² (F /
m) ε _s = The relative dielectric constant of the oxide film AlO ₂ of the pad is about 45 pF from about 8.0. Since the input capacitance C ₂ between the general MOS-IC and the ground is about 5 pF per input,
The reactance ratio XC ₁ / XC ₂ is about 9: 1,
The attenuation of the input signal is about 10%. However, regarding the output relation, if the stray capacitance of the printed circuit board or the like up to the terminals of the input buffer is large, the attenuation is also large, so it is necessary to consider to shorten the wiring to the input buffer.

At present, aluminum is mostly used as the material for the wiring of the IC and the pad 7, so that when probing is performed, a contact failure due to an oxide film present on the surface always becomes a problem. By utilizing such an oxide film as a dielectric, it can be AC-coupled with the pad 8.

FIG. 7 is an equivalent circuit showing a state of electrical coupling between the pair of contacts 1 and the pad 8 according to this method. The AC or pulse signal transmitted from the signal source 16 is generated on the surface of the pad 8. IC18 indicated by a dotted line frame via the capacitance component 171 between the contact 1 and the pad 8 using the oxide film as a dielectric pair.
Is applied to the signal input circuit of, but in this case, the capacitance C when the thickness of the oxide film of the pad 8 is about 0.1 μm.
₁ and the reactance ratio XC ₁ / XC ₂ between the signal input circuit of the FET 19 inside the MOS-IC 18 represented by the input capacitance 172 and the capacitance C ₂ between the grounds is about 9: 1, and the input signal is attenuated by the coupling. Is about 10%. The contactor 1 in this system is preferably made of a material such as carbon-based conductive rubber that is soft and can be closely adhered to the pad 8. In this circuit, the resistance component and stray capacitance of the circuit from the signal source 16 to the contact 1 are omitted.

By interposing an anisotropic conductive element based on such a principle between the object to be examined and the relay substrate 5, it is possible to transmit AC or pulse signals. But,
For the pad 8 which requires direct current contact such as power supply or grounding, a contactor 1 using an anisotropic conductive element using a thin metal wire.
It is also possible to combine ordinary metal contacts and the like. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a prober that is large in flexibility and elasticity and strong against the oxide film of the pad.

The parts such as the circuit board 4 and the conductive lands 10 formed on the surface of the relay substrate 5 and the support base in the above-described embodiment can be formed by the IC manufacturing technique, and can be formed with other devices. Similarly, circuits related to connection, etc., and functional circuits such as driver circuits, interface circuits, etc. can be simultaneously formed by the IC manufacturing technique on the relay substrate 5 and the support base provided with the insulating film. Further, it is possible to cope with the recent trend of finer pad area and pitch interval due to the improvement of the integration degree of IC circuits.

[0037]

The prober for an integrated circuit device according to the present invention eliminates the conventional drawbacks. The contactor is installed through the insulating elastic material in the opening portion of the shaping portion or the flexible shaping portion. By burying the contactor in the pad and deforming the shaping part or cushioning with the conductive elastic body, the position with the pad can always be kept accurate, and the rigidity of the shaping substrate can be increased or the partition frame and the shaping substrate can be used. Due to the structure in which the anisotropic conductive units are integrated in the structure, it is possible to simultaneously perform probing of a large-scale integrated body of IC such as a wafer, and moreover, it is easy to manufacture, suitable for mass production, and inexpensive. Have

Therefore, the inspection and aging performed in the latter stage of the semiconductor manufacturing process are performed in the initial process to eliminate defective products, thereby preventing waste in the subsequent process and probing the object on the wafer at the same time. With this, it is possible to retroactively determine process defects such as the defect distribution state on the wafer being found and the defect of the IC pattern mask to be found, thereby significantly improving the production efficiency of the semiconductor manufacturing line. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a prober for an integrated circuit device as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the prober for integrated circuit elements of FIG. 1 is applied to a subject for inspection.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing details of the vicinity of the opening in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a shaping unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a structure of a shaping unit according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a shaping substrate having a partition frame used in the prober of still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a prober in which an oxide film of a pad is bonded as a dielectric in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 contactor 1A contactor 1B contactor 2 shaping part 2A shaping part 2B shaping part 3 insulating elastic part 4 circuit 5 relay board 6 connector 7 subject 8 pad 10 conductive land 11 core 12 injection port 13 partition frame 14 shaping board 15 Stop hole 16 Signal source 18 MOS-IC 19 FET 21 First plate portion 21A Small diameter hole 22 Second plate portion 22A Large diameter hole 31 Ring 32 Damper 171 Capacitance component 172 Input capacitance

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A shaping section formed of a material having high rigidity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion and having an opening at a position corresponding to the arrangement of a pad of a subject such as an integrated circuit element, and the opening. A contact arranged so as to vertically penetrate the portion, and an insulative elastic portion which is embedded in the opening so as to surround the contact and holds the contact and acts as a buffer. A prober for integrated circuit devices, characterized by comprising: 2. The relatively thin first plate portion having a relatively small hole forming a part of the opening so that the shaping portion mainly performs a positioning function of the contactor, A relatively thick second plate portion which is superposed on the first plate portion and constitutes the remaining portion of the opening so as to mainly perform the function of holding and buffering the contact. The prober for an integrated circuit element according to claim 1, wherein the prober has a heavy structure, and the contactor is formed of a material having flexibility and elasticity. 3. The hole portion having a relatively small diameter so as to mainly perform the positioning function of the contactor, and the relatively large opening so as to mainly perform the function of holding and buffering the contactor. And a contact hole,
The prober for an integrated circuit element according to claim 1, which is formed of a material having flexibility and elasticity. 4. A shaping material formed of a soft material and a rigid material embedded so as to penetrate vertically through the shaping portion at a position corresponding to the arrangement of pads of a subject such as an integrated circuit element. A prober for an integrated circuit device, which comprises: 5. The contact is one of the corresponding pads.
5. The integrated circuit device prober according to claim 4, wherein at least a plurality of the probers are provided side by side. 6. The prober for an integrated circuit element according to claim 4, wherein a core member is inserted into the shaping section in order to improve the shape retainability. 7. The prober for an integrated circuit element according to claim 1, further comprising a shaping substrate having a partition frame, wherein the shaping section is divided and arranged in each partition frame. 8. A relay board is provided for providing a conductive land at a position corresponding to the pad of the object to be electrically connected to a main device, and a contactor of the shaping unit is provided in each of the relay boards. 8. The prober for an integrated circuit element according to claim 1, which is configured to be brought into contact with a corresponding conductive land by pressing directly or through an elastic conductor. 9. The relay board is made of a film-shaped printed board and is adhered to a support base. The support base has ceramic or glass, or an insulating coating formed on the surface, and has a small coefficient of thermal expansion. 9. The integrated circuit device prober according to claim 8, which is formed of a material having high rigidity and a low thermal expansion coefficient. 10. When the contactor is pressed against the pad of the subject, the contactor is coupled with an oxide film on the surface of the pad by an electrostatic capacitance interposed between the contactor and the subject, so that the contactor is contacted with the subject. Claim 1 configured to send and receive signals by
9. A prober for integrated circuit devices according to any one of 1 to 9.