JPH08122363A - Probe pin structural body and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a probe pin structural body of high reliability which is strongly reinforced and secured, by fixing an interval between a probe pin and a weir plate by a fixing material, and projecting the probe pin from the surface of tire fixing material. CONSTITUTION: A probe pin 2 and weir plates 3, 4 are fixed each other by a fixing material. The fixing material never runs up the pin 2 and the thickness is uniform. The pin 2 can be rigidly fixed in a state having a front end thereof surely exposed. Accordingly, the positional accuracy of the pin 2 is good and no bending, etc., is brought about. The front end of the pin 2 can be accurately brought in touch with an electrode terminal of a semiconductor or the like to be inspected. Thus, a probe pin structural body of high reliability which achieves sure connection between the pin 2 and an externally leading wiring of a wired substrate 6 is easily obtained. For the fixing material, an epoxy composition highly filled with fillers, particularly, an epoxy resin of a type set by acid anhydride highly filled with filler is desirable because of its small shrinkage at the set time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a semiconductor device (IC, L
The present invention relates to a probe pin structure for probe card used for electrical continuity test, operation test, defect detection, etc. by contacting respective electrode portions of SI, VLSI, etc.) and other electrical characteristic measuring probe pin structure and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A probe pin of a probe card used for an electrical continuity test, an operation test, a defect detection, etc. of a semiconductor element is a semiconductor evaluation electrode in which a tip of a tungsten wire is bent in a "dogleg" shape. One to contact the part
The book has been used by fixing the position, but with the rapid miniaturization of semiconductors, it is difficult to fix the tungsten wire with high precision and high density, and the production of the probe card is limited. Therefore, there has been devised a probe card in which fine probe pins are planted on a substrate vertically or at an appropriate inclination angle. For example, a method has been proposed in which a position-controlled single crystal is manufactured by a VLS method and applied to a probe pin for a probe card (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 5-198636 and 5-218156). .

In these methods, a single crystal pin whose position is controlled is grown on a silicon substrate, and a conductive single crystal pin (hereinafter referred to as a probe pin) is produced by making it conductive by plating or the like. However, since the mechanical strength of the joint between the silicon substrate and the probe pin is insufficient, the finer the pattern, the greater the problem. For example, during ultrasonic cleaning, it was often found that the tip of the probe pin fell down. In order to improve this, a method of fixing and reinforcing with a resin such as an epoxy resin was examined. That is, a method of exposing the tip of a probe pin that has been made conductive by growing it to a thickness of about 1.5 mm on a silicon substrate and fixing its root with resin was examined.
The resin needs to be a low-viscosity liquid so that the resin can be easily spread on the substrate surface between the probe pins and cover the substrate surface. As shown, there is a problem that the resin creeps up due to the capillary phenomenon and the pin tip cannot be exposed, or the resin flows out.
Further, since the resin between the probe pin and the barrier plate crawls up, the thickness of the resin is reduced and becomes extremely thin, so that there is a problem that it cannot be sufficiently reinforced and fixed.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its object is to provide a probe pin with high positional accuracy, without bending, and to ensure that the tip of the probe pin is fixed. An exposed probe pin structure that can be accurately brought into contact with an electrode terminal such as a semiconductor, which is an object to be inspected, and reliable conduction between the probe pin and the external lead-out wiring of the wiring board. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable probe pin structure that is firmly reinforced and fixed, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0005]

A feature of the present invention is that the probe pin and the dam plate are fixed by a fixing material, and the probe pin projects from the surface of the fixing material. Further, the method for producing a probe pin of the present invention, on the substrate on which the probe pin is present, arrange a dam plate having a shape such that the base portion of the probe pin and its periphery are exposed, and the base portion of the probe pin and its It is characterized in that the exposed portion of the peripheral substrate surface is covered with a fixing material and cured to fix the probe pin.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show process steps of the manufacturing method of the present invention. An example of the structure of an assembly using the probe pin structure of the present invention is shown in FIGS. The probe pin structure of the present invention is characterized in that the probe pin 2 is fixed to the barrier plates 3 and 4 and the fixing material 5. This probe pin structure is further joined to a wiring board and used as a probe pin assembly in a probe card. The wiring circuit for external drawing when used for a probe card may be separately manufactured as a wiring board or may be formed on or inside a board included in the probe pin structure. Also,
The wiring circuit may be a semiconductor circuit or a printed wiring circuit.

The method of manufacturing the probe pin structure of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 and the features of the probe pin structure of the present invention will be described. 2 and 3
Is a barrier plate 3 on a substrate on which a large number of probe pins are present,
4 is a view (FIG. 2; sectional view, FIG. 3; plan view) in which 4 are arranged, but at this time, they are arranged so that the bases of these probe pins and the periphery thereof are exposed.

The substrate having a large number of probe pins used in the present invention may be manufactured by any method.
It is a preferable method because the substrate on which a large number of single crystal pins are grown by controlling the position by the method can handle a large number of pins and the position controllability is easy. For example, gold or platinum is plated on a silicon wafer at a predetermined position and heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of gold or platinum, and silicon is supplied by a method of introducing a gas such as silicon tetrachloride and hydrogen. A single crystal of silicon is grown at the position of platinum, that is, manufactured by the VLS method.

As shown in FIG. 2, after the silicon substrate having a large number of single crystal pins manufactured in this manner is made conductive by plating, sputtering, vacuum deposition, etc. and the conductive film is made thick by electrolytic plating, etc. The weir plates 3 and 4 are arranged so that the periphery of the probe pin is exposed. At this time, the bottom surface of the barrier plates 3 and 4 is coated with, for example, a liquid fixing material whose viscosity is increased by a filler or the like, and the liquid fixing material is arranged and fixed on the substrate. It is preferable that the fixing material be made to flow out so as to cover the exposed portion of the substrate surface around the pin because workability is good, but after disposing the dam plate, the exposed substrate surface around the probe pin is exposed. A method of filling the portion with the fixing material may be used. In this way, the structure shown in FIG. 4 is obtained.

The barrier plates 3 and 4 used in the present invention may be made of any material as long as they are chemically stable and have a high reinforcing effect. For example, a heat resistant resin such as epoxy resin, polyimide resin, polyphenylene oxide (PPO) or the like. An electrically insulating material such as glass or ceramics can be used. These materials are processed into a shape such that the base portion of the probe pin and its periphery are exposed, and the thickness of the barrier plate is preferably 50 μm to 2 mm in order to maintain appropriate reinforcing strength, but 500 μm to It is more preferably 1500 μm. At this time, the tip of the probe pin is 10 μm to 1500 μm in order to obtain a proper contact pressure and good conduction.
It preferably projects from the fixing material. In FIGS. 1 to 5, the weir plate uses an inner weir plate and an outer weir plate of the probe pin, but only one of them may be provided by adjusting the viscosity of the fixing material. When only the outer barrier plate is used, the protrusion length can be easily controlled, which is more practically preferable.

The fixing material used in the present invention is a liquid at room temperature or high temperature, and has a high viscosity to be cured to develop the bonding strength and to serve as an insulating material in order to reduce the creeping to the probe pin due to the capillary phenomenon. However, an epoxy composition highly filled with a filler, particularly an acid anhydride-curable epoxy resin highly filled with a filler, is preferable because the curing shrinkage is small. The filler to be filled may be an insulating powder such as alumina powder, kaolin clay powder, silica powder, or glass powder, but inorganic powder is particularly preferable. This fixing material is applied to the bottom surface of the weir plate, placed on the substrate so that the periphery of the probe pin is exposed, and the liquid fixing material is exuded from under the weir plate by heating and pressing, and the probe pin base and The exposed substrate surface around it can be coated. This is gelled by heating and completely cured. It is preferable that the heating gelation temperature is lower than the above heating and pressurizing temperature because it has an effect of suppressing creeping to the probe pin.

The probe pin thus fixed and reinforced with the fixing material can be used while being fixed to the substrate as shown in FIG. 4 or by removing the substrate as shown in FIG. it can. When it is used as it is fixed to the substrate, for example, a single crystal pin is grown by the VLS method, and the single crystal pin and the wiring for external drawing are made conductive by plating, and then fixed by the method of the present invention. Then, the probe pins are fixed and the whole substrate is used as it is. A typical example of this method is a single crystal S on a SiO ₂ substrate.
This is a method using an SOI substrate on which i is formed.

When the substrate is removed and used as shown in FIG. 5, the substrate is removed by polishing or the like to expose the lower end face of the probe pin, and the exposed end face is plated with gold or the like. The bump 7 is formed. Next, as shown in FIG. 1, it is joined to the external lead-out wiring 8 of the wiring board to form a probe pin structure. This probe pin structure has a large number of probe pins when there are a large number of terminals for measuring electrical characteristics such as for a probe card, and the larger the number, the more remarkable the effect of the present invention. It is valid. This probe pin structure can be used as a probe for various electrical characteristics including a probe card.

[0014]

In the probe pin structure of the present invention, the dam plate is arranged on the substrate having a large number of probe pins so that the base portion of the probe pin and its periphery are exposed, and then the probe pin base portion and its periphery are exposed. It is manufactured by covering the exposed substrate surface, that is, between the probe pin and the dam plate with a fixing material. The dam plate can prevent the fixing material from creeping up to the probe pin and flowing out, and the base portion of the probe pin can be fixed and reinforced with a stable thickness. The probe pin structure of the present invention is one in which the probe pin and the dam plate are fixed with a fixing material as described above, and there is no crawl on the probe pin and the thickness thereof is uniform and the tip of the probe pin is Since the probe pin can be firmly fixed in the state where is surely exposed, the position accuracy of the probe pin is good,
There are no problems such as bending. Therefore, a highly reliable probe pin structure in which the tip of the probe pin can be brought into accurate contact with an electrode terminal such as a semiconductor that is an object to be inspected, and reliable conduction can be obtained between the probe pin and the external lead wiring of the wiring board. The body is easily obtained.

[0015]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. Example 1 [ Manufacture of Substrate with Probe Pins ] 300 gold pads were formed on a silicon wafer by the photolithography method at the same positions as the electrodes of the semiconductor to be inspected. Further, this silicon wafer was half-etched to form a gold pad on a silicon plateau. The silicon wafer thus processed was reacted with silicon tetrachloride gas and hydrogen gas in a reaction tube to grow a silicon single crystal at the gold pad position. The single crystal had a thickness of 18 μm, a length of 2000 μm, and 300 pins. A silicon wafer and a single crystal pin were electrolessly nickel-plated and then gold-plated to a thickness of 1.5 μm to make them electrically conductive, to prepare a substrate with a probe pin.

[ Production of dam plate ] 80 g of methyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride (abbreviation Me-THPA) and 100 g of bis-phenol A type epoxy resin and 2,4,6-tris (dimethylaminomethyl) phenol (abbreviation DMP-3)
0) 2 g, kaolin clay powder 100 g, fine powder silica 2
An epoxy composition containing g was coated on a substrate to a thickness of about 1 mm and semi-cured. Next, from this film, the inner barrier plate 2.5 mm × 2.5 mm and the outer barrier plate 12 m
A barrier plate having a shape of m × 12 mm and a central hole of 5 mm × 5 mm was punched out, and these were heat-cured in an oven at 150 ° C. for 3 hours.

[ Production of Fixing Material ] 100 g of bisphenol A type epoxy resin, 80 g of Me-THPA and DMP
2 g of -30 and 120 g of kaolin clay powder were mixed to produce a paste-like epoxy composition, which was used as a liquid fixing material.

[ Fixing of Probe Pins ] The above liquid fixing material is applied to one side of the barrier plate manufactured as described above, and the application surface is made to face the substrate side under a microscope as shown in FIG. It was set on the wafer. Then, the barrier plates 3 and 4 are heated to 120 ° C. to pressurize the liquid fixing material, and the probe pin base and the surrounding substrate surface are embedded with a thickness of 1000 μm as shown in FIG. did. Cool rapidly to room temperature and then in an oven at 100 ° C for 5 hours, 1
It was cured by heating at 50 ° C. for 5 hours. At this time, the tip of the probe pin was projected by 1000 μm from the surface of the fixing material. The fixed probe pin was ultrasonically cleaned for 10 minutes, but no damage to the probe pin was observed. Furthermore, it is attached to a bakelite jig and the silicon wafer part is polished and removed to expose the lower part of the probe pin, the electroless nickel plating is selectively applied to the silicon of the core of the exposed part, and the probe pin is electroplated with gold. Gold bumps were formed underneath. Even when subjected to these operations, damage to the probe pin was not recognized, and the positional accuracy of the probe pin was all 5 μm or less.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the bumps 7 on the lower portion of the probe pin structure are connected to the wiring 8 for external extraction of the wiring board.
Was joined to prepare a probe pin assembly. Using this, a probe was brought into contact with the semiconductor, which is the object to be inspected, and a continuity test was conducted.

(Embodiment 2) A substrate having a structure in which two single-crystal silicon wafers whose surfaces are oxidized are heat-treated and one of the substrates is polished to form a silicon single-crystal thin film of 3 to 10 μm on the oxide film. (SOI substrate). 500 Å of gold was vapor-deposited on the silicon single crystal thin film of this SOI substrate, and a resist was spin-coated on the gold vapor-deposited film. Then, a gold wiring pattern was formed by using the photolithography method and the etching method, and the resist was removed. A resist was spin-coated on the gold pattern, a desired position was developed by a photolithography method, and gold plating having a thickness of 10 μm was formed (gold bump formation). After removing the resist, the silicon single crystal thin film was etched, and then the gold vapor deposition film was etched. The processed SOI substrate thus obtained had a structure in which a single crystal silicon thin film wiring was formed on a single crystal silicon wafer through an oxide film and gold bumps were formed on this wiring. The SOI substrate thus processed was caused to react with silicon tetrachloride gas and hydrogen gas in a reaction tube to grow a silicon single crystal at the position of the gold pad. Single crystal is 18μm thick and 1400μ long
The number was m and the number of pins was 300. The gold / silicon alloy portion at the tip of the pin is removed by polishing, then the silicon thin film wiring and the single crystal pin formed on the oxide film are electroless nickel plated, and then gold plated to a thickness of 1.5 μm to make them conductive. A wiring board with probe pins was produced by cutting the lead-out portion of the plating electrode.

Next, instead of the barrier plate of Example 1, a glass plate having a thickness of 0.5 mm and a thickness of 25 mm × 25 mm having a hole of 5 mm × 5 mm formed by etching was used as an outer barrier plate. The probe pin was fixed to the outside of the probe pin on the substrate on which the wiring was formed with the liquid fixing material as in Example 1. The position accuracy of this probe pin is 6
It is less than μm, and as a result of conducting a continuity test by bringing a probe into contact with a semiconductor to be inspected using this, it is confirmed that the probe pin structure has good electrical continuity at all junction points and is good. Do you get it.

(Comparative Example 1) A bisphenol type epoxy resin using Hexamethylenetetramine as a curing agent (Epicoat 8 manufactured by Yuka Shell Co., Ltd.) was formed on the substrate with probe pins of Example 1.
28) was applied, but the tip of the probe pin could not be exposed because the creeping up between the probe pins was large. After curing, movement of the probe pin position due to curing contraction and many tilted probe pins were recognized.

(Comparative Example 2) The paste-like fixing material produced in Example 1 was attempted to be applied onto the probe pin-attached substrate of Example 1, but the viscosity was too high to be applied directly. Therefore, an attempt was made to improve the coatability by adding an organic solvent, but the amount of creeping up to the probe pin became large and the probe pin could not be exposed. Therefore, when applied with a small brush, a good probe pin structure could not be obtained because it was damaged by contact with the probe pin or resin was attached to the tip of the probe pin.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, a large number of fine probe pins can be stably fixed in a fixed position with their tips exposed reliably, have good positional accuracy, and can be pulled out externally. It is possible to easily provide a probe pin structure for a highly reliable probe card capable of ensuring a reliable electrical connection with wiring and for measuring other electrical characteristics. Its industrial value is high. In particular, it is useful as a probe pin structure for measuring electrical characteristics, which is used for high-density semiconductors which are increasingly miniaturized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of an assembly using a probe pin structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a step in the method of manufacturing the probe pin structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a step of the method of manufacturing the probe pin structure of the present invention shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a step in the method of manufacturing the probe pin structure of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a step in the method of manufacturing the probe pin structure of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a method for manufacturing a probe pin structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1; substrate 2; probe pin 3; inner barrier plate 4; outer barrier plate 5; fixing material 6; wiring substrate 7; bumps 8; external drawing wiring

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A probe pin structure, characterized in that a space between the probe pin and the barrier plate is fixed by a fixing material, and the probe pin projects from the surface of the fixing material. 2. A dam plate having a shape such that the base of the probe pin and its periphery are exposed is disposed on the substrate on which the probe pin is present, and the substrate surface of the base of the probe pin and its periphery is exposed. A method for manufacturing a probe pin structure, characterized in that the probe pin is fixed by covering the hardened portion with a fixing material and curing it.