JPH10288628A - Probe guard - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable measurement with the application of a high voltage, without breaking high withstand voltage elements. SOLUTION: A probe card 10 has an opening 12 in the center of a base 11, and on it a plurality of blades 14 with each one end penetrating the opening 12 and with the other end fixed to the base 11 are arranged radially. To one end of each blade 14 a conductive needle 15 to be brought into contact with a pad of a semiconductor element to be measured is stuck and fixed. The blades 14 are electrically connected by distributing wires 17 directly to terminal pins 13 provided along the periphery of the base 11, and to be connected to a measuring apparatus, and besides connected also to other terminal pins 13 by resistors 16 and distributing wires 18. Consequently, it becomes possible to measure a high withstand voltage element applying a high voltage by the use of one probe card 10, not to mention of a low withstand voltage element, by utilizing the terminal pins 13 connected to the resistors 16 having a current limiting function.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe card and, more particularly, to a probe for electrically connecting a wafer and a measuring device when testing and evaluating semiconductor elements in a wafer state in a semiconductor manufacturing process. About the card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At the stage of designing a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit, the performance of the semiconductor device is evaluated in a wafer state. A measuring device for evaluating the performance of such a semiconductor device includes a prober stage for holding and controlling and moving a wafer to be measured in accordance with the position of the semiconductor device to be measured, and electrodes of the semiconductor device formed on the wafer. The probe card includes a probe card for bringing a conductive needle into contact with the pad, and an adapter for collectively connecting the probe card to the semiconductor device and connecting to a test apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional probe card. The illustrated probe card 1 has a disk-shaped base 3 having an opening 2 in the center, a plurality of, for example, 60 terminal pins 4 standing concentrically near the outer peripheral edge of the base 3, and an opening 2. A plurality of blades 5 and conductive needles 6 are provided radially on the outside of the device, and a wiring 7 connecting the blades 5 and the terminal pins 4 as necessary.

A required number of blades 5 are prepared in accordance with the number of pads of the semiconductor element to be measured, and are fixed to a pattern provided on the surface of the base 3 by soldering, though not shown. At this time, each blade 5 is fixed so that the tip of the conductive needle 6 fixed to the tip is at a predetermined position. Each blade 5 is electrically connected to a terminal pin 4 by a wiring 7. The terminal pin 4 is inserted into a receiver provided on the adapter of the measuring device,
Thus, the probe card 1 is held. Therefore, the terminal pins 4 have not only a function as a terminal for making an electrical connection to the test apparatus, but also a function of holding the probe card 1 itself. It is provided at the terminal pin position.

At the time of measurement, the probe card 1 is mounted on the adapter via the terminal pins 4 and is held at a position facing the wafer to be measured placed on the prober stage. Here, the prober stage moves three-dimensionally to bring a predetermined pad on the wafer into contact with a predetermined needle 6 of the probe card 1. In this state, the performance of the semiconductor device is evaluated by applying a voltage to the semiconductor device on the wafer from the test apparatus through the adapter, the terminal pin 4, the wiring 7, the blade 5, and the conductive needle 6.

[0006]

In recent years, the withstand voltage of devices has been increasing even in multi-output integrated circuits, and the number of devices having both low withstand voltage portions and high withstand voltage portions has increased. When testing such an element, there is no problem if the low-withstand-voltage portion is measured using a conventional probe card for measuring low-withstand-voltage elements. However, when trying to measure the high breakdown voltage part, even if the current limiter of the measurement system is set, a high voltage is applied for several milliseconds beyond the limiter, and the element is destroyed, and the characteristic evaluation is performed. There was a problem that became impossible.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a probe card capable of performing measurement without destroying a high breakdown voltage element.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a probe card having a conductive needle for making an electrical measurement by contacting an electrode of a semiconductor element is provided.
A probe card is provided, comprising current limiting means between a needle directly contacting an electrode of a semiconductor element and a terminal pin connected to an external device for electrical measurement.

According to the above structure, the current limiting means is provided between the needle and the terminal pin, so that when the semiconductor element to be measured is a high withstand voltage element, the current limiting means can be applied even when a high measuring voltage is applied. Since the current in the device is limited, the semiconductor device can be measured and evaluated without being destroyed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the probe card of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a probe card 10 according to the present invention has a disk-shaped base 11, and a circular opening 12 is provided at the center thereof. The base 11 has three rows of holes arranged concentrically, and each row of rows is constituted by, for example, 60 holes drilled at equal intervals. A terminal pin 13 is fixed to each hole of the outer row of holes. Between the inner row of holes and the opening 12, the number of blades 14 required for measurement are radially arranged and fixed to the base 11. A conductive needle 15 is fixed to the tip of each blade 14 in the opening 12. Each blade 14 has a resistance 1
One of the terminals 6 is fixed by soldering or the like. The holes corresponding to the blades 14 in the inner hole row are connected to appropriate holes in the middle hole row by wiring 17. The other terminal of the resistor 16 is connected to an appropriate hole in an intermediate hole row by a wiring 18. Although not shown, in the two rows of holes arranged outside and in the middle of the base 11, holes aligned in the radial direction are pattern-wired on the back side. Are wired in the corresponding holes and on the back side.

Here, the terminal pins 13 directly connected to the blades 14 by the wirings 17, that is, the terminal pins 13 in the range indicated by the symbol a in the figure are used when measuring a low breakdown voltage element. The terminal pins 13 connected to the blade 14 by the wiring 18 and the resistor 16, that is, the terminal pins 13 in a range indicated by a symbol “b” in the figure are used when measuring a high breakdown voltage element. Accordingly, even when a high voltage for measurement is applied to the high-voltage element via the resistor 16 during measurement of the high-voltage element, the current flowing through the element is limited by the resistance 16, and
Destruction of the high breakdown voltage element is prevented.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a longitudinal section of the probe card. As shown in FIG. 2, the blade 14 is formed in an L shape, and a horizontal portion thereof is fixed to the base 11, and a vertical portion penetrates the opening 12. A conductive needle 15 is fixed obliquely to the free end of the vertical portion of the blade 14 so as to descend toward the center of the opening 12, and the free end side tip portion is bent vertically in the middle. . The needle 15 is made of a thin and rigid material, for example, tungsten. At the time of measurement, the wafer rises from below, and the pad of the semiconductor element to be measured is
5 will come into contact with the tip.

One end of a resistor 16 for limiting the current when measuring a high breakdown voltage element is fixed to a horizontal portion of the blade 14, and the other end is connected to a predetermined position by a wiring 18 or using a lead of the resistor itself. You.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the semiconductor forming surface of the wafer. In this figure, a portion indicated by a square is a chip 20 which is cut and separated by scribing, and in this example, includes a low voltage portion such as a control circuit and a high voltage portion such as a drive circuit. And Here, pads 21 of a low voltage portion are provided in one row along the illustrated left edge of the chip 20, and pads 22 of a high voltage portion are provided in a row at the right edge. ing. However, the pad 21 of the low voltage portion and the pad 22 of the high voltage portion are respectively arranged at positions that are multiples of the shortest distance between adjacent pads. In this way, after the aligned conductive needles 15 are brought into contact with, for example, the pads 21 and a predetermined voltage is applied to measure the circuit in the low voltage portion, the wafer is moved, and then the same probe card 10 By contacting the conductive needle 15 with the pad 22 and applying a predetermined voltage, the circuit in the high voltage portion can be measured. As described above, the measurement of the circuit of the low voltage portion and the measurement of the circuit of the high voltage portion can be continuously performed without replacing the probe card 10. Of course, the terminal pins 13 in the range indicated by reference symbol a in FIG. 1 are used when measuring the circuit in the low voltage portion, and the terminal pins 13 in the range indicated by reference symbol b in FIG. Is used.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to those embodiments. For example, although a resistor is used as a device having a current limiting function, a current limiting circuit that does not flow more than a predetermined current by an active element may be mounted instead of the resistor.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, in order to perform an electrical measurement of a low-breakdown-voltage semiconductor device, the probe is electrically bisected from a needle contacting a pad of the low-breakdown-voltage semiconductor device, and one is directly The other was configured to be connected to a terminal pin connected to a measuring device via a resistor. Thus, when electrical measurement of the high-breakdown-voltage semiconductor element is performed, measurement and evaluation can be performed without destroying the high-breakdown-voltage semiconductor element by measuring through the terminal pin having the resistor interposed. Also, for measurement of an element in which a low-voltage semiconductor element and a high-voltage semiconductor element are mixed, measurement and evaluation of the low-voltage semiconductor element and the high-voltage semiconductor element can be performed with one probe card.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a probe card of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a vertical cross section of a probe card.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing a semiconductor formation surface of a wafer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional probe card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Probe card 11 Base 12 Opening 13 Terminal pin 14 Blade 15 Needle 16 Resistance 17, 18 Wiring

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A probe card provided with a conductive needle for performing electrical measurement by contacting an electrode of a semiconductor element, wherein the probe is connected to an external device for electrical measurement and a needle directly contacting the electrode of the semiconductor element. A current limiting means between the terminal card and the terminal pin. 2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein said current limiting means is a resistor. 3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a terminal pin electrically connected directly to one of said needles and a terminal pin electrically connected to said needle via said current limiting means. The described probe card.