JPH1116964A - Prober - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to maintain reliably the site of an object of measurement on a thin plate at a set temperature without a temperature unevenness by a method wherein the thin plates and high-low temperature units, which are placed on a stage part, are moved relatively to each other using an X-Y movement mechanism and the thin plate is locally heated or cooled by the high-low temperature units. SOLUTION: An IC wafer, which is an object of inspection, is placed on the upper side mount surface 4A of a stage part 4 to make a test for the wafer. A circular space 21A, wherein high-low temperature units 6 can be moved relatively to the IC wafer, is provided in the central part of a hanging bell-shaped stage base of the stage 4. The wafer placed on the upper side mount surface 4A of the stage part 4 is locally (only the site of an object of inspection) heated or cooled by the units 6. When the site of the object of inspection on the wafer reaches a set temperature, probes of a probe part are brought into contact with the surface of the wafer to make a characteristic test for a measurement of a microcurrent or the like. Thereby, the units 6 can be significantly miniaturized and at the same time, the generation of the deterioration of the detection accuracy of a prober due to a temperature unevenness can be reliably prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prober used for performing an operation test, a characteristic test, and the like by setting a thin plate such as an IC wafer or a liquid crystal substrate to a high temperature state or a low temperature state, and particularly to a large diameter IC wafer. It relates to a prober suitable for use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A prober is an inspection apparatus provided with a probe used when an operation test or a characteristic test is performed while an IC wafer or the like is in a high temperature state or a low temperature state. This prober is usually
A stage on which an IC wafer or the like to be inspected is mounted on the upper mounting surface, and an I / O mounted on the upper mounting surface of the stage.
A probe portion for performing an inspection by contacting with a C wafer or the like, and formed into a size equal to or larger than the upper mounting surface of the stage portion and integrally provided on a lower surface of the stage portion; The apparatus is provided with a high / low temperature device for heating or cooling the entire area of the IC wafer or the like mounted on the mounting surface so as to have a uniform temperature distribution via the stage section.

[0003]

However, the conventional apparatus having the above configuration has the following problems.

As the diameter of an IC wafer or the like to be inspected increases, the upper mounting surface of the stage must also be formed accordingly. In addition, the high-low temperature device must be formed large according to the upper mounting surface. When the size of the high / low temperature device increases, there is a problem that the production cost increases.

Further, when the size of the high / low temperature device is increased, it is difficult to make the temperature distribution of the IC wafer or the like mounted on the upper mounting surface uniform, which causes uneven temperature and hinders the inspection. There is a point.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a low-cost prober capable of reliably maintaining a measurement target portion at a set temperature without temperature unevenness.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a prober for performing an inspection by setting a thin plate to be inspected in a high temperature state or a low temperature state, and an XY moving mechanism provided on a base platen, A stage on which a thin plate to be inspected is mounted on the upper mounting surface thereof, which is supported by the XY moving mechanism and which can move in the XY directions on the base surface plate; A probe unit provided facing the upper mounting surface of the stage unit and performing inspection by contacting a thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface; and the probe unit below the stage unit and under the stage unit The thin plate, which is fixed to the base platen at a position opposite to the base plate and is formed smaller than the upper mounting surface of the stage portion, and is locally heated or thinly mounted on the upper mounting surface via the stage portion. Constructed with a small high-low temperature device for cooling Characterized in that it has been.

In the above configuration, the thin plate to be inspected is mounted on the upper mounting surface of the stage. The stage on which the thin plate is placed is supported by the XY moving mechanism and moves on the base platen in the XY directions. Then, the inspection target portion of the thin plate is moved to a position matching the probe portion. As a result, the small high-low temperature device is located directly below the thin plate to be inspected,
Only the portion to be inspected is locally heated or cooled via the stage. Then, when the inspection target part is heated or cooled to the set temperature, the inspection is performed by bringing the probe into contact with the thin plate.

A prober according to a second aspect of the present invention is a prober for performing an inspection by setting a thin plate to be inspected in a high temperature state or a low temperature state, wherein the thin plate to be inspected is supported on a base platen and mounted on an upper mounting surface. A stage portion to be inspected, a probe portion provided facing the upper mounting surface of the stage portion and performing inspection by contacting a thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface, and a lower portion of the stage portion. Wherein the thin plate disposed at a position facing the probe portion and smaller than the upper mounting surface of the stage portion and locally heating the thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface via the stage portion. Or, a small high-low temperature device for cooling, and the probe portion and the high-low temperature device are provided on the base platen and integrally support the probe portion and the high-low temperature device, and the probe portion and the high-low temperature device are provided at the inspection target portion of the thin plate. XY moving mechanism for simultaneous movement Characterized in that it has been.

According to the above configuration, the stage on which the thin plate is placed is supported on the base platen without moving. The probe unit and the small high-low temperature device are simultaneously moved from the upper side and the lower side of the stage unit to the thin plate to be inspected while being supported by the XY moving mechanism. As a result, the small high-low temperature device is located directly below the thin plate inspection target portion, and only this inspection target portion is locally heated or cooled via the stage. Then, when the inspection target portion is heated or cooled to the set temperature, the probe is brought into contact with the thin plate to perform the inspection.

A prober according to a third aspect of the present invention supplies air to the upper side of the high / low temperature device between the lower side surface of the stage portion when moving, thereby reducing frictional resistance, and evacuating to a high level during inspection. An air bearing for fixing the upper surface of the low-temperature device to the lower surface of the stage section is provided.

With this configuration, when the high / low temperature device is moved to the portion to be inspected, air is supplied by air bearing between the upper surface of the high / low temperature device and the lower surface of the stage to reduce frictional resistance. Thereby, the high / low temperature device is moved smoothly. When performing an inspection by moving the high-low temperature device to the inspection target site, the air is evacuated by an air bearing, and the upper surface of the high-low temperature device is fixed to the lower surface of the stage. Then, the thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface of the stage section is heated or cooled by the high / low temperature device.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a prober according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a prober according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the prober of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of the prober of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a side view of the prober of FIG. FIG.
6 is a plan view showing the stage unit, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

The prober 1 according to the present embodiment is a minute current measuring device for performing a high / low temperature environment test (a characteristic test such as a minute current measurement in a high temperature state or a low temperature state of the IC wafer 2 as an inspection target thin plate). is there.

The prober 1 mainly includes an XY moving mechanism 3
, A stage unit 4, a probe unit 5, a high / low temperature device 6, and a microscope 7.

The XY moving mechanism 3 is provided on a base platen 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and moves the stage 4 on the base platen 10 in the XY directions (front-back, left-right directions). Mechanism. Specifically, the XY moving mechanism 3 includes a Y moving mechanism section 11 and an X moving mechanism section 12. The Y moving mechanism 11 is provided with Y-axis rails 13 provided in parallel on both sides in front of the base platen 10 (in the direction toward the left in FIG. 1), and slidably mounted on each of the Y-axis rails 13. And a Y-axis guide 14. The X moving mechanism 12 is attached to each of the Y-axis guides 14 and is attached to the X-axis rail 15 that can move in the Y direction (the front-rear direction in FIG. 1).
And a shaft guide 16. This X-axis guide 1
The stage section 4 is attached to 6. This allows
The stage unit 4 is supported by the XY moving mechanism 3 and can move on the base platen 10 in the XY directions. The Y-axis guide 14 and the X-axis guide 16 are provided with stoppers (not shown) for fixing them to the Y-axis rail 13 and the X-axis rail 15 at arbitrary positions.

The stage section 4 carries out a test by mounting the IC wafer 2 to be inspected on the upper mounting surface 4A. As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the stage section 4 includes a substantially bell-shaped stage base 21;
A stage body 22 mounted on the upper side of the stage base 21 so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction;
Linear slide mechanism 2 provided between the stage body 1 and the stage body 22 to allow the stage body 22 to move in the Y-axis direction
3, a high / low temperature chuck 24 rotatably attached to the stage body 22, and a thrust bearing 25 provided between the rectilinear slide mechanism 23 and the high / low temperature chuck 24 for rotatably supporting the high / low temperature chuck 24. It is composed of

At the center of the bell-shaped stage base 21, there is provided a circular space 21A in which the high / low temperature device 6 can relatively move. This circular space 21A has an upper mounting surface 4A.
It is formed larger than. This size is such that the high / low temperature device 6 located in the circular space 21A can relatively move and cover the entire area of the upper mounting surface 4A. A notch 21B for passing various pipes 48 connected to the high / low temperature device 6 is provided behind the circular space 21A (above in FIG. 5).

An air bearing (not shown) is provided on a lower surface of the stage base 21 (a surface in contact with the base platen 10). This air bearing is for reducing the frictional resistance between the upper surface of the base platen 10 and the contact surface between the stage base 21 and allowing the stage portion 4 to slide freely with respect to the base platen 10. is there. Specifically, the air bearing includes an air groove (not shown) formed on the lower surface of the stage base 21, and compressed air that is connected to the air groove from the outside and presses the lower surface of the stage base 21 to the base platen. And a pump device (not shown) for sucking the stage base 21 to the base platen 10 by supplying the oil between the base plate 10 and lubricating the space between them and evacuation at the time of fixing. A handle 21 </ b> C is provided in front of the stage base 21.
The stage base 21 can be moved in the X and Y directions by grasping 1C. This handle 21C is a stage base 2
1 and the X-axis guide 16 are connected. Further, the handle 21C is connected to the stage base 21 by a connection pin 21D, and can move up and down.
This is to allow the stage section 4 to slightly move up and down by the air bearing.

At the center of the bell-shaped stage body 22,
A circular notch 22A matching the circular space 21A of the stage base 21 is provided. This circular notch 22
A is a notch in which the high / low temperature chuck 24 is rotatably fitted. An annular thrust bearing 25 is attached to a reduced diameter step portion 22B formed below the circular notch 22A. On one side (the right side in FIG. 5) of the stage main body 22, there is provided a .theta.-bar groove 22C for allowing the .theta.-bar 26 to be described later to rotate in a certain angle range.

The rectilinear slide mechanism 23 is composed of upper and lower rails having V-grooves and balls inserted between them. The linear slide mechanism 23 allows the stage body 22 to move to some extent forward (downward in FIG. 5) from the stage base 21. This is because the stage main body 22 is pulled out from an upper base plate 39, which will be described later, which covers the upper side of the upper mounting surface 4A, so that the IC wafer 2 can be easily mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A. A handle 22 </ b> D is provided in front of the stage main body 22.
Grasp D and pull the stage body 22 forward.

The high / low temperature chuck 24 sucks and supports the IC wafer 2 on the upper mounting surface 4A, and transmits the temperature of the high / low temperature device 6 contacting the lower surface to the IC wafer 2. This is for heating or cooling the lever IC wafer 2 to a set temperature. Specifically, the high-low temperature chuck 24 is formed in a shallow bottom dish shape opened upward and has a non-conductive chuck base 31 having a flange portion 31 </ b> A attached above the thrust bearing 25.
A dish-shaped guard plate 32 made of a conductive material and attached to the chuck base 31;
And a chuck top 34 mounted on the upper side of the second member 2 via an insulating plate 33. Chuck top 34
The upper mounting surface 4A is formed on the upper side. A groove (not shown) formed concentrically or the like is formed on the upper mounting surface 4A.
Is provided, and is evacuated by an external vacuum pump (not shown) to attract the IC wafer 2 to the upper mounting surface 4A. On the side of the chuck base 31, a θ rod 26 for rotating the high / low temperature chuck 24 as required is provided at a position in the θ rod groove 22C.

The probe part 5 is mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A of the stage part 4 while being supported by the base platen 10 side.
This device is provided facing the C wafer 2 and performs a continuity test or the like by contacting the IC wafer 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the probe unit 5 includes a probe 37 and a manipulator 3 that supports the probe 37 and has a built-in magnet.
And 8. The probe 5 is attached to the upper base plate 39.

The upper base plate 39 includes
Is supported by a Z-axis base 40 via a Z moving mechanism 41 in a state in which is covered from above. In the upper base plate 39, an opening 39A for the probe 37 is provided at a position facing the upper mounting surface 4A of the stage unit 4. In front of the upper base plate 39, the stage 4
A notch 39B is provided to prevent the IC wafer 2 from contacting the upper base plate 39 when the IC wafer 2 is mounted on or removed from the upper mounting surface 4A. The purge plate 3 is located below the upper base plate 39.
9C is attached. This purge plate 39C
In order to maintain the same potential as that between the C wafer 2 and the C wafer 2, it is made of a conductive material. Further, the purge plate 3
9C is made of a transparent material so that the entire IC wafer 2 can be recognized from above. As a material of the transparent and conductive purge plate 39C, a transparent synthetic resin having heat resistance, a substrate made of glass or the like provided with an ITO film, or a transparent member having a conductive member such as a wire mesh sandwiched therebetween is used. A synthetic resin or the like is used.

The Z moving mechanism 41 includes the upper base plate 3
It is composed of V-grooves formed on the 9 side and the Z-axis base 40 side, respectively, and balls inserted between them.
The upper base plate 39 can be moved up and down by the Z moving mechanism 41. Base platen 10
Is provided with a lifting mechanism 42 using a cam so that the upper base plate 39 can be raised and lowered as necessary. On the upper side surface of the upper base plate 39, a ring plate 43 matching the upper base plate 39 is attached. This ring plate 43
Is made of a magnetic material such as an iron plate so that the magnet of the manipulator 38 can be attracted.

A microscope arm 46 is provided on the Z-axis base 40 via an XY stage 45. The microscope 7 is provided at the tip of the microscope arm 46. The microscope arm 46 is moved back and forth and right and left by the XY stage 45 so that the microscope 7 is positioned as required.

The high / low temperature device 6 is for locally heating or cooling the IC wafer 2 mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A of the stage 4. The diameter of the high-low temperature device 6 is much smaller than the upper mounting surface 4A and is formed in a small size.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7, the diameter of the high / low temperature device 6 is set so as to be about one fourth of the diameter of the upper mounting surface 4A. The high-low temperature device 6 is located below the stage unit 4 and opposed to the probe unit 5,
It is fixedly provided on the base platen 10 side. That is, the high / low temperature device 6 is fixedly provided on the base platen 10 side in a state of being located in the circular space 21 </ b> A of the stage base 21. Note that a heat exchanger (not shown) and the like are provided in the high / low temperature device 6 and are connected to an external device by a pipe 48.

The upper surface of the high / low temperature device 6 is the high / low temperature chuck 2
4 is in sliding contact with the lower surface. Further, an air bearing (not shown) is provided between the high / low temperature device 6 and the high / low temperature chuck 24. The air bearing includes an air groove (not shown) formed on the upper surface of the high / low temperature device 6,
And a pump device (not shown) connected to the air groove. This pump device supplies compressed air between the upper surface of the high / low temperature device 6 and the lower surface of the high / low temperature chuck 24 to lubricate them, and evacuates the stage portion 4 when fixing the stage portion 4. The high / low temperature chuck 24 is sucked.

The high-low temperature device 6 slides the stage section 4 by the air bearing, as shown by the phantom line in FIG.
The IC wafer 2 relatively moves within the range of A to cover the entire IC wafer 2 mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A.

An operation switch 27 is provided on the front surface of the stage section 4, as shown in FIG. When the operation switch 27 is continuously pressed, supply, suction, and stop of the compressed air are repeated.

The prober 1 configured as described above is housed in a shield case (not shown). The shield case is provided with a door.

[Operation] Next, the operation of the prober 1 having the above configuration will be described.

First, the door is opened in the shield case, the operation switch 27 is pressed, and each air bearing of the stage section 4 is operated. Thereby, air is supplied between the stage base 21 and the base platen 10, and the stage unit 4
Slightly floats from the base platen 10 and is lubricated during this time. Further, air is also supplied between the high / low temperature device 6 and the high / low temperature chuck 24, and lubrication is also performed during this time. As a result, the stage section 4 can be easily moved on the base platen 10 while being supported by the XY moving mechanism 3. The operator first grasps the handle 21C and pulls out the stage 4 supported by the XY moving mechanism 3 toward the user. Next, the stage body 22 is pulled out while grasping the handle 22D.

As a result, the upper mounting surface 4A of the high / low temperature chuck 24 is located before the notch 39B of the upper base plate 39, and the upper part thereof is open. In this state, the IC wafer 2 to be inspected is mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A of the stage unit 4, and the handle 22D is grasped and the stage main body 22 is pushed back to a position where it is aligned with the stage base 21. Further, the user grabs the handle 21C and moves the stage 4 to X
By moving the IC wafer 2 in the XY direction while being supported by the Y moving mechanism 3, the inspection target portion of the IC wafer 2 is positioned immediately below the probe 5. At this time, the high / low temperature device 6 relatively moves in the circular space 21A by an amount corresponding to the amount of movement of the stage unit 4, as indicated by a dashed line in FIG.

The operation is performed while looking at the microscope 7 as necessary. In addition, if necessary, the upper base plate 39 is moved up and down by the lifting mechanism 42, and the high / low temperature chuck 24 is rotated by the θ rod 26. When the rough positioning is completed, the XY moving mechanism 3 is fixed with the stopper,
By pressing the operation switch 27, the air bearing is switched to vacuum, and the stage unit 4 is fixed to the base platen 10 side. After that, the tip position of the probe 37 of the probe section 5 is finely adjusted to match the position of the IC wafer 2 to be inspected.

In this state, the upper surface of the operating high / low temperature device 6 abuts against the lower surface of the chuck base 31 of the high / low temperature chuck 24, and the heat of the high / low temperature device 6
It is transmitted directly to 4. Furthermore, this heat is applied to the high / low temperature chuck 2
The heat is transmitted to the IC wafer 2 mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A via the base 4 and is heated or cooled to a set temperature. In this case, since the high-low temperature device 6 has a diameter much smaller than that of the IC wafer 2, only the portion of the IC wafer 2 facing the high-low temperature device 6 is locally and quickly reduced to the set temperature. Adjusted.

When the inspection target portion of the IC wafer 2 has reached the set temperature, the probe 37 of the probe section 5 is brought into contact with the surface of the IC wafer 2 to perform a characteristic test such as microcurrent measurement.

[Effects] As described above, the IC wafer 2 mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A of the stage unit 4 by the high / low temperature device 6
Is heated or cooled locally (only the part to be inspected), so that the high / low temperature device 6 can be significantly reduced in size. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the high-low temperature device 6 can be kept low, the running cost can be reduced by reducing the power consumption, and the cost of the prober 1 can be reduced.

Further, the IC wafer 2 is mounted on a small high / low temperature device 6.
Is locally adjusted to the set temperature, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the detection accuracy from deteriorating due to uneven temperature.

Further, since only the portion to be inspected is locally heated or cooled by the high / low temperature device 6, the set temperature can be adjusted in a short time.

Since the position where the probe 37 of the probe section 5 contacts the IC wafer 2 is supported by the high / low temperature device 6 from below, the partial load on the stage section 4 can be prevented.

[Modifications] (1) In the above embodiment, the probe section 5 and the high / low temperature device 6
Is fixed to the base platen 10 side, and the IC wafer 2 mounted on the upper mounting surface 4A of the stage unit 4 is moved by the XY moving mechanism 3, but the stage unit 4 is moved to the base platen 10 side. The probe unit 5 and the high / low temperature device 6 may be moved while being fixed. That is, a prober is provided with a stage (4) supported by a base platen (10) and a probe (5) provided facing an upper mounting surface (4A) of the stage (4). A small high / low temperature device (6) disposed below the stage section (4) and opposed to the probe section (5); and a probe provided on the base platen (10). Part (5) and the high / low temperature device (6) as one unit
The probe unit (5) and the XY moving mechanism (3) for simultaneously moving the probe unit (5) and the high / low temperature device (6) to the inspection target site of the C wafer 2 may be configured. In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

(2) In the above embodiment, the stage unit 4
The XY moving mechanism 3 including a rail and a guide is provided as means for moving the XY moving mechanism on the base platen 10 in the XY directions. However, the XY moving mechanism 3 is not provided. You may make it move.

(3) In the above embodiment, the prober 1 is of a manual type, and the operator manually moves the stage section 4 and the like. However, the prober 1 is of an automatic type using an electric motor or the like, and the stage section 4 and the like are automatically operated. It may be made to move.

[0046]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

The thin plate placed on the stage and the high-low temperature device are relatively moved by using the XY moving mechanism, and the thin plate is locally heated or cooled by the high-low temperature device. The high / low temperature device can be significantly reduced in size.
As a result, the manufacturing cost of the high / low temperature device can be reduced, and the cost of the prober can be reduced.

Further, since the thin plate is locally adjusted to the set temperature by a small high-low temperature device, it is possible to reliably prevent the detection accuracy from deteriorating due to uneven temperature.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a prober according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the prober of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the prober of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the prober of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a stage section of the prober according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the stage section taken along line AA of FIG. 5;

7 is a cross-sectional view of the stage section taken along line BB of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

1: prober, 2: IC wafer, 3: XY moving mechanism,
4: Stage part, 4A: Upper mounting surface, 5: Probe part, 6:
High and low temperature device, 7: microscope.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A prober for performing an inspection by setting a thin plate to be inspected in a high temperature state or a low temperature state, comprising: an XY moving mechanism provided on a base surface plate; And a stage on which a thin plate to be inspected is placed on the upper placement surface thereof, and which is provided facing the upper placement surface of the stage while being supported on the base platen side. A probe unit for performing an inspection by contacting a thin plate placed on the upper placement surface, and fixed to the base platen at a position below the stage unit and facing the probe unit. A small high-low temperature device that is provided and is formed smaller than the upper mounting surface of the stage unit, and locally heats or cools the thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface via the stage unit. A prober characterized in that: 2. A prober for performing an inspection by setting a thin plate to be inspected to a high temperature state or a low temperature state, comprising: a stage portion supported by a base platen and having the thin plate to be inspected mounted on an upper mounting surface; A probe unit provided facing the upper mounting surface of the stage unit and performing inspection by contacting a thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface; and the probe unit below the stage unit and under the stage unit Small and high and low temperature, which is disposed at a position facing the surface and is formed smaller than the upper mounting surface of the stage portion, and locally heats or cools the thin plate mounted on the upper mounting surface via the stage portion. An XY moving mechanism that is provided on the base platen, integrally supports the probe unit and the high-low temperature device, and simultaneously moves the probe unit and the high-low temperature device to an inspection target portion of the thin plate; and A feature characterized by comprising Over server. 3. The prober according to claim 1, wherein air is supplied to an upper side of the high / low temperature device and between the lower side surface of the stage portion during movement to reduce frictional resistance, and a vacuum during inspection. A prober characterized by having an air bearing for pulling and fixing an upper surface of a high / low temperature device to a lower surface of a stage portion.