JPH11297772A - Probe device and wafer inspecting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely direction-convert a wafer at high speed and to inspect the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device on the wafer in short time by converting the direction of the wafer in a first rotation means and finely adjusting the rotary angle of the wafer and making a probe array and pad arrays parallel in a second rotation means. SOLUTION: A rotation mechanism 4 in a wafer prober 1 is capable of realizing not only highly precise rotation but also the high speed rotation of a large angle with low accuracy. A rotary direction can be arbitrarily switched to a forward direction and an opposite direction. Rotation by direction conversion can be executed with rough precision and a final rotary angle is finely adjusted by driving a stepping motor for the rotary angle fine adjustment of the rotation mechanism 4. Then, pad arrays 12b and a probe 10 array are arranged in parallel. Then, the probes 10 and the pad arrays 12b are adjusted, so that they are overlapped/arranged by moving a stand 3 in an XY-directions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention inspects electrical characteristics of elements and the like formed on a semiconductor device (hereinafter, referred to as an LSI) in a wafer state (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer test).
And a wafer inspection method using the probe device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A wafer prober 101 shown in FIG. 8 is used for a wafer test. The wafer prober 101 is an apparatus for arranging the wafer 102 at a predetermined position. The wafer prober 101 has a mounting table 103 having a suction function for mounting the wafer 102 and holding one main surface horizontally, and the mounting table 103. A support portion 104 for supporting the table 103; and a Z-direction drive mechanism 105 for moving the mounting table 103 in the Z direction (up and down in the drawing).
And the mounting table 103 in the XY directions (left and right in the drawing, back and front)
The wafer prober 101 allows the wafer 102 to be moved up and down, left and right, back and front.

At the time of a wafer test, the wafer 102 is moved to a predetermined position, and a probe card 10 attached to a test head 107 of a test apparatus called a tester.
The inspection is performed by connecting the 8 probe needles 109 to the pads on the wafer 102 by contacting them. Wafer prober 10
Numeral 1 has a role of finely adjusting the arrangement of the wafer 102 to achieve an accurate arrangement in order to properly connect the probe needle 109 and the pad in the wafer 102 during the probing.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a plan view of the wafer 102, the probe card 108 and the like. As shown in FIG. 9A, a plurality of ordinary LSIs 110 are formed on a wafer 102, and the planar shape thereof is generally a quadrangle, and a plurality of pads are arranged in a line along four sides. It has a pad row 111. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9B, the conventional probe card 108 has a structure including a number of probe needles 109 corresponding to the number of pads in the LSI 110. When probing is performed on the LSI 110 as described above, as shown in FIG. 9C, there is a method in which the probe needles 109 and the pads of the LSI 110 are all brought into contact at once, and the electrical characteristics are inspected. Had been.

In order to realize the above-described inspection method, the wafer prober 101 must be connected to the LSI 1
Positioning of the probe 10 and the probe needle 109, contact function (function of moving the LSI 110 in the Z direction (up and down))
It suffices to have a function of moving one chip in the XY directions for probing to the next LSI to be inspected in the same wafer 102. Further, the conventional wafer prober 101 has a high-precision micro-rotation mechanism (not shown) for aligning the pad row 111 and the row of the probe needles 109 in parallel while keeping the main surface of the wafer 102 horizontal. I was

However, recently, the number of pads has become very large with the miniaturization and high integration of elements, so that it is necessary to manufacture a probe card having a large number of probe needles corresponding to the number of pads. It has become difficult both physically and costly. In view of this, a method has been adopted in which a single probing is performed on a single row of pads 111 to inspect electrical characteristics, and probing for one LSI 110 is completed by probing a plurality of times.

However, the conventional wafer prober 101 is
Since it had only one wafer rotation mechanism and the rotation mechanism had high precision and high resolution (several tenths of a degree), it was rotated at high speed by 90 degrees and arranged along different end faces. Probing to a row of pads was difficult. Therefore, it is difficult to rotate the plurality of pad rows 111 and the probe needles 109 arranged along the four sides of the LSI 110 one after another by 90 degrees to sequentially perform the inspection.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-152020 discloses that a support table for horizontally supporting a wafer is rotated by operating a wafer support table rotation drive source, and contact is made only by moving in the left, right, back and front directions. There is disclosed a technique that enables probing even for a pad row at a position where it cannot be performed. However, the rotation source of the wafer support table disclosed in this publication enables only rotation at one rotation speed (rotation accuracy), and allows fine adjustment of the rotation angle. Could not change direction.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and it has been proposed that a probe card having a small number of probe needles be used for a plurality of pad rows in the same LSI. Provided is a probe device including a wafer prober and a wafer inspection method that can perform probing in a short time by rotating a wafer at a high speed of 90 degrees at a time without moving a probe card when probing is performed in a divided manner. It is.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a probe device arranged in a row for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device including a pad array formed on a wafer. A probe card, a mounting table on which the wafer is mounted, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the wafer while holding one main surface of the wafer on the table so that the main surface is horizontal, the rotation mechanism Has at least a first rotating means and a second rotating means, performs the direction change of the wafer by the first rotating means, and finely adjusts the rotation angle of the wafer by the second rotating means. This makes the probe needle row and the pad row parallel.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a probe card including a row of probe needles arranged in a row for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device including a row of pads formed on a wafer. And a mounting table on which the wafer is mounted, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the wafer in a state where one main surface of the wafer is held horizontally on the table, wherein the rotation mechanism includes a motor, A first gear and a second gear interlocked with the motor are provided, and the direction of the wafer is changed by interlocking the first gear with the motor, and the second gear is interlocked with the motor. In this way, the rotation angle of the wafer is finely adjusted, and the probe needle row and the pad row are made parallel.

Further, the probe device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the probe device according to any one of the first and second aspects, wherein the direction change by the first rotating means is the second direction. Higher speed is achieved under the condition that the range of correction can be shifted by fine adjustment of the rotation angle by the rotation means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a probe apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the wafer has a suction function and the rotatable mounting table is provided. Or it is held on the mounting table top,
Alternatively, the front end portion in contact with the wafer has a suction function and is held by rotatable wafer support pins.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the probe apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the direction change is performed in units of 90 degrees or 180 degrees.
The rotation is in degrees.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the probe apparatus according to the first or second aspect, there is provided means for moving one main surface of the wafer in a horizontal direction. Including.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer inspection method for inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer using the probe device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects. Is what you do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer inspection method, comprising: a row of probe needles for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device; and a row of probe needles within one principal surface of a wafer on which the semiconductor device is formed. A first step of contacting the first pad row of the first and second pad rows extending in directions orthogonal to each other, a second step of separating the wafer from the probe needle row, one main surface A third step of turning the wafer in the direction so that the second pad row and the probe needle row are parallel to each other, moving the wafer within one main surface to bring the second pad row into the probe A fourth step of superimposing the needle row, including a fifth step of contacting the second pad row and the probe needle row by moving the wafer toward the probe needle row, In the process The first rotating means capable of changing the direction of the wafer allows the wafer to be rotated at a higher speed under a condition in which the deviation can be corrected by the second rotating means capable of finely adjusting the rotation angle. Then, the rotation angle of the wafer is finely adjusted to make the second pad row and the probe needle row parallel.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a probe apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, in which a direction change by high-speed rotation (high-speed rotation as compared with rotation by a high-precision and high-resolution rotating mechanism) is performed while a wafer is kept horizontal. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a possible probe device (including a wafer prober for supporting a wafer at a predetermined position and a tester for inspecting electrical characteristics, called a probe device).

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a wafer prober, which can be mounted with the main surface of the wafer 2 kept horizontal, has a suction function, and is rotatable. A rotating mechanism 4 for performing the operation, a support section 5 for supporting the mounting table 3,
The Z-direction drive mechanism 6 for moving the mounting table 3 in the vertical direction, and the mounting table 3 in the horizontal direction (right and left, back and front in FIG. 1).
And an XY direction driving mechanism 7 for moving the XY direction.

The rotation mechanism 4 in the wafer prober 1
For example, not only the high-precision rotation that can be rotated with a precision of several tenths of degrees that is conventionally possible, but also the rotation that can rotate a large angle of 90 degrees and 180 degrees at a low precision of 1 degree, for example, at a high speed. Mechanism. The rotation direction can be arbitrarily switched between a forward direction and a reverse direction. The rotation angle at which the direction can be changed by high-speed rotation is 360 degrees at maximum, and the rotation angle at which fine adjustment of the rotation angle by high-precision rotation is 10 degrees at maximum. Specifically, the rotation mechanism 4 has a structure in which separate motors capable of low-speed and high-precision rotation for fine adjustment of the rotation angle and high-speed and low-accuracy rotation for direction change are provided in the rotation mechanism 4.

In FIG. 1, a test which is a part of a tester (not shown) for inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device or the like is performed on a wafer 2 supported at a predetermined position by a wafer prober 1. The head 8 is arranged above. A probe card 9 is attached to a lower portion of the test head 8, and a probe needle 10 having needle tips arranged in a line is arranged on the probe card 9, and the probe tips of the probe needles 10 are arranged downward (wafers). 2).

Next, FIG. 2A shows a plan view of a plurality of LSIs 11 formed on the wafer 2 to be inspected. LS
The plane shape of I11 is a quadrangle, and a pad row 12a in which a plurality of pads are arranged in a row is formed along the four sides. The pad located at one end of each of the pad rows 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d is referred to as a reference pad 12 for the description of the inspection method described below. Also, this LS
The symbol A shown at the corner of I11 is written to indicate the direction of the LSI 11.

FIG. 2B shows a plan view of the probe card 9 and an enlarged view of the probe needle 10. In the wafer test using the probe device according to the present invention, the probe card 9 used has an opening 9a formed at the center of a substantially disk-shaped card.
The probe needles 10 are arranged in a line so that the tips of the probe needles match the pad intervals. The probe needle 10 in FIG. 2B is drawn in a simplified manner,
Actually, more probe needles are arranged.

Next, an example of a probing procedure performed by the above-described probe device will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the state of contact between the probe needle 10 and the pad rows 12a to 12d during probing.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an inspection flow. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the first probing is performed on the pad row 12a arranged in the right column of the symbol A according to the conventional procedure. After the test on the pad row 12a is completed, the Z-direction drive mechanism 6 is driven to move the mounting table 3 downward, and the wafer 2
And the probe needle 10 are separated.

Next, by driving a stepping motor for changing the direction of the rotating mechanism 4, the mounting table 3 is moved in the forward direction.
Is rotated 90 degrees. The rotation due to the change in direction may be roughly accurate, for example, about 1 degree. After that, the final rotation angle is finely adjusted by driving the stepping motor for finely adjusting the rotation angle of the rotation mechanism 4, and the pad row 12b to be inspected and the probe needle 10 row are arranged in parallel. . Fine adjustment of the rotation angle is performed using a conventionally used high-precision, high-resolution rotation mechanism. further,
By moving the mounting table 3 in the X and Y directions, adjustment is performed so that the probe needle 10 and the pad row 12b are arranged to be superimposed (corresponding to the processing S of the inspection flow in FIG. 4).

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the mounting table 3 is moved upward by driving the Z-direction driving mechanism 6, and the probe needle 10 and the pad row 12b are brought into contact with each other, thereby Perform the second probing. Thereafter, as shown in the inspection flow of FIG. 4, the processing S and the probing are repeatedly performed, and as shown in FIGS. 3 (c) and 3 (d), the pad rows 12c and 12d are Perform the first probing in sequence. As described above, it is possible to perform a test on all pad rows in the LSI 11.

After the fourth probing, the wafer 2 is separated from the probe needles 10 by driving the Z-direction driving mechanism 6, and the wafer 2 is further rotated at 90 degrees in the forward direction at a high speed.
The wafer 2 is moved in parallel by the XY direction driving mechanism 7,
By finely adjusting the rotation angle, the probe needle 10 and the pad row 1
2a are parallel to each other, so that the arrangement shown in FIG. Next, the XY direction drive mechanism 7 is driven to move the mounting table 3 at a high speed by the distance of one chip, so that the LSI to be inspected next and the probe needle 10 are arranged to overlap (FIG. 4 corresponds to the processing Q of the inspection flow.)

As described above, by sequentially probing the four pad rows formed at different positions in the LSI 11, one LSI can be inspected, and by repeating this, a plurality of pads in the wafer 2 can be inspected. Inspection of LSI can be performed. Note that the first probing is sequentially performed on all the LSIs in one wafer, and the pad row 12
After the inspection for the pads corresponding to the arrangement a is completed, the wafer is rotated 90 degrees in the forward direction and the inspection for the arrangement corresponding to the pad rows 12b of all the LSIs is performed, and the needle contact is sequentially performed. It is needless to say that the redirection can be used to probe all the pads in one wafer.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the position information of the probing area which is necessary when the pad rows 12a to 12d to be inspected by the wafer prober 1 are arranged at predetermined positions. FIG. 5A is a plan view of the LSI 11, where the coordinates of the reference pad 12 are (0, 0), and the positions of the reference pad 12 and the other end of the pad row to be contacted during the second and subsequent probing are shown. It indicates at which coordinates the pad to be positioned is located.

FIG. 5B shows a CPU for calculating position information of the reference pad 12 which is a component of the probe device.
The data to be newly registered in the reference pad 12
(Reference position) and the rotation angle from the reference position are shown.

There is a CPU for position information calculation in the probe device. With this CPU, the placement of the mounting table 3 moved by various driving mechanisms, the amount of movement required next, and the direction of movement are required. The calculation can be performed by a conventional technique, and there is no problem in performing the XY movement based on the calculation result. The point of giving angle information to the movement information is a point of interest when processing data.

As described above, when, for example, four pad rows 12 are arranged in one LSI 11, the platform 3 is driven by driving a dedicated motor for direction change provided in the rotation mechanism 4. It is possible to rotate at high speed in units of 90 degrees. Therefore, even if a probe card with a small number of stitches is used, probing can be sequentially performed on the pad rows arranged along the four sides of the chip, and a wafer test can be performed at a high speed.

The arrangement of the Z-direction drive mechanism 6, the XY-direction drive mechanism, and the rotation mechanism 4, which are the components of the wafer prober 1 shown in FIG. 1, is arbitrary, and the platform can be moved or rotated in a predetermined direction. Good if you can. The support 5
There is no limitation on the arrangement and shape of the components. For example, a portion that constitutes various mechanisms, which are other components, also serves as the support portion 5, and connects the mounting table 3 to various driving mechanisms and supports the mounting table 3. There is no problem if possible. Further, the processing order of the wafer direction change, the fine adjustment of the rotation angle, and the movement in the X and Y directions is not limited to the above example, and other processing orders may be used as long as the pad rows can be finally arranged accurately. It is good.

Here, assuming that the wafer can be rotated 90 degrees by a conventional probe device having only a high-precision, high-resolution rotation mechanism, the case where the wafer is turned 90 degrees by the rotation mechanism, and Invention 2
The time required for the rotation is compared with the case where the direction is changed by 90 degrees using a probe device having various kinds of rotation mechanisms.

First, a high-precision high-resolution rotating mechanism uses a motor that rotates 100 times per second, and a resolution of 1/10000 degrees is used.
If the wafer is rotated by 00 degrees, it takes 90 seconds to rotate the wafer by 90 degrees using only the conventional rotation mechanism. On the other hand, according to the probe device of the present invention, the turning mechanism
If a motor that rotates 1000 times per second is used and it is configured to rotate 1/10 degrees, this direction changing mechanism can move the wafer 90 times.
It takes only 0.09 seconds to rotate by degrees, and only about 0.3 seconds after adding 0.2 seconds of fine adjustment time of 0.2 degrees by the high precision and high resolution rotation mechanism.

The time required for the rotation angle correction largely depends on the accuracy of the rotation mechanism used for the direction change. Even if a correction of several degrees is necessary, the time required for the correction is as short as several seconds. . Further, even if the rotation angle needs to be corrected in units of several degrees, fine adjustment of the rotation angle is required to be one.
By providing a rotation mechanism that is possible within a range of about 0 degrees, pads on the wafer can be arranged accurately, and accurate probing can be performed.

Therefore, even if the direction is changed only once at the time of a wafer test for one wafer, when a wafer test is performed for one lot containing about 24 wafers, Inspection time can be reduced by about 0.6 hours per lot. Needless to say, if the number of direction changes required for one wafer increases, the inspection time difference becomes more significant.

In the above example, the case where the mounting table 3 is rotated at high speed in units of 90 degrees by driving the dedicated motor for changing the direction is shown. However, as another example, rotation in units of 45 degrees is performed. 90 degrees or 1
High-speed rotation of 80 degrees may be performed. Furthermore, by rotating at a high speed in units of 60 degrees, and performing this rotation three times in a row, 1
It is also possible to carry out a high-speed rotation of 80 degrees.

Embodiment 2 Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the rotation mechanism 4 in the wafer prober 1 includes a motor that can change the direction of the wafer 2 on the mounting table 3 by high-speed rotation.
An example is shown in which a motor capable of finely adjusting the rotation angle by high-precision rotation is provided. Embodiment 2
In this configuration, the rotation mechanism 4 has one motor, and is characterized by changing the direction of the mounting table 3 or rotating the mounting table 3 with high precision by switching a gear that is linked to the motor.

As described above, one motor is linked to the first gear to rotate the mounting table 3 at a high speed to change the direction. By performing the fine adjustment, the mounting table 3 can be arranged accurately at high speed, and the inspection flow shown in FIG.
In addition, it is possible to carry out accurately.

Embodiment 3 Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first and second embodiments,
The example in which the LSI in the wafer 2 is rotated by rotating the entire mounting table 3 having a suction function of holding the wafer by vacuum is described. In the third embodiment, an example will be described in which the wafer 2 held by suction on the mounting table is rotated by rotating only the upper surface of the mounting table on which the wafer 2 is mounted, instead of rotating the entire mounting table 3. .

FIG. 6 shows a mounting table 3 according to the third embodiment.
And a supporting portion 5 that supports the mounting table 3. Inside the mounting table 3, an upper surface rotating mechanism 13 for rotating the mounting table upper surface 3a is formed. A plurality of pin holes 14 for accommodating wafer support pins (not shown) are formed in the upper surface 3a of the mounting table. The wafer support pins in the pin holes 14
By projecting from the inside onto the mounting table upper surface 3a, the mounting table upper surface 3
a, and lifts the wafer 2 placed on the upper surface 3a.
Leave an interval. Then, a transfer member is inserted into this gap, and the wafer 2 can be held and transferred by this member.

When the probe device according to the third embodiment is used, not the entire mounting table 3 but only the mounting table upper surface 3a is rotated, so that the wafer 2 can be rotated with a smaller driving force. In addition, by storing the upper surface rotating mechanism 13 inside the mounting table 3, the distance between the mounting table upper surface 3a, which is the object to be rotated, and the motor can be reduced, and the wafer 2 can be efficiently moved without loss of driving force. Can be rotated.

In order to hold the wafer 2 by suction, vacuum is carried out from a pin hole 14 for storing a wafer support pin. As a result, the wafer 2 can be securely fixed to the mounting table upper surface 3a, and accurate probing can be performed even when the wafer 2 is moved or rotated. Further, it is also possible to hold the wafer 2 by adjusting the height of the pins so that the front end portion becomes the height of the mounting table upper surface 3a when holding the wafer, by adopting a structure that can be vacuumed from the front end portion of the wafer support pin. . In addition, it goes without saying that the wafer 2 can be reliably held by a method of providing a dedicated vacuum hole other than the pin hole 14 and vacuuming from the hole.

The rotation of the mounting table upper surface 3a is performed according to the first and second embodiments.
In the same manner as the rotation mechanism 4 shown in (1), the rotation is performed by the upper surface rotation mechanism 13 which can change the direction by high-speed rotation and finely adjust the rotation angle by high-precision rotation. May be provided, or may be a structure including one motor, which enables high-speed rotation and high-precision rotation by gear change.

Embodiment 4 FIG. Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first and second embodiments, the probe device in which the entire mounting table 3 rotates, and in the third embodiment, only the mounting table upper surface 3a rotates. Embodiment 4
In the following, a case will be described in which a probe device that rotates the wafer 2 by rotating the wafer support pins 16 that lifts the wafer 2 from the upper surface of the mounting table 3 and separates the wafer 2 when the wafer 2 is transferred is described.

FIG. 7 is a drawing centering on the mounting table 3 of the probe device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 15 denotes a pin rotation mechanism, which indicates a mechanism for rotating wafer support pins 16 for supporting the wafer 2. 16a has a circular planar shape,
The pin rotation groove provided in the mounting table 3 is shown.

The wafer 2 is rotated by the rotation of the wafer support pins 16 rotating along the pin rotation grooves 16a while being held by suction at the tips of the wafer support pins 16 having a vacuum function. As in the case of the third embodiment, the pin rotation mechanism 15 enables the direction change and the fine adjustment of the rotation angle.
The motor may have a motor for changing the direction of rotation and a motor for finely adjusting the rotation angle to adjust the rotation angle with high precision. May be possible.

In the first to fourth embodiments, the test head 8 to which the probe card 9 is attached
Although the wafer test is performed by moving or rotating the wafer 2 in the wafer prober 1 while the side is fixed, for example, a rotation mechanism is attached to the probe card 9 or the probe needle 10 while the test head 8 is fixed. By rotating the probe rows 4 in conjunction with each other, it is possible to arrange the probe rows 10 and the pad rows 12 in parallel. further,
The movement of the wafer 2 in the X and Y directions can be performed by either the probe needle 10 or the mounting table 3 on which the wafer 2 is mounted, or both.

Also in the above case, since the direction can be changed by high-speed rotation in addition to the conventional high-precision rotation, the probe card 9 having a small number of stitches can be used.
There is an effect that the wafer test can be completed in a short time. In the probe device of the present invention, the precision required for high-precision rotation is determined by the dimensions of the pads of the LSI 11 to be inspected and the spacing between the pads. Therefore, it goes without saying that this accuracy is not limited to the same accuracy as a conventionally used high-precision, high-resolution rotary mechanism.

Further, in the above description, an example is given in which the angle of the direction change by high-speed rotation is 90 degrees.
The rotation angle is not limited to this angle.
By changing the direction at an angle of 80 degrees, it is possible to efficiently probe a row of pads arranged along two opposing sides of an LSI having a square planar shape.

In the above description, the combination of the high-speed rotation and the high-precision rotation allows the pad rows 12a to 12d
Is set quickly at a position where it overlaps with the probe needle array 10, but any combination of three or more rotations with different precisions can be combined to quickly set any one of the pad arrays 12a to 12d and the probe needle array 10. Needless to say, it is possible to accurately set the arrangement.

[0053]

The effects of each claim of the present invention will be described below. According to the probe device of the first aspect of the present invention, the rotation mechanism including the first and second rotation means is used to combine the high-speed low-precision rotation and the low-speed high-precision rotation to quickly and accurately direct the wafer. The conversion can be performed, and the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device on the wafer can be inspected in a short time.

According to the probe device of the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to change the direction of the wafer in a short time by rotating one motor at a high speed by gear change, and to rotate the motor in a short time. By finely adjusting the rotation angle, the probe needle array and the pad array of the semiconductor device on the wafer can be accurately arranged in parallel. Therefore, the inspection can be performed in a short time, and a highly reliable inspection result can be obtained by accurate probing.

Further, according to the probe device of the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects corresponding to the first or second aspect, the speed of the direction change by the first rotating means is:
Under the condition that the deviation can be corrected by the fine adjustment of the rotation angle by the second rotation means, the inspection can be performed in a shorter time by adjusting the rotation speed to be higher.

Further, according to the probe device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects corresponding to the first and second aspects, the wafer is held by the mounting table or the upper surface of the mounting table having a suction function and a rotation function. Or a wafer supporting pin having a suction function and a rotation function, and any of the wafer holding methods can achieve the effect equivalent to the first or second aspect. In particular, when the wafer is held by the upper surface of the mounting table or the wafer support pins, the weight of the rotating body itself that rotates while sucking the wafer is small, so that the wafer can be rotated with a small driving force.

According to the probe apparatus of the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects corresponding to the first to third aspects, the rotation angle at the time of the direction change by high-speed rotation is 90 degrees or 1 degree.
By setting the angle to 80 degrees, the probe needle array can be arranged in parallel with the pad array arranged along the end face of the semiconductor device having a square planar shape in a small number of rotations, that is, in a short time. Become. Therefore, the time required for the wafer test can be reduced.

According to the probe device of the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect corresponding to the first or second aspect, after the probing is performed on one pad row, the wafer is rotated and the difference is obtained. When probing with respect to the pad row, even when the probe needle row and the pad row cannot be arranged so as to overlap with each other by adjusting the rotation angle, the wafer is moved by means capable of moving the wafer in a horizontal plane. And enables accurate probing.

According to a wafer inspection method according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, an electrical characteristic of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer is inspected using a prober according to any one of the first to sixth aspects. Thus, there is an effect that an accurate wafer inspection can be performed in a short time.

Further, according to the wafer inspection method according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, one row of probe needles corresponds to the first and second pad rows arranged orthogonally on one main surface of the wafer. When performing wafer inspection by sequentially contacting the rows, the wafer can be quickly turned by a predetermined angle in a short time in order to quickly adjust the rotation angle after turning the wafer at high speed, and in a short time. More precisely, there is an effect that the wafer inspection can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a probe device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram necessary for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram necessary for explaining an inspection flow according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an inspection flow according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram necessary for explaining an inspection flow according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a probe device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a probe device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. 1. Wafer prober Wafer 3. Mounting platform 4. Rotation mechanism 5. Support part 6. 6. Z-direction drive mechanism 7. XY direction drive mechanism Test head 9. Probe card 9a. Opening 10. Probe needle 11. LSI 12. Reference pads 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d. Pad row 13. Top surface rotation mechanism 14. Pin hole 15. Pin rotation mechanism 16. Wafer support pins 16a. Pin rotation groove

Claims (8)

[Claims] A probe card including a row of probe needles arranged in a row for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device including a row of pads formed on the wafer; a mounting table for mounting the wafer; Includes a rotation mechanism for rotating the wafer while holding one main surface of the wafer on a writing table to be horizontal, the rotation mechanism having at least a first rotation means and a second rotation means, The direction change of the wafer is performed by the first rotating means, and the probe needle row and the pad row are parallelized by finely adjusting the rotation angle of the wafer by the second rotating means. And a probe device. 2. A probe card including a row of probe needles arranged in a row for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device including a row of pads formed on a wafer, a mounting table on which the wafer is mounted, and A rotating mechanism for rotating the wafer while holding one main surface of the wafer on a writing table in a horizontal state, the rotating mechanism includes a motor, a first gear interlocked with the motor, and a second gear. Having a gear, performing the direction change of the wafer by interlocking the first gear with the motor, and finely adjusting the rotation angle of the wafer by interlocking the second gear with the motor;
A probe device, wherein the probe needle row is parallel to the pad row. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the direction change by the first rotating means is performed at a higher speed under a condition in which a deviation of a range which can be corrected by fine adjustment of the rotation angle by the second rotating means is obtained. The probe device according to claim 1. 4. The wafer has a suction function and is held on a rotatable mounting table or a top surface of the mounting table, or a tip part in contact with the wafer has a suction function and is held by rotatable wafer support pins. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the probe device is used. 5. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the direction change is a rotation in units of 90 degrees or 180 degrees. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising means for moving one main surface of the wafer in a horizontal direction.
The probe device according to claim 1. 7. A wafer inspection method for inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device formed on a wafer using the probe device according to claim 1. Description: 8. A row of probe needles for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor device, and first and second pad rows extending in directions orthogonal to each other within one main surface of a wafer on which the semiconductor device is formed. A first step of bringing the first pad row into contact with the first pad row, a second step of separating the wafer from the probe needle row, and changing the direction of the wafer within one main surface to form the second pad. A third step of making the row and the probe needle row parallel, a fourth step of moving the wafer within one main surface to overlap the second pad row with the probe needle row, Including a fifth step of contacting the second pad row and the probe needle row by moving toward the probe needle row, in the third step, it is possible to change the direction of the wafer First rotation By rotating the wafer at a higher speed under the condition where the deviation is within a range that can be corrected by the second rotating means capable of finely adjusting the rotation angle by the means, fine adjustment of the rotation angle of the wafer is performed. Performing the second pad row and the probe needle row in parallel.