JPH1194910A - Probe inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a probe inspection device which can prevent the bending deformation and breakage of a contact pin even when the over-driving amount of a probe exceeds a specific amount. SOLUTION: An inclined plate 116 for mounting a contact probe 200 is supported in such a way that the plate 116 can be oscillated by a slight angle in the direction in which the contact pins 2a of the probe 200 can be moved vertically against a bottom plate 118. A coil spring 23 is interposed between the rear section of the inclined plate 116 and bottom plate 118 and holds the inclined plate 116 without allowing the plate 116 to rotate against the probe pressure which is received by each contact pin 3a when the probe 200 is over- driven. A projecting section 20 is fixed to the lower surface of the inclined plate 116 and, if the over-driving amount of the probe exceeds a specific amount, the upper surface of an LCD base 10 comes into contact and evacuates the inclined section 116 by turning the section 116 clockwise. Therefore, no excessively strong force acts on the contact pins 3a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor IC
The present invention relates to a probe inspection device for performing an electrical inspection by bringing each contact pin of a contact probe into contact with each terminal electrode of an object to be measured such as a chip or a liquid crystal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a contact pin is used to conduct an electrical test by contacting a semiconductor chip such as an IC chip or an LSI chip or each terminal of an LCD (liquid crystal display). In recent years, as the integration and miniaturization of IC chips and the like have increased, the pitch of contact pads, which are electrodes, has been reduced, and the pitch of contact pins has been required to be narrower. However, with a tungsten needle contact probe used as a contact pin, it has been difficult to cope with a multi-pin narrow pitch due to the limitation of the diameter of the tungsten needle.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a plurality of pattern wirings 3 are formed on a resin film 201, and the tips of these pattern wirings 3 are arranged so as to protrude from the resin film 201. Contact pin 3
The technology of the contact probe 200 referred to as “a” has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-82027). According to this technique, the tip of each of the plurality of pattern wirings 3 is formed as a contact pin 3a, so that a multi-pin narrow pitch is achieved and many complicated components are not required.

In general, the probe device 11 is configured such that the above-described contact probe 200 is
a and the bottom clamp 11b. This probe device 11
For example, it is detachably fixed to a frame (not shown). Reference numeral 10 denotes an LCD table on which an LCD 90 as an object to be measured is placed.
Is moved up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw. The symbol 90a is LC
It shows a plurality of terminal electrodes arranged on the upper surface of D90. The above-described probe device 10, LCD stand 10, driving mechanism (not shown), etc. constitute a probe inspection device.

When inspecting the LCD 90, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the probe device 10 is
0, and at this time, the distance between the lower end of each contact pin 3a and the terminal electrode 90a is C
(Generally about 5 mm). In this state, the LCD table 10 is moved by a specified amount (the C
(Sum of a later-described amount and a specified overdrive amount D) (see arrow X), first, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 11, the contact pins 3a contact the respective terminal electrodes 90a of the LCD 90, and from this state,
As shown in (b), the LCD stand 10 rises by a prescribed overdrive amount D (generally, about 0.1 to 0.3 mm). Thus, the contact pin 3a is connected to the terminal electrode 90a.
After contact with the surface of the contact pin 3a, the surface of the terminal electrode 90a is oxidized at the tip of the contact pin 3a by applying overdrive (further raising the LCD table 10 after the contact pin 3a contacts the terminal electrode 90a). The aluminum film is scraped off to expose the aluminum inside. This operation is called scrub.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional probe inspection apparatus, the rising amount and the overdrive amount of the LCD table greatly exceed the specified amounts due to malfunction of the driving mechanism of the LCD table. In such a case, there is a problem that an excessive force is applied to the contact pin, and the contact pin is bent or broken due to plastic deformation. That is, in this probe inspection device, no mechanism is provided for protecting the contact pins from a large external force, so that, for example, when the LCD table runs away, the contact pins are not deformed or broken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has a probe inspection apparatus capable of preventing bending and breakage of contact pins even when the overdrive amount exceeds a specified amount. It is intended to provide.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a plurality of pattern wirings are formed on a film, and the leading ends of these pattern wirings are arranged so as to protrude from the film. A probe device holding a contact probe to be a pin and a device under test on which a device to be measured is placed are respectively arranged vertically, and the probe device or the device under test is respectively lowered or raised by a specified amount. Thereby, first, each contact pin is brought into contact with each terminal electrode of the object to be measured, and in this state, in a probe inspection device that performs overdrive, the probe device includes a holding unit for holding a contact probe. However, for the main body,
The contact probe has a configuration in which the contact pin is swingably supported in a direction to move the contact pin up and down, and is interposed between the holding portion and the main body portion, in the case of the overdrive, An elastic member for holding the holding portion at a fixed position without rotating against the stylus pressure of the contact pin, and an over member provided on the lower surface of the holding portion or the upper surface of the object to be measured. When the drive amount exceeds a specified amount, a projection is provided immediately after that, the protrusion being in contact with the upper surface of the object to be measured or the lower surface of the holding unit.

Here, the operation of the present invention will be described.
First, the probe device and the object to be measured are arranged vertically with high positional accuracy, and in this state, the probe mechanism (or the object to be measured) is lowered (or raised) by a specified amount by the drive mechanism. With this, after each contact pin of the contact probe comes into contact with each terminal electrode of the object to be measured, the overdrive state is established from here, and each contact pin of the contact probe is caused to move by the elastic force of the elastic member. Scrubbing is performed by pressing and rubbing each of the terminal electrodes of the object. At the time of this overdrive, the holding portion for holding the contact probe does not rotate but stays at the fixed position. If the lowering amount (or the rising amount) of the probe device (or the object to be measured) exceeds the specified amount due to a malfunction of the driving mechanism, the overdrive amount also exceeds the specified amount. ,
Immediately after that, the convex portion comes into contact with the upper surface of the object to be measured (or the lower surface of the inclined plate portion) and rotates the holding portion in the direction in which the contact pin is retracted. Does not exceed a specified amount, and no excessive force is applied to the contact pins.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The contact probe, its manufacturing process, the probe device, and the probe inspection device will be sequentially described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact probe 200 has a structure in which a plurality of pattern wirings 3 made of metal are adhered to one surface of a polyimide resin film 201. The tip of the pattern wiring 3 protrudes from the portion to form a contact pin 3a.

Next, a manufacturing process of the contact probe 200 will be described. [Base metal layer forming step (first metal layer forming step)]
First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a stainless steel supporting metal plate 5 is plated with Cu (copper) to a thickness of, for example, 2 mm.
A 5 μm base metal layer 6 is formed.

[Resist Pattern Forming Step] After a photoresist layer (mask) 7 is formed on the base metal layer 6, as shown in FIG. Pattern photomask 8
Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the photoresist layer 7 is developed to remove the portion that will become the pattern wiring 3, and the remaining photoresist layer 7 has openings (portions that are not masked). ) 7a is formed. In the present embodiment, the photoresist layer 7 is formed of a negative photoresist, but a desired opening 7a may be formed using a positive photoresist.

[Electroplating Step] Then, as shown in FIG. 3D, a Ni or Ni alloy layer N serving as the pattern wiring 3 is formed in the opening 7a by plating, and then, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the photoresist layer 7 is removed.

[Film Adhering Step] Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (f), on the Ni or Ni alloy layer N, the tip of the pattern wiring 3 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. That is, other than the portion that becomes the contact pin 3a,
The resin film 201 is bonded with an adhesive 2a.
The resin film 201 is a two-layer tape in which a metal film (copper foil) 500 is integrally provided on a polyimide resin PI. Before this film deposition step, the metal film 500 of the two-layer tape is subjected to copper etching using a photoengraving technique to form a ground plane,
In this film attaching step, the polyimide resin PI of the two-layer tape is bonded to the Ni or Ni through the adhesive 2a.
It is deposited on the alloy layer N. In addition, the metal film 500
In addition to the copper foil, Ni or a Ni alloy may be used.

[Separation Step] Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (g), after the portion consisting of the resin film 201, the pattern wiring 3 and the base metal layer 6 is separated from the supporting metal plate 5, Cu etching is performed. Then, only the pattern wiring 3 is adhered to the resin film 201.

[Gold Coating Step] Next, as shown in FIG. 3H, Au plating is applied to the exposed pattern wiring 3 to form an Au plating layer A on the surface. At this time, the Au layer A is formed on the entire surface of the contact pins 3a protruding from the resin film 201 over the entire circumference.

Finally, a contact probe 200 having a pattern wiring 3 bonded to a resin film 201 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, an LCD probe device (probe device) 100 has a structure in which a contact probe holding member 110 and the contact probe holding member 110 are fixed to a frame frame 120. (A plurality of contact probe holding bodies 110 are actually attached, but only one is shown here.) The ends of the contact pins 3 a protruding from the contact probe holding body 110 are connected to terminals of an LCD (liquid crystal display) 90. (Not shown).

As shown in FIG. 4, the contact probe holding body 110 has a top clamp 111 and a bottom clamp 115. The top clamp 111 includes a first protrusion 112 for pressing the tip of the contact pin 3a, and a terminal 3 on a TABIC (circuit) 300 side as a driver IC.
The second projection 113 has a second projection 113 for holding the lead 01 and a third projection 114 for holding the lead. Bottom clamp 115
Is composed of an inclined plate 116, a mounting plate 117 and a bottom plate 118.

The contact probe 200 is moved to the inclined plate 116.
And the terminals 301 of the TABIC 300 are connected to the resin films 201 and 20 of the contact probe 200.
Place it so that it is located between the two. Thereafter, the top clamp 111 is mounted on the resin film 201 such that the first protrusion 112 is on the resin film 201 and the second protrusion 113 is in contact with the terminal 301, and is assembled with a bolt. The top clamp 111
And the inclined plate 116 constitute a holding portion.
A main body is constituted by the base plate 17 and the bottom plate 118.

As shown in FIG. 6, the contact probe 2
00 and top clamp 1 with bolt 130
11 and the bottom clamp 115 are combined to produce the contact probe holding body 110.

The contact probe holding body 110 is
As shown in FIG.
Assembled in the D probe device 100. The electrical test of the LCD 90 using the LCD probe device 100 is performed by using the contact pins 3a of the LCD probe device 100.
The TABIC 300 is driven to send various test signals in a state where the tip of the terminal is in contact with a terminal (not shown) of the LCD 90, and a signal obtained from the contact pin 3a in response to the signal is sent to the outside through the TABIC 300. It is done by taking out.

Next, as for the feature of the probe device 100 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the inclined plate 116 for mounting the contact probe 200 moves the contact pin 3a up and down with respect to the bottom plate 118. It is swingably supported at a slight angle in the direction in which it is caused to move (see arrow E). That is, support portions (bracket portions) 24 (one of the support portions is not shown) are formed on both sides of the distal end portion of the bottom plate 118, respectively.
The intermediate portion 6 is swingably supported via a support shaft 25. A first spring housing recess 21 is formed on the rear lower surface of the inclined plate 116, while the first plate 21 is formed on the bottom plate 118.
A second spring storage recess 22 is formed at a portion facing the spring storage recess 21. These first spring storage recesses 2
Both ends of a coil spring 23 as an elastic member are fixed to the first and second spring storage recesses 22, respectively. The elastic force of this coil spring 23 is
Inclined plate 1 against the stylus pressure received by each contact pin 3a
16 is set so as not to rotate clockwise in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a state immediately before the overdrive is applied. The lower surface 116a of the inclined plate 116 is in the horizontal plane similarly to the bottom surface of the bottom plate 118. A stopper (not shown) for preventing the inclined plate 116 from rotating counterclockwise from this state is provided on the bottom plate 118.
A convex portion 20 is formed on the lower surface 116a of the inclined plate 116, and the height of the convex portion 20 is set so that the convex portion 20 comes into contact with the upper surface 10a of the LCD table 10 immediately after the overdrive amount exceeds a specified amount. Is set. The LCD table 10 is raised and lowered by a driving mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw mechanism, as in the related art.

Next, the operation of the probe inspection apparatus will be described. First, the probe device 100 is disposed above the LCD 10 with high positional accuracy. In this state, as shown in FIG. 8A, the lower end of each contact pin 3a and the terminal electrode 90
The distance to a is C (generally about 5 mm).

Here, an LCD is driven by a driving mechanism (not shown).
The table 10 is raised by a specified amount (the above C and a specified overdrive amount D).
8 (see the arrow X), first, as shown in FIG. 8B, the contact pins 3a are in contact with the respective terminal electrodes 90a of the LCD 90, and from this state, FIGS. As shown in FIG. 8C, when the LCD table 10 has the specified overdrive amount D (generally 0.1 to 0.
(About 3 mm). As a result, the aluminum oxide film on the surface of the terminal electrode 90a is scraped by the tip of the contact pin 3a to expose the aluminum inside. At the time of this overdrive, each contact pin 3a of the contact probe 200 presses and rubs against each terminal electrode 90a of the LCD 90 by the elastic force of the coil spring 23 to perform scrub. In the case of overdrive, the inclined plate 116 holding the contact probe 200 does not rotate but remains at a fixed position.

In the present embodiment, if the amount of rise of the LCD table 10 exceeds the specified amount due to malfunction of the drive mechanism or the like, the overdrive amount also exceeds the specified amount. The upper surface 10a of the LCD table 10 is
0, the inclined plate 116 is pushed up against the elastic force of the coil spring 23 and rotated clockwise in FIG. As a result, the contact pins 3a are retracted, and the overdrive amount does not exceed the specified amount. Therefore, no excessive force is applied to each contact pin 3a, and the contact pins 3a do not bend or break.

In the above embodiment, the LCD table is raised to apply overdrive. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the probe device side may be lowered. Further, the convex portion is not limited to being provided on the inclined plate side, but may be provided on the upper surface of the LCD table.

[0030]

Since the probe inspection apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, the overdrive amount is regulated by the error of the drive mechanism of the probe apparatus or the object to be measured. Even if the amount exceeds the amount, the contact pins can be immediately retracted so that excessive force is not applied to the contact pins, so that the effect of preventing the contact pins from being bent or broken can be prevented. Play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a contact probe according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing an example of a method for manufacturing a contact probe according to the present invention in the order of steps;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a contact probe holding body in the probe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a probe device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a contact probe holding body in the probe device according to the present invention.

7 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 5, and also shows an LCD table and the like.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing each process at the time of inspection by the probe inspection device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic front view of a conventional probe inspection apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a main part of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing each process at the time of inspection by a conventional probe inspection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 pattern wiring 3a contact pin 5 substrate layer (supporting metal plate) 6 first metal layer (base metal layer) 7 mask (photoresist layer) 7a unmasked portion (opening) 10 LCD table (measured object) Table) 10a Upper surface 20 Convex part 21, 22 Spring storage concave part 23 Coil spring (elastic member) 24 Support part 25 Support shaft 90 LCD (measured object) 90a Terminal electrode 100 Probe device 110 Contact probe holding body 115 Bottom clamp 116 Incline Plate 116a Lower surface 117 Mounting plate 200 Contact probe 201 Film 300 Circuit (TABIC) 301 Terminal 500 Metal film N Second metal layer (Ni or Ni alloy layer)

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshinobu Ishii, Techno Park 12-12, Mita City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside the Mita Plant of Ryohin Materials Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideaki Yoshida 12, Park Techno Park 12, Mita City, Hyogo Prefecture Ryo Material Co., Ltd. Mita Plant

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of pattern wirings (3) are formed on a film (201) and these pattern wirings (3) are formed.
A probe device (100) for holding a contact probe (200) serving as a contact pin (3a) by disposing each end portion of the device so as to protrude from the film (201), and placing an object to be measured (90). Object to be measured (10)
Are arranged in the vertical direction, respectively, and the probe device (10
0) or by lowering or raising the object table (10) by a specified amount, first, each contact pin (3a) is brought into contact with each terminal electrode (90a) of the object (90). In the probe inspection apparatus that performs overdrive in this state, the probe device (100) includes a holding unit (111, 116) for holding the contact probe (200).
Are supported so as to be swingable with respect to the main body (117, 118) in such a direction as to move the contact pin (3a) of the contact probe (200) up and down. (111, 116) and the main body (118)
Between the contact pins (3, 4) during the overdrive.
a) an elastic member (23) for holding in a fixed position without rotating against the stylus pressure of (a); and a lower surface of the holding portion (111, 116) or an upper surface of the object stage (10) to be measured. When the overdrive amount is provided in (10a) and exceeds the specified amount, immediately after that, the overdrive amount is applied to the upper surface (10a) of the object to be measured (10) or the lower surface of the holder (111, 116). A protruding portion (20) that is in contact with the probing portion (20).