JPS6273644A - Wafer prober - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the size of a wafer prober and to increase the number of wafers that the wafer prober can measure, by providing a conveyor system formed integrally and having both transmitting and receiving functions. CONSTITUTION:A transmitting/receiving conveyor system 32 is arranged adjacent to a measuring section 31b. In the conveyor system 32, a driving pulse motor 54 having a pulley 54a fixed into the axis thereof is associated with a moving section 52 having two journaled pulleys 50 and 51 and a belt extended between the pulleys 50 and 51, and a driving belt 53 is extended between the pulley 54a on the axis and the journed pulley 50. When the moving section 52 having the extended belt 53 changes the rotational direction of the driving pulse motor 54, the function of the conveyor system is switched between transmitting and receiving functions. According to this construction, the size of a wafer prober can be substantially decreased while the measuring capability thereof is doubled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a wafer processor for measuring chips on a wafer;
The present invention relates to a wafer blower, and particularly relates to a wafer transfer device of a wafer blower.

(Prior art) In the final stage measurement process of chips in wafer shape,
From the Univac cent (2) of the wafer prober to the wafer (3)
) is taken out, placed on the chuck (5), and the chips of the wafer (3) are brought into conduction with a tester via the probe card's stylus and measured. To explain this in detail using Figure 4, ? ! ! Wafer cassettes (2) storing several (for example, 25 wafers) wafers (3) are arranged in five wafer cassette 'R units (1), and one by one, the wafer cassettes (2) are transferred one by one to the feeding side transport device! (
4) Transported by (also called a loader). The transferred wafer (3) is chucked (5) on the mounting section (6).
The chuck (
5) is moved to the measurement position (7) by driving the pulse motor of the X-Y stage, and chips in the shape of a wafer are sequentially measured.

Next, the wafer after measurement is moved along with the movement of the X-Y stage to the mounting section (8), and is received by the side transfer device! (10) The wafer is placed on a belt of an unloader (also referred to as an unloader) and transported, and then stored in an empty wafer cassette (12).

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, as described above, there are the following drawbacks.

(1) The wafer is transported from the wafer cassette to the chuck. The wafer is transported by a single-piece transport device (also called a loader), and the wafer is transported from the chuck to the empty wafer cassette +- (12) by a receiving-side transport device (also called an unloader). However, there is a sending wafer transfer device (also called a loader) (4), a wafer cassette mounting table for measuring wafers (1), a receiving side transfer device (also called an unloader) (10), and an empty wafer cassette w1 mounting table (13). ), each device and two wafer cassettes (2, 12) are required. Additionally, along with this, an elevator mechanism (not shown) is required to sequentially take out the wafers one by one.

As a result, the wafer prober cannot be miniaturized because the area required for each transfer device and the wafer cassette IT stand within the wafer prober is disadvantageous.

(2) Due to the above (1), there is a drawback that the throughput of the number of wafers to be measured in the wafer prober within the same shape cannot be significantly increased.

(3) Place the wafer cassette in the wafer storage method for measurement on the wafer cassette mounting table of the sending transfer device, and place the measured wafers in the wafer cassette fi! of the receiving transfer device. Since the wafers are stored in the empty wafer cassette provided on the mounting table, there is a distance between the 82 section (6) on the sending side and the mounting table (8) on the receiving side, making it difficult to hold the chuck. It is necessary to move in the Y-axis direction, and the area to be moved in the Y-axis direction is required in the measurement part of the wafer prober.3 Therefore, a large area of the measurement part in the Y-axis direction is required, and if it continues as it is, it will be small in the Y-axis direction. There is a drawback that it cannot be changed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems and for the purpose of overcoming these drawbacks. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer prober that can reduce the size of the wafer prober or increase the throughput of the number of wafers to be measured by simplifying the transportation device for the wafer probe.

[Means for solving problems]

A brief summary of typical inventions disclosed in the present invention is as follows.

In the wafer prober of the present invention, a transfer device (hereinafter referred to as a transfer transfer device) is devised that has the transfer functions of a sending-side transfer device and a receiving-side transfer device, and is constituted by a single device. A sending/receiving transport device having the functions of a sending unit for transporting wafers taken out from a cassette to a chuck and a receiving unit for transporting wafers from the chuck to a wafer cassette was provided between the measuring section and the wafer cassette mounting table. It is the composition. Switching between the sending side function and the receiving side function in the sending/receiving conveyance device is performed by a switch or the like, and the switch is a known one and is not limited thereto.

[Effect]

The wafer prober using the above configuration will be explained in the order of the process of returning to the wafer cassette of UNINO 1. The wafers taken out one by one are conveyed to the chuck by a conveyance device which is switched to the sending piece conveyance means.

After the wafer on the chuck is measured, it is transferred to the mounting section (the same position as the chuck where the wafer to be measured is placed on the chuck).
The receiver is then sent to the wafer cassette/receiver by the sending/receiving transfer device which has been switched to the individual transfer means, and returns to the original position where the wafers were stored. These steps are repeated to sequentially measure the wafers in the Univac cent.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a wafer prober using a transfer device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view and side sectional view of the present invention.

This embodiment shows the entire wafer profer (30), including a wafer cassette Ra stand with an elevator mechanism (61),
a transfer/receive transfer device section (32) having a transfer means for transferring the measured wafer from the chuck to the wafer cassette;
The wafer to be measured (3) placed on the chuck (5) is moved to the probe card (20) section, the wafer is electrically connected to an external tester (90) via the probe card (20), and the chip is measured. It is composed of a measuring section (31b).

The transmitting/receiving conveying device (32) is arranged adjacent to the measuring section (31b). The transmission/reception conveyance device (32) is Φ+
A drive pulse motor (with a pulley (54a) inserted into the H core)
a moving part (52) in which two pulleys (50, 51) are attached to the shaft and a belt is stretched between the pulleys;
Cough shaft core pulley (54a) and cough shaft attached pulley (50)
) A drive heald (53) is attached between the two. The belt (53
) to which the moving part (52) is connected to the drive pulse motor (54
) by changing the rotational direction to the opposite direction, the sending piece conveying function and the receiving unit are constituted by means having the piece conveying function.

The operation of the transmission/reception conveyance unit (32) is as follows:
) on the wafer cassette mounting table (1)
) is transported to the chuck (5) by the sending/receiving transport device f (32). The transported wafer (3) is placed on a chuck (5) and moved to a measurement position on the probe card (20) by an X-Y stage moving device, where the chips of the wafer are measured. Again, place the acid wafer (3) on the chuck (5).
) The acid wafer (5) returns to the loading section.The returned wafer (3) is separated from the chuck (5) and transferred to the original place via the transfer/receiver device. The wafers are stored in wafer cassettes 1 to 1. At this time, the wafer take-out belt (60) is replaced by a wafer intake belt. 2 The take-out and intake belts are performed by forward and reverse rotation of a pulse motor.

Regarding the measuring section that measures the quality of the chip by contacting the probe of the blow 1 card with the electrode by the wafer blower, the wafer transported by the 1 general feeding device is placed on the mounting section (27
) to be placed on the chuck. The mounted wafer is attracted by the chuck's suction mechanism, and the chuck is
It is installed on the Y stage (29). The X-Y stage aligns the electrode in the tube and the probe stylus of the probe card in the X and Y directions. The wafer is aligned using a laser or the like to scribe the wafer before it reaches the probe card, and is then placed directly below the probe card. That is, by rotating the fine adjustment arm on the probe card side between the X-axis of the chip array and the X-axis direction of the probe stylus array on the probe card, the microscope is adjusted so that the stylus touches the already aligned electrode. Confirm with a confirmation device such as

This is performed assuming that the stylus has been aligned with the @ and poles of other chips.

Further, the chuck (5) is moved in the vertical direction using a pulse motor.

The contact alignment between the stylus (20b) and the wafer surface is performed with the wafer surface lowered, and the stylus (20b) touches the electrode of the chip by pressure contact with the chuck raised.

Then, when the electrodes of the chip touch with the stylus of the probe card, conduction is established with the external tester, and the chip is measured. After the measurement is completed, the chuck (5) is moved to the wafer (3).
) on the chuck (5) at the position (26)
The wafer returns via the stage (29), air is blown out from the chuck (5), and the wafer is placed on the belt moving from left to right of the sending/receiving side transport device (32), and the wafer is placed at the wafer intake position (9).
60) and is stored in a wafer cassette.

FIG. 2 is another schematic plan view of the present invention.

This other embodiment shows the entire wafer prober, which is composed of a sending/receiving/transferring device section and a measuring section.

The above-mentioned measuring section is intended to be carried out in the same kit as the schematic plan view of the invention shown in FIG. In this configuration, a conversion bin (8
1°, , 86) and branch bell l-(71°, ,
76) Provide. At the tip of the branch belt is the wafer cassette i! 5! Install X units independently. Each wafer cassette 7)
are set in advance so that each sheet is taken out one by one in order. Therefore, as soon as each branch belt moves so that the wafers are taken out one by one from the wafer cassette (1a) and the branch bells I- (71,...,84) are absorbed by the feeding side belt, only the moving belt is moved. Raise it a little and move it. In the individual transfer means, the receiver is moved in the opposite direction to be housed in the wafer cassette (1a).

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of another application of the present invention.

This other application example shows the entire wafer prober,
It is composed of a transport section including a transmission/reception transport device and a measuring section (31b), but in this case, the work of transferring a wafer from a wafer cassette to another wafer cassette is performed within the transmission/reception transport device of the wafer prober.

Remove the wafer from the Univaccent and place it in the wafer cassette.
The wafer can be transferred to the wafer cassette on the aZ stand (1d).

〔Effect of the invention〕

(1) A means for moving the wafer to the feeding side and a means for moving the wafer to the receiving side are provided between the wafer cassette part and the chuck part on the measuring side, and the belt can freely move to the feeding side. In addition, by providing a reciprocating conveyance device with a movable belt on the side of the receiver, when measuring wafers, it is possible to move the wafer cassette containing the measurement wafers to the wafer cassette mounting table on the feeding side. The measured wafers are placed in the wafer cassette placed on the wafer cassette mounting table on the receiving side.In other words, when measuring wafers in one wafer cassette, the measured wafers are stored in the wafer cassette on the feeding side. A total of two wafer cassettes are required.

Therefore, such a conventional transfer device on the sending side, a wafer cassette mounting table, a transfer device on the receiver side, and a wafer cassette t-i3! The area required for using the i-stand is no longer required, and the wafer prober can be significantly downsized by the area that is no longer needed.

(2) According to the above (1), according to this explanation, if you want to improve the processing capacity compared to the conventional one, place a Univac cent with measurement wafers stored in the area where empty wafer cassettes are placed!
! By installing the wafer prober, the measurement throughput of the wafer prober can be doubled.

(3) A means for moving the wafer to the feed side and a means for moving the wafer to the receiving side are integrated between the wafer cassette part and the chuck part on the measurement side, so that the belt can be freely transferred to the feed side. In addition, by providing a reciprocating transport device with a movable belt on the side of the receiver, when measuring wafers, in the conventional method, a wafer cassette containing measurement wafers is sent to the individual transport device. The wafers that have been placed on the wafer cassette mounting table and have been measured are stored in the empty sea urchin vaccent placed on the wafer cassette mounting table of the receiving transfer device, so the measurement wafer is placed on the chuck on the feeding side (loader), The measured wafer must be moved in the receiving direction, and an area to be moved in the Y-axis direction is required.

Therefore, compared to such a conventional method in which both the sending side part and the receiving side part have to be provided, according to the present invention, the sending side part and the receiving side part perform both operations at the same position. Therefore, since it does not move in the Y-axis direction, a corresponding area is not required, and an effect can be obtained in which the measuring section of the wafer prober can be significantly miniaturized.

(4) Other effects (In a transfer device equipped with multiple wafer cassettes, the wafers taken out from the wafer cassette can be stored in other wafer cassettes, so they can be distributed among other wafers. This also reduces the time required for the manufacturing process. The effect of reducing costs can be achieved.

(5) It is no longer necessary to place an empty wafer cassette as in the past, and a wafer cassette containing measurement wafers is placed on the empty wafer cassette, so - wafers other than those shown below may appear in the product flowing in the loft. It also applies in cases. In addition, the following effects a) are produced.

■ Wafers that require re-inspection ■ Wafers for which the operator has determined that the automatic needle rest is insufficient ■ If continuous fail chips occur and abnormal wafers occur, the wafers are placed in a separate wafer cassette. This embodiment of the application of the present invention is capable of continuously measuring the wafers stored and currently being measured after all the wafers currently being measured have been stored. For example, when it is determined that a wafer cassette needs to be re-inspected, it is immediately inserted into a cassette for re-examination. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

In the application example shown in Fig. 3, a large number of wafer cassette R mounting stands are used instead of empty wafer cassettes, and the number of wafer cassettes containing wafers to be measured can be placed on three or more wafer cassettes! 5! All you need to do is set up a stand. However, wafer cassette II! Needless to say, one elevator and an elevator to move it up and down are also required.

The sending/receiving device that transfers the wafers to the sending side (Transfer 1~) and to the receiver L-1 side may use an air bearing, or may use a round belt or a flat belt. It's okay. In this way, the sending/receiving transport means is located between the chuck and the wafer cassette mounting table, and (2) a single transport means has the function of moving only the moving part toward the chuck or toward the wafer cassette. There is.

The operation control of the above-mentioned wafer prober and the operation control of wafer transport are performed using a combination machine such as ;ll+J? It is desirable to use JrJ, but it is not limited to this, but can be widely used in devices using hard logic circuits.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a schematic plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1(b) is a schematic side sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an application showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an application of a transfer unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a conventional embodiment. 3: Wafer 29 Two X-Y stage 30: Tester 50: Pulley 51: Pulley 54: Drive pulse motor 60: Wafer take-out belt (wafer intake belt) 61
: Elevator 70 : Z mechanism 71-76 : Branch belt 81-86 : Wafer direction conversion bin (extendable) Fig. 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A wafer prober characterized in that the wafer prober includes a transport device that has the transport functions of a sending-side transport device and a receiving-side transport device, and is configured as an integrated body.