JPS63151037A - Inspection of semiconductor element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance a general-purpose feature and to improve reliability, by providing a plurality of semiconductor elements at specified positions on a pallet, and bringing the probes of a tester into contact with the electrode terminals of the semiconductor elements. CONSTITUTION:An IC 1 is placed in each hole 3, which is formed in a pallet 2 in a grid pattern. A cassette 5, on which the pallets are contained, is mounted on a mounting stage 6. An inspecting stage 10 is provided in front of the cassette 5. Planar arms 11a and 11b are inserted into the gaps in the pallet. The pallet 2 is sucked in a vacuum and carried out. The pallet 2 is sucked in a vacuum on the upper surface of the inspecting stage 10. Then the pallet 2, which is mounted on the inspecting stage 2, is aligned. Pins 1a, which are the electrode terminals of the IC 1, are contacted with probes 21, which are attached to a probe card 20. The oxide film of each pin 1a of the IC 1 is broken by the spring force of the probe 21, and the IC 1 and the probes of a tester, e.g., the probes 21, are accurately connected, and the electric characteristics of the IC are inspected.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a method for testing semiconductor devices.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the electrical characteristics of a semiconductor element such as an IC after the packaging process of a finished product have been inspected using an IC handler, which is a semiconductor manufacturing device. IC handlers are well known to those skilled in the art.

That is, a plurality of ICs set in a row in a cylindrical magazine are transported by the action of gravity and an autoloader mechanism to an inspection section installed on the side of the handler, and after inspection, they are sorted by performance by the action of gravity and an autoloader mechanism. was.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) Due to technological innovations in ICs, ICs are becoming increasingly diverse. With the increased use of ICs, the shapes of IC packages are also required, and semiconductor elements with a wide variety of package shapes are being manufactured. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can instantly inspect semiconductor devices in a wide variety of package shapes. However, with conventional IC handlers, when inspecting different types of ICs, it is necessary to prepare a cylindrical magazine that matches the IC package shape, and the inspection section must also be replaced with one that matches the new type. This placed a considerable burden on operators.

Furthermore, the method of transporting the IC in the IC handler largely relies on the action of 1 gravity, and this method frequently causes the IC to become jammed on the way, resulting in a lack of reliability.

Furthermore, in the IC testing section, the length of the measuring cable between the contact position of the IC and the tester is approximately 150 mm, which also has the disadvantage of making accurate testing impossible.

This invention was made to improve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a versatile and highly reliable IC testing method.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a method in which a plurality of packaged semiconductor devices are provided at predetermined positions on a pallet, and a stylus of a tester is brought into contact with the electrode terminals of the semiconductor devices to generate electricity. The present invention provides a semiconductor device testing method characterized by testing physical characteristics.

(Function) Versatility is achieved and reliability is improved by testing the electrical characteristics by contacting the packaged semiconductor devices at predetermined positions on the pallet with a stylus connected to the tester. This effect can be obtained.

(Example) Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The object to be measured is, for example, a semiconductor element, such as an IC, after a semiconductor chip is hard and packaged as shown in FIG. 6(A). The pallet (■) on which this IC is placed has a height of, for example, 450 na (length) and 450 m (width) as shown in Figure 1.
60 holes for setting the IC, for example, 20 m long, 10111 m wide, 5 m deep, about 5 m from the periphery.
They are formed at 1m intervals from the top. A total of 21 x 40 = 840 hollow holes (■) are formed. This pallet (2) can be stored horizontally in a cassette (2) with 20 sheets each set at appropriate intervals.

I in the hollow 60 formed in the grid shape of the above pallet ■
For example, a large number of ICs can be placed in this package.
The structure of an apparatus for measuring the electrical characteristics of ICs arranged in C will be described.

A cassette (2) containing a plurality of pallets (20), for example, 20 pallets (2) on which the above IC (2) is to be set, is placed on the mounting table 0. This mounting table (2) is configured to be movable up and down by rotation of a support shaft (3) connected to a motor (2).

A take-out mechanism is provided to take out the pallets (■) one by one from the cassette (■) placed on the mounting table (0).

This take-out mechanism is set on the inspection stage (lO). The above-mentioned take-out mechanism of pallet ■ has a structure that slides on the − axis, and has a plate-like arm (Ha) (llb
) moves along guides formed by plate-like bodies (12a), (12b), and (12c).

The slide of this arm (lla) (llb) rotates a belt (15) engaged with a rotating shaft (14) by rotation of an electric motor (13), and the rotation of this belt (15) drives a screw (16). It is operated so that it engages with the screwing action and slides. Also, this plate-like arm (lla
) (llb) and plate-like bodies (12a) (12b) (
12c) is equipped with a vacuum suction mechanism. Further, the plate-like bodies (12a), (12b), and (12c) are movable up and down. The inspection stage (10) equipped with this mechanism is connected to a motor and can be driven in the X direction, Y direction, Z direction, and θ direction. In the inspection department, the inspection stage (10
) is provided with a probe card (20), and a probe needle (21) is attached to this probe card (20). This probe needle (21) is electrically connected to the tester.

A magnifying glass, such as a microscope, is set above the probe card (20), and an operation panel is provided on the front surface. At the bottom of this control panel,
A CPU is set up to control the operation of this inspection device. The operating procedure is input to the CPU from the operation panel.
A method for testing the electrical characteristics of C will be explained.

First, a packaged IC, which is a completed product, is placed in the hole (2) formed in the pallet (2) in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG.

Since 840 ICs can be installed per pallet 0, a total of 16,800 ICs can be installed in the cassette ■ which can accommodate 20 pallets ■.

To place the pallet (2) from the cassette (2) onto the inspection stage (10), the inspection stage (10) is first set in front of the cassette (10) by driving in the X and Y directions.

After moving the plate-shaped bodies (12a), (12b), and (12c) downward here.

Slide the plate arm (lla) (llb) parallel to the gap between the pallets, move the cassette (c) mounting table 0 down by a predetermined interval, and then slide the plate arm (lla) (lla) (
Place the pallet ■ on the llb). plate-like arm (lla)
) (llb) vacuum-chucks the pallet ■ and slides it out in parallel.

After sliding the plate-like arms (lla) (llb), the plate-like arms (12a), (12b), and (12c) are moved upward to vacuum-suction the pallet (2) with the upper surface of the inspection stage (10) as a uniform plane.

Next, the pallet (2) placed on the inspection stage (10) is aligned. This positioning can be done, for example, by using a well-known laser recognition mechanism (
(not shown), and based on this result, the inspection stage (1
0) in the θ direction and rotate the inspection stage (10) in the X direction.
This is to make the drive in the Y direction coincide with the X and Y directions of a part of the corner of the pallet (2). After aligning the pallet (2), the inspection stage (10) is relatively moved to the probe card (20) setting position as shown in FIG. 3(A). Here, the inspection stage (10) is moved vertically upward in the Z direction, and the pin row (1a), which is the electrode terminal in one IC set on the pallet ■, and the probe are The probe needle (21) attached to the card (20)
) to touch the columns. This contact pressure is controlled to a predetermined set value. That is, the inspection stage (lO) is moved up and the third
As shown in Figure (C), the spring force of the probe needle (21)
The oxide film on the pin (1a) inside is broken and the inside of the IC is accurately connected to the stylus of the tester, such as the probe needle (21).

This operation of moving the inspection stage (10) upward is actually performed in a continuous process. The above IC and probe needle (2
After inspecting the electrical characteristics of the IC in the contact state of 1), the inspection stage (10) is moved down, and then moved to the set position in the next IC by driving in the X and Y directions, and the above operation is performed. After completing the inspection of all ICs set in the palette ■, move the inspection stage (10),
Return the cassette ■ to its original position using the loading/unloading mechanism of the pallet ■ Next, move the cassette mounting table 0 upward, place the next pallet ■ on the inspection stage (10), and perform the above inspection. The operation performs a test in the IC.

As another embodiment, inspection of an IC having a package shape different from that of the above embodiment will be described.

This IC (30) has a different shape from the above embodiment as shown in Figure 6 (B), so if the above pallet ■ is used as is, the IC (30) will not be fixed and accurate inspection will not be possible. . Therefore, a cover is provided as shown in FIG. 5, which is cut out in a shape corresponding to the shape of this IC (30). This cover (33) has a thickness of 1n11, for example, and corresponds to the number of 60 formed on the pallet (2) and the size of the pallet (2).

Attach this cover (33) accurately to the pallet ■. In order to accurately position the pallet ■ and the cover (33), a guide hole (34) is provided in the square of the pallet ■, and a guide pin (34) is provided in the square of the cover (33).
) will be established. This guide pin (34) corresponds to the guide hole.

After attaching the cover (33) to the pallet (2), an IC (30) that matches this shape is set on the pallet (2), and this pallet (2) is carried into the cassette (3). The IC (30) is tested in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

Depending on how the cover (33) is provided, any shape of IC can be accommodated. In the above embodiment, the IC was placed in the hollowed out part of the pallet, but an IC socket may be installed in the hollowed out part of the pallet, and the IC may be inserted into this socket. In this case, insertion force and extraction force are required to automate the insertion and extraction of ICs into and from the pallet.

Furthermore, when contacting the tester's stylus with the row of electrode pins arranged on a pallet, as ICs become more precise, the electrode terminals become thinner, and if alignment precision is required, a wire bonder is used. As shown in the figure, the electrode terminal row is imaged with a TV camera, the positional deviation from a predetermined position is detected, and the position is automatically recognized, thereby making it possible to contact the stylus accurately and reliably.

〔Effect of the invention〕

By configuring the present invention as described above, it is possible to obtain the effects of increased versatility and improved reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a pallet for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram of a device for testing the electrical characteristics of the IC shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagram of the IC inspection shown in Fig. 1. 4 is a diagram of the inspection stage in Figure 1, Figure 5 is a diagram of the pallet in Figure 1 with a cover attached, and Figure 6 is a diagram of the IC set on the pallet in Figure 1. . 1-IC (Integrated C1rcuit)
) 2...Pallet 5...Cassette 10.
...Inspection stage 20...Probe card 33
···cover

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A semiconductor characterized in that a plurality of packaged semiconductor elements are placed at predetermined positions on a pallet, and the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor elements are tested by contacting the stylus of a tester with the electrode terminals of the semiconductor elements. Device inspection method. (2) The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the means for bringing the stylus into contact with the electrode terminal of the semiconductor device is such that the spring force of the stylus breaks the oxide film of the pin of the semiconductor device and brings the stylus into contact with the electrode terminal of the semiconductor device. Inspection method. (3) The method for testing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, characterized in that a cover is provided that is removable from the pallet. (4) The method for testing semiconductor devices according to claim 1, wherein the means for transporting the pallet to the mounting table directly transports the pallet from the pallet storage container to the mounting table.