KR100954361B1 - Probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

Probe cards are provided with reduced manufacturing time and manufacturing costs.

The probe card may include a printed circuit board including a circuit pattern and a through hole connected to the circuit pattern, positioned on the printed circuit board, a slit guide portion in which a slit is formed, and inserted into the through hole of the printed circuit board. At least a part of the probe is inserted into the slit by the bent from the through hole, the probe is supported by the elastic recovery force of the probe is supported by the through hole and the slit.

Probe card, probe, elastic resilience

Description

Probe Card {PROBE CARD}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe card comprising a printed circuit board, and more particularly, to a probe card in which pitch conversion is performed due to the bending of the probe.

In general, semiconductor devices have a fabrication process of forming contact pads for circuit patterns and inspections on a wafer, and an assembly process of assembling wafers having circuit patterns and contact pads into respective semiconductor chips. It is manufactured through.

An inspection process is performed between the fabrication process and the assembly process to inspect the electrical characteristics of the wafer by applying an electrical signal to the contact pads formed on the wafer. This inspection process is performed to inspect a defect of a wafer and to remove a portion of a wafer in which a defect occurs during an assembly process.

In the inspection process, inspection equipment called a tester for applying an electrical signal to a wafer and probe equipment for performing an interface function between the wafer and the tester are mainly used. Among them, the probe card includes a printed circuit board that receives an electrical signal applied from a tester and a plurality of probes in contact with contact pads formed on the wafer.

Hereinafter, a conventional probe card will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional probe card.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional probe card 10 includes a printed circuit board 11, an interposer 12, a space converter 13, and a probe 14.

The printed circuit board 11 includes a probe circuit pattern (not shown) and a substrate pad 11a formed for an inspection process, and receives and transmits an electrical signal applied from a tester (not shown) to the probe 14. Do this.

The interposer 12 is connected to the probe circuit pattern of the printed circuit board 11 to electrically connect between the printed circuit board 11 and the probe 14.

The space transducer 13 is formed on the upper surface and includes a first pad 13a connected to the interposer 12 and a second pad 13b formed on the lower surface and connected to the probe 14. The distance between the second pads 13b facing each other is formed to be narrower than the distance between the first pads 13a facing each other, so that the spatial transducer 13 performs a function of spatial transformation from the interposer 12 to the probe 14. do.

The probe 14 contacts the contact pads formed on the inspected object, such as a wafer, during the inspection process, and passes through the printed circuit board 11, the interposer 12, and the space transducer 13 from a tester (not shown). The electrical signal delivered to the probe 14 is delivered to the contact pads.

As described above, the conventional probe card 10 essentially uses a space transducer 13 that performs a function of spatial conversion in order to contact a contact pad formed at a fine pitch on the inspected object.

By the way, the conventional probe card 10 uses an expensive material such as a multi-layer ceramic substrate (MLC) as the space transducer 13, and performs electrical connection between the probe 14 and the space transducer 13. There is a problem in that a separate connection process is performed and manufacturing time and manufacturing cost increase because the interposer 12 for connecting between the space converter 13 and the printed circuit board 11 is used.

In the conventional probe card 10, since the entire probe 14 is exposed to the outside, the probe 14 may be formed by contact pads formed on the object under test or particles that may be located on the contact pad during the inspection process. ) Is spaced apart from the initially set position, there is a problem that the inspection reliability is degraded in the next inspection process.

One embodiment of the present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a probe card that can reduce the manufacturing time and manufacturing cost and improve the inspection reliability.

As a technical means for achieving the above technical problem, an aspect of the present invention is a probe card, a printed circuit board including a circuit pattern and a through hole connected to the circuit pattern, is located on the printed circuit board, the slit And a probe inserted into the formed slit guide portion and the through hole of the printed circuit board, wherein at least a portion of the slit guide portion is inserted into the slit by bending from the through hole. The probe card is supported by the through-hole and the slit by the elastic restoring force of the.

The probe includes an insertion part inserted into the through hole, a lead part bent and extended from the insertion part, a probe support part extended from the lead part and inserted into and supported by the slit, and a tip bent from the probe support part. Including a portion, the insertion portion may be inserted into the through hole due to the bending of the lead portion.

The insertion part may include an insertion contact part which contacts the through hole and the insertion contact part, and may include an insertion elastic part having elasticity such that the insertion contact part elastically corresponds to the through hole.

The lead portion may have a plate shape.

The insertion part, the lead part, the probe support part and the tip part may be integrated.

The apparatus may further include a protective substrate facing the slit guide portion with the probe interposed therebetween and covering at least a portion of the slit guide portion and the probe.

The protective substrate may include a probe hole formed through the protective substrate, and the tip portion may be bent and extended from the probe support portion at least once, and may be disposed in a substantially vertical direction from the elastic bending portion and the elastic bending portion positioned in the probe hole. It may be extended and include a contact portion protruding out of the protective substrate.

The protective substrate includes a protruding support portion protruding in the probe direction, and the probe support portion is inserted into the slit and correspondingly contacts the first support portion and the protruding support portion supported on the plate surface of the printed circuit board in the first direction. On the plate surface of the printed circuit board may include a second support portion supported in a second direction crossing the first direction.

The protective substrate may include a ceramic.

Located on the printed circuit board, it may further include a reinforcing plate is formed hollow portion so that the slit guide portion is located in the center.

According to one of the embodiments of the above-described problem solving means of the present invention, there is an effect of improving the structure to reduce the manufacturing time and manufacturing cost, and improve the inspection reliability.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a member is located “on” another member, this includes not only when one member is in contact with another member but also when another member exists between the two members. In addition, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless otherwise stated.

Hereinafter, a probe card 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

2 is an exploded perspective view of a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the probe card 1000 may include a printed circuit board 100, a reinforcement plate 200, a slit guide part 300, a probe 400, and a protective substrate 500.

The printed circuit board 100 is formed in a substantially disk shape, and a circuit pattern (not shown) for an inspection process is formed. The printed circuit board 100 may be connected with a tester for an inspection process.

The through hole 110 penetrating the printed circuit board 100 is formed in the central region of the printed circuit board 100.

The through hole 110 is connected to a circuit pattern (not shown), and a conductive material is formed on the inner surface of the through hole 110. The insertion hole 410 of the probe 400 to be described later is inserted into the through hole 110.

The reinforcement plate 200 is positioned on the printed circuit board 100.

The reinforcement plate 200 is positioned between the printed circuit board 100 and the protective substrate 500 to be described later. The hollow part 210 is formed in the central region of the reinforcing plate 200, and the slit guide part 300 to be described later is located in the hollow part 210. The reinforcing plate 200 is coupled to the printed circuit board 100 by using a coupling member such as a screw, and serves to protect the printed circuit board 100 from an external impact.

In another embodiment, the reinforcement plate 200 may be coupled to the printed circuit board 100 by structural coupling with the printed circuit board 100.

The slit guide 300 is positioned on the printed circuit board 100 and includes a plurality of probe fixing slits 310. Each slit 310 is spaced apart from each other, and the probe 400 to be described later is inserted into each slit 310. The slit guide part 300 is formed of ceramics such as zirconia, and each slit 310 may be formed using a mechanical process such as dicing or a photolithography process. have.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the probe shown in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a plan view showing a printed circuit board, a slit guide portion and the probe in the probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is an embodiment of the present invention It is sectional drawing of the probe card which concerns on an example.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the probe 400 includes an insertion part 410, a lead part 420, a probe support part 430, and a tip part 440.

The insertion part 410 is inserted into the through hole 110 of the printed circuit board 100 due to the bending of the lead part 420 to be described later, and includes an insertion contact part 411 and an insertion elastic part 412.

The insertion contact 411 contacts a circuit pattern (not shown) of the printed circuit board 100 by contacting a conductive material formed on an inner surface of the through hole 110 of the printed circuit board 100.

The insertion elastic part 412 is surrounded by the insertion contact part 411, and has an elasticity so that the insertion contact part 411 may elastically correspond to the through-hole 110. That is, when the inserting portion 410 is inserted into the through hole 110 of the printed circuit board 100, the inserting contact portion 411 contacts the conductive material formed on the inner surface of the through hole 110 and at the same time inserts the elastic portion 412. It is elastically supported by the through hole 110, and by one side of the through hole 110 in the through hole 110 by the elastic restoring force of the lead portion 420 due to the bending of the lead portion 420. Located in contact.

The lead part 420 is bent and extended from the insertion part 410, and is formed in plate shape. The lead portion 420 is made of a material having flexibility and elastic restoring force. The lead part 420 performs pitch transforming from the insertion part 410 to the probe support part 430, and the slit of the slit guide part 300 from the through hole 110 of the printed circuit board 100. Up to 310, the lead portion 420 is bent in the plate direction.

Here, the pitch refers to the space between adjacent terminals or the space between neighboring probes. In the present invention, the pitch is from the through hole 110 of the printed circuit board 100 to the slit 310 of the slit guide part 300. By bending the lead portion 420 of the probe 400, the distance between neighboring probes 400 can be narrowed.

The probe support 430 includes a first support 431 and a second support 432.

The first support part 431 is inserted into the slit 310 of the slit guide part 300, and is slit 310 in the first direction, which is the width direction of the slit 310, on the plate surface of the printed circuit board 100. Supported. The first support part 431 is in contact with one side of the slit 310 in the slit 310 of the slit guide part 300 by the elastic restoring force of the lead part 420 due to the bending of the lead part 420. Doing.

The second support part 432 is formed to face the first support part 431, and is formed in a concave shape corresponding to the protruding support part 520 of the protective substrate 500, which will be described later. The second support part 432 is in contact with the protruding support part 520 of the protective substrate 500, and is projected by the protruding support part 520 in a second direction crossing the first direction on the plate surface of the printed circuit board 100. Supported. That is, the probe support part 430 is supported in the first direction and the second direction by the slit 310 of the slit guide part 300 and the protruding support part 520 of the protective substrate 500.

The tip portion 440 is extended from the probe support portion 430 and includes an elastic bending portion 441 and a contact portion 442.

The elastic bending portion 441 extends from the probe support 430 one or more times so that the contact portion 442 may have elasticity, and is located in the probe hole 510 of the protective substrate 500 to be described later.

The contact portion 442 is bent and extended in a substantially vertical direction from the elastic bending portion 441 and protrudes out of the protective substrate 500 through the probe hole 510 of the protective substrate 500. The contact portion 442 contacts the contact pads formed on the inspected object such as a semiconductor wafer during the inspection process, and elastically contacts the contact pads by the elastic bending portion 441.

The insertion part 410, the lead part 420, the probe support part 430, and the tip part 440 of the probe 400 are integrally formed and perform a MEMS process such as a photolithography process. It can be prepared on the sacrificial substrate or finely etched by the conductive material itself.

The protective substrate 500 is made of ceramic such as alumina, and blocks the heat transferred to the probe 400 during the inspection process and protects the probe 400 from external interference. The protection substrate 500 includes a probe hole 510 formed through the protection substrate 500 and a protrusion support part 520 protruding from the second support part 432 of the probe 400. The tip portion 440 of the probe 400 is positioned in the probe hole 510, and the elastic bending portion 441 is located in the probe hole 510 and the contact portion 442 penetrates the probe hole 510. As a result, the probe hole 510 protrudes outward. The protruding support 520 contacts the second support 432 of the probe 400 to support the probe 400.

As described above, the probe card 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the through hole 110 formed in the printed circuit board 100 of the probe 400, the probe 400 itself Since the spatial transformation is performed from the insertion portion 410 to the tip portion 440 of the probe 400, there is no need to use a spatial transducer and an interposer using an expensive material such as a multi-layer ceramic substrate (MLC). .

In addition, the probe support part 430 of the probe 400 is inserted into the slit 310 of the slit guide part 300, and the insertion part 410 is inserted into the through hole 110 by the bending of the lead part 420. Therefore, the probe 400 is supported by the slit 310 of the slit guide 300 and the through hole 110 of the printed circuit board 100. That is, bonding between the probe 400 and the printed circuit board 100 is performed, and a separate process for bonding between the probe 400 and the printed circuit board 100 is not required.

That is, the probe card 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention reduces manufacturing time and manufacturing cost.

In addition, since only the contact portion 442 of the probe 400 in contact with the contact pad formed on the inspected object is exposed to the outside of the protective substrate 500, it may be located on the contact pad or contact pad formed on the inspected object during the inspection process. The detachment of the probe 400 from the initially set position by the particles or the like may be suppressed.

In addition, since the protective substrate 500 blocks heat that may be transferred to the probe 400 during the inspection process, an error of a signal transmitted to the probe 400 that may occur due to heat, or the structure of the probe 400 itself The change is lowered.

In addition, due to the alignment of the probe 400 with respect to the slit guide 300 due to the bending of the lead part 420 of the probe 400, the probe 400 of the probe 400 contacting the contact pad formed on the test object during the inspection process. Alignment of the contact 442 is performed.

That is, the probe card 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention has improved inspection reliability.

The foregoing description of the present invention is intended for illustration, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be easily modified in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the above description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional probe card,

2 is an exploded perspective view of a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view of the probe shown in FIG. 1,

4 is a plan view illustrating a printed circuit board, a slit guide part, and a probe in a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a cross-sectional view of a probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (10)

In the probe card, A printed circuit board including a circuit pattern and a through hole connected to the circuit pattern, Located on the printed circuit board, the slit guide portion, the slit is formed, and A probe inserted into the through hole of the printed circuit board, the probe being inserted into the slit of the slit guide part by bending from the through hole, And the probe is supported by the through-hole and the slit by the elastic restoring force of the probe. The method of claim 1, The probe, An insertion part inserted into the through hole, A lead portion that is bent and extended from the insertion portion, A probe support extending from the lead and inserted into and supported by the slit; Tip portion which is bent and extended from the probe support Including, And the insertion portion is inserted into the through hole due to the bending of the lead portion. The method of claim 2, The insertion unit, An insertion contact in contact with the through hole; An insertion elastic portion surrounded by the insertion contact portion and having an elasticity so that the insertion contact portion elastically corresponds to the through hole. Probe card comprising a. The method of claim 2, And a lead portion of the probe card. The method of claim 4, wherein And the insertion portion, the lead portion, the probe support portion and the tip portion are integral. The method of claim 2, Facing the slit guide portion with the probe interposed therebetween, And a protective substrate covering the slit guide portion and at least a portion of the probe. The method of claim 6, The protective substrate includes a probe hole formed through the protective substrate, The tip portion, An elastic bending portion extending from the probe support more than once and positioned in the probe hole; And a contact portion that extends from the elastic bending portion in a substantially vertical direction and protrudes out of the protective substrate. The method of claim 6, The protective substrate includes a protruding support protruding in the probe direction, The probe support portion, A first support part inserted into the slit and supported in a first direction on a plate surface of the printed circuit board; A second support portion corresponding to the protruding support portion and supported in a second direction crossing the first direction on the plate surface of the printed circuit board; Probe card comprising a. The method of claim 6, And the protective substrate comprises a ceramic. The method of claim 1, Located on the printed circuit board, And a reinforcing plate having a hollow portion formed such that the slit guide portion is positioned at the center thereof.

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