KR101170691B1 - Needle embarkation module for probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A loading module for a probe card needle is provided to improve productivity by simultaneously performing a manufacturing process for a plurality of circuit boards. CONSTITUTION: Six chips electrically contacting a wafer pad are loaded on a multilayer circuit block(210). Coupling circuit substrates(221-226) connect an electric signal coming from a tester to the multilayer circuit block. The multilayer circuit block includes a needle loading circuit board(211) and a transfer circuit board(212). The transfer circuit board transfers the electric signal coming from the coupling circuit substrate to the needle mount circuit board. A branch circuit pattern is formed on the transfer circuit board.

Description

Needle mounting module for probe card {NEEDLE EMBARKATION MODULE FOR PROBE CARD}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe card for inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly, to an interface circuit board portion on which needles are mounted among a plurality of circuit boards configured in the probe card.

A semiconductor device is an assembly that fabricates a fabrication process for forming a pattern on a wafer and an assembly for assembling each device after dividing the processed wafer into a plurality of devices having the same pattern. It is manufactured through the process.

However, among the devices of the wafer that have been fabricated, some of the devices may have poor electrical characteristics due to manufacturing defects. Electrical Die Sorting (hereinafter referred to as 'EDS') process.

In the EDS process, an electrical signal is applied to each device on the wafer, and then a probe station is used to determine whether or not each device is defective by analyzing the electrical signal from each device.

The probe station uses a probe card to transmit electrical signals from the tester to the device pads.

The probe card has needles that can be in electrical contact with the support plate, multiple circuit boards and pads on the wafer.

Electrical signals from the tester are sequentially applied to the pads on the wafer via a plurality of circuit boards and needles, and then fed back to the tester while passing through the needles and the plurality of circuit boards from the pads on the wafer in the reverse order.

Many circuit boards include, for example, main circuit boards, sub-circuit boards, side circuit boards, and interface circuit boards on which needles are mounted, and the interface circuit boards have chips in portions where the needles are mounted. In the case where a plurality of circuit boards are thus configured, electrical signals from the tester are applied to the pads on the wafer through the needles through the main circuit board, the sub circuit board, the side circuit board, and the interface circuit board. Here, the interface circuit board has at least one chip, and since the needles are mounted in the portion where the chip is located, it is preferable that the interface circuit board is made of a material such as ceramic, which is less deformed by heat and has good hardness.

In most cases, the interface circuit board is divided from the sub circuit board with the support plate interposed therebetween. However, since the interface circuit board and the sub-circuit board must exchange electrical signals with each other, as shown in FIG. 1, an insertion hole 111 is formed in the support plate 110 and an interface circuit is formed in the insertion hole 111. Side circuit boards 141 and 412 for exchanging electrical signals between the substrate 120 and the sub-circuit board 130 are inserted and installed vertically. For reference, the interface circuit board 120 and the side circuit boards 141 and 142 may be installed in the support plate 110 after being assembled into one module (hereinafter referred to as a needle mounting module). ), Numerous needle mounting modules are installed.

On the other hand, about 70 electrical signals from the tester are applied to one chip, and the electrical signals must not overlap each other. Therefore, the circuit pattern formed on each of the plurality of circuit boards is very complicated (consider the case of hundreds of chips).

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention, as referred to in the Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-0979502 (name of the invention: a probe card substrate, hereinafter referred to as 'advanced technology') a single electrical signal from the tester to the multiple circuit boards It has been proposed a circuit configuration method to branch out into several chips. According to the prior art, since the circuit patterns of the main circuit board, the sub circuit board, and the side circuit board are relatively simple, the manufacturing cost and manufacturing time are drastically shortened.

However, according to the prior art, it is necessary to form an interface circuit board as a multilayer circuit board because a complex circuit pattern in which electrical signals are branched to the interface circuit board is formed.

As described above, since the interface circuit board is made of a ceramic material, when forming a circuit pattern of a multi-layer structure, a sintering process must be performed every time a circuit pattern of one layer is formed. Since the needles can be mounted only after the circuit patterns of the multilayer structure having a multilayer structure of about 20 layers are completed, the advantages of the prior art, which shorten the manufacturing time and manufacturing cost, are diluted.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for dividing a plurality of interface circuit boards on which a needle is mounted to solve the problems as described above.

Needle-mounted module for probe card according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, has a N (N ≥ 1) chip is mounted on the needle that is in electrical contact with the pad of the wafer, and the electrical signal from the tester A multi-layer circuit block having a multi-layered circuit pattern formed for branching and connecting to the N chips; And a connection circuit board having a circuit pattern for connecting an electrical signal from a tester side to the multilayer circuit block. The multilayer circuit block includes: a needle-mounted circuit board having the N chips; A transfer circuit board configured to transfer an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit board; Divided into.

Preferably, the transfer circuit board is formed with a branch circuit pattern for branching an electrical signal from the connection circuit board and transferring the electrical signal to the needle-mounted circuit board.

In the transfer circuit board, a circuit pattern for transferring an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit board is preferably formed in a multilayer structure.

It may also be considered to form branch circuit patterns on the needle-mounted circuit board for branching electrical signals from the transfer circuit board.

The needle-mounted circuit board and the transfer circuit board preferably have different materials.

The needle-mounted circuit board may be made of any one of ceramic, glass, and silicon, and the transfer circuit board may be made of synthetic resin.

The needle-mounted circuit board has first connection pads for connecting to a circuit formed on the transfer circuit board at an edge of a surface on which the needle is mounted, and the transfer circuit board has a second for connecting with the first connection pads, respectively. The connection pads may be positioned at positions corresponding to the positions of the first connection pads, and may be disposed at edges of the surface on which the needle-mounted circuit board is coupled and extended from the needle-mounted circuit board.

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In addition, the needle mounting module for a probe card according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, has N (N ≥ 2) chips are mounted on the needle that is in electrical contact with the pad of the wafer, the electricity coming from the tester A multi-layer circuit block having a multi-layered circuit pattern for branching red signals to connect the N chips; And a connection circuit board having a circuit pattern for connecting an electrical signal from a tester side to the multilayer circuit block. The multilayer circuit block includes: needle-mounted circuit boards having at least one of the N chips; And a transfer circuit board configured to transfer electrical signals from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit boards. Divided into.

Preferably, the transfer circuit board is provided with a branch circuit pattern for branching an electrical signal from the connection circuit board and transferring the electrical signal to the needle-mounted circuit boards.

In the transfer circuit board, a circuit pattern for transferring an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit boards is preferably formed in a multilayer structure.

It is preferable that the materials of the needle-mounted circuit boards and the material of the transfer circuit board are different from each other.

The needle-mounted circuit boards may be made of any one of ceramic, glass, and silicon, and the transfer circuit board may be made of synthetic resin.

The needle-mounted circuit boards may include first connection pads on the edge of a surface on which the needle is mounted, for connecting to a circuit formed on the transfer circuit board, and the transfer circuit board may be connected to the first connection pads, respectively. It is preferable to provide connection pads on the surface to which the needle-mounted circuit boards are coupled while being corresponding to the positions of the first connection pads.

According to the present invention, the multilayer circuit block on which the needle is mounted is divided into a plurality of circuit boards.

First, since the manufacturing process for a plurality of circuit boards can be performed at the same time, there is an effect that the productivity is improved.

Second, only the needle-mounted circuit board on which the needle is mounted may be made of a material having low hardness and thermal deformation (for example, ceramic, glass, silicon, etc.), and the transmission circuit board may be made of a general synthetic resin material. It is faster and the production cost can be greatly reduced.

1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional needle mounting module.
2 is a schematic perspective view of a needle mounting module according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a reference diagram for explaining a position where an electrical signal is branched in the needle mounting module of FIG. 2.
4 is a reference diagram for explaining a position where an electrical signal branches in a needle mounting module according to an application of the first embodiment.
5 is a schematic perspective view of a needle mounting module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates applications of the needle mounting module of FIG. 5.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, for the sake of brevity of description duplicate description will be omitted or compressed as possible.

≪ Embodiment 1 >

2 is a schematic perspective view of a needle mounting module 200 (hereinafter, abbreviated as 'needle mounting module') for a probe card according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The needle mounting module 200 according to the present embodiment includes a multilayer circuit block 210 and six connection circuit boards 221 to 226.

The multilayer circuit block 210 has six chips (Chip1 to Chip6) on which needles electrically contact the pads of the wafer and mounts the six signals (Chip1 to Chip6) by branching an electrical signal from a tester (not shown). The circuit pattern of the multi-layer structure for the connection with () is formed. Of course, depending on the implementation, it is also possible for the multilayer circuit block to have 1 to 5 chips or 7 or more chips. The multilayer circuit block 210 corresponds to an interface circuit board in the background art, and is divided into a needle-mounted circuit board 211 and a transfer circuit board 212.

The needle-mounted circuit board 211 has six chips Chip1 to Chip6, and a circuit pattern is preferably formed only on the surface on which the needle (not shown) is mounted. Therefore, since it is possible to form a cross-sectional circuit pattern, it is possible to be composed of not only ceramic but also silicon of a material such as glass or wafer. Of course, the present invention may be applied as long as the needle-mounted circuit board has one or more chips. It's enough to be.

 In addition, the needle-mounted circuit board 211 includes first connection pads CP1 for connecting to a circuit formed in the transfer circuit board 212 at the edge of the surface on which the needle is mounted.

The transfer circuit board 212 is provided to transfer electrical signals from the connection circuit boards 221 to 226 to the needle-mounted circuit board 211, and carry the electrical signals from the connection circuit boards 221 to 226 to the needle mounting. Complex circuit patterns for transferring to the circuit board 211 are formed in a multilayer structure. Since the needle is not directly mounted on the transfer circuit board 212, the transfer circuit board 212 may be made of a synthetic resin that is different from the needle-mounted circuit board 211. If the transfer circuit board 212 is made of synthetic resin, the process of forming a complicated circuit pattern into a multi-layered structure becomes very easy. Therefore, as shown in this embodiment, a circuit pattern having a multi-layered structure is formed on the transfer circuit board 212. Is preferably to be considered. In addition, since the transfer circuit board 212 may be very easy to form not only a multilayer circuit pattern but also a complicated circuit pattern depending on the material thereof, the transfer circuit board 212 may be divided into several chips (Chip1 to Chip6) by dividing an electric signal. Also, it is desirable to form the branch circuit pattern to be formed on the transfer circuit board 212 as in the present embodiment referred to in FIG.

Of course, it is also preferable to properly distribute the circuit pattern layer of the needle-mounted circuit board and the circuit pattern layer of the transfer circuit board by comparatively weighing the manufacturing time of the needle-mounted circuit board and the transfer circuit board. For example, a method of forming a circuit pattern having a 2 to 3 layer structure on a needle-mounted circuit board and a circuit pattern having an 18 to 17 layer structure on a transfer circuit board may be considered.

In addition, the transfer circuit board 212 is a position corresponding to the positions of the first connection pads CP1 to the second connection pads CP2 for electrically connecting the first connection pads CP1, and the needle-mounted circuit board 212. It is provided on the edge side extended from the needle-mounted circuit board 211 while the side (211) is coupled. For example, when one electrical signal line is branched into six lines on the transfer circuit board 212 and then connected to six chips Chip1 to Chip6, the deviation between the six branched lines (from the branch point to the chip) It is difficult to reduce the arrival deviation of the electrical signal coming from the distance and it is inevitable to form a circuit pattern of a multilayer structure on the needle-mounted circuit board 211 due to collision with other electrical lines, in this embodiment As shown in FIG. 2, when the first connection pad CP1 and the second connection pad CP2 are provided at the edge of the needle-mounted circuit board 211 and the extended edge of the transfer circuit board 212, the deviation between the branched lines is maximized. Although it can be reduced, there is an advantage that a circuit pattern having a multilayer structure is not formed on the needle-mounted circuit board 211.

On the other hand, the connection circuit boards 221 to 226 correspond to side circuit boards in the background art, and multi-layer circuits receive electrical signals sequentially passing from the tester side through the main circuit board (not shown) and the sub circuit board (not shown). A circuit pattern for connecting to the block 210 is formed. One or more connection circuit boards 221 to 226 may be provided in some cases.

Needle-mounted module 200 having the configuration as described above after the needle-mounted circuit board 211, the transfer circuit board 212, the connection circuit boards (221 to 226) separately manufactured at the same time, the needle-mounted circuit board 211 And the transfer circuit board 212 in a horizontal state, and the connection circuit boards 221 to 226 are vertically coupled to both side ends of the transfer circuit board 212, and then electrically connected to each other. Can be. Therefore, manufacturing time can be greatly saved, and in particular, when the transfer circuit board 212 is provided with a general synthetic resin material, manufacturing time can be faster and production cost can be greatly reduced.

<Application Example of First Embodiment>

In the first embodiment, the branch circuit pattern is formed on the transfer circuit board 212. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the branch circuit is small because the number of chips Chip1 to Chip4 is small or the arrangement of the chips Chip1 to Chip4 is simple. In the case where the pattern may be simply formed, it may be considered to form a branch circuit pattern on the needle mounting module 411 instead of the transfer circuit board 412.

Second Embodiment

5 is a schematic perspective view of the needle mounting module 500 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The needle mounting module 500 according to the present embodiment includes a multilayer circuit block 510 and six connection circuit boards 521 to 526.

The multilayer circuit block 510 has six chips Chip1 to Chip6 on which needles electrically contact the pads of the wafer are mounted, and six chips Chip1 to Chip6 are formed by branching an electrical signal from a tester (not shown). The circuit pattern of the multi-layer structure for the connection with () is formed. The multilayer circuit block 510 is divided into six needle-mounted circuit boards 511a to 511f and one transfer circuit board 512.

Each needle-mounted circuit board 511a to 511f has one chip (Chip1, Chip2, Chip3, Chip4, Chip5 or Chip6). Of course, depending on the implementation, as in the application example referred to in Figs. 6A to 6C, one needle-mounted circuit board NCB may have two to five chips of less than six. It may be configured. Each of the needle-mounted circuit boards 511a to 511f includes first connection pads CP1 connected to a circuit formed on the transfer circuit board 512 at the edge of the surface on which the needle is mounted.

The transfer circuit board 512 is provided to transfer electrical signals from the connection circuit boards 521 to 526 to the six needle-mounted circuit boards 511a to 511f, and comes from the connection circuit boards 521 to 526. Complex circuit patterns and branch circuit patterns for transferring electrical signals to the needle-mounted circuit boards 511a to 511f are formed in a multilayer structure.

In addition, the transfer circuit board 512 may include the needle mounting circuit board while the second connection pads CP2 to be electrically connected to the first connection pads CP1 correspond to the positions of the first connection pads CP1. 511a to 511f are provided on the surface to which they are coupled.

The material of the needle-embedded circuit boards 511a to 511f and the transfer circuit board 512 is as described in the first embodiment.

In the connection circuit boards 521 to 526, a circuit pattern for connecting an electrical signal sequentially passing through the main circuit board (not shown) and the sub circuit board (not shown) from the tester side to the multilayer circuit block 510 is formed. It is.

According to this second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it may be considered to be preferable when it is difficult to provide the first connection pad at the edge of one needle-mounted circuit board having a plurality of chips. .

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiments, the multilayer circuit block is divided into two circuit boards, but it may be considered to divide the circuit board into three or more circuit boards in consideration of productivity, and the present invention may include three multilayer circuit blocks. Anyone can see that the concept involves dividing the circuit board into the above.

Therefore, as described above, although the detailed description of the present invention has been made by the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above embodiments have been described only by way of examples of the present invention. It should not be understood to be limited only to the scope of the present invention will be understood by the claims and equivalent concepts described below.

200, 500: needle mounting module for probe card 210, 510: multilayer circuit block
211, 511: Needle-mounted circuit board
CP1: first connection pad
212, 512: transfer circuit board
CP2: second connection pad
221 to 226, 521 to 526: connection circuit board

Claims (13)

Multi-layered circuit block having N (N ≥ 1) chips mounted with needles in electrical contact with the pads of the wafer, and having a multi-layered circuit pattern for branching electrical signals from the tester and connecting them to the N chips. ; And
A connection circuit board having a circuit pattern for connecting an electrical signal from a tester side to the multilayer circuit block; Including,
The multilayer circuit block,
A needle-mounted circuit board having the N chips; And
A transfer circuit board for transferring an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit board; Characterized by being divided into
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 1,
The transfer circuit board is formed with a branch circuit pattern for branching the electrical signal from the connection circuit board to transfer to the needle-mounted circuit board
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 1,
In the transfer circuit board, a circuit pattern for transferring an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit board is formed in a multilayer structure.
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 1,
The needle-mounted circuit board is formed with a branch circuit pattern for branching the electrical signal coming from the transfer circuit board
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 1,
The needle-mounted circuit board and the transfer circuit board is characterized in that the material is different from each other
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 5,
The needle-mounted circuit board is made of any one material of ceramic, glass, silicon,
The transfer circuit board is characterized in that the synthetic resin material
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 1,
The needle-mounted circuit board includes first connection pads on the edge of the surface on which the needle is mounted, for connecting to a circuit formed on the transfer circuit board.
The transfer circuit board may have second connection pads for connecting the first connection pads to positions corresponding to the positions of the first connection pads, respectively, and the needle mounting circuit board may be connected to the needle mounting circuit board. Characterized in that provided on the more extended edge
Needle mounting module for probe card. Multi-layer circuit block having N (N ≥ 2) chips on which needles electrically contact pads of wafers, and having multi-layered circuit patterns for branching electrical signals from testers and connecting them to the N chips ; And
A connection circuit board having a circuit pattern for connecting an electrical signal from a tester side to the multilayer circuit block; Including,
The multilayer circuit block,
Needle-mounted circuit boards having at least one of the N chips; And
A transfer circuit board for transferring an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit boards; Characterized by being divided into
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 8,
The transfer circuit board is formed with a branch circuit pattern for branching the electrical signal from the connection circuit board to transfer to the needle-mounted circuit boards
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 8,
In the transfer circuit board, a circuit pattern for transferring an electrical signal from the connection circuit board to the needle-mounted circuit boards is formed in a multilayer structure.
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 8,
The material of the needle-mounted circuit board and the material of the transfer circuit board is different from each other
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 11,
The needle-mounted circuit board is made of any one material of ceramic, glass, silicon,
The transfer circuit board is characterized in that the synthetic resin material
Needle mounting module for probe card. The method of claim 8,
The needle-mounted circuit boards include first connection pads at the edge of the surface on which the needle is mounted, for connecting to a circuit formed on the transfer circuit board.
The transfer circuit board has second connection pads for connecting to the first connection pads, respectively, on the surface corresponding to the position of the first connection pads and on which the needle-mounted circuit boards are coupled.
Needle mounting module for probe card.

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