KR101669591B1

KR101669591B1 - Probe card

Info

Publication number: KR101669591B1
Application number: KR1020160099386A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 조준수
Original assignee: 주식회사 프로이천
Priority date: 2016-08-04
Filing date: 2016-08-04
Publication date: 2016-10-28

Abstract

The present invention relates to a needle barrel having a plurality of needles and a plurality of first needle holes formed on a lower surface of the spaced apart space and having a plurality of second needle holes each having a pitch larger than that of the plurality of first needle holes, An insulating material guide portion formed on an upper surface of the spacing space, a needle hole formed on the upper surface of the spacer space, and a flexible tensioning portion made of an insulating material to provide elasticity by filling the spacing space, And a plurality of third needle holes having a larger pitch between the holes than the plurality of second needle holes are formed.

Description

Probe card {Probe card}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a probe card, and more particularly, to a probe card capable of performing a test by contacting a wafer to be measured having a narrow pitch.

In general, a semiconductor device includes a fabrication process for forming a circuit pattern and a contact pad for testing on a wafer, an assembly process for assembling a circuit pattern and a contact pad formed wafer into respective semiconductor chips, Lt; / RTI >

Between the fabrication process and the assembly process, a test process is performed to test the electrical characteristics of the wafer by applying an electrical signal to the contact pads formed on the wafer. This test process is a process to test a wafer for defects and to remove a portion of the defective wafer during the assembly process.

During the test process, test equipment such as a tester that applies an electrical signal to the wafer and a probe card that performs an interface function between the wafer and the tester are mainly used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional probe card. 1, a conventional probe card includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 11, a multi-layer ceramic (MLC) 13 as an extension board, a support frame 15, And a plurality of needles (17). Here, the probe card may have a vertical structure or a cantilevered structure as described above. In addition, the conventional probe card may further include a guide plate 19 for supporting the plurality of needles 17.

The PCB 11 includes a probe circuit pattern formed for a test process of the wafer, and receives the electric signal from the tester and transmits the electrical signal to the needle 17.

The MLC 13 is electrically connected to the PCB 11 by the interface unit i and is positioned below the PCB 11. The MLC 13 functions as a wiring for transmitting the electrical signal to the needles 17, And compensates for the difference between the terminal-to-terminal spacing and the spacing between the needles (17). At this time, the MLC 13 is formed by alternately forming a plurality of conductive layers and insulating layers on an insulating substrate disposed therein. The interface unit i is located between the PCB 11 and the MLC 13 and is electrically connected to the probe circuit pattern of the PCB 11. [

The support frame 15 is positioned below the MLC 13 and has a plurality of holes through which the needles 17 are inserted, passing through the upper and lower ends.

A plurality of needles 17 are attached to the lower surface of the MLC 13 and inserted into the holes of the support frame 15 to protrude from the support frame 15 and contact the contact pads formed on the wafer to be tested. At this time, each of the needles 17 is curved in a cobra shape to provide elasticity.

In recent years, as the product has become highly integrated, the density of the contact pads formed on the wafer increases, and the pitch, i.e. pitch, between adjacent contact pads is formed to be very narrow due to the size reduction. Accordingly, there is an increasing need for narrow pitch needles to test wafers having contact pads of fine pitch.

However, since the conventional probe card compensates for the difference between the terminal-to-terminal spacing and the needle-to-needle distance through the MLC, the MLC has a limitation in narrowing the pitch of the needle There is a problem that the MLC minimum fabrication pitch is 80 μm, which can not cope with pattern trends that have recently become highly integrated.

In addition, the conventional probe card has a problem that the manufacturing process of the MLC is complicated, the manufacturing time is long, and the manufacturing cost is accordingly increased.

An object of the present invention is to provide a probe card which can cope with pattern trends in which pitch narrowing of needles is facilitated and highly integrated, and economical efficiency of a product can be improved.

A probe card according to the present invention includes a plurality of needles and a spaced space therein, a plurality of first needle holes formed on a lower surface of the spaced space, a plurality of first needle holes having a pitch larger than that of the plurality of first needle holes A second needle hole of the first needle hole is formed on the upper surface of the spacing space, and a flexible tension member for inserting the spacing space to provide elasticity, and a tension member of insulating material, And a plurality of third needle holes having a larger pitch between the holes than the plurality of second needle holes.

The plurality of first needle holes may be formed at a pitch such that, when the plurality of needles are inserted, the pitch of the inserted plurality of needles matches the pitch of the contact pads formed on the wafer to be measured.

The plurality of needles are inserted into the first, second, and third needle holes so that the pitch is increased toward the upper side, the upper end protrudes from the support frame, the lower end protrudes from the lower surface of the spacing space, The pitch of the lower end through the plurality of first needle holes can coincide with the pitch of the contact pads.

The guide portion may include a first guide layer on which a first inner space having an open top surface is formed and on which a plurality of first needle holes are formed on a bottom surface of the first inner space, And a plurality of second needle holes are formed on the first guide layer so as to form the spaced spaces in the first and second inner spaces, 2 guide layer.

Further, the plurality of needles may be electrically and electrically connected to the PCB whose upper end is disposed on the upper side of the support frame.

In addition, the tension portion can be buried by molding the spaced space with a soft material.

In addition, the support frame may include side walls spaced from each other, and at least one third guide layer positioned between the side walls, wherein the third needle holes are formed.

In the present invention, a plurality of needles are inserted into the plurality of needle holes through a plurality of guide layers formed with a plurality of needle holes having a larger pitch between the holes toward the upper side so that the pitch between the terminals of the PCB (pitch) (Pitch) between the needle holes formed on the upper surface becomes smaller than the needle-hole spacing (pitch) formed on the lower surface as a simple process of forming a plurality of needle holes having a predetermined pitch in each guide layer is performed Pitch), so that the function of the pitch conversion can be achieved. Therefore, it is possible to cope with pattern trends in which the pitch of the needles can be narrowed easily and highly integrated.

In addition, the present invention compensates for the difference in pitch (pitch) between the terminals of the PCB and the pitch (pitch) between the needles 70 by means of a plurality of guide layers formed with a plurality of needle holes that increase in pitch between the holes toward the upper side The conventional MLC is not necessary, so that the economical efficiency of the product is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional probe card.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a probe card according to an embodiment.
3 is a front view of Fig.
4 is a bottom view of the first guide layer of Fig.
5 is a front view showing a plurality of needles inserted into the needle holes of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 5. FIG.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully describe the present invention to those skilled in the art, and the following embodiments may be modified in various other forms, The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be more thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an," and "the" include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, " comprise "and / or" comprising "when used herein should be interpreted as specifying the presence of stated shapes, numbers, steps, operations, elements, elements, and / And does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, elements, elements, and / or groups. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed items.

Although the terms first, second, etc. are used herein to describe various elements, regions and / or regions, it should be understood that these elements, components, regions, layers and / Do. These terms do not imply any particular order, top, bottom, or top row, and are used only to distinguish one member, region, or region from another member, region, or region. Thus, the first member, region or region described below may refer to a second member, region or region without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings schematically showing embodiments of the present invention. In the figures, for example, variations in the shape shown may be expected, depending on manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as limited to any particular shape of the regions illustrated herein, including, for example, variations in shape resulting from manufacturing.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a probe card according to an embodiment, FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the first guide layer of FIG. And FIG. 5 is a front view showing a plurality of needles inserted into the needle holes of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

2 to 6, the probe card according to the embodiment includes a plurality of needles 30, a guide portion, a tension portion 90, and a support frame 110. [ At this time, a substrate 130 such as a PCB or an interposer type substrate is disposed on the support frame 110. Here, the substrate 130 is integrated and electrically connected to the plurality of needles 30 to transmit a test signal.

The guide portion is made of an insulating material and includes a first guide layer 50 and a second guide layer 70 fixedly disposed on the first guide layer 50.

The first guide layer 50 is made of an insulating material such as ceramics and has a first internal space 51 with an opened top surface and a first internal space 51 which is a lower surface of a space 80, And a plurality of first needle holes 53 are formed on the bottom surface. At this time, when the plurality of needles 30 are inserted into the plurality of first needle holes 53, a plurality of needles 30 are arranged at pitches such that the pitches of the plurality of needles 30 coincide with the pitches of the contact pads formed on the wafer to be measured The first needle hole 53 is formed.

The second guide layer 70 is made of an insulating material and has a surface corresponding to the open surface of the first inner space 51 of the first guide layer 50, And a plurality of second needle holes having a pitch larger than that of the plurality of first needle holes 53 are formed on the upper surface of the second inner space 71 which is the upper surface of the spacing space 80 .

Here, the second guide layer 70 is fixedly disposed on the first guide layer 50 such that the first and second inner spaces 51 and 71 form a spacing space 80.

The tension unit 90 is made of a soft insulating material that provides elasticity, and the space 80 is filled with the tension unit 90. Here, the tension portion 90 is formed by molding the spacing space 80 with a soft material. That is, although not shown, one surface of the side surface of the spacing space 80 made of the first and second guide layers 50 and 70 is opened, and a molding process such as silicone or the like is performed through the opened one surface The tension portion 90 can bury the spacing space 80. As shown in Fig. Thereafter, the opened one face is closed by the cover layer, though not shown. 2 shows a state in which the opened one surface is opened before being closed by the cover layer for convenience of explanation in order to show the tension portion 90. [

Further, the tension portion 90 can perform a function of fixing the plurality of needles 30 of the spacing space 80.

Here, although the tension unit 90 is not shown, at least one film layer may be disposed in the spacing space 80, and then the spacing space 80 may be filled.

The at least one film layer is made of an insulating material and fixes X, Y positions of a plurality of needles 30 electrically connected to the PCB. Further, the at least one film layer may be formed by changing the number of layers thereof, if necessary, and may be composed of two or more film layers.

The plurality of film layers may have a larger pitch between the holes than the plurality of first needle holes 53 of the first guide layer 50 and a larger pitch between the holes than the plurality of second needle holes of the second guide layer 70. [ A plurality of film needle holes each having a small pitch are formed at the central portion of each film layer.

At this time, in order to perform the function of compensating for the difference between the terminal-to-terminal spacing (pitch) of the PCBs and the spacing (pitch) between the needles 30, a plurality of film layers The pitch of the holes is larger than the pitch of the plurality of lower layer film needle holes formed in the lower film layer.

As described above, the probe card according to the embodiment includes the soft tension portion 90 for fixing the plurality of needles 30 by filling the space 80 formed at the lower end of the lower ends of the plurality of needles 30 Since the plurality of needles 30 elastically contact with the contact pads formed on the wafer by the softness characteristic of the tension portion 90, each of the needles 17 of the conventional probe card has a cobra The needle 70 can be formed in a linear shape so that the pitch of the needle 70 can be easily narrowed to cope with a highly integrated pattern trend.

Subsequently, the support frame 110 is made of an insulating material, and is fixedly disposed on the second guide layer 70 to support the second guide layer 70. Here, the second guide layer 70 and the support frame 110 may be fixed to each other using a fixing means such as a bolt. In addition, the first guide layer 50 and the second guide layer 70 can be fixed to each other by means of a fixing means such as a bolt.

The support frame 110 includes side walls 111 located on both sides and spaced apart from each other and at least one third guide layer 113 located between the side walls 111 and integrally formed with the side walls 111 do.

Here, the third guide layer 113 is formed with a plurality of third needle holes having a larger pitch between the holes than a plurality of second needle holes of the second guide layer 70 at the central portion.

In the case where the third guide layer 113 is formed of two or more layers, the pitch of the plurality of upper third needle holes formed in the upper layer may be a plurality of Is larger than the pitch of the third needle hole in the lower layer.

Hereinafter, the probe card according to the embodiment will be described as one layer of the third guide layer 113 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6 for convenience of explanation.

Here, the support frame 110 may function to fix a plurality of needles 30 inserted in the plurality of third needle holes.

Next, a plurality of needles 30 will be described. The plurality of needles 30 may include a first needle hole 53, a film needle hole of each film layer when the film layer is disposed on the tension portion 90, a second needle hole of the second guide layer 70, And the upper end thereof is protruded from the support frame 110 and the lower end thereof is protruded from the first guide layer 50.

The lower ends of the plurality of needles 30 are elastically contacted with the contact pads formed on the wafer by the softness characteristics of the tension portion 90. Here, the needle 30 may be formed in a wire shape, which is formed as a whole and is round and flat at the lower end like a leaf spring.

Further, the pitch between the plurality of needles 30 may be equal to the pitch between the contact pads formed on the wafer. Even when the pitches of the contact pads formed on the wafer are narrow, the pitch between the plurality of needles is uniformly controlled through the needle holes of the guide layers described above, Lt; / RTI >

That is, the plurality of needles 30 are aligned with the pitch of the contact pads formed on the measurement target wafer through the needle holes of the guide layers described above, and the pitch becomes larger toward the upper side.

For example, the plurality of third needle holes of the third guide layer 113 are larger in pitch than the plurality of second needle holes of the second guide layer 70. When a plurality of film layers are disposed on the tension section 90, a plurality of second needle holes of the second guide layer 70 are formed on the respective holes of the film layers of the uppermost film layer among the plurality of film layers, And a plurality of upper film needle holes of the film layer of the upper layer have a larger pitch between holes than a plurality of lower layer film needle holes of the lower layer film layer and a plurality of film layers of the lowest layer among the plurality of film layers The pitch between the holes of the film needle hole of the first guide layer 50 is larger than that of the first needle holes 53 of the first guide layer 50. Accordingly, the needle 30 inserted into the first needle hole 53, the film needle hole of each of the film layers, the second needle hole, and the third needle hole becomes larger in pitch as a whole.

As described above, in the probe card according to the embodiment, a plurality of needles are inserted into the plurality of needle holes through a plurality of guide layers having a plurality of needle holes, (Pitch) between the needle holes 70 (pitch) and the needle 70 (pitch), a simple process of forming a plurality of needle holes having a predetermined pitch in each guide layer proceeds, Pitch) is formed to be larger than the interval (pitch) between the needle holes formed on the lower surface thereof to perform the function of pitch conversion. Therefore, it is possible to cope with a pattern trend in which the pitch of the needles 70 is easily narrowed.

In addition, the probe card according to the embodiment compensates for the difference in pitch (pitch) between the terminals of the PCB and the gap (pitch) between the needles 70 by means of a plurality of guide layers having a plurality of needle holes, 70) can be manufactured with a pitch of 80 μm or less.

In addition, the probe card according to the embodiment compensates for the difference in pitch (pitch) between the terminals of the PCB and the gap (pitch) between the needles 70 by a plurality of guide layers having a plurality of needle holes, A plurality of needles 70 can be integrated and electrically connected to the PCB whose tops are disposed above the support frame 30. [

Although specific embodiments of the probe card of the present invention have been described above, it is apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described, but should be determined by equivalents to the appended claims, as well as the following claims.

It is to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive in all respects and that the scope of the present invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, It is intended that all changes and modifications derived from the equivalent concept be included within the scope of the present invention.

30: Needle 50: First guide layer
53: first needle hole 70: second guide layer
90: Tension section 110: Support frame
111: side wall 113: third guide layer

Claims

A plurality of needles;
Wherein a plurality of first needle holes are formed on a lower surface of the spaced space and a plurality of second needle holes having a larger pitch between the holes than the plurality of first needle holes are formed on an upper surface A guide part made of an insulating material;
A flexible tensioned portion of insulating material for filling the spaced space to provide elasticity; And
A support frame fixed on the guide portion and supporting the guide portion and having a plurality of third needle holes having a larger pitch between the holes than the plurality of second needle holes; / RTI >
Wherein the plurality of first needle holes are formed at a pitch such that when the plurality of needles are inserted, the pitch of the inserted plurality of needles matches the pitch of the contact pads formed on the wafer to be measured,
Wherein the plurality of needles are inserted into the first, second, and third needle holes so that the pitch becomes larger toward the upper side, the upper end protrudes from the support frame, the lower end protrudes from the lower surface of the spacing space, And the pitch of the lower end through the first needle hole coincides with the pitch of the contact pads.

The apparatus according to claim 1,
A first guide layer on which a first inner space having an open top surface is formed and on which a plurality of first needle holes are formed on a bottom surface of the first inner space; And
A second inner space having an open surface corresponding to an open surface of the first inner space is formed and fixedly disposed on the first guide layer so as to form the spacing space into the first and second inner spaces, A second guide layer on which a second needle hole is formed;
.

The apparatus according to claim 1,
And the upper end is electrically and electrically connected to a PCB disposed on the upper side of the support frame.

The apparatus according to claim 1,
Wherein the spacing space is molded with a soft material to be buried.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1,
Spaced side walls; And
At least one third guide layer positioned between the side walls and having the plurality of third needle holes formed therein;
.