KR20040046885A - Chip electrode and probe needle alignment method for wafer prober - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a chip electrode and probe needle alignment method of a semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus, comprising: reading contact information between an electrode and a probe needle provided on a semiconductor chip; Calculating a distance average difference for each contact location by the control unit receiving the contact information; Outputting a position correction signal to the drive stage based on the calculated value; And automatically correcting a position of the wafer electrode according to driving of the driving stage, and reading contact information of four electrodes provided near four corners of the chip in the contact information reading step.

As described above, the automatic position alignment between the chip electrode and the probe needle is possible to improve the contactability, and the position correction value is calculated by reading the contact information of the four electrodes and calculating the average value thereof. According to the calculation, there is an advantage of simplifying the alignment process.

Description

Chip electrode and probe needle alignment method for semiconductor wafer inspection equipment {CHIP ELECTRODE AND PROBE NEEDLE ALIGNMENT METHOD FOR WAFER PROBER}

The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus, and more particularly, to an alignment method of a chip electrode and a probe needle for a semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus.

In general, the wafer inspection device is one of the devices for determining good or bad along with the test of the wafer chip, which is performed by directly contacting the electrodes of the wafer chip to test and remove the defective chip early. Process equipment to reduce raw materials and time and other losses to be used.

The above-described wafer inspection apparatus includes a drive stage unit for moving and fixing a wafer to be inspected on a chuck, an electrical connection with the wafer for inspecting the wafer, a probe card for transmitting and receiving electric signals, and a transmission / reception from the probe card. It is composed of a tester, probe station, and the like, which enable inspection for each wafer by making and mounting a program for inspecting whether or not various wafers are manufactured as desired by inspecting the received electrical signals.

The drive stage portion includes a chuck for seating a wafer on its upper surface, and a drive portion for vertically transferring the chuck in the Z-axis and horizontally transferring the chuck in the Z-axis.

In the wafer inspection apparatus as described above, after fixing the wafer to be tested on the chuck of the driving stage, the electrode portion formed on the semiconductor device (chip) on the wafer is brought into contact with the probe needle of the probe card, and then the probe needle is removed. It transmits the electrical signals needed to test the chip.

At this time, the probe needle and the electrode should be contacted very accurately for accurate test.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, the object of the present invention to improve the alignment workability by improving the alignment method as well as the automatic alignment of the probe needle and the chip electrode The present invention provides a chip electrode and a probe needle alignment method for a semiconductor wafer inspection device for improving the contact between the probe needle and the chip electrode.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes the steps of: reading (CONTACT) information between the electrode and the probe needle provided on the semiconductor chip; Calculating a distance average difference with respect to each contact location in the control unit receiving the contact information; Outputting a position correction signal to the drive stage based on the calculated value; And automatically correcting the position of the wafer electrode according to the driving stage driving.

The CONTACT information reading for the four electrodes provided near the four corners of the chip may be read in the reading of the CONTACT information.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of a semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus applied to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a plan view of the wafer of FIG.

3 is an enlarged view of an enlarged view A of FIG. 2;

4A to 4D are diagrams illustrating a state where the probe needle is in contact with the electrodes 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d of FIG. 2.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: Chuck 10: Wafer

11: semiconductor chip 15 (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d): electrode

21: drive stage 23: test head

25: pogo block 27: probe card

27a: probe needle 31,33: camera

35: control unit

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings Figures 1 to 4 will be described in more detail with respect to the configuration and operation of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 1, the configuration of the semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus is roughly described. The chuck 1 on which the wafer 10 to be inspected is mounted and the chuck 1 are moved in the X-axis, Y-axis horizontal direction, A driving stage 21 capable of vertically moving the Z axis and supporting θ rotation in a predetermined direction is configured.

On the upper side of the chuck 1, a test head 23 including a pogo block 25 is installed below the chuck 1 to apply an electrical signal for wafer chip inspection.

The following reference numeral 27 denotes a probe card, and the probe card 27 is installed through the support member 29, and the probe card 27 has a ring shape in which a conductor wiring pattern is disposed on an insulating substrate. Probe consisting of a main circuit board, the top surface of which is formed a plurality of conductors (27a), the bottom of the probe to contact the chip electrode (described later) of the wafer to conduct a current to measure the electrical characteristics at that time A needle 27b is provided.

The pogo block 25 is a connecting member for electrically connecting between the test head 23 and the probe card 27. The pogo block 25 is in contact with the pogo fixing portion 27a on the lower surface thereof to contact the probe card 27. A plurality of pogo pins 25a are provided to impart a voltage or signal, and the pogo pins 25a are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the pogo pins 27a.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 31 and 33 denote cameras for reading the position of the electrode (described below: 15) of the wafer 10 and the position information of the probe needle 27b, and reference numeral 35 denotes the camera ( After receiving the contact (CONTACT) position information of the electrode 15 and the probe needle (27b) input through the 31, 33, calculates the distance average difference with respect to the contact (CONTACT) position to the drive stage 21 The control unit outputs the position correction signal.

The cameras 31 and 33 are means for reading the contact positions of the electrodes 15 and the probe needles 27b, but are not limited thereto, and may be of various forms.

Next, FIGS. 2A and 2B show the configuration of the wafer 10 of FIG. 1, in which a plurality of semiconductor chips 11 are arranged in predetermined rows and columns as shown in FIG. It is configured to be separated later by a scribe line 13.

On the surface of the semiconductor chip 11, a plurality of electrodes 15 are arranged along the periphery.

The electrodes 15 are denoted by reference numerals 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d formed near the edges of the semiconductor chip 11 for ease of explanation.

Next, the arrangement method of the chip electrode 15 and the probe needle 27b by the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

First, after placing the wafer 10 on the upper surface of the chuck 1, the position value of the electrode 15 of the semiconductor chip 11 to be inspected is recognized through the camera 33, and then the electrode 3 The position value of the probe needle 27a to be contacted with the camera 31 is recognized through the camera 31 to read the chip electrode 3 and the probe needle 27a and contact CONTACT information (S10).

At this time, the reading targets are the electrodes 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d formed near the four corners of the chip 13 shown in Fig. 2B.

The electrode formed near the four corners as the object is due to the fact that the plurality of electrodes 15 are formed in a straight line, and the position of both ends thereof can be checked to derive the degree of distortion of the entire electrode. It is.

Next, when the reading information is transferred to the control unit 35, the control unit 35 calculates a distance average difference with respect to a plurality of contact positions (S20).

The distance average difference means an average value of the distance between the positions where the probe needle 27a is contacted from the center position of the electrode 11, and as an example, as shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D. It means the average value obtained by dividing the distance between the positions where the probe needles 27a contacted from the center positions (dashed intersection points) of (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d), respectively, and dividing them by four.

In FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D, the circular display portion denotes a position where the probe needle 27a is in contact.

Next, the position correction signal is output to the driving stage 21 based on the calculated value (S30), and the driving stage 21 is driven by the output signal to correct the position of the electrode 15 (S40). The alignment process of (15) and the probe needle 27b is completed.

As described above, the present invention recognizes a position value contacting a plurality of probe needles and a plurality of chip electrodes, acquires information on a distance deviation from the probe needle from the center of the electrode, and calculates an average of the distance deviations. As the driving stage is automatically transferred by the average value, there is an advantage in that the contact position between the electrode and the probe needle is automatically aligned to improve the contact between the chip electrode and the probe needle.

In addition, the alignment correction process can be simplified by calculating the average value of the four electrodes provided near the four corners of the chip, rather than performing the position correction values on a large number of chip electrodes. There is an advantage.

As described above, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described. However, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

Claims (2)

Reading contact information between the electrode and the probe needle provided on the semiconductor chip; Calculating a distance average difference for each contact location by the control unit receiving the contact information; Outputting a position correction signal to the drive stage based on the calculated value; And Comprising the step of automatically correcting the position of the wafer electrode in accordance with the drive stage driving the chip electrode and probe alignment method of the semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus. The method of claim 1, A method of aligning chip electrodes and probes in a semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus, comprising: reading contact information for four electrodes provided near four corners of a chip in a contact information reading step.