KR20060078907A - Probe card having removable probe pin module - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a probe card used in a semiconductor wafer inspection process. Conventional probe cards are not easy to repair or replace only the damaged pins when some of the probe pins are damaged. The probe card of the present invention includes a probe pin module provided with probe pins, and the probe pin module is detachable from the card board. Therefore, probe pins can be easily coupled to the card board by simple insertion. In addition, the probe pin module of the present invention may be divided into a plurality and may be independently attached to and detached from the card substrate. Therefore, only modules with damaged probe pins can be removed and repaired or replaced.

Probe pins, probe cards, pin modules, removable

Description

Probe Card Having Removable Probe Pin Module

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a probe card according to the prior art.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a probe card having a removable probe pin module according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state before attachment of the probe pin module.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a probe card having a removable probe pin module according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the appearance after attachment of the probe pin module.

<Description of Reference Number Used in Drawing>

10, 20: probe card 11, 21: card substrate

12, 22: ceramic blocks 13, 23: probe pins

13a, 13b, 13c: junctions, fixings, contacts (of probe pins)

14, 24: epoxy 15: soldering

21a: insertion hole 21b: plating film

23a, 23b, 23c: inserts, fixtures, contacts (of probe pin)

25: probe pin module

The present invention relates to a probe card used in a semiconductor wafer inspection process, and more particularly to a probe card having a removable probe pin module so that the probe pin module provided with the probe pin can be easily attached to and detached from the card substrate.

In general, semiconductor integrated circuit devices are manufactured from a plurality of chips in a wafer state and then subjected to electrical property inspection. The main purpose of such inspection is to pre-screen the good or bad of semiconductor integrated circuit devices. Through these inspections, problems in the wafer fabrication process may be found and fed back, and repairs may be performed by selecting repairable ones from the defective semiconductor chips. In addition, by early selecting and removing the semiconductor chip determined as defective, the productivity of the subsequent package assembly process can be increased.

Inspection equipment used to test the electrical properties of the wafer is largely composed of a tester (probe) and a probe system (probe system). The probe system is provided with a probe card in mechanical contact with the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip formed on the wafer. The probe card has a configuration in which a very thin probe pin is fixed to the card substrate.

The tester generates a predetermined signal for the inspection, which is passed through the probe head to each probe pin installed on the probe card. The signal transmitted to the probe pin is transmitted to the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip to which the probe pin is in contact, thereby examining the electrical characteristics.

Hereinafter, the prior art of a probe card will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a plan view showing a probe card 10 according to the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional probe card 10 includes a disc board 11 having a disc shape having a predetermined thickness, and a ceramic block 12 or a ceramic ring installed at the center of the card board 11. . In the ceramic block 12, a plurality of probe pins 13 are disposed to contact the electrode pads of the semiconductor chip. Epoxy 14 is applied to the ceramic block 12 to fix the probe pin 13 so that the position of the probe pin 13 is not changed by an external force.

Each probe pin 13 consists of three parts. One end 13a (hereinafter referred to as a “junction”) of the probe pin 13 is bonded to the card substrate 11 through soldering 15. The middle portion 13b (hereinafter referred to as 'fixing') of the probe pin 13 is fixed to the ceramic block 12 through the epoxy 14. The opposite end portion 13c (hereinafter referred to as a “contact portion”) of the probe pin 13 is a portion contacting the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip, and is bent at a predetermined angle so as to face the opposite direction to the card substrate 11.

The probe pin 13 is thinly processed so as to be in contact with the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip in a wafer state. Therefore, it can be easily deformed or damaged through an iterative inspection process. In general, the probe card 10 includes dozens or hundreds of probe pins 13, and even if only some of them are damaged, the entire probe card 10 cannot be used. Therefore, the entire probe card 10 must be replaced with a new one, which is not preferable at all in terms of cost. For this reason, it is common to carry out repair work on the damaged probe pin 13 in the conventional case.

However, as described above, in the probe pin 13, the junction part 13a is joined to the card substrate 11 through the soldering 15, and the fixing part 13b is connected to the ceramic block 12 through the epoxy 14. It is fixed at. In addition, although the bonding with the card substrate 11 is made for each probe pin 13 individually, fixing with the ceramic block 12 is carried out collectively with respect to the whole series of probe pins 13. Therefore, in order to replace the damaged probe pin 13, it is difficult to remove the solder 15 and to separate it from the card substrate 11, and to remove only the damaged probe pin 13 from the ceramic block 12.

In addition, after removing the damaged probe pin 13, the process of re-soldering and fixing the new probe pin should be repeated. This series of processes of removing the solder 15 and the epoxy 14 to remove the damaged probe pins 13 and soldering and fixing the new probe pins again are performed manually by the operator because it is almost impossible to automate. There is a situation.

As such, repairing a damaged probe card not only requires a lot of time, but also requires a professional operator with skilled repair capabilities. As a result, a considerable amount of time and cost is lost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the object of the present invention is that if a part of the probe pin installed on the probe card is damaged, the entire probe card without having to replace the new, It is to provide a new probe card that can replace only probe pins.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a probe card that can quickly and easily replace a damaged probe pin to reduce the time and cost of maintenance work.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a probe card having a removable probe pin module that is easily removable to the card substrate.

The probe card according to the present invention comprises a card substrate and at least two probe pin modules detachable to the card substrate. The card substrate has a plurality of insertion holes formed regularly. Each probe pin module has at least one probe pin. The probe pin is composed of an insertion portion facing the insertion hole and a contact portion opposite to the insertion portion, and the insertion portion of the probe pin can be inserted into or separated from the insertion hole.

In the probe card having a removable probe pin module according to the present invention, each probe pin module may further include a ceramic block through which the probe pin is coupled.

In addition, in the probe card having a removable probe pin module according to the present invention, each probe pin module may further include a fixing means for fixing the probe pin to the ceramic block. The fixing means may be epoxy formed by applying to the ceramic block.

Further, in the probe card having the removable probe pin module according to the present invention, it is preferable that the insertion portion of the probe pin extends in the vertical direction from the ceramic block.

In addition, in the probe card having a removable probe pin module according to the present invention, the card substrate may further include a plating film formed on the inner wall of the insertion hole, or may further include a conductive socket inserted into the insertion hole.

Example

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

In describing the embodiments, descriptions of technical contents which are well known in the technical field to which the present invention belongs and are not directly related to the present invention will be omitted. This is to more clearly communicate without obscure the subject matter of the present invention by omitting unnecessary description. For the same reason, some components in the accompanying drawings are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated, and the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size.

2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of a probe card 20 having a removable probe pin module 25 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 shows the state before the attachment of the probe pin module 25, and FIG. 3 shows the state after the attachment of the probe pin module 25, respectively.

2 and 3, the probe card 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a probe card 20 used for testing the electrical properties of a semiconductor wafer, for example. The probe card 20 includes a card substrate 21 in the form of a disc having a predetermined thickness.

In the card substrate 21, a plurality of insertion holes 21a are regularly formed at predetermined positions. The insertion holes 21a are all formed in the thickness direction of the card substrate 21, and the plating film 21b is formed on the inner wall of each insertion hole 21a. In another embodiment, a conductive socket may be inserted in the insertion hole 21a of the card substrate 21 instead of the plating film 21b.

The card substrate 21 is a kind of conventional printed circuit board. The insertion hole 21a may be formed in the same manner as the process of forming the via hole during the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board. For example, a method using drilling or a laser is possible. The plating film 21b of the inner wall of the insertion hole 21a can be formed by an electroless plating method, for example. When the conductive socket is used instead of the plating film 21b, the socket only needs to be inserted into the insertion hole 21a.

The probe card 20 includes a removable probe pin module 25 that is freely coupled to and detached from the card substrate 21. The removable probe pin module 25 includes at least two or more. Each probe pin module 25 is provided with at least one, more than several to tens of probe pins 23. The number of probe pin modules 25 and the number of probe pins 23 may vary depending on the type of semiconductor chip to be inspected.

Each probe pin module 25 is composed of a ceramic block 22, a probe pin 23, and an epoxy 24. One or more probe pins 23 are penetrated through the ceramic block 22 or the ceramic ring. The probe pin 23 is for contacting the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip to exchange electrical signals when inspecting the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor chip formed on the wafer. The probe pins 23 are made very thin so as to be in contact with the electrode pads of the semiconductor chip, for example, made of tungsten material.

The probe pin 23 consists of three parts. One end 23a (hereinafter referred to as an insert) of the probe pin 23 extends from the ceramic block 22 by a predetermined length in a vertical direction, and the probe pin module 25 is coupled to the card substrate 21. Is a portion to be inserted into the insertion hole 21a of the card substrate 21. The intermediate portion 23b of the probe pin 23 (hereinafter referred to as “fixing portion”) is coupled to the ceramic block 22 through the ceramic block 22 and fixed to the ceramic block 22 through the epoxy 24 described later. An end portion 23c (hereinafter referred to as a “contacting portion”) opposite to the insertion portion 23a of the probe pin 23 is a portion which contacts the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip, and has a predetermined angle so as to face in the opposite direction to the card substrate 21. Bent into

Although a portion of the fixing portion 23b of the probe pin 23 is fixed through the ceramic block 22, fixing means such as epoxy 24 may be used to improve the fixing force. The epoxy 24 is applied over the ceramic block 22 to securely fix the probe pin 23 to the ceramic block 22. Of course, other fastening means may be used instead of the epoxy 24.

As shown in the above-described embodiment, the probe card 20 of the present invention includes a probe pin module 25 that is detachable from the card substrate 21. The probe pin module 25 can be coupled to the card substrate 21 by inserting the insertion portion 23a of the probe pin 23 protruding from the ceramic block 22 into the insertion hole 21a of the card substrate 21. have. At this time, the insertion portion 23a of the probe pin 23 is electrically connected while being in mechanical contact with the plating film 21b or the conductive socket on the inner wall of the insertion hole 21a. On the contrary, the card board 21 and the probe pin module 25 can be easily separated by removing the insertion part 23a of the probe pin 23 from the insertion hole 21a of the card board 21.

In addition, as shown in the present embodiment, the probe pins 23 of the present invention are installed in a plurality of probe pin modules 25. The probe pin modules 25 may be detachably attached to the card substrate 21, respectively. Therefore, when some of the probe pins 23 are damaged, only the module 25 on which the damaged probe pins 23 are installed can be removed and repaired or replaced.

As described through the embodiments so far, the probe card according to the present invention includes a probe pin module provided with probe pins, and the probe pin module is detachable to the card substrate. Therefore, there is no need to solder and fix the probe pin to the card substrate as in the prior art, and the probe pin can be easily coupled to the card substrate by simple insertion.

In addition, the probe pin module in the probe card of the present invention is divided into a plurality of included, each can be independently attached to the card substrate. Thus, even if some of the probe pins are damaged, only the module with the damaged probe pins can be removed and repaired or replaced without having to replace the entire probe card with a new one.

In other words, the probe card according to the present invention can be very quickly and simply work of coupling, detaching, repairing, replacement of the probe pin. Therefore, it is possible to significantly reduce the time and cost required for repairing a probe card that has an abnormality, and even an inexperienced general worker can easily perform such an operation.

In the present specification and drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, and although specific terms have been used, these are merely used in a general sense to easily explain the technical contents of the present invention and to help the understanding of the present invention. It is not intended to limit the scope. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention can be carried out in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims (7)

A card substrate having a plurality of insertion holes formed regularly; Removable to the card substrate, and comprises at least two probe pin modules each having at least one probe pin, The probe pin may include an insertion part facing toward the insertion hole and a contact part opposite to the insertion part, and the insertion part of the probe pin may be inserted into or separated from the insertion hole. Probe card with type probe pin module. The probe card of claim 1, wherein each of the probe pin modules further comprises a ceramic block to which the probe pins are coupled. The probe card of claim 2, wherein each of the probe pin modules further includes fixing means for fixing the probe pins to the ceramic block. 4. The probe card of claim 3, wherein the fixing means is an epoxy applied to the ceramic block. The probe card according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the insertion portion of the probe pin extends in the vertical direction from the ceramic block. The probe card according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the card substrate further comprises a plating film formed on an inner wall of the insertion hole. The probe card according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the card substrate further comprises a conductive socket inserted into the insertion hole.

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