KR20080111266A - Probe substrate assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A probe substrate assembly capable of controlling size is provided to minimize an accumulation error by an assembling tolerance by including an align guide part. A probe substrate assembly capable of controlling size comprises a reinforcement substrate(500), a first silicon substrate array(100), and a first align guide part. The first silicon substrate array is combined in one surface of the reinforcement substrate. The first align guide part is fixed to a surface circumference of the reinforcement substrate in order to surround the first silicon substrate array. The first silicon substrate array includes a plurality of silicon substrate rows in which a plurality of segments(110a, 110b, 120a, 120b) is contacted. An adjacent silicon substrate row is arranged with a formation capable of crossing a junction of the segment.

Description

Probe Board Assembly {PROBE SUBSTRATE ASSEMBLY}

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional probe card.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an assembly error occurring when the probe substrate is expanded using a conventional divided piece. FIG.

3 is a schematic illustration of an extended probe substrate assembly using a plurality of split pieces in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the silicon substrate array and the alignment guide portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing an alignment portion formed between the divided pieces bonded to each other according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6A-6E illustrate a process for forming a divided piece according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a cross section of the probe substrate assembly. FIG.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

100: first silicon substrate array 600: second silicon substrate array

110, 120: silicon substrate row 200: alignment guide portion

300: contact hole 400: alignment unit

410: first uneven portion 420: second uneven portion

500: reinforcing substrate

The present invention relates to a silicon substrate of a probe card, and more particularly, to a probe substrate assembly capable of expanding and adjusting the size by dividing a plurality of silicon substrates to which the probe is fixed and aligned, and combining them so as to be aligned with each other. A probe substrate assembly capable of reducing errors caused by the present invention.

In general, the probe card electrically connects the wafer and the semiconductor device inspection equipment to test whether there is a defect during or after fabrication of a semiconductor device such as a semiconductor memory, a flat panel display (FPD), and transmits an electrical signal of the inspection equipment to the wafer. It is a device for transmitting to the formed semiconductor die (die), and the signal returned from the semiconductor die to the inspection equipment of the semiconductor element.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional probe card.

The conventional probe card includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 10, a space converter 20, and interface means 30 for electrically connecting the printed circuit board 10 and the space converter 20. And a probe 40 mounted to the space transducer 20. In addition, although not shown in FIG. 1, the probe card is usually provided with deformation compensation means for compensating for geometric deformation of the space transducer 20 or flatness adjusting means for adjusting the flatness of the space transducer 20.

The printed circuit board 10 receives an electrical signal transmitted from the semiconductor inspection equipment, and the received electrical signal is transmitted through the interface means 30 to the probe 40 mounted on the spatial transducer 20, while the probe ( And circuitry for forwarding the signal transmitted from 40 to the semiconductor inspection equipment in the reverse direction.

The space transformer 20 is usually manufactured in the form of a multi-layer ceramic (MLC) in which a ceramic substrate is formed in multiple layers. The space transducer 20 has pads formed on an upper surface and a lower surface. The pad gaps (pitch) formed on the upper surface and the pad gaps (pitch) formed on the lower surface are formed differently to perform a function of pitch conversion. The pad formed on the surface and the pad formed on the lower surface are electrically connected by the internal wiring of the space converter 20. In addition, the plurality of pads 50 formed on the upper surface of the space transducer 20 are directly attached to a plurality of fine probes 40 manufactured by a MEMS (MicroElectric Mechanical System) method or carried through the probe substrate assembly on which the probe is mounted. Is attached.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0058189 discloses a technique relating to a probe substrate assembly. In Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0058189, a probe is inserted into and fixed to a plurality of contact holes formed in a probe substrate in the form of a single layer silicon substrate, and then an assembly is formed by bonding a reinforcement substrate to the probe substrate to reinforce rigidity. Then, by attaching the probe substrate assembly to the space transducer, a method of collectively contacting the plurality of probe tips exposed through the open area formed in the reinforcement substrate and the plurality of pads formed in the space transducer is proposed.

However, since the conventional probe card 10 is manufactured using a deep silicon etching process (DRIE) which is one of MEMS processes, there is a problem in that the size of the probe card 10 is limited.

In addition, the conventional probe card 10 is determined according to the size and the area in which the probe is located according to the size of the object to be tested, the size of the probe card 10 is determined in the manufacturing process, so the object of the test object Since it cannot cope with the change in size, the size of such an object, for example, a wafer had a problem to be equipped with equipment for producing a probe card corresponding to a 6 inch, 8 inch, 12 inch wafer, respectively.

Meanwhile, as a method for overcoming the size limitation of the probe card, a method of expanding a probe substrate by assembling a plurality of split pieces is known, but in this case, the flatness decreases and an assembly error occurs by assembling the plurality of split pieces. There was this.

2 schematically illustrates assembly errors that occur when the probe substrate is expanded by using the divided pieces. As shown in FIG. 2, when the probe substrate is extended using the divided pieces 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d, the assembly tolerances generated in the X-axis and Y-axis directions are caused by the assembling tolerances between the divided pieces. Relative rotation between the divided pieces may occur, which may cause misalignment of the probe mounted on the probe substrate, resulting in poor test results.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to divide the silicon substrate to which the probe is fixed and aligned as a split piece, when assembling them to extend the probe substrate to improve the assembly error and flatness reduction It is an object of the present invention to provide a probe substrate assembly capable of doing so.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a probe substrate assembly that is easy to combine in bonding a plurality of divided silicon substrates to each other.

A first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a reinforcing substrate; A first silicon substrate array coupled to one surface of the reinforcing substrate; A first alignment guide portion fixed around the surface of the reinforcement substrate to surround the first silicon substrate array, wherein the first silicon substrate array includes a plurality of silicon substrate rows having a plurality of divided pieces bonded thereto; And the rows of silicon substrates adjacent to each other are arranged such that the junctions of the divided pieces are staggered from each other.

In addition, the probe substrate assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include an alignment part for uneven coupling with the divided pieces adjacent to the side surfaces of the plurality of divided pieces, wherein the alignment part includes a first uneven part and a first uneven part; It may include a second uneven portion formed between the first uneven portion in a shape different from the 1 uneven portion.

At this time, the width of the second uneven portion is preferably formed to be wider than the width of the first uneven portion.

Furthermore, in the probe substrate assembly according to the present invention, the second silicon array and the second alignment guide may be coupled to the other surface of the reinforcing substrate. Like the first silicon array, the second silicon array may be formed by combining a plurality of divided pieces.

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 part is "connected" to another part, this includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another element in between. . In addition, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, which means that it may further include other components, except to exclude other components unless otherwise stated.

3 schematically illustrates a probe substrate assembly expanded using a plurality of split pieces according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the probe substrate assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a reinforcement substrate 500, a first silicon substrate array 100 coupled to one surface of the reinforcement substrate 500, and the first substrate. And a first alignment guide portion 210 fixed around the one surface of the reinforcing substrate 500 to surround the silicon substrate array 100.

The first silicon substrate array 100 includes first and second silicon substrate rows 110 and 120, each of the first and second silicon substrate rows 110 and 120 each having a plurality of split pieces, such as two splits. The pieces 110a, 110b; 120a, 120b are connected in a row and joined.

Each of the divided pieces 110a, 110b, 120a, and 120b is made of a silicon material, and each of the divided pieces 110a, 110b, 120a, and 120b has a plurality of contact holes 300 vertically inserted and aligned with a probe. It is formed to penetrate through. The divided pieces 110a, 110b, 120a, and 120b are arranged horizontally with each other to have one continuous surface, and the size of the area where the probes are installed depends on the number of arrays of the divided pieces 110a, 110b, 120a, and 120b. Adjusted.

The first silicon substrate array 100 is mounted on one surface of the reinforcement substrate 500.

A plurality of open regions 510 are formed in the reinforcing substrate 500 so that the probe inserted through the contact holes 300 formed in the divided pieces 110 and 120 passes. The reinforcement substrate 500 may be fabricated by machining such as milling with silicon, glass, ceramic or metal.

The first alignment guide part 210 is mounted along the circumference of the reinforcement substrate 500 to surround the first silicon substrate array 100 mounted on the one surface of the reinforcement substrate 500, and the first silicon guide element 210 is disposed inside the first alignment guide portion 210. The substrate array 100 is disposed. The first alignment guide part 210 may be fixed to the reinforcing substrate 500 by a coupling means such as an adhesive or a guide pin.

Since the first silicon substrate array 100 is disposed inside the region defined by the first alignment guide part 210, when the plurality of divided pieces 110a, 110b, 120a, and 120b are assembled, Cumulative errors due to assembly tolerances are limited by the first alignment guide portion.

On the other hand, as shown in the partial enlarged view of Figure 2, the side of the divided pieces (110a, 110b, 120a, 120b) bonded to each other is formed with an alignment unit 400 for the uneven coupling. Alignment unit 400 is preferably provided along the edges of the divided pieces (110a, 110b, 120a, 120b) to stably couple the divided pieces (110a, 110b, 120a, 120b) in all directions.

4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an arrangement of the first silicon substrate array 100 and the first alignment guide part 210 bonded to one surface of the reinforcing substrate 500.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first silicon substrate array 100 includes two silicon substrate rows 110, 120, and each silicon substrate row 110, 120 is divided into two divided pieces in series. (110a, 110b, 120a, 120b).

The two divided pieces 110a and 110b included in the silicon substrate row 110 form the junction portion 130a in the Y-axis direction, while the length of the divided piece 110a in the X-axis direction is the remaining divided piece ( It is formed longer than the length of 110b).

In addition, the two divided pieces 120a and 120b included in the other silicon substrate rows 120 form the junction portion 130b in the Y-axis direction, while the length of the divided piece 120b is divided in the X-axis direction. It is formed longer than the length of the piece (120a).

The two silicon substrate rows 110 and 120 formed as above are combined to form a junction portion 130c extending in the X-axis direction again, and the X-axis length of the divided pieces constituting each of the silicon substrate rows 110 and 120. By the difference, the junction part 130a and the junction part 130b are formed so that they may cross each other in the Y-axis direction.

As described above, when the junction portion 130a and the junction portion 130b are arranged to be staggered with each other in the Y-axis direction, in the junction portion 130c where the two silicon substrate rows 110 and 120 are bonded, the divisions are positioned diagonally to each other. The pieces 110a and the divided pieces 120b may be unevenly coupled to each other through the alignment unit 400.

That is, unlike the prior art illustrated in FIG. 2, by dividing the divided pieces 110a arranged in the diagonal direction with the divided pieces 120b, the alignment pieces 400 of the divided pieces 110a and 110b; The assembly tolerance of the formed uneven structure, that is, the free space may reduce the assembly error caused by minute rotation of the divided pieces 110a, 110b; 120a, 120b in the center of the first silicon substrate array 100.

In addition, since the divided pieces 110a and the divided pieces 110b of the first silicon substrate array 110 are unevenly coupled to the divided pieces 120b of the second silicon array 120 at the same time, the divided pieces 110a and the divided pieces. The error in the X-axis direction between 120a and between the divided piece 110b and the divided piece 120b may be minimized.

Furthermore, since the first alignment guide part 210 provided around the first silicon substrate array 100 defines an outer boundary line of the divided pieces 110a, 110b; 120a and 120b, the outer boundary line is thus limited. When the divided pieces (110a, 110b; 120a, 120b) are continuously coupled can be minimized the cumulative error due to the assembly tolerance generated.

Meanwhile, a second silicon array 600 (FIG. 7) and a second alignment guide 220 (FIG. 7) may be coupled to another surface of the reinforcing substrate 500. Like the first silicon array 100, the second silicon array 600 may be formed by combining a plurality of divided pieces. However, the first silicon array 100 and the second silicon array 600 may have different arrangements of the plurality of divided pieces constituting them, and even in contact holes to which the probe is mounted, the positions thereof may correspond to each other. The size of the contact hole may be different.

The second silicon substrate array 600 (shown in FIG. 7) and the second alignment guide unit 220 (shown in FIG. 7) are coupled to the other surface of the reinforcing substrate 500 in the same form as the one surface. Can be.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the silicon substrate array 100 including two silicon substrate rows 110 and 120 formed of two divided pieces is illustrated, but the number of divided pieces and the number of silicon substrate rows constituting the silicon substrate rows may be two or more. It is self-evident.

5 illustrates an embodiment of an alignment unit 400 formed between the divided pieces joined to each other.

As shown in FIG. 5, the alignment part 400 is formed such that corresponding side surfaces of the divided pieces to be joined are unevenly coupled, and a second shape having a different shape from that of the first uneven part 410 and the first uneven part 410. The uneven portion 420 is included.

The first uneven portion 410 is formed to include a protrusion 411a and a receiving portion 412b for receiving the protrusion 411a on two corresponding side surfaces of the divided pieces joined to each other, and a protrusion inserted into the receiving portion 412b. The end of 411a forms a tapered portion 412 to facilitate insertion.

On the other hand, the second concave-convex portion 420 has a different shape that is clearly distinguished from the first concave-convex portion 410, this distinctive shape serves as an identification mark to clarify the joining position when joining the divided pieces do. That is, when forming the uneven structure of the alignment unit 400 by the MEMS process to be described later, since it is not easy to join the repeated fine uneven structure at the correct position, between the first uneven portions 410 continuously formed A second uneven portion 420 having a shape that is distinguished from the first uneven portion 410 is formed on the first uneven portion 410 and used as an identification mark. In addition, when the second concave-convex portion 420 is formed in a shape distinct from the first concave-convex portion 410 as described above, the first concave-convex portion 410 is automatically guided by the combination of the second concave-convex portion 420. Therefore, the joining operation between the divided pieces becomes easy.

Furthermore, if the second concave-convex portion 420 is formed to be identifiable even with the naked eye relatively larger than the concave-convex shape of the first concave-convex portion 410, the coupling between the divided pieces can be performed by the naked eye without any additional equipment. Work becomes easier.

The second concave-convex portion 420 is formed to include the projection 422a and the accommodation portion 422b for receiving the projection 422a and the projection 422a, respectively, on two corresponding side surfaces of the divided pieces joined to each other, and both sides of the edge of the accommodation portion 422b. There is a predetermined tolerance (w) is provided, so that the tolerance (w) is smaller than the uneven width of the first uneven portion 410, preferably less than 1/2 of the uneven width of the first uneven portion 410 It is formed so as to prevent the concavities and convexities of the first concave-convex portion 410 is coupled at another position away from the correct position.

On the other hand, by forming the stopper (421a, 421b; 421) of the step shape in the second uneven portion 420 to limit the movement in the Y-axis direction, thereby reducing the coupling error in the Y-axis direction. Further, the second uneven portion 420 may include tapered portions 423a, 423b; 423 for ease of insertion.

6A-6E illustrate one embodiment of a process for forming each divided piece.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the photoresist layer 112 is formed on the silicon wafer 111 by spin coating. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6B, the photoresist layer 112 is exposed using a mask 114 having a plurality of contact hole array patterns on the photoresist layer 112. In this case, the photoresist layer 112 may be exposed using an ultraviolet exposure apparatus, an X-ray exposure apparatus, an electron beam exposure apparatus, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 6C, a development process is performed on the exposed photoresist layer 112 to form a patterned photoresist layer 112a according to the contact hole array pattern of the mask 114.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 6D, the silicon wafer 111 opened by the patterned photoresist layer 112a is vertically oriented using, for example, a deep silicon dry etching process. A plurality of penetrating contact hole arrays 116 and alignment units 400 (FIG. 3) are formed.

By forming the alignment portion 400 including the first uneven portion 410 and the second uneven portion 420 together with the contact hole array 116 by the MEMS process, the protrusions and the receiving portions of the alignment portion 400 are defined. The height can be precisely controlled, making it easy to manage the assembly tolerance between the divided pieces.

In this case, a mask for a deep silicon etching process may use a hard mask such as a metal film or a silicon oxide film in addition to the photoresist layer.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6E, an ashing process is performed to remove the patterned photoresist layer 112a. As another method of removing the photoresist layer 112a, an O2 plasma method or the method of using a sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixed solution is mentioned, for example. In addition, the insulating thin film 118 such as a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, or the like is thinly deposited on the entire silicon wafer 111 on which the contact hole array 116 is formed by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to form a fragment. do.

7 schematically illustrates a cross section of a probe substrate assembly.

As shown in FIG. 7, the probe substrate assembly includes a reinforcement substrate 500 including a plurality of open regions 510, and first and second alignment guides 210 mounted around upper and lower surfaces of the reinforcement substrate 500. , 220, and a plurality of divided pieces are bonded inside the region defined by the first and second alignment guides 210 and 220 to form the first and second silicon substrate arrays 100 and 600.

In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, one open area 510 corresponds to the plurality of contact holes 116 formed in the first and second silicon substrate arrays 100 and 600, but the contact hole 116 is not provided. As long as it can cover and reinforce the fragile stiffness of the first and second silicon substrate arrays 100, 600, for example, one opening including all of the plurality of open regions 510 is formed. You may.

In the probe substrate assembly illustrated in FIG. 7, the divided pieces may be reinforced with the contact holes 116 and the open regions 510 formed in the first and second silicon substrate arrays 100 and 600 aligned vertically. 500) by direct bonding, anodic bonding, intermediate layer bonding, or the like.

Further, although not shown, a plurality of probes are inserted into the probe substrate assembly to penetrate through the contact holes 116 formed in the first and second silicon substrate arrays 110 and 120, and are fixed by a bonding material such as UV or thermal epoxy. After that, one end thereof is collectively bonded to the pad of the space transformer formed by MLC.

As described above, the probe substrate assembly of the probe card according to the present invention may include an alignment guide to minimize the accumulated error due to the assembly tolerance that occurs when the plurality of divided pieces are joined.

Further, according to the probe substrate assembly of the probe card according to the present invention, by forming the junction between the divided pieces of the plurality of rows of silicon substrates included in the silicon substrate array to cross each other, the divided pieces due to the assembly tolerance, that is, the free space of the uneven structure It is possible to reduce the assembly error caused by the fine rotation of these.

Further, according to the present invention, when joining a plurality of divided pieces to form a probe substrate array by forming an alignment portion including a first alignment portion and a second alignment portion separated from the first alignment portion on the side to be bonded to the divided pieces As a result, it is possible to perform the split piece joining accurately and easily.

Claims (10)

A reinforcing substrate; A first silicon substrate array coupled to one surface of the reinforcing substrate; A first alignment guide portion fixed around the one surface of the reinforcement substrate to surround the first silicon substrate array, The first silicon substrate array, And a plurality of silicon substrate rows in which a plurality of divided pieces are bonded to each other, wherein the rows of silicon substrates adjacent to each other are arranged such that the joining portions of the divided pieces are staggered from each other. The method of claim 1, Probe substrate assembly further comprises an alignment portion for concave-convex coupling with the adjacent divided pieces on the side of the plurality of divided pieces. The method of claim 2, The alignment unit, A probe substrate assembly comprising a first uneven portion and a second uneven portion formed between the first uneven portion in a shape different from that of the first uneven portion. The method of claim 3, Probe convex width of the second concave-convex portion is a probe substrate assembly that is formed wider than the concave-convex width of the first concave-convex portion. The method of claim 4, wherein Probe concave-convex portion of the second concave-convex portion is formed to a size that can be identified with the naked eye. The method of claim 3, On both sides of the second uneven portion is provided a set tolerance for uneven coupling, And the tolerance is formed to be smaller than the width of the first uneven portion. The method of claim 3, Probe substrate assembly of which the end of the protrusion of the first uneven portion is formed to be tapered. The method of claim 3, And the second concave-convex portion includes a stopper portion for limiting a distance of a corresponding side surface between joining divided pieces. The method of claim 3, The second uneven portion, the second uneven portion probe substrate assembly comprising a tapered portion. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, And a second silicon substrate array and a second alignment guide coupled to the other surface of the reinforcement substrate.

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