KR20100085877A - Probe device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A probe device is provided to increase the throughput of a probe test by shortening a standby time of the inspection unit when polishing a probe needle. CONSTITUTION: A transfer vessel is mounted on a load port. A substrate transfer unit transfers a substrate(W) between the transfer vessel and the inspection unit. A transfer chamber is connected to the load port and the inspection unit. A pre-alignment unit includes a rotation stage and a detection unit. The detection unit detects the edge of the substrate on a rotation stage. A substrate receiving unit receives the substrate for repair work of the inspection unit. A substrate holding unit(70) holds the substrate transferred by the substrate transfer unit.

Description

Probe Device {PROBE DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe device for measuring the electrical characteristics of a chip under test by contacting a probe of a probe card with an electrode pad of a portion under test of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer).

Conventionally, in the probe apparatus, a probe test is performed in which a probe such as a probe needle of a probe card is brought into contact with an electrode pad of an IC chip to examine electrical characteristics. This probe apparatus is equipped with the inspection part provided with the load port, the probe card, and the mounting table, and the conveyance chamber provided with the wafer conveyance mechanism which conveys a wafer between the load port and the inspection part. After the wafer conveyance mechanism takes out the wafer from the wafer carrier which is a conveyance container carried in the load port, and performs prealignment by the prealignment mechanism installed in the conveyance chamber or the wafer conveyance mechanism, the wafer is inspected. I am sending it to the inside placement table.

As the wafer transfer mechanism, for example, one having an arm body that is two substrate supporting members is used, and while the probe test of the wafer is performed in the inspection unit, the wafer to be inspected next is taken out by one arm body and prealigned, The wafer is placed in the conveyance chamber with the wafer disposed until the inspection of the wafer in the inspection unit is completed. When the inspection of the wafer in the inspection unit ends, the inspection finished wafer is received by the other arm body, and the uninspected wafer supported by one arm body is transferred to the placement table.

By the way, when a probe needle is used as a probe, foreign matter such as cutting chips of electrode pads adheres to the tip of the probe needle when the probe test is continued, so that the probe needle is polished to remove the foreign material. Acupuncture polishing should be performed. There are two types of timings for the needle polishing process, namely, when the number of sheets is managed and when the results of the probe test are continuously failed, and the control unit issues an interrupt command when the continuous failure is detected. The process is performed.

This needle polishing process is performed by placing a dedicated wafer (so-called needle polished wafer) made of ceramics or the like for polishing the probe needles on a mounting table and bringing the probe needles into contact with the needle polished wafers. At this time, the wafer transfer mechanism takes out the needle polished wafer placed on the substrate storage portion inside the lower portion of the load port in the transfer chamber by one arm body and transfers it to the inspection unit, and the inspection in the inspection unit by the other arm body. The completed wafer is received and the needle polished wafer of one arm body is transferred to the mounting table.

For this reason, when an interrupt request has occurred, an uninspected wafer may be supported by one arm body. In this case, since the other arm body is used to receive the inspected wafer in the inspection portion, the needle polishing wafer cannot be taken out by the wafer transfer mechanism. For this reason, the uninspected wafer supported by the wafer transfer arm is once returned to the carrier, and a series of interruptions including taking out the needle polished wafer, polishing the probe needle by the needle polished wafer, and delivering the needle polished wafer to the substrate storage portion. After the end of the treatment, the uninspected wafer was again taken out of the carrier.

In addition, when there are a plurality of inspection units, for example, two, and the wafer transfer mechanism has three arm bodies, two of the three arm bodies always support an uninspected wafer or an inspected wafer, and only one arm body is used. This is an empty state. For this reason, even if the number of the arm bodies increased, the wafer had to be returned to the carrier once as in the case of the wafer transfer mechanism having the two arm bodies described above.

However, since the slots in the carrier are narrow, when the uninspected wafer is returned therein, the outer edge of the wafer and the inside of the carrier come into contact with each other and the wafer collides when the wafer moves on the arm body or when the wafer is placed on the shelf of the carrier. In some cases, the direction and the center of the wafer may shift. For this reason, if the wafer which has already been prealigned is returned to the carrier, there is a possibility that the prealignment will become invalid. Therefore, after the interruption process is completed, the alignment has to be performed again on the wafer. As a result, the waiting time of the inspection unit is increased by the time for performing the alignment, which causes a problem that the throughput of the probe test is lowered.

On the other hand, Patent Literature 1 provides a dedicated mounting table for placing a needle-polishing wafer separately from a probe test mounting table in the inspection section of the probe device, and always places a needle-polishing wafer on the dedicated mounting table. Probe devices are described. In this probe apparatus, when needle polishing of a probe card is carried out, the probe test mounting table is retracted and the dedicated mounting table is moved to the lower area of the probe card, and the needle polishing wafer and the probe needle of the probe card are brought into contact with each other to polish the needle of the probe card. Is done. For this reason, even if interrupt processing occurs, the wafer transfer arm can perform needle polishing of the probe card while supporting the wafer to be inspected next. However, in such a probe device, a separate dedicated polishing wafer mounting table must be provided in the inspection unit, and there is a problem that the probe device is enlarged. Since the downsizing of a probe apparatus is calculated | required in recent years, the enlargement of an apparatus is undesirable.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-128451 (paragraph number 0022, 0035)

This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and the objective is to provide the probe apparatus which can suppress the fall of a work throughput, when performing repair work of a test | inspection part using a board | substrate for repair.

The probe device of the present invention,

A probe device for measuring the electrical characteristics of the inspected portion of the substrate by contacting the probe of the probe card and the electrode pad of the substrate to be inspected disposed on the mounting table of the inspector,

A load port for arranging a transport container storing a plurality of substrates,

A plurality of substrate supporting members capable of transferring the substrate between the transfer container and the inspection table disposed at the load port and advancing independently of each other, and supporting and waiting for the uninspected substrate. A substrate transfer mechanism wherein one of the substrate support members is empty at the time;

A transfer chamber in which the load port and the inspection portion are connected, and the substrate transfer mechanism moves inside;

In order to align the direction and the center of the substrate taken out from the conveyance container, a free stage provided with a rotation stage that holds the substrate and a circumferential edge detection portion that detects a circumferential edge of the substrate on the rotation stage, With an alignment mechanism,

A substrate accommodating part installed in the conveying chamber and in which a repair substrate for carrying out repair work of the inspection part is stored;

A substrate holding apparatus provided in the transfer chamber and having an adsorption mechanism for receiving, adsorbing, and holding the substrate from the substrate transfer mechanism;

When the board | substrate is arrange | positioned at the mounting table of the said test | inspection part, when the interruption process of the maintenance work of this test | inspection part occurs, the said board | substrate supported by the said board | substrate support member is hold | maintained in the said board | substrate holding apparatus, And a control unit for controlling the substrate transfer mechanism so that the repair substrate is taken out from the substrate storage unit and replaced with the substrate of the placement table.

In the probe apparatus of the present invention, for example, the repair substrate is a dedicated substrate for polishing the probe needle of the probe card. Moreover, in the probe apparatus of this invention, the said board | substrate holding apparatus may be provided adjacent to the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the said board | substrate accommodation part, for example.

In the probe apparatus of the present invention, for example, a plurality of the inspection units are provided, and the control unit interrupts the maintenance work in the second inspection unit when the inspected substrate is carried out from the first inspection unit to the substrate support member. Is generated, the inspection completed substrate supported by the substrate support member may be held in the substrate holding apparatus and the maintenance work may be performed. Further, in the probe apparatus of the present invention, for example, in addition to the prealignment mechanism, a prealignment mechanism is further provided in the substrate holding apparatus, and the substrate holding apparatus functions as a rotating stage for prealignment, and holds the substrate. May be pre-aligned.

According to the present invention, one of the substrate support members becomes empty when the substrate transport mechanism for transporting the substrate between the load port and the inspection portion is provided with a plurality of substrate support members and is waiting in a state of supporting the uninspected substrate. In the probe device, when an interrupt request for repairing an inspection unit using a repairing substrate is generated while the inspected substrate is placed in the inspection unit, an uninspected substrate on which the prealignment supported by the substrate supporting member is completed is completed. To the substrate holding apparatus provided with the adsorption mechanism. For this reason, the uninspected board | substrate is hold | maintained in the state which maintained the attitude | position (substrate center position and direction) transmitted to the board | substrate conveyance mechanism, and can carry it into a test | inspection part as it is, without performing prealignment again. For this reason, the waiting time of a test | inspection part can be shortened and the fall of a throughput can be suppressed.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a probe device of the present embodiment.
2 is a plan view schematically illustrating the probe apparatus of the present embodiment.
3 is a side view schematically showing a probe device of the present embodiment.
4 is a perspective view schematically showing a wafer transfer arm of the present embodiment.
5 is a perspective view schematically showing the substrate holding apparatus of the present embodiment.
Fig. 6 is a side view schematically showing the substrate holding apparatus of this embodiment.
7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the function of the substrate holding apparatus of the present embodiment.
8 is a first explanatory diagram for explaining the first case of the needle polishing process of the present embodiment.
9 is a second explanatory diagram for explaining the first case of the needle polishing process of the present embodiment.
10 is a first explanatory diagram for explaining a second case of the needle polishing process of the present embodiment.
11 is a second explanatory diagram for explaining a second case of the needle polishing process of the present embodiment.
12 is a third explanatory diagram for explaining a second case of the needle polishing process of the present embodiment.
It is a perspective view which shows schematically the board | substrate holding apparatus of other embodiment of this invention.
It is a side view which shows schematically the board | substrate holding apparatus of other embodiment of this invention.
15 is a first explanatory diagram for explaining a needle polishing process of another embodiment.
16 is a second explanatory diagram for explaining the needle polishing process of another embodiment.

The probe apparatus which is 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIGS. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the probe device includes a loader unit 1 for transferring a wafer W (see Fig. 6), which is a substrate on which a plurality of chips to be inspected (inspected sections) are arranged, and a wafer ( The probe device main body 2 which probes with respect to W) is provided. First, the overall layout of the loader section 1 and the probe device main body 2 will be briefly described.

The loader section 1 includes a FOUP 100 which is a hermetically sealed conveyance container (carrier) in which a plurality of wafers W are stored, and is disposed to face each other in a Y-direction (left-right direction in the drawing). The 1st load port 11 and the 2nd load port 12, and the conveyance chamber 10 arrange | positioned between these load ports 11 and 12 are provided. The load port 11 (12) is provided with a casing 13 (14), respectively, and the FOUP 100 from the inlet opening 15 (16) of the load port 11 (12) formed in the X direction in the figure. Is brought into the casing 13 (14). The brought-in FOUP 100 has a cover that is peeled off by cover opening / closing means (not shown) provided in the load port 11 (12) so that the cover is held on the side wall in the load port 11 (12). The FOUP 100 with the cover removed is rotated so that the opening portion faces the conveyance chamber 10 side.

The loader part 1 is provided with the control part 5 which controls a probe apparatus, as shown in FIG. The control part 5 consists of a computer, for example, and is equipped with programs, such as the probe test program 50 and the interrupt control program 51, in addition to the data processing part which consists of a memory and a CPU. In the probe test program 50, the FOUP 100 is loaded into the load port 11 (12), the wafer W is loaded into the probe device main body 2 from the FOUP 100, and a probe test is performed. Thereafter, a step group is provided to control the transfer schedule of the wafer W and the operation of each part of the series until the wafer W is returned to the FOUP 100 and the FOUP 100 is carried out. In addition, the interrupt control program 51 is provided with a step group so as to control the operation of the probe device during interrupt processing occurring during the probe test described later. These programs (including programs for input operation and display of processing parameters) are stored in a storage medium such as, for example, a flexible disk, a compact disk, an MO (magnet) disk, a hard disk, and installed in the control unit 5.

The probe device main body 2 is arranged adjacent to the loader part 1 so as to be arranged in the X-axis direction in the loader part 1 and the drawing, and an inspection part in which a plurality of, for example, four units are arranged in the Y-axis direction. Has 21. In addition, in FIG. 2, the inspection part 21 of the state in which the head plate 25 mentioned later is opened is shown.

The inspection part 21 is provided with the case 22, as shown to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and the stage unit 24 and the upper imaging part 9 are provided in the case 22. As shown in FIG. The stage unit 24 can move in the X, Y, and Z axis (up and down) directions, that is, in the horizontal and vertical directions and in the height direction, and the upper part rotates around the vertical axis. Above the stage unit 24, a wafer chuck 4 having a vacuum suction function is disposed as a mounting table for placing the wafer W. As shown in FIG. And the lower side imaging part 8 provided with the micro camera etc. for imaging the probe card 6 mentioned later is provided in the side part of the stage unit 24. As shown in FIG.

The wafer chuck 4 includes a transfer position for transferring the wafer W, an imaging position on the wafer surface, and a contact position for bringing the wafer W into contact with the probe needle 7 of the probe card 6 (inspection position). Freely move between). In addition, as shown in FIG. 3B, a carry-in and outlet port connecting the inside of the transfer chamber 10 and the inside of the case 22 to the side of the case 22 that is in close contact with the transfer chamber 10. 23 is formed. And the wafer W is conveyed to the wafer chuck 4 in the case 22 through this carrying in / out port 23. And the upper imaging part 9 is equipped with the micro camera etc. for imaging the wafer W arrange | positioned at the said wafer chuck 4.

Above the moving region of the wafer chuck 4 and the upper image capturing section 9, a head plate 25 forming a ceiling of the case 22 is provided as shown in Fig. 3A. The probe card 6 is held in the plate 25. A test head (not shown) is attached to the upper surface side of the probe card 6, and the probe card 6 and the test head are electrically connected through a pogo-pin unit (not shown). Further, on the lower surface side of the probe card 6, the probe needles 7, which are probes electrically connected to the electrode groups on the upper surface side, correspond to the arrangement of the electrode pads of the wafer W, for example, of the probe card 6. It is installed on the front.

As shown to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, the conveyance chamber 10 is equipped with the wafer conveyance arm 3 which is a board | substrate conveyance mechanism. The wafer transfer arm 3 is formed of a first arm body 35 and a substrate support member which can rotate about the vertical axis, can move up and down, and can move back and forth to the transfer base 30 that can move in the Y direction in the drawing. Two arm bodies of the two arm bodies 36 are provided and comprised. 33 is a base moving part which moves along the rail extended in a Y direction in the figure, 32 is a base lifting part which raises and falls with respect to the base moving part 33, and 31 is a rotating part provided in the base lifting part 32. As shown in FIG. .

As shown in FIG. 4, U-shaped cutouts 55 and 56 are formed in the front end side in the 1st arm body 35 and the 2nd arm body 36. As shown in FIG. And on the upper surface of the conveyance base 30, the two guide rails 37 are provided in parallel in the right and left ends of the arm body 35 (36), respectively, and the 1st arm body 35 and the 2nd arm body ( 36 is guided back and forth by these guide rails 37 and 37 via the arm guides 38 and 39, respectively.

In addition, the conveyance base 30 is pre-aligned with respect to the wafer W disposed on the first arm body 35 or the second arm body 36, and the direction of the wafer W is adjusted to adjust the center position. The prealignment mechanism 40 (refer FIG. 4) which detects is provided. This prealignment mechanism 40 is provided with the chuck | zipper part 41, the sensor bridge 42, the light receiving sensor 43, and the light transmission part 44, as shown in FIG. The light emitting part which is not shown in figure is provided under the.

The chuck portion 41 is a rotation stage for rotating the wafer W, and the rotation center of the chuck portion 41 corresponds to the center of the wafer W on the arm body 35 (36) retreating on the conveyance base 30. It is set to the position. This chuck | zipper part 41 is equipped with the lifting part which raises and lowers in a Z-axis direction in a figure, and when it is in the standby state which does not perform prealignment, it descends and stops at the position which does not interfere with advancement of the arm bodies 35 and 36. FIG. do. And when performing prealignment, it is comprised so that it may raise and rotate to slightly raise the wafer W from the arm bodies 35 and 36. As shown in FIG.

The sensor bridge 42 which does not interfere with the wafer W supported by the arm bodies 35 and 36 is provided in the upper surface of the conveyance base 30, and this sensor bridge 42 emits light which is not shown in figure. The light receiving sensor 43 which receives the light which irradiated from the part and permeate | transmitted through the wafer W is mounted. And the light transmission part 44 extended in the X-axis direction is formed in the arm body 35 and 36, and the light emission part is provided in the lower part of the light transmission part 44. As shown in FIG. The light of the light emitting portion passes through the light transmitting portion 44 and is irradiated from the lower side to the region including the peripheral edge (end) of the wafer W lifted from the arm bodies 35 and 36 by the chuck portion 41. do.

The prealignment by the said prealignment mechanism 40 is performed as follows. First, the wafer W on the first arm body 35 or the second arm body 36 is slightly lifted by the chuck part 41 to rotate the wafer W. As shown in FIG. The light is irradiated to the area including the peripheral edge (end) of the wafer W from the light emitting part, and the light transmitted through the wafer W is received by the light receiving sensor 43 to detect the detection signal. Send to The control part 5 is based on the said detection signal, and when the wafer W is eccentric, the position of the 1st arm body 35 or the 2nd arm body 36 so that the eccentricity of the wafer W may be corrected. And transfer the wafer W from the chuck portion 41 to the first arm body 35 or the second arm body 36, correcting the deviation caused by the eccentricity, and then adjusting the wafer W to the chuck portion 41. Return Then, the direction of the wafer W is adjusted by rotating the chuck | zipper part 41 so that a notch etc. may become a predetermined direction on the 1st arm body 35 or the 2nd arm body 36. FIG. As a result, the direction and the center of the wafer W are aligned.

In addition, in the conveyance chamber 10, as shown to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, the needle polishing wafer Wb which consists of ceramics for grinding | polishing the probe needle 7 of the probe card 6 (refer FIG. 6) The board | substrate accommodating part 60 which stores a plurality of sheets in a shelf shape is provided. The board | substrate accommodating part 60 is arrange | positioned under the load port 11 (refer FIG. Drawing etc.) in the position which the arm bodies 35 and 36 of the wafer conveyance arm 3 can access.

The board | substrate accommodating part 60 is equipped with the base 61 and three cassette members 62, 63, 64 attached to the upper surface of this base 61, as shown to FIG. 5, FIG. . Cassette members 62, 63, and 64 each have a plurality of, for example, six, claw portions 65, and the claw portions 65 are stacked at regular intervals in the Z-axis direction. And since there is a space | interval between the claw parts 65, the cross-sectional shape of the cassette member 62, 63, 64 in the longitudinal direction (Z-axis direction) is comb-shaped. Moreover, the claw part 65 is formed so that the formation position of a Z-axis direction may become substantially uniform between each cassette member 62, 63, 64. As shown in FIG.

When the advancing and retracting direction of the arm body (35 (36)) is set back and forth, the cassette members 62, 63, and 64 are attached to the cassette members 62, 64 one by one in front of the right side on the upper surface of the base 61. One cassette member 63 is attached to the left middle portion, and the needle polishing wafer Wb described above is circumferentially by the claw portions 65 of the cassette members 62, 63, and 64. It is arrange | positioned in the state supported at three points of the edge part, ie, in the board | substrate accommodation part 60, the needle | polishing polishing wafer Wb etc. are accommodated by the claw part 65 of each cassette member 62, 63, 64, and the like. In Fig. 6, for convenience of explanation, one needle polishing wafer Wb is accommodated in a shelf of the substrate storage unit 60, but in the present embodiment, a plurality of needle polishing wafers are provided in another shelf. (Wb) is accommodated.

Moreover, above the board | substrate accommodating part 60, the board | substrate holding apparatus 70 for temporarily holding the wafer W currently conveyed supported by the arm bodies 35 and 36 is provided. The substrate holding apparatus 70 includes a supporting portion 71 that is attached to one side of the rear side of the base 61 so as to extend in a vertical direction to a position higher than the height level of the cassette members 62, 63, and 64. do. And from the support part 71, the arm part 72 extends horizontally toward the substantially center part of the upper part of the board | substrate accommodation part 60. As shown in FIG. At the tip of the arm portion 72, an adsorption portion (vacuum chuck) 73 for vacuum adsorption of the substantially disk-shaped wafer W is provided integrally with the arm portion 72, and the upper surface of the adsorption portion 73 is provided. The vacuum suction hole 74 is formed in many. Moreover, between the arm part 72 and the adsorption part 73, when the arm body 35 and 36 accessed in order to transfer the wafer W to the board | substrate holding apparatus 70, the arm body 35 and 36 are carried out. The recessed part 75 is formed so that the arm part 72 may not interfere. In addition, the arm carrier 35 (36) of the wafer transfer arm 3 can always move back and forth with respect to the substrate holding apparatus 70 at the same angle from the same position, so that the wafer transfer arm 3 at the time of access and advancement and retreat. Since the angle of is set, the arm body 35 (36) and the board | substrate holding apparatus 70 do not contact and interfere even if repeated advancing several times.

Since the substrate holding device 70 sucks and holds the wafer W by the suction unit 73, the wafer W is held in a fixed state when transferring the wafer between the wafer transfer arms 3. do. For this reason, the center position and direction of the wafer W are maintained without shifting. Therefore, the board | substrate holding apparatus 70 can also be called the posture holding apparatus of the wafer (W).

Next, the movement of the arm body 35 (36) when the wafer W is transferred from the wafer transfer arm 3 to the substrate holding apparatus 70 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. First, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position where the arm body 35 (36) of the wafer transfer arm 3 can access the substrate storage unit 60. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7A, the arm body 35 (36) supporting the wafer W is moved toward the upper position of the adsorption portion 73. At this time, the arm body 35 (36) is always accessed from the same direction with respect to the board | substrate holding apparatus 70 as already demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 5, the adsorption portion 73 relatively enters into the cutout portion 55 (56) of the arm body 35 (36), and the arm body 35 (36) enters the recessed portion 75. ] Protrudes, and stops the arm body 35 (36) at the position where the substantially center part of the wafer W coincides with the center part of the adsorption part 73. At this time, the wafer W is slightly spaced apart from the suction unit 73.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the arm body 35 (36) is sucked from the vacuum suction hole 74 (see FIG. 5) through a suction path not shown in the arm portion 72. Is lowered, and the wafer W is adsorbed (vacuum adsorption) on the adsorption portion 73. For this reason, the wafer W is maintained on the substrate holding apparatus 70 in a state of not moving (in a posture maintained state). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7C, the lowered arm body 35 (36) stops in the region between the adsorption portion 73 and the cassette members 62, 63, 64, and then the conveyance base. (30) Retreat up. Thereby, in the board | substrate holding apparatus 70, the wafer W supported by the arm body 35 (36) can be maintained, maintaining the attitude | position. In the case where the wafer W held by the substrate holding apparatus 70 is received by the arm body 35 (36), the arm body 35 (36) and the substrate holding are in the reverse order to the above description. The device 70 is cooperated to receive the wafer W.

Next, a series of flows of the probe test performed in the probe device will be briefly described. For convenience of explanation, the inspection part 21 shown in FIG. 2 is made into the 1st-4th inspection part 21 in order from the inspection part 21 of the load port 11 side. In the above probe test, the first arm body 35 is set to pre-align the wafer W for convenience of explanation.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the wafer transfer arm 3 is carried out from the FOUP 100 arranged in the load port 11 by the wafer transfer arm 3, and as described above, the wafer transfer arm 3 is carried out. The wafer W is conveyed to the wafer chuck 4 of the first inspection unit 21 after the prealignment of the wafer W by the prealignment mechanism 40 provided in combination therewith. Thereafter, similarly to the first inspection unit 21, the wafers W are sequentially transferred to the second to fourth inspection units 21. While conveying the wafer W to all the inspection units 21 and carrying out a probe test in the entire inspection unit 21, the wafer transfer arm 3 is the wafer W to be inspected next by the first arm body 35. ) And carry out prealignment and wait in the conveyance room 10.

In the first inspection unit 21 into which the wafer W is carried, the probe card 6 is imaged by the lower imaging unit 8, and the wafer W on the wafer chuck 4 by the upper imaging unit 9. ), Image data is obtained for the tip position of the probe needle 7 and the position of the electrode pad (not shown) on the surface of the wafer W, and the probe needle 7 and the electrode pad are contacted based on the image data. The contact coordinates to be obtained are obtained, and the wafer W is moved to the contact coordinates. Then, a probe test is performed by contacting (contacting) the probe needle 7 with the electrode pad.

When the probe test is completed, the wafer chuck 4 moves near the inlet and outlet 23. At this time, since the wafer W is not placed on the second arm body 36 of the wafer transfer arm 3, the inspected wafer W is received in the second arm body 36, and the first arm is received. The uninspected wafer W supported by the arm 35 is transferred to the wafer chuck 4. Thereafter, the wafer transfer arm 3 returns the inspected wafer W to the FOUP 100, and when the uninspected wafer W is still stored in the FOUP 100, the wafer inspection arm becomes the next inspection object. The wafer W is taken out. This series of steps is similarly performed in the other second to fourth inspection units 21. In the probe apparatus of this embodiment, the wafers W are sequentially transferred to four inspection units 21 by one wafer transfer arm 3 to perform a probe test.

The probe test mentioned above is performed by the control part 5 controlling each unit based on the probe test program 50. Then, the control section 5 determines whether to perform an interrupt process for polishing the probe needle 7 from the result of the probe test, and if necessary, an interrupt control program 51 for polishing the probe needle 7. Interrupt processing is performed based on this. Next, a method of polishing (needle polishing) of the probe needle 7, which is this interrupt process, will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.

When the needle polishing process of the probe needle 7 is performed, two cases are mainly considered. The first case is a case where needle polishing is performed while the wafer transfer arm 3 stands by while supporting the uninspected wafer W in the transfer chamber 10, and the second case is the first inspection unit 21. This is a case where the second inspection unit 21 performs acupuncture polishing immediately after the uninspected wafer W and the inspected wafer W are replaced. First, the first case will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In addition, in description of a 1st case, the uninspected wafer arrange | positioned at the wafer conveyance arm 3 is made into W1, the inspection completed wafer arrange | positioned at the wafer chuck 4 of the inspection part 21 is made into W2, and a board | substrate The needle polished wafer disposed in the housing 60 is described as Wb.

First, as shown in Fig. 8A, when the wafer transfer arm 3 supports the uninspected wafer W1 for which prealignment is completed and waits in the transfer chamber 10, the needle polishing process is performed. The wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position where the substrate storage part 60 is accessed (arrow 1). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8B, the untested wafer W1 supported by the first arm body 35 is held in the substrate holding apparatus 70, and then the substrate storage unit 60 is continued. The needle polished wafer Wb disposed in the upper portion is taken out by the first arm body 35 (arrow 2). And similarly to the normal wafer W, the needle polishing wafer Wb is pre-aligned by the pre-alignment mechanism 40 of the wafer transfer arm 3, and is needle-aligned in accordance with the inspection unit 21 which performs the needle polishing process. The direction of the polishing wafer Wb is adjusted and the center is aligned. Thereafter, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved in front of the carry-in and out ports 23 (see FIG. 3) of the inspection section 21 that performs needle polishing (arrow 3).

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 8C, the wafer W2 is inspected from the wafer chuck 4 of the inspection unit 21 to be subjected to needle polishing to the second arm body 36 of the wafer transfer arm 3. ) Is carried out, and the needle polishing wafer Wb supported by the first arm body 35 is loaded into the wafer chuck 4 (arrow 4). Thereafter, the inspection unit 21 moves the wafer chuck 4 to contact the needle polishing wafer Wb disposed on the wafer chuck 4 with the probe needle 7 to perform needle polishing of the probe needle 7. Do it. On the other hand, during the needle polishing process of the probe needle 7, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position where the FOUP 100 is accessed, and the inspected wafer W2 is carried in the FOUP 100 ( Arrow 5).

After the wafer W2 is loaded into the FOUP 100, as shown in FIG. 9A, the number of wafer transfer arms 3 is transferred to the wafer transfer arm 3 without carrying out the uninspected wafer W from the FOUP 100. It moves to the position which accesses payment 60 (arrow 6). Next, the wafer W1 held in the substrate holding apparatus 70 is received by the first arm body 35 (arrow 7), and the wafer transfer arm 3 is shown in FIG. 9B. Similarly, it moves to the carrying-in / out port 23 (refer FIG. 3) of the test | inspection part 21 during needle polishing process (arrow 8). After the needle polishing process of the inspection unit 21 is completed, the needle polished wafer Wb disposed on the wafer chuck 4 is carried out to the second arm body 36, and the supported wafer W1 is removed. 1 is carried into the wafer chuck 4 by the arm 35 (arrow 9).

Thereafter, the inspection unit 21 starts a probe test on the wafer W1 disposed on the wafer chuck 4, as shown in FIG. 9C. And while the probe test is being performed, the wafer conveyance arm 3 is moved to the position which accesses the board | substrate accommodating part 60 (arrow 10), and the needle polishing wafer Wb is carried in to the board | substrate accommodating part 60 ( Arrow 11). As a result, a series of steps of the needle polishing process performed as the interrupt process is completed, and then the probe test is continued based on the probe test program 50.

As described above, in the first case, when the needle polishing process as the interrupt process interrupts the processing of the probe test, the wafer W1 on which the prealignment supported on the wafer transfer arm 3 is completed is temporarily transferred to the substrate holding apparatus 70. The needle polishing process can be performed after holding at. After the needle polishing process is completed, the wafer W1 is received from the substrate holding apparatus 70 and brought into the inspection unit 21. However, in the substrate holding apparatus 70, the posture of the wafer W1 is changed to the wafer transfer arm ( Since it can hold | maintain the state at the time of receiving from 3), the pre-alignment already performed is effective about the wafer W1 which the wafer conveyance arm 3 receives from the board | substrate holding apparatus 70, and is prealigned. It can be carried in directly from the test | inspection part 21, without doing.

Next, the second case will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12. In the description of the second case, the wafer chuck of the first inspection unit 21b is 4b, the wafer chuck of the second inspection unit 21c is 4c, the wafer chuck of the third inspection unit 21d is 4d, and the wafer transfer arm is The inspected wafers arranged in (3) are referred to as W3, the untested wafers arranged in the wafer chuck 4b to W4, and the inspected wafers arranged on the wafer chuck 4c to W5, and the wafer chuck ( The wafer under inspection placed on 4d) is referred to as W6, the wafer conveyed from the FOUP 100 to the wafer chuck 4d is referred to as W7, and the wafer conveyed from the FOUP 100 to the wafer chuck 4c as W8. It is assumed that the needle polishing process is started in the second inspection unit 21c immediately after the probe test is finished in the first inspection unit 21b and the exchange of the wafer W3 and the wafer W4 is finished.

At the time point when the wafer W3 of the first inspection unit 21b is inspected by the wafer transfer arm 3 and the uninspected wafer W4 is transferred to the wafer chuck 4b, the second inspection unit is controlled by the control unit 5. In the case where it is determined at 21c that the needle polishing process is to be performed, first, as shown in Fig. 10A, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position for accessing the substrate accommodating part 60 instead of the FOUP 100. Move it (arrow 20). Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, the inspected wafer W3 supported by the second arm body 36 is held in the substrate holding apparatus 70 and disposed in the substrate storage unit 60. The needle polished wafer Wb is carried out by the first arm body 35 (arrow 21).

Similarly to the first case, prealignment is performed on the needle polishing wafer Wb, and the direction of the needle polishing wafer Wb is adjusted to align the center of the needle polishing wafer Wb in accordance with the inspection portion 21c which performs the needle polishing process. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10C, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved in front of the carry-in and out ports 23 (see FIG. 3) of the inspection unit 21c which performs the needle polishing process (arrow 22). Then, the inspected wafer W5 is carried out to the second arm body 36 of the wafer transfer arm 3 from the wafer chuck 4c of the inspection unit 21c that needs to be subjected to needle polishing, and the first arm body 35 Is carried into the wafer chuck 4c (arrow 23). After that, the inspection unit 21c moves the wafer chuck 4c to contact the needle polishing wafer Wb disposed on the wafer chuck 4c with the probe needle 7 to perform needle polishing of the probe needle 7. Do it.

On the other hand, while the needle polishing process of the probe needle 7 is performed in the inspection unit 21c, as shown in Fig. 11A, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position where the FOUP 100 is accessed. (Arrow 24) The wafer W5 supported by the second arm body 36 is carried into the FOUP 100, and the wafer W7 is carried out from the FOUP 100 to the first arm body 35 ( Arrow 25). Subsequently, prealignment is performed on the wafer W7, the direction of the wafer W7 is adjusted in accordance with the inspection unit 21d, and the center is aligned. As shown in FIG. 11B, the inspection unit 21d The wafer transfer arm 3 is moved in front of the carry-in / out port 23 (refer FIG. 3) (arrow 26). Then, the inspected wafer W6 is carried out to the second arm body 36 from the wafer chuck 4d of the inspection unit 21d, and the wafer W7 supported by the first arm body 35 is wafer chuck 4d. ) (Arrow 27). Thereafter, the inspection unit 21d starts a probe test on the wafer W7.

On the other hand, while the probe test of the wafer W7 is being performed in the inspection unit 21d, as shown in Fig. 11C, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position where the FOUP 100 is accessed (arrow). 28) The wafer W6 supported by the second arm body 36 is carried into the FOUP 100, and the wafer W8 is carried out from the FOUP 100 by the first arm body 35 (arrows). 29). Subsequently, prealignment is performed on the wafer W8, the direction of the wafer W8 is aligned with the inspection unit 21c, and the center is aligned, and then needle polishing is performed as shown in Fig. 12A. The wafer transfer arm 3 is moved in front of the carry-in / out port 23 (refer FIG. 3) of the inspection part 21c (arrow 30). After the needle polishing process of the inspection unit 21c is completed, the needle polished wafer Wb is carried out from the wafer chuck 4c to the second arm body 36, and the wafer supported by the first arm body 35 is supported. W8 is loaded into the wafer chuck 4c (arrow 31). Thereafter, the inspection unit 21c starts a probe test on the wafer W8.

Then, while the probe test of the wafer W7 is performed in the inspection part 21c, as shown in FIG.12 (b), the wafer conveyance arm 3 is moved to the position which accesses the board | substrate accommodating part 60. FIG. (Arrow 32), the needle polishing wafer Wb supported by the second arm 36 is carried into the substrate storage unit 60, and the substrate holding device 70 is driven by the first arm body 35. As shown in FIG. The held inspected wafer W3 is received (arrow 33). Thereafter, the wafer W3 is loaded into the FOUP 100 (arrow 34). Thereby, a series of processes of the needle polishing process of the 2nd case performed as interrupt process are complete | finished, and a probe test is continued based on the probe test program 50 after that.

As described above, in the second case, when the needle polishing process as the interrupt process interrupts the process of the probe test, the wafer W3, which has been inspected, is not returned to the FOUP 100, but is placed above the substrate storage unit 60. The needle polishing process is started by temporarily holding in the installed substrate holding apparatus 70. For this reason, compared to the case where the needle-finished wafer W3 is carried into the FOUP 100 after the inspection has been carried out, the needle polished wafer Wb can be carried out after the wafer W3 is held. The time until can be shortened. In addition, in the case where the wafer W3 is returned to the FOUP 100 to perform needle polishing, an unnecessary step of moving the wafer transfer arm 3 without supporting the wafer W at all is necessary. In the aspect, it is possible to keep the wafer W supported on the wafer transfer arm 3 at all times, thereby eliminating unnecessary steps and improving workability.

In the probe apparatus of this embodiment in which the needle polishing process by the interrupt instruction is performed in the first and second cases described above, the needle polishing wafer Wb is in the state in which the inspected wafer W is placed in the inspection unit 21. When the interrupt request for the needle polishing process, which is the maintenance work of the inspection unit 21, is performed by using the above, the uninspected wafer W on which the prealignment supported on the first arm body 35 is completed is absorbed. Is transmitted to the substrate holding apparatus 70 provided with (). For this reason, since the uninspected wafer W is maintained in the state which maintained the attitude | position (wafer center position and direction) conveyed to the wafer conveyance arm 3, it does not carry out prealignment again, but it is carried out to the inspection part 21 as it is. I can bring it in. For this reason, the waiting time of the inspection part 21 can be shortened and the fall of a throughput can be suppressed.

In addition, since the substrate holding device 70 can be maintained while maintaining the posture of one wafer W, the substrate holding device 70 can be made small, and the margin of the transfer chamber 10 and the like can be reduced. The board | substrate holding apparatus 70 can be arrange | positioned in the place which exists. For this reason, it becomes possible to suppress the enlargement of an apparatus compared with the case where a wafer chuck dedicated to acupuncture processing etc. is provided.

Second Embodiment

A probe device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 16. Since the probe apparatus of 2nd Embodiment is the same as that of 1st Embodiment except the structure of the board | substrate holding apparatus 170, it demonstrates attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol to the same part or equivalence part as 1st Embodiment. In the first embodiment, the substrate holding device 70 only sucks and holds the wafer W. However, in the substrate holding device 170 of the second embodiment, the substrate holding device 70 of the second embodiment is free as necessary. Alignment can be performed.

In this embodiment, as shown to FIG. 13, FIG. 14, the installation part 168 is provided in the upper surface of the base 61 of the board | substrate accommodation part 60. As shown in FIG. This mounting part 168 is provided with the flat plate 169 which forms a horizontal plane in the upper area | region of the board | substrate accommodation part 60, and the board | substrate holding apparatus 170 is provided on this flat plate 169. As shown in FIG. Moreover, the width between the board | substrate accommodating part 60 and the flat plate 169 is set to the width which can take out the needle polishing wafer Wb arrange | positioned at the uppermost shelf of the board | substrate accommodating part 60. As shown in FIG.

The mounting portion 168 is provided with a chuck portion 171 of the substrate holding apparatus 170, a sensor bridge 172, a light emitting portion 175, and the like, and a light receiving sensor 173 is attached to the sensor bridge 172. have. The chuck portion 171 has a rotation function and an adsorption function for adsorption (vacuum adsorption) on the arranged wafer W, and functions as a rotation stage for rotating the wafer W held by adsorption. And the chuck | zipper part 171 is located in the substantially center of the flat plate 169, and when the arm bodies 35 and 36 advanced toward the board | substrate holding apparatus 170, the notch part 55 of the arm body 35 (36) is carried out. And 56 enter relatively, and are provided at positions which do not interfere with the arm bodies 35 and 36.

The sensor bridge 172 is provided on the rear side of the mounting portion 168, and is attached to the upper side so that the light receiving sensor 173 is horizontal with respect to the flat plate 169. The light emitting portion 175 is provided at a position below the peripheral edge portion of the wafer W held by the chuck portion 171 and is located in an area including the peripheral edge portion (end portion) of the wafer W above. Light is irradiated from below and light is received by the light receiving sensor 173 through the wafer W. For this reason, the sensor bridge 172 with the light receiving sensor 173 is positioned above the light emitting portion 175 at a position where the height level is higher than that of the wafer W held by the chuck portion 171. 173 is formed to be fixed.

And in the said board | substrate holding apparatus 170, the wafer W is attached to the chuck | zipper part 171 by the advancing and lifting operation of the wafer conveyance arm 3 with respect to the adsorption part 73 of 1st Embodiment shown in FIG. Is transferred, and the transferred wafer W can be adsorbed and held. Furthermore, since it is equipped with the light receiving sensor 173 and the light emission part 175, and is comprised so that it may function as the rotating stage which rotates the chuck | zipper part 171, with respect to the wafer W similarly to the prealignment mechanism 40, Prealignment can be performed.

In the probe device of the present embodiment having such a substrate holding device 170, since the pre-alignment can be performed on the wafer W held by the substrate holding device 170, for example, in the needle polishing process, for example, the first alignment device is used. When the probe test is finished in the second inspection unit 21 when the needle polishing wafer Wb is brought into the wafer chuck 4 of the inspection unit 21, the wafer W held by the substrate holding device 170. ), The wafer W can be brought into the second inspection unit 21 by adjusting the direction of the wafer W in accordance with the second inspection unit 21 and aligning the center thereof.

Next, this needle polishing process will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. In this description, the wafer chuck of the first inspection unit 21b is 4b, the wafer chuck of the second inspection unit 21c is 4c, and the uninspected wafer held by the substrate holding apparatus 170 is transferred to W10. The inspected wafer supported by the arm 3 is referred to as W11, the inspected wafer disposed on the wafer chuck 4c is referred to as W12, and the wafer conveyed from the FOUP 100 to the wafer chuck 4b is referred to as W13. Then, when the inspected wafer W11 is taken out from the wafer chuck 4b of the inspection unit 21b, the needle polishing wafer Wb is loaded into the wafer chuck 4b to start the needle polishing process. In this case, the probe test is finished (see FIG. 8 (c)).

First, as shown to Fig.15 (a), the wafer conveyance arm 3 is moved to the position which accesses the board | substrate accommodation part 60 (arrow 41). In the meantime, the board | substrate holding apparatus 170 prealigns the hold | maintaining wafer W10, and adjusts the direction of the uninspected wafer W10 hold | maintained by the board | substrate holding apparatus 170, and aligns a center. Subsequently, the wafer W10 is received from the substrate holding apparatus 170 in the first arm body 35, and the inspected wafer W11 supported by the second arm body 36 is transferred to the substrate holding apparatus 170. Keep it (arrow 42). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 15B, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved forward (arrow 43) to the carry-in / out port 23 (see FIG. 3) of the inspection unit 21c, so that the wafer transfer arm 3 The inspected wafer W12 is carried out from the wafer chuck 4c of the inspection unit 21c by the second arm body 36, and the needle chucked wafer Wb supported by the first arm body 35 is the wafer chuck. Bring in to (4c) (arrow 44). And the inspection part 21c moves the wafer chuck 4c, and performs the probe test with respect to the wafer W10 arrange | positioned at the wafer chuck 4c.

On the other hand, while the probe test of the wafer W10 is being performed in the inspection part 21c, as shown in FIG.15 (c), the wafer conveyance arm 3 is moved to the position which accesses the FOUP 100 (arrow) 45) The wafer W12 supported by the second arm body 36 is loaded into the FOUP 100, and the wafer W13 is carried out from the FOUP 100 by the first arm body 35 (arrows). 46). Subsequently, the wafer W13 is pre-aligned, the wafer W13 is aligned with the inspection unit 21b, the center is aligned, and needle polishing is performed as shown in Fig. 16A. The wafer transfer arm 3 is moved in front of the carry-in / out port 23 (refer to FIG. 3) of the inspection part 21b which was performed (arrow 47). After the needle polishing process of the inspection unit 21b is completed, the needle polished wafer Wb is carried out from the wafer chuck 4b to the second arm body 36, and the wafer supported by the first arm body 35 is supported. W13 is loaded into the wafer chuck 4b (arrow 48). Thereafter, the inspection unit 21b starts a probe test on the wafer W8.

Then, while the probe test of the wafer W13 is performed in the inspection part 21b, as shown to FIG. 16 (b), the wafer conveyance arm 3 is moved to the position which accesses the board | substrate accommodating part 60. FIG. (Arrow 49), the needle polishing wafer Wb supported by the second arm 36 is loaded into the substrate storage unit 60, and held by the first arm body 35 in the substrate holding apparatus 170. The completed inspected wafer W11 is received (arrow 50). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 16C, the wafer transfer arm 3 is moved to a position where the FOUP 100 is accessed (arrow 51), and the wafer W11 is loaded into the FOUP 100 ( Arrow 52). Thereby, a series of processes of needle polishing process are complete | finished, and a probe test is continued after that based on the probe test program 50.

In the probe apparatus of the present embodiment described above, by providing the substrate holding apparatus 170, the posture (center position of the wafer) in which the uninspected wafer W is transferred to the wafer transfer arm 3 as in the first embodiment. And direction) can be maintained, and it can be carried in to the inspection part 21 as it is, without performing prealignment again. For this reason, the waiting time of the inspection part 21 can be shortened and the fall of a throughput can be suppressed. Further, in the substrate holding apparatus 170, the alignment of the held wafer W can be performed, so that the wafer transfer arm 3 is adapted to an inspection portion 21 different from the inspection portion 21 intended to be conveyed at the time of waiting. The direction of the held wafer W is changed, the center is aligned, and the wafer W can be transferred to another inspection unit 21 as it is. Thereby, the waiting time which arises in another test | inspection part by needle polishing process can be shortened, and the fall of a throughput can be further suppressed.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the needle polishing wafer Wb is accommodated in the board | substrate accommodating part 60 as a board | substrate for repair, as an embodiment of this invention, it is based on the error of a probe test for every inspection part as a board | substrate for repair. Correlated wafers for measuring mutual relations may be stored.

In addition, as this embodiment of this invention, the prealignment mechanism 40 is not limited to what is mounted in the wafer conveyance arm 3, but is within the movement area | region of the wafer conveyance arm 3 in the conveyance chamber 10 (accessible area | region). May be installed inside, but each time the wafer transfer arm 3 is prealigned, the wafer transfer arm 3 must be transferred to the prealignment mechanism, and the wafer W must be transferred between the stage of the prealignment and the wafer transfer arm 3, The configuration of this example is advantageous. Moreover, as an example of the position which installs the prealignment mechanism 40 in the conveyance chamber 10, the wafer W in which the wafer conveyance arm 3 was inspected in the center part of the Y direction of the conveyance chamber 10 in FIG. The position which is not disturbed at the time of conveyance, the position below the load port 11 (12), etc. are mentioned.

Moreover, although the wafer conveyance arm 3 of this embodiment is equipped with two arm bodies 35 and 36, as embodiment of this invention, the board | substrate conveyance mechanism may be provided with three board | substrate support members, for example. In the case of having three substrate supporting members, since two of the three substrate supporting members always support the wafer, when performing the needle polishing process, the wafer supported by one substrate supporting member should be laid down. By providing each board | substrate holding apparatus of this embodiment, a wafer can be lowered without returning to a carrier, the waiting time of the inspection part 21 can be shortened, and the fall of a throughput can be suppressed.

In addition, although the board | substrate holding apparatuses 70 and 170 of this embodiment are provided in the upper area | region of the board | substrate accommodation part 60, embodiment of this invention is not limited to this, If it is an area | region adjacent to a board | substrate accommodation part, for example, It may be provided in the lower region or one of the left and right regions.

3: Wafer conveyance arm (substrate conveyance mechanism)
4: wafer chuck
5: control unit
6: probe card
7: probe needle
8: lower imaging unit
9: upper imaging unit
10: return room
11, 12: load port
21: inspection unit
24: stage unit
35: first arm body
36: second arm body
40: prealignment mechanism
50: probe test program
51: interrupt handling program
60: substrate storage portion
61: base
70: substrate holding apparatus
71: support
72: arm part
73: adsorption part
74: vacuum adsorption hole
75: recess
168: mounting portion
169: reputation
170: substrate holding device
171: chuck
172: sensor bridge
173: Light receiving sensor
174: light emitting unit
100: FOUP (carrier)
W: wafer
Wb: Spit Polishing Wafer

Claims (5)

A probe device for measuring the electrical characteristics of the inspected portion of the substrate by contacting the probe of the probe card and the electrode pad of the substrate to be inspected disposed on the mounting table of the inspector,
A load port for arranging a transport container storing a plurality of substrates,
A plurality of substrate supporting members capable of transferring the substrate between the transfer container and the inspection table disposed at the load port and advancing independently of each other, and supporting and waiting for the uninspected substrate. A substrate transfer mechanism wherein one of the substrate support members is empty at the time;
A transfer chamber in which the load port and the inspection portion are connected, and the substrate transfer mechanism moves inside;
In order to align the direction and the center of the substrate taken out from the conveyance container, a free stage provided with a rotation stage that holds the substrate and a circumferential edge detection portion that detects a circumferential edge of the substrate on the rotation stage, With an alignment mechanism,
A substrate accommodating part installed in the conveying chamber and in which a repair substrate for carrying out repair work of the inspection part is stored;
A substrate holding apparatus provided in the transfer chamber, the substrate holding apparatus including an adsorption mechanism for receiving, adsorbing, and holding the substrate from the substrate transfer mechanism;
When the board | substrate is arrange | positioned at the mounting table of the said test | inspection part, when the interruption process of the maintenance work of this test | inspection part occurs, the said board | substrate supported by the said board | substrate support member is hold | maintained in the said board | substrate holding apparatus, The control part which controls the said board | substrate conveyance mechanism so that the said repair board may be taken out from a board | substrate accommodation part, and will be replaced with the board | substrate of the said mounting table.
Probe device comprising a. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the repair substrate is a dedicated substrate for polishing the probe needle of the probe card. The probe device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substrate holding device is provided adjacent to the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the substrate accommodating part. The inspection part according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of the inspection parts are provided, and the control part interrupts the maintenance work in the second inspection part when the inspected substrate is carried out from the first inspection part to the substrate support member. And a process of holding the inspected substrate held by the substrate support member in the substrate holding apparatus and performing the maintenance work when the processing occurs. 5. A prealignment of the substrate according to claim 4, wherein a prealignment mechanism is further provided in the substrate holding apparatus, wherein the substrate holding apparatus functions as a rotating stage for the prealignment. Probe device characterized in that for performing.

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