TWI596343B - Electrical test socket and method of manufacturing onductive particles for electric test socket ??????????????????????????????????????????? - Google Patents

Description

Electrical test socket and conductive particles for electrical test socket

The present invention relates to an electric test socket and a method of manufacturing a conductive particle for an electrical test socket, and more particularly to maintaining electrical power even under high temperature conditions. An electrical test socket that does not deteriorate in characteristics and a method of manufacturing conductive particles for an electrical test socket.

In general, when testing the electrical characteristics of the device, a stable electrical connection should be made between the device and the inspection apparatus. For this purpose, an electrical test socket is typically used to connect the inspection device to the device to be inspected.

An electrical test socket connects the terminals of the device to the pads of the inspection device to allow for bidirectional transmission of electrical signals between the device and the inspection device. To this end, an elastic conductive sheet or a pogo pin may be included in the electrical test socket as a contact member. The elastic conductive sheet comprises an elastic conductive part for connection to a terminal of the device to be inspected, and the spring type thimble package An internal spring is included to smoothly connect the inspection apparatus to the device to be inspected and to reduce the effects of mechanical shock during the joining action. Therefore, most electrical test sockets use such resilient conductive sheets or spring-loaded thimbles.

The electrical test socket 1 is illustrated in Figure 1 as an example of such an electrical test socket. The electrical test socket 1 includes: a conductive portion 8 formed in a region in contact with a ball grid array (BGA) type terminal 4 of the semiconductor device 2; and an insulating fluorenone portion 6 formed not in the semiconductor device 2 The terminal 4 is in contact with the area and serves as an insulating layer. The conductive portion 8 is formed by densely arranging a plurality of conductive particles 8a in the fluorenone rubber. In use, the electrical test socket 1 is mounted on an inspection device 9 comprising a plurality of pads 10. In detail, the electrical test socket 1 is mounted on the inspection device 9 in such a way that the conductive portion 8 of the electrical test socket 1 is in contact with the gasket 10 of the inspection device 9, respectively.

When the electrical test socket 1 is used for inspection, the semiconductor device 2 to be inspected is lowered to bring the terminal 4 of the semiconductor device 2 into contact with the conductive portion 8. Next, the semiconductor device 2 is further lowered to compress the conductive portion 8 in the thickness direction of the conductive portion 8, and thus the conductive particles 8a of the conductive portion 8 are brought into contact with each other. If the conductive particles 8a are brought into contact with each other as described above, the conductive portion 8 serves as an electrical conductor. In this state, if the inspection device 9 generates an electrical signal, the electrical signal is transmitted to the semiconductor device 2 via the conductive portion 8, and thus an electrical test can be performed.

These tests are usually performed at room temperature. However, some tests can be performed under high temperature conditions because products containing semiconductor devices can be used in extreme environments. In general, the test under high temperature conditions is called a burn-in test. However, the burn-in test has a problem that electrical characteristics are deteriorated due to material properties. Electrical characteristic degradation One of the reasons is an increase in the distance between the conductive particles of the conductive portion (caused by the expansion of the conductive portion of the fluorenone rubber at a high temperature).

In particular, if the fluorenone rubber expands due to heat, the fluorenone rubber present in the conductive particles pushes the conductive particles upward and downward (or left and right), and thus the distance between the conductive particles increases. If the distance between the conductive particles increases as described above, it is difficult to bring the conductive particles into contact with each other by pressing the conductive particles, and the electric resistance of the conductive portion also increases. For example, the conductive particles that are in contact with each other at room temperature as shown in FIG. 3A are separated from each other by a distance (a) in the vertical direction under high temperature conditions and separated from each other by a distance (b) in the horizontal direction, as shown in FIG. Shown in 3B. That is, the conductive particles are separated from each other by a certain distance. If the conductive particles are separated from each other as described above, problems such as an increase in total resistance and deterioration in electrical characteristics may occur.

The present invention is provided to solve the above problems. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical test socket in which the resistance does not increase even under high temperature conditions and the electrical characteristics do not change or significantly deteriorate even under high temperature conditions.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing conductive particles for an electrical test socket, wherein the electric resistance of the conductive particles does not increase even under high temperature conditions and the electrical characteristics are even under high temperature conditions. No change or no significant deterioration.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part,

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electrical test socket, the electric The test socket is disposed between the gasket of the inspection device and the terminal of the target device to be inspected to electrically connect the gasket and the terminal, the electrical test socket comprising: a plurality of conductive portions by being in an insulating elastic material Forming a plurality of conductive particles in a thickness direction of the insulating elastic material at a position corresponding to the terminal of the target device; and an insulating support supporting the conductive portion and causing The electrically conductive portion is insulated, wherein each of the electrically conductive particles comprises a conductive core and a surface attached to the surface of the electrically conductive core as a portion of the electrically conductive core and electrically conductive extending radially from the surface of the electrically conductive core Protrusions, and when the conductive particles are disposed in the insulating elastic material, the conductive protrusions of adjacent conductive cores are entangled with each other.

The conductive protrusions may have elasticity.

The conductive protrusions may comprise a carbon nanotube.

The conductive protrusion may comprise a gold coating or a silver coating on its surface.

The conductive protrusions may be coated with nano particles.

The conductive protrusions may have a linear shape.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for producing conductive particles for an electrical test socket, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a conductive core; (b) forming an insulating layer on a surface of the conductive core; (c) applying catalyst particles to the insulating layer; and (d) growing conductive protrusions on the catalyst particles by a thermal chemical vapor deposition method.

The step (a) may comprise forming a gold coating or a silver coating on the surface of the conductive core.

The insulating layer may comprise aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ).

The catalyst particles may comprise iron, cobalt, nickel or alloys thereof.

After the step (d), the method may further comprise the step of: (e) forming a gold coating or a silver coating on the surface of the conductive protrusion.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for producing conductive particles for an electrical test socket, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a conductive core; (b) simultaneously forming an insulating layer on a surface of the conductive core Applying catalyst particles to the conductive core; and (c) growing conductive protrusions on the catalyst particles by a thermal chemical vapor deposition method.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of producing conductive particles for an electrical test socket, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a conductive core; (b) applying catalyst particles to the conductive core; (c) growing conductive protrusions on the catalyst particles by a thermal chemical vapor deposition method.

In the electrical test socket of the present invention, the conductive protrusions of the conductive particles are entangled with each other. Therefore, even under high temperature conditions, the electrical characteristics of the electrical test socket may not deteriorate, and the resistance of the electrical test socket may not increase.

1, 100‧‧‧ electrical test socket

2‧‧‧Semiconductor device

4, 141‧‧‧ terminals

6‧‧‧Insulating ketones

8, 110‧‧‧ conductive parts

8a, 111‧‧‧ conductive particles

9, 150‧‧‧ Inspection equipment

10, 151‧‧‧ pads

111a‧‧‧conductive core

111b, 111f‧‧‧ coating

111c‧‧‧Insulation

111d‧‧‧ catalyst particles

111e‧‧‧Electrical protrusion

120‧‧‧Insulation support

140‧‧‧Target device

S100, S200, S300, S400, S500‧‧‧ steps

The following description of the embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an electrical test socket of the related art.

2 is a view illustrating the operation of the electrical test socket depicted in FIG. 1.

3A and 3B are views illustrating the electrical test socket depicted in FIG. 1 when the temperature of the electrical test socket changes.

4 is a view illustrating an electrical test socket in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the operation of the electrical test socket depicted in FIG. 4.

6A-6E are views illustrating a method of fabricating conductive particles of the electrical test socket depicted in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the manufacturing method depicted in FIGS. 6A-6E.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments embodiments In this regard, the embodiments of the invention may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, the embodiments described herein are merely described by reference to the drawings in the drawings. The term "and/or" as used herein includes any and all of one or more of the associated listed items.

Hereinafter, an electrical test socket 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The electrical test socket 100 of the present invention can be disposed between the terminals of the device to be inspected and the pads of the inspection device to electrically connect the terminals to the pads. The electrical test socket 100 includes a conductive portion 110 and an insulating support 120.

The conductive portion 110 is formed at a position corresponding to the terminal 141 of the target device 140 to be inspected by arranging a plurality of conductive particles 111 in the thickness direction of the insulating elastic material in the insulating elastic material. The conductive particles 111 are magnetically and densely arranged in the thickness direction of the conductive portion 110.

Preferably, the insulating elastic material forming the conductive portion 110 may have a cross Joint structure of heat resistant polymer. Various curable polymer forming materials can be used to obtain such crosslinked polymeric materials. Specific examples of the curable polymer-forming material include: silicone rubber; conjugated diene rubber, such as polybutadiene rubber, natural rubber, polyiso Polyisoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber, and acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber, and hydrogenated products thereof; Block copolymer rubber, such as styrene-butadiene-diene block copolymer rubber and styrene-isoprene block copolymer (styrene-isoprene) Block copolymer), and its hydrogenation product; and chloroprene, urethane rubber, polyester rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, ethylene-propylene copolymerization Ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber, and soft liquid Soft liquid epoxy rubber.

Among the listed materials, an anthrone rubber is preferably used in terms of molding and handling ability as well as electrical properties.

Further, in the case where the electrical test socket 100 is used to perform a probing test or a burn-in test on the integrated circuit of the wafer, the cured product of the addition-curing liquid fluorenone rubber (hereinafter referred to as "anthrone rubber cured product") may be Used as an insulating elastic material, and the compression set of the cured product of the fluorenone rubber measured at 150 ° C The set) may preferably be 10% or less, more preferably 8% or less, and even more preferably 6% or less. If the compression set of the decidone rubber cured product is greater than 10%, the conductive portion 110 of the electrical test socket 100 may be susceptible to permanent deformation after being used many times by the electrical test socket 100 or after repeated use under high temperature conditions. In this case, the arrangement of the conductive particles 111 of the conductive portion 110 may be deformed, and thus it may be difficult to maintain a desired level of conductivity.

Further, the hardness A hardness of the fluorenone rubber cured product measured at 23 ° C may preferably be from 10 to 60, more preferably from 15 to 60, and even more preferably from 20 to 60. If the hardness A hardness of the fluorenone rubber cured product is less than 10, the insulating support 120 which insulates the conductive portions 110 from each other may be excessively deformed when the conductive portion 110 is pressed, and thus it may be difficult to maintain insulation between the conductive portions 110. At the required level. On the other hand, if the hardness of the fluorenone rubber cured product is greater than 60, it may be necessary to apply a large amount of force to the conductive portion 110 to deform the conductive portion 110 to a desired range. In this case, for example, the target object to be inspected may be deformed or broken.

Preferably, the conductive particles 111 contained in the conductive portion 110 of the electrical test socket 100 may have magnetic properties, and in this case, the conductive particles 111 may easily move in the forming material. Examples of the magnetic conductive particles 111 may include: particles of a magnetic metal such as iron, nickel or cobalt; particles of an alloy of the metal; particles containing any of the metals; by preparing the particles a particle formed by coating the conductive core 111a with the conductive core 111a and a highly conductive metal such as gold, silver, palladium or iridium; by making non-magnetic metal particles, inorganic material particles or copolymer particles such as glass beads as conductive Core 111a and coated with a conductive magnetic material such as nickel or cobalt The conductive core 111a or the particles formed by coating the conductive core 111a with a conductive magnetic material and a highly conductive metal.

Preferably, the conductive particles 111 can be formed by preparing nickel particles as the conductive core 111a and coating the conductive core 111a with a highly conductive metal such as gold or silver.

The means for coating the conductive core 111a with a conductive metal is not limited. For example, electrodeless plating (electrodeless plating) can be used.

In the case where the conductive particles 111 are formed by coating the conductive core 111a with a conductive metal, the coating ratio of the conductive core 111a is coated with the conductive metal (that is, the surface area of the conductive core 111a and the region coated with the conductive metal) The ratio) may preferably be 40% or more, more preferably 45% or more, and even more preferably 47% to 90% in order to ensure high conductivity.

The amount of the conductive metal used for coating may preferably be from 2.5 wt% to 50 wt% of the conductive core 111a, more preferably from 3 wt% to 30 wt% of the conductive core 111a, even more preferably from 3.5 wt% to 25 wt% of the conductive core 111a %, and more preferably 4% to 20% by weight of the conductive core 111a. If the conductive metal is gold, the amount of the conductive metal used for coating may preferably be 3 wt% to 30 wt% of the conductive core 111a, more preferably 3.5 wt% to 25 wt% of the conductive core 111a, and even more preferably a conductive core. 4 to 20% by weight of 111a, and still more preferably 4.5 to 10% by weight of the conductive core 111a. Further, if the conductive metal is silver, the amount of the conductive metal used for coating may preferably be 3 wt% to 30 wt% of the conductive core 111a, more preferably 4 wt% to 25 wt% of the conductive core 111a, and even more preferably conductive. The core 111a is 5 wt% to 23 wt%, and more preferably 6 wt% to 20 wt% of the conductive core 111a.

Further, the diameter of the conductive particles 111 may preferably be from 1 μm to 500 μm, more It is preferably 2 μm to 400 μm, even more preferably 5 μm to 300 μm, and still more preferably 10 μm to 150 μm.

The conductive particles 111 include a conductive protrusion 111e attached to a portion of the conductive core 111a and extending radially from the surface of the conductive core 111a.

Specifically, a plurality of conductive protrusions 111e having a linear shape are disposed on the surface of each of the conductive cores 111a. The conductive protrusions 111e are attached to the conductive core 111a as a portion of the conductive core 111a, and when the conductive particles 111 are disposed in the insulating elastic material, the conductive protrusions 111e of the adjacent conductive particles 111 may be entangled with each other.

Preferably, the conductive protrusions 111e may be elastic carbon nanotubes. The conductive protrusions 111e may be formed only of carbon nanotubes or may be coated with gold, silver or nano particles.

The insulating support 120 is disposed around the conductive portion 110 to support the conductive portions 110 and to insulate the conductive portions 110 from each other. The insulating support 120 is formed of an insulating elastic material and contains no or almost no conductive particles 111. Preferably, the insulating support member 120 may be formed of the same insulating elastic material as the insulating elastic material used to form the conductive portion 110. For example, the insulating support 120 may be formed of an anthrone rubber. However, the insulating support 120 is not limited thereto. That is, the insulating support 120 may be formed of a material selected from various materials.

The conductive particles 111 of the electrical test socket 100 can be fabricated by the method described below.

First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a conductive core 111a (S100) containing a gold coating or a silver coating 111b is prepared.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, an insulating layer 111c is formed on the conductive core 111a (S200). The insulating layer 111c prevents the reaction between the conductive core 111a and the catalyst particles 111d, and thus prevents the formation of the vaporized layer. Preferably, the insulating layer 111c may be formed of aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ). However, the insulating layer 111c is not limited thereto. For example, the insulating layer 111c may be a ruthenium oxide layer.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the catalyst particles 111d are applied to the insulating layer 111c (S300). The catalyst particles 111d may be particles of cobalt, nickel, iron or an alloy thereof such as cobalt-nickel, cobalt-iron, or nickel-iron alloy. The insulating layer 111c may be coated with the catalyst particles 111d by a thermal deposition method, an electron beam deposition method, a sputtering method, or any other method. Preferably, the catalyst particles 111d may be nanosized particles.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6D, the conductive protrusions 111e are grown on the catalyst particles 111d by a thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method (S400). In detail, the conductive core 111a coated with the insulating layer 111c and the catalyst particles 111d is placed in a thermal CVD reactor, and a carbon source gas is supplied to the thermal CVD reactor while maintaining the thermal CVD reactor. The temperature is in the range of 400 ° C to 1000 ° C. In this case, a C1 to C3 hydrocarbon gas can be used as the carbon source gas. Preferably, acetylene, ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane or methane gas can be used as the carbon source gas. The carbon source gas supplied under high temperature conditions undergoes thermal decomposition, and thus the carbon nanotubes are respectively grown on the nanosized catalyst particles 111d. That is, the conductive protrusions 111e (carbon nanotubes) are grown.

This operation will now be described in more detail. When the carbon source gas is decomposed, carbon units and free hydrogen are generated, and the carbon units are adsorbed onto the catalyst particles 111d and diffused to Simultaneous dissolution in the catalyst particles 111d. As a result, the carbon unit of the catalyst particle 111d is supersaturated, and then the growth of the carbon nanotube is started. If the carbon unit is continuously supplied, the carbon nanotubes are grown in the form of a line as shown in Fig. 6D.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6E, the conductive protrusions 111e are coated with a gold coating or a silver coating 111f or nanoparticle (S500). In this way, the fabrication of the conductive particles 111 can be completed.

A technique for manufacturing an electrical test socket using conductive particles 111 fabricated as described above is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1204939 filed by the present applicant.

The electrical test socket 100 of the present invention can provide the following operational effects.

First, the electrical test socket 100 is mounted on the inspection device 150 in such a manner that the conductive portion 110 is in contact with the gasket 151 of the inspection device 150, and in this state, the target device 140 to be inspected is moved toward the electrical test socket 100. Thereafter, the electrical test socket 100 is lowered to bring the terminal 141 of the target device 140 into contact with the upper surface of the conductive portion 110, as shown in FIG. Next, if the inspection device 150 generates an electrical signal, the electrical signal is transmitted to the target device 140 via the conductive portion 110, and thus an electrical test is performed.

Although this test is an over-expansion of the fluorenone rubber which is performed at a high temperature (150 ° C or higher than 150 ° C) or used as an insulating elastic material, the conductive protrusions 111 e protruding from the conductive particles 111 of the conductive portion 110 are entangled with each other (for example) As shown in FIG. 4, the electrical conductivity between the conductive particles 111 can thus be maintained. That is, although the conductive particles 111 are spaced apart from each other, the conductivity between the conductive particles 111 may be maintained because the conductive protrusions 111e are entangled with each other in contact with each other. In other words, even if the conductive particles 111 The fluorenone rubbers are expanded at a high temperature to be spaced apart from each other, but since the conductive protrusions formed on the conductive particles 111 are entangled with each other in contact with each other, the electric resistance of the conductive portion 110 may not increase or may be minimally increased.

Further, since the conductive protrusions 111e are in contact with each other with an effect of increasing the total surface area of the conductive particles 111, the electrical test socket 100 can be used for a long period of time even if the electrical test socket 100 is repeatedly deformed.

Further, since the conductive protrusions 111e are entangled with each other, the distance between the conductive particles 111 may not excessively increase.

The electrical test socket 100 of the present invention can be modified as follows.

In the above embodiment, the conductive protrusions 111e are formed of carbon nanotubes. However, the conductive protrusions 111e are not limited thereto. For example, the conductive protrusions 111e may be formed by any method or material as long as the conductive protrusions 111e have a nano-sized line shape.

Further, the method of forming the conductive protrusions 111e as a part of the conductive core 111a is not limited to the technique described in the above embodiments. That is, various other techniques can be used to form the conductive bumps 111e as part of the conductive core 111a. Although the catalyst particles 111d are grown by thermal CVD in the above embodiment, the method of growing the catalyst particles 111d is not limited thereto. For example, a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method can be used to grow catalyst particles 111d.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are to be considered in a Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodiment should generally be considered as other similar features or aspects that may be used in other embodiments.

Although the electrical test plug of the present invention has been described in accordance with an embodiment with reference to the figures The present invention is not limited thereto, and various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

100‧‧‧Electric test socket

110‧‧‧Electrical part

111‧‧‧ conductive particles

120‧‧‧Insulation support

140‧‧‧Target device

141‧‧‧ terminals

150‧‧‧Inspection equipment

151‧‧‧ cushion

Claims (13)

An electrical test socket disposed between a gasket of an inspection device and a terminal of a target device to be inspected to electrically connect the gasket and the terminal, the electrical test socket comprising: a plurality of conductive portions, wherein Each of the plurality of conductive portions is formed by arranging a plurality of conductive particles in a thickness direction of the insulating elastic material at a position corresponding to the terminal of the target device in an insulating elastic material; An insulating support supporting the conductive portion and insulating each of the plurality of conductive portions, wherein each of the conductive particles includes a conductive core and a surface attached to the conductive core as the a portion of the conductive core and a plurality of conductive protrusions extending radially from the surface of the conductive core, and when the conductive particles are disposed in the insulating elastic material, the conductive protrusions of adjacent conductive cores are wrapped around each other Knot. The electrical test socket of claim 1, wherein the conductive protrusion has elasticity. The electrical test socket of claim 2, wherein the conductive protrusion comprises a carbon nanotube. The electrical test socket of claim 1, wherein the conductive protrusion comprises a gold coating or a silver coating on a surface thereof. The electrical test socket of claim 1, wherein the conductive protrusion is coated with nano particles. An electrical test socket according to claim 1, wherein the guide The electric protrusion has a linear shape. A method for producing conductive particles, the conductive particles being used in an electrical test socket according to claim 1, wherein the method for manufacturing the conductive particles comprises the steps of: (a) preparing a conductive core; (b) Forming an insulating layer on a surface of the conductive core; (c) applying a plurality of catalyst particles to the insulating layer; and (d) applying a thermal chemical vapor deposition method to each of the plurality of catalyst particles The conductive protrusions are grown. The method of producing conductive particles according to claim 7, wherein the step (a) comprises forming a gold coating or a silver coating on the surface of the conductive core. The method for producing conductive particles according to claim 7, wherein the insulating layer comprises aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ). The method for producing conductive particles according to claim 7, wherein the catalyst particles comprise iron, cobalt, nickel or an alloy thereof. The method for producing conductive particles according to claim 7, wherein after the step (d), the method for producing the conductive particles further comprises the step of: (e) forming on the surface of the conductive protrusions Gold coated or silver coated. A method for producing conductive particles, the conductive particles being used in an electrical test socket according to claim 1, wherein the method for manufacturing the conductive particles comprises: (a) preparing a conductive core; (b) applying a plurality of catalyst particles to the conductive core while forming an insulating layer on the surface of the conductive core; and (c) in the plurality of catalyst particles by a thermal chemical vapor deposition method Conductive protrusions are grown on each of them. A method for producing conductive particles, the conductive particles being used in an electrical test socket according to claim 1, wherein the method for manufacturing the conductive particles comprises: (a) preparing a conductive core; (b) using a plurality of catalysts Coating particles to the conductive core; and (c) growing conductive protrusions on each of the plurality of catalyst particles by a thermal chemical vapor deposition method.