WO2006112354A1

WO2006112354A1 - Probe and method for manufacturing same

Info

Publication number: WO2006112354A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/307834
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tomohisa Hoshino; Hiroyuki Hashimoto; Muneo Harada; Katsuya Okumura
Original assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited; Octec Inc.
Priority date: 2005-04-18
Filing date: 2006-04-13
Publication date: 2006-10-26
Also published as: JP4954492B2; JP2006300617A; TW200706881A

Abstract

A probe (10) is composed of a beam section (11), which is formed in a bent planar L-shape with a supporting section (12) and a column section (13), and a contact (14), which is arranged at one end of the column section (13) to extend in the same direction as the direction in which the column section (13) extends. Both the supporting section (12) and the column section (13) are, for instance, formed of nickel or a nickel alloy having a substantially uniform thickness of approximately 70-80μm. The contact (14) has a board shape thinner than the beam section (11), and is formed of a nickel or a nickel alloy having a substantially uniform thickness of approximately 10-20μm. The contact (14) is formed to have a sharp leading edge section.

Description

Specification

Probe and method of manufacturing the same

Technical field

The present invention relates to a probe and a method of manufacturing the same, and, for example, to a probe used in performing an electrical property inspection of a semiconductor wafer and a method of manufacturing the same.

Background art

For example, a probe as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-055936, as a contactor, is used to inspect electrical characteristics of IC chips such as memory circuits and logic circuits formed in large numbers on a semiconductor wafer. A card is used. This probe card plays a role of relaying the exchange of the inspection signal between the tester, which is a test device, and the IC chip when it contacts the electrode pad of the wafer at the time of inspection.

[0003] This probe card has, for example, a plurality of probe needles corresponding to a plurality of electrode pads formed on an IC chip, and each probe needle and each electrode pad are electrically contacted to generate an IC. It is made to inspect the chip. The probe needle includes a cantilever comprising an apex in contact with the electrode pad and an elastic member.

10A to 10H are views showing a manufacturing process of a probe needle, and FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a probe needle formed by the manufacturing process of FIGS. 10A to 10H. A conventional probe needle will be described with reference to FIGS. 10A to 1 OH and FIG.

After a silicon oxide film 2 is formed on the surface of a silicon substrate 1 shown in FIG. 10A as shown in FIG. 10B, a resist film 3 is formed on the surface. After exposing through a photomask (not shown), the resist film 3 is developed to form a square opening groove 4 in the resist film 3. After removing the silicon oxide film 2 in the opening groove 4, anisotropic wet etching is applied to the silicon substrate 1 to form an inverted quadrangular pyramidal groove 5 as shown in FIG. The resist film 3 and the silicon oxide film 2 are removed as shown in FIG.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10E, a titanium film 6 to be a seed of plating is formed on the entire surface of the silicon substrate 1. Next, a sacrificial layer 7 shown in FIG. 10F is formed by photolithography except for a portion corresponding to the cantilever 8 and a portion corresponding to the groove 5, as shown in FIG. 10G. As shown in FIG. 10H, the sacrificial layer 7 is removed, and the sacrificial layer 7 is removed as shown in FIG. 10H, for example, at the top of the probe needle. An inverted square frustum 9 and a cantilever 8 are formed.

[0007] As shown in FIG. 11, the probe formed in the manufacturing process shown in FIG. 10A to FIG. 10H is in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped with 8 parts of the punch lever, and has a length of 200 to 500 111 150 μm, thickness T is 10 to 20 μm, inverted square frustum 9, the top has a height H of 50 to 100 μm, and the flat portion of the tip has a width Wt of 10 ± It is about 2 / z m in size.

Recently, the degree of integration of IC chips has been increased, and the number of electrode pads has increased, and the arrangement pitch of the electrode pads has also become narrower and narrower. For this reason, if the probe needle is not narrowed in width, it contacts the adjacent electrode pad and becomes unresponsive to the pitch of the electrode pad. If the width of the inverted square frustum 9 at the top of the probe needle shown in FIG. 11 is reduced, the height will be reduced.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10C, since the groove 5 is formed by anisotropic wet etching as shown in FIG. 10C, if the diameter of the groove 5 is reduced, the depth of the groove 5 becomes shallow. If the depth of the groove 5 is increased, the diameter must be increased, the diameter of the top is increased, and the pitch of the electrode pad is narrowed. Can not.

As described above, when the inverted square frustum 9 has a low height, the cantilever 8 may contact the electrode pad or another element, or the inverted square frustum 9 may not contact the electrode pad properly. I have problems. Furthermore, if the inverted square frustum 9 is low, the cantilever 8 bends and infects the electrode pad.

As described above, in the manufacturing method according to the photo process shown in FIGS. 10A to 10H, even if the width of the inverted square frustum 9 serving as a contact is narrowed, it can be made equal to or less than the thickness of the cantilever 8. It was not.

Disclosure of the invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a probe that can reliably contact electrode pads arranged at a narrow pitch by maintaining strength and reducing contacts, and a method of manufacturing the same.

The present invention provides a beam portion having a predetermined thickness and having a bent flat shape, and a beam portion And a contact element provided protruding in the extending direction of the tip end beam portion and having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the beam portion to constitute a probe.

[0014] Thereby, the contact can securely contact the narrow and pitched electrode pads.

Preferably, the tip of the contact is offset from the center of the cross section of the beam. This makes it possible to reduce the thickness of the contact from the thickness of the beam by a simple manufacturing method.

[0016] In one embodiment, the contact is formed in a plate shape having a substantially uniform thickness, and in another embodiment, the contact has a shape in which the thickness gradually decreases toward the tip. ing. In any of the embodiments, since the tip of the contact can be made thin, contact can be reliably made with the electrode pads arranged at a narrow pitch.

More preferably, the contact is formed with a sharp tip. Sharpening the tip facilitates contacting the electrode pad.

[0018] In one embodiment, the contact has an outer surface that is flush with the outer surface of the beam, and in another embodiment, the contact is formed independently of the beam. , One face of which is in close contact with one face of the beam.

Furthermore, more preferably, the beam extends in the same direction as the contact, and the pillar at one end of which the contact is provided and the other end of the pillar are connected to the other end, and the direction crosses the pillar Including a support extending to the The probe can be attached to the probe card through this support.

[0020] Another aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing a probe, comprising the steps of: forming a beam having an approximately uniform thickness and extending in a bent flat shape; Forming a contact having a thickness smaller than that of the portion and projecting in the direction in which the beam extends

According to this method, the probe can be manufactured by integrally connecting the beam portion and the contactor. In this manufacturing method, both the beam portion may be formed first and the contact may be formed first.

Preferably, the step of forming the contact includes forming an elongated first metal layer having a substantially uniform thickness and a portion of the shape to be the contact at the tip end, and forming the beam portion. The step of forming is a second metal overlapping on the first metal layer except for the tip to be a contact. Including forming a layer. Thus, the contact made of the first metal layer and the beam portion made of the second metal layer can be integrally manufactured. Also in this case, the beam portion may be formed first, or the contact may be formed first.

In one embodiment, the first metal layer is a metal film grown in the thickness direction on the substrate, and in the step of forming the beam, the tip of the metal film to be a contact is a masking material. In the covered state, the step of forming an upper layer metal film on the metal layer, and in another embodiment, the step of forming the contact forms a plate-like contact thinner than the thickness of the beam portion. And b) joining the contact and one end of any surface in the extending direction of the beam. The step of forming the beam portion in another embodiment includes forming a metal film on one side of the beam portion, and the step of forming the contact includes forming a metal film on one side of the contact, Diffusion bonding of the metal film of the beam portion and the metal film of the contact is included.

[0024] Furthermore, in another embodiment, the step of forming the contact includes grinding the tip of the beam to form the contact so as to have a slope. By polishing, a contact can be formed at the tip of the beam.

Furthermore, in another embodiment, the step of forming the beam portion includes growing the metal layer with a substantially uniform thickness on the substrate including the portion to be the contact, to form the contact. The process includes etching to form a portion to be a contact while covering the portion to be a beam with a masking material.

According to the present invention, the tip force of the beam having a predetermined thickness and having a bent planar shape is provided so as to protrude in the direction in which the beam extends, and the thickness is reduced from the thickness of the beam. Since the probe is configured to include the contacts having the [1], the contacts can be made smaller while maintaining the strength, and the contacts can be reliably brought into contact with the electrode pads arranged at a narrow pitch. Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a probe of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a modified example of the probe shown in FIG.

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of a probe in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B1-B1 of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of the probe in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3D is a cross-sectional view taken along line D1-D1 of FIG. 3C.

FIG. 3E is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of a probe in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3F is a cross-sectional view taken along line F1-F1 of FIG. 3E.

FIG. 3G is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of a probe in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3H is a cross-sectional view taken along line HI-HI in FIG. 3G.

FIG. 31 is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of a probe in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3J is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1-J1 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a groove formed in the manufacturing process shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a probe formed in the manufacturing process shown in FIGS. 31 and 3J.

FIG. 6A is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of a probe in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B2-B2 of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6C is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of the probe in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6D is a cross-sectional view taken along line D2-D2 of FIG. 6C.

FIG. 6E is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of the probe in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6F is a cross-sectional view taken along line F2-F2 of FIG. 6E.

FIG. 6G is a view showing a manufacturing process of the probe in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6H is a cross-sectional view taken along line H2-H2 of FIG. 6G.

FIG. 61 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of a probe in another embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 6J] Fig. 61 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-J2 of Fig. 61.

[7A] An appearance oblique showing a method of manufacturing a probe in still another embodiment of the present invention FIG.

7B] is an appearance perspective view showing a method of manufacturing a probe in still another embodiment of the present invention.

8A] is an appearance perspective view showing a method for producing a probe in still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B is an appearance perspective view showing a method of manufacturing a probe in still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9A is an external perspective view showing various modified examples of the probe in still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9B is an appearance perspective view showing various modified examples of the probe in still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A is a drawing showing a manufacturing process of a conventional probe.

FIG. 10B is a view showing a manufacturing process of the conventional probe.

FIG. 10C is a view showing a manufacturing process of the conventional probe.

FIG. 10D is a view showing a manufacturing process of the conventional probe.

FIG. 10E is a drawing showing a manufacturing process of a conventional probe.

FIG. 10F is a view showing a manufacturing process of the conventional probe.

[FIG. 10G] A diagram showing a manufacturing process of a conventional probe.

FIG. 10H is a view showing a manufacturing process of the conventional probe.

FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a probe formed by the manufacturing process of FIGS. 10A to 10H. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a probe according to an embodiment of the present invention. The probe 10 shown in FIG. 1 extends with a predetermined thickness and is provided so as to project in a direction in which the beam portion 11 having a bent flat shape and the tip force of the beam portion 11 extend. And a contact 14 having a thickness reduced from the thickness of the part 11. Beam 11 includes a support 12 provided along the surface of a probe substrate (not shown), and a pillar 13 extending in a direction intersecting with support 12 and provided with a contact 14 at one end, The support 12 and the column 13 are formed in an L-shaped planar shape. The tip of the contact 14 is at a position offset from the center force of the cross section of the column 13. Both the support portion 12 and the column portion 13 have a substantially uniform thickness, and are formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped of, for example, about 70 to 80 μm of nickel or a nickel alloy. The contact 14 is formed in a thin plate having a substantially uniform thickness so that its thickness is reduced as compared to the support 12 and the column 13. The thickness is, for example, about 10 to 20 m of nickel or nickel It is made of alloy and sharpened at the tip.

By thus making the thickness of the contact 14 thin and providing a force at the tip of the column 13 by making the tip sharp, even if the electrode pads are formed on the substrate at a very narrow distance, The contacts 14 can be properly electrically contacted to the desired electrode pads that do not contact the adjacent electrode pads while maintaining the strength.

In addition, if the electrode pads are arranged on the substrate at a distance slightly larger than the thickness of the contactors 14, the degree of integration of the IC chip can be increased to the extent that the inspection of the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device is not hindered. It is possible to raise it.

Note that, by reducing the thickness of the contactor 14, although it is easily deformed in the Y direction shown in FIG. 1, the strength in the X direction can be maintained.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the probe shown in FIG. The probe 10a shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a pillar 13 so as to extend at a right angle from the middle of the support 15 in the longitudinal direction to form a beam 16 in a T-shaped bent planar shape. A contact 14 is formed at the tip. In this example, compared to the L-shaped probe 10 shown in FIG. 1, the strength of the beam 16 can be maintained.

FIGS. 3A to 3J, 4 and 5 are views for explaining a method of manufacturing a probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, and in particular, FIG. 3 shows a manufacturing process, and FIG. 3A, FIG. 3C, FIG. 3E, FIG. 3G, FIG. 31 show plan views, and FIG. 3B, FIG. 3D, FIG. 3F, FIG. 3H, FIG. 3J show lines Bl of FIG. 3A, FIG. 3C, FIG. 3E, FIG. -Bl, Dl-Dl, Fl-Fl, HI-HI, Jl-It is a cross section along J1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a groove formed in the process shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, and FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a probe formed in the manufacturing process shown in FIGS. 31 and 3J.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a titanium film 2 serving as a seed of plating on the entire surface of the silicon substrate 21. Form 2 Next, a sacrificial layer 24 is formed by photolithography except for the groove 23 corresponding to the L-shaped planar shape of the probe 10 shown in FIG. The formed grooves 23 and the sacrificial layer 24 are shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, the groove 23 includes a first groove 26 corresponding to the beam 11 shown in FIG. 1 and a second groove 27 corresponding to the contact 14. On the titanium film 22 on the silicon substrate 21 which is the bottom of the groove 23, nickel or a nickel alloy is plated on the portion corresponding to the support portion 12, the column portion 13 and the contact 14 shown in FIG. To form a plating layer 31 as a first metal layer as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D. Next, as shown in FIGS. 3E and 3F, a portion of the groove 23 corresponding to the contact 14 is covered with a resin 25 which is a masking material. As a method of covering a portion corresponding to the contact 14 in this manner, for example, there is a method of spotting the resin 25 with a spoiler.

As shown in FIGS. 3G and 3H, nickel or a nickel alloy is deposited by plating on the first metal layer 31, and the thickness is thicker than the first metal layer 31 as the upper layer, 2. Form 2 plating layers 32. At this time, since the part covered with the resin 25 inhibits the growth of the mesophyll, only the first metal layer 31 is formed in the part corresponding to the contact 14. As shown in FIGS. 31 and 3J, when the resin 25 is removed and the first and second metal layers 31, 32 are removed from the silicon substrate 21 and the sacrificial layer 24, as shown in FIG. The second plating layer 31, 32 can generate the probe 10 b in which the support 12, the column 13, and the contactor 14 are integrated.

In the above description, the short layer is formed on the long layer in order to form the stack of two layers having different lengths. Conversely, the long layer is formed on the short layer. You may do so.

Further, in the above description, the metal is stacked by a force or other method in which the support 12, the column 13 and the contactor 14 are formed by the first and second metal layers 31 and 32. You may form.

Furthermore, in the case of producing the probe 10a shown in FIG. 2, the groove 23 shown in FIG. 4 may be formed in a T-shape in conformity with the entire planar shape of the probe 10a.

6A to 6J are views showing a method of manufacturing a probe according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6A, 6C, 6E, 6G, and 61 show plan views, and FIGS. Figure 6D, Figure 6F, Figure 6 H, FIG. 6J are cross-sectional views taken along the lines B2-B2, D2-D2, F2-F2, H2-H2, J2-J2 of FIG. 6A, FIG. 6C, FIG. 6E, FIG.

While the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A to 3J described above formed the probe 10 b using the spotting method, this embodiment forms the probe 10 c using the etching method.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, a titanium film 22 to be a seed of plating is formed on the entire surface of the silicon substrate 21. Next, a sacrificial layer 24 is formed by photolithography except for the groove 23 corresponding to the L-shaped planar shape of the probe 10 shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, nickel or a nickel alloy is grown in the thickness direction on the titanium film 22 on the silicon substrate 21 by plating to form a plating layer 34 having a predetermined thickness.

As shown in FIG. 6E and FIG. 6F, masking is performed with the insulating layer 28 which is a masking material except for the portion to be the contact 14 shown in FIG. 1, and wet etching is performed, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6H, a cavity 29 is formed above the thin plating layer 35 having a thickness to be the contact 14 and the wet-etched portion is a thick plating layer 36 having a thickness corresponding to the column portion 13 Become. As shown in FIGS. 61 and 6J, when the plating layer 34 is removed from the silicon substrate 21 and the sacrificial layer 24, the support 12 and the column 13 are integrally laminated by the plating layer 36, and the contactor 14 is formed by the plating layer 35. Can be generated.

When the wet etching is performed on the plating layer 34, the material of the plating layers 35 and 36 may be changed in order to stop the etching at the plating layer 35 that should be the contact 14.

[0046] FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are perspective views showing a method of manufacturing a probe according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3J described above, the beam having a bent planar shape is used in this embodiment while the support 12, the column 13 and the contact element 14 are integrally formed. The support portion 42 serving as the portion 41 and the pillar portion 43 are integrally formed, and the contactor 44 is formed separately and independently from the beam portion 41, and the contactor 44 is closely attached to the pillar portion 43.

That is, in the same manner as the manufacturing process described in FIGS. 3A to 3J, the support 42 and the column 43 shown in FIG. It is formed to have a substantially uniform thickness. At this time, an Au film 45 as a metal film is formed on the lower surfaces of the support portion 42 and the pillar portion 43. [0048] In the same manufacturing process, the contactor 44 has a substantially uniform thickness of about 10 to 20 μm in a pentagonal plate with a pointed tip, for example, as a plating layer such as nickel or nickel alloy. Form separately to have. An Au film 46 is formed on the upper surface of the contactor 44, for example. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the Au film 46 of the contactor 44 and the Au film 45 of the pillar portion 43 are metal diffusion bonded to bond the contactor 44 to the tip portion of the pillar portion 43 for probe It can generate 10d. By thus joining the contactor 44 and one end of the extending surface of the beam portion 41, it is possible to reliably contact the electrode pads arranged at a narrow pitch.

In the above description, the support portion 42 and the column portion 43 and the contactor 44 are formed of nickel or a nickel alloy, but may be formed of another metal material. In addition, Au / Sn junction may be used instead of AuZAu junction which is characterized in that the Au film is not easily oxidized. Furthermore, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese or the like may be mixed with nickel to form the support portion 42 and the pillar portion 43 and the contactor 44, and the contactor 44 may be joined to the pillar portion 43.

[0050] FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams showing a method of manufacturing a probe in still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the probe 10 e is configured such that the contact 54 has an inclined surface 55 which is inclined from the same surface as any of the longitudinally extending surfaces of the column portion 53 to the opposite surface. Form. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, the support portion 52 to be the beam portion 51 and the pillar portion 53 are integrally formed in a L-shaped planar shape bent as a plating layer with, for example, nickel or a nickel alloy. The front end of the column 53 is polished along the surface indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8B, a contact 54 having a slope 55 can be formed at the tip of the column 53.

As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 8B, the tip of the contact 54 may be sharpened on the inclined surface of the contact 54 by polishing.

[0052] Figs. 9A and 9B are perspective views showing various modifications of the probe in the embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the contactor 64 is formed to have an outer surface which is flush with the outer surface of the beam portion 61.

Specifically, the probe 10f of the example shown in FIG. 9A is provided with a pillar 63 at one end of the support 62 to form a beam 61 in an L-shaped bent planar shape, Of the pillar 63 so that the contact 64 formed so that the tip is sharpened at the same level as the surface on the support 62 side of the pillar 63. It is provided on the other end side of the tip.

The probe 10g of the example shown in FIG. 9B is located on one end side of the tip of the pillar 63 so that the contact 64 shown in FIG. 9A is flush with the one end face of the support 62 of the pillar 63. It is provided.

By forming the contact 64 to have an outer surface flush with the outer surface of the beam portion 61 in this manner, the contact 64 can be made smaller while maintaining the strength of the contact 64. Reliable contact with electrode pads arranged at pitches.

The force on which the embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. Various modifications and variations can be made to the illustrated embodiment within the same scope as, or equivalent to, the present invention.

Industrial applicability

The probe of the present invention can be used for a probe card having a plurality of probe needles corresponding to a plurality of electrode pads formed on an IC chip.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[I] A beam portion having a predetermined thickness and having a bent planar shape;

And a contact element provided protruding from the tip end of the beam in the extending direction of the beam and having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the beam.

[2] The probe according to claim 1, wherein a tip of the contact is at a position offset from a center of a cross section of the beam.

[3] The probe according to claim 1, wherein the beam portion has a substantially uniform thickness.

[4] The probe according to claim 1, wherein the contact is formed in a plate shape having a substantially uniform thickness.

[5] The probe according to claim 1, wherein the contact has a shape whose thickness gradually decreases toward the tip.

[6] The probe according to claim 1, wherein the contact is formed with a sharp tip.

7. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the contact has an outer surface that is flush with the outer surface of the beam.

[8] The contact is formed independently of the beam portion, and one surface thereof is the surface of the beam portion

The probe according to claim 1, which is in close contact with one side.

[9] The beam portion is

The support includes: a pillar portion extending in the same direction as the contact, and provided at one end thereof with the contact; and a support portion connected to the other end of the pillar and extending in a direction intersecting the pillar. The probe according to item 1.

[10] A step of forming a beam portion having a substantially uniform thickness and having a bent planar shape, and a direction in which the beam portion has a thickness smaller than that of the beam portion at the tip of the beam portion. Forming a protruding contact.

[II] The step of forming the contact includes forming an elongated first metal layer with a uniform thickness and a portion of the shape to be the contact at the tip end,

11. The probe according to claim 10, wherein the step of forming the beam portion includes forming a second metal layer overlapping on the first metal layer except for the tip portion to be the contact. Production method.

[12] The first metal layer is a metal film grown in the thickness direction on a substrate,

The step of forming the beam portion includes growing an upper metal film on the metal layer in a state where the tip of the metal film to be a contact is covered with a masking material. Probe manufacturing method.

[13] In the step of forming the contact, a plate-like contact thinner than the thickness of the beam portion is formed.

The method for manufacturing a probe according to claim 10, comprising bonding the contactor and one end of any surface in the extending direction of the beam portion.

[14] The step of forming the beam portion includes forming a metal film on one surface of the beam portion, and the step of forming the contact includes forming a metal film on one surface of the contact. The method of manufacturing a probe according to claim 13, comprising diffusion bonding the metal film of the beam portion and the metal film of the contact.

[15] The method for manufacturing a probe according to claim 10, wherein the step of forming the contact includes forming the contact so as to have the inclined surface by grinding the tip of the beam.

[16] The step of forming the beam includes growing a metal layer with a substantially uniform thickness on the substrate including the portion to be the contact;

11. The probe according to claim 10, wherein the step of forming the contact includes etching to form the portion to be the contact while covering the portion to be the beam with a masking material. Manufacturing method.