WO2013012162A1

WO2013012162A1 - Horizontal and vertical moving device having improved mechanical strength

Info

Publication number: WO2013012162A1
Application number: PCT/KR2012/003861
Authority: WO
Inventors: 모승기
Original assignee: 주식회사 쎄믹스
Priority date: 2011-07-19
Filing date: 2012-05-16
Publication date: 2013-01-24
Also published as: KR101242633B1; KR20130010761A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a horizontal and vertical moving device for a wafer probe. The horizontal and vertical moving device comprises: a base frame; a first horizontal driving unit mounted on a predetermined region of an upper surface of the base frame and driven so as to be movable along a first direction of a preset movable surface; a second horizontal driving unit mounted on an upper surface of the first horizontal driving unit and driven so as to be movable along a second direction of a movable surface vertical to the first direction; a lower vertical driving unit mounted on a central region of the upper surface of the base frame and driven so as to be movable along a direction vertical to the movable surface; an upper vertical driving unit which is fixed to and mounted on an upper surface of the second horizontal driving unit so as to be movable along the direction vertical to the movable surface, and which moves along first and second directions of the movable surface by means of the movement of the first and second horizontal driving units and which is mounted on an upper surface of the lower vertical driving unit and which moves in the vertical direction by means of the movement of the lower driving unit; and a control unit which controls the operations of the first horizontal driving unit, the second horizontal driving unit, the lower vertical driving unit, and the upper vertical driving unit.

Description

[Specifications

[Name of invention]

Horizontal and vertical movement mechanism with improved mechanical rigidity

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a semiconductor inspection equipment, and more particularly, to a horizontal vertical movement mechanism and structure excellent in mechanical rigidity to move the chuck of the semiconductor inspection equipment to a predetermined spatial position in the horizontal and vertical directions.

Background Art

Wafer prober, a semiconductor inspection equipment, inspects the electrical characteristics of semiconductor devices made on wafers just before the semiconductor preprocess enters the postprocess of all completed wafers. It is equipment to check whether there is a defect.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a stage of a conventional wafer prober. Referring to FIG. 1, the wafer prober 10 includes a stage 100 capable of driving in the vertical and horizontal directions, a chuck 120 mounted on the stage and mounted on an upper surface thereof, and the wafer. An electrical test apparatus 130 for inspection and a probe card 140 connected to the test apparatus and in contact with the wafer.

Probe cards probes vary from dozens of electrical inspection pins to tens of thousands of pins, but are commonly connected to electrical test equipment, which are mechanically fastened to the top of the base frame. Therefore, the probe card connected to the electrical test device is fastened to the frame top plate and always finds a constant position. Provided for saliva. For that reason, the probe is invariably positioned at the initial fixed position, and the chuck moves up and down and left and right to come into contact with the probe. On the other hand, the stage disposed below the chuck is a horizontal vertical movement mechanism, and serves to move the wafer mounted on the chuck to any desired point. The horizontal vertical movement mechanism includes a Y-axis stage for moving in the front-back direction, an X-axis stage for moving in the left-right direction, and a Z-axis stage for moving in the vertical direction.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional horizontal vertical moving mechanism includes a base frame 150, a Y-axis stage 160 mounted on a base frame, an X-axis stage 170 mounted on a Y-axis stage, and an X-axis stage. And a mounted Z-axis stage 180. That is, the conventional horizontal vertical movement mechanism 100 has a structure in which the Z-axis, the X-axis, and the Y-axis are sequentially stacked on the base frame.

FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a state in which a chuck is overwhelmed by an eccentric load applied to a conventional wafer prober. As shown in Figure 2, when the inspection at the edge of the chuck is subjected to the eccentric load chuck is behind. Theoretically, the chuck should be designed to have a structure and rigidity that does not distort, but in reality the chuck will be followed by an eccentric load. The probe is fixed like ®, but when the Z-axis stage moves upward to make contact with ®, the chuck receives some contact load in the order of the pins it contacts. At this time, the chuck cannot endure and is rolled back by Θ, so that many of the pins of the probe cannot be contacted, and some of the contact is poor.

3 is a state diagram illustrating the reason why the conventional wafer prober is buckled by an eccentric load. Hereinafter, the chuck is turned by the eccentric load with reference to FIG. Examine the cause of flatness. First, as shown in Figure 3, when the eccentric load is applied to inspect the edge region of the chuck, the roller bearing of the Z-axis stage acts as a lever and does not hold rigidly so easily Occurs and deformation occurs in the y-axis direction as in ①. In addition, in order to operate the Z-axis stage by wedge method, it must be driven by a motor as in ②. At this time, the upper part should be operated purely with respect to the bearing. Distortion occurs.

In order to clean the probe, the wafer prober is equipped with a metal scrubber called NCXNeedle Cleanner on the outside of the Z-axis stage to operate the foreign material attached to the tip of the probe. In this case, the moment when _NC contacts the probe is the same as when the chuck contacts the probe, which results in a very strong eccentric load. In addition, the NC is located on the outer side of the chuck, and therefore receives a larger eccentric load than the chuck, resulting in greater distortion.

[Detailed Description of the Invention]

[Technical problem]

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to improve the mechanical rigidity of the Z-axis stage to prevent the lag or to move in the XY direction even if an eccentric hypotropia of the new structure that can maintain the flatness of the chuck It provides a horizontal and vertical movement mechanism.

Technical Solution

A feature of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is the number of wafer probers A horizontal vertical moving mechanism comprising: a base frame; Mounted on a predetermined area of the upper surface of the base frame to provide a

A first horizontal driver driven to move along one direction; A second horizontal driver mounted on an upper surface of the crab first horizontal driver and driven to move along a second direction of a moving surface perpendicular to the crab first direction; A lower vertical driving part mounted at a center area of the upper surface of the base frame and driven to move along a vertical direction with respect to the moving surface; And fixedly mounted to an upper surface of the second horizontal driving part to be movable along a vertical direction with respect to the moving surface to move along the first and second directions of the moving surface by the movement of the first and second horizontal driving parts. An upper vertical driving part mounted on an upper surface of the vertical driving part and moving in the vertical direction by a movement of the lower vertical driving part; And a control unit for controlling the operation of the first horizontal drive unit, the second horizontal drive unit, the lower vertical drive unit, and the upper vertical drive unit.

In the horizontal and vertical movement mechanism according to the above-described feature, the first horizontal drive unit and the second horizontal drive unit is preferably configured in a gantry structure.

In the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the above features, the upper vertical drive unit, the upper body for mounting a chuck (Chuck) on the upper; A body latch formed to protrude from the side of the upper body; An upper main body guide having a first side mounted on the second slide member of the second horizontal driving unit and fixed to the second slide member, the upper main body supporting the side of the upper main body so as to be movable upward and downward; A driving latch formed to protrude from a side of the upper main body guide and configured to catch the main latch; A U motor for moving the drive latch in an up and down direction; And supporting the lower surface of the upper body It is preferable to have a support;

In the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the above features, The lower vertical drive unit, The lower body; A lower main body fixing member for fixedly mounting the side of the lower main body to the base frame such that the lower main body is movable along the vertical direction; A lower driving module for moving the lower body in the vertical direction; It is preferable to include; two motors for driving the lower drive modes.

In the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the above features, the central axis of the lower vertical drive unit is arranged to coincide with the central axis of the load applied to the upper vertical drive unit, and the load is preferably a probe card of a wafer probe. Do.

In the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the above-mentioned feature, the control unit is spaced apart from the lower vertical drive unit by a predetermined first distance from the lower vertical drive unit and then fixed, and the crab 1 horizontal drive unit and the crab 2 horizontal drive unit By moving to the desired position of the moving surface by controlling the upper vertical drive unit is characterized in that for moving to the desired position of the moving surface,

In order to space the upper vertical drive unit by a predetermined distance from the lower vertical drive unit, a first motor is driven to move a driving latch upward by a second predetermined distance, and a second motor is driven to lower the lower vertical drive unit. It is preferable to move downward to the height so that the upper body is also mounted on the lower vertical drive part and the main body latch is locked to the driving latch while being moved downward so that the upper body is spaced apart from the lower vertical drive part by a predetermined first distance.

Advantageous Effects In the present invention, unlike the conventional wafer prober, it is possible not to use the stack-type stage but use the gantry-type stage to eliminate the flipping of the X-axis and Y-axis stages. In addition, the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention can distribute the center of gravity of the Z axis received during the eccentric load to the base frame by arranging the z-axis stage into two Z-axis stages, respectively.

The horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention separates the Z axis into two upper and lower vertical driving parts and fixes the lower vertical driving part to the base frame so as to be firmly fixed so that it can be completely supported by the base frame even when an eccentric load is applied. All. As described above, the present invention can provide absolute rigidity by constructing the lower vertical drive unit firmly fixed to the base frame so as to completely support the upper vertical drive unit. FIG. 8 illustrates a situation in which a force is transmitted when applied to three eccentric loads in the horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, all of the eccentric loads applied to the wafer are transferred from the upper vertical driving part along the path ① to the lower vertical driving part and then transferred to the entire base frame along the path ② to be dissipated. Therefore, the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention can provide absolute rigidity in the Z axis even if an eccentric load is applied. _

In addition, the horizontal and vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention is independently implemented by separating the flatness of the chuck and the rigidity of the Z-axis independently from each other, so that even if the lower vertical drive unit is stiffly influenced, the horizontal vertical moving mechanism is not connected to the flatness of the chuck unit in the upper vertical drive unit. do. [Brief Description of Drawings]

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a stage of a conventional wafer prober. FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a state in which a chuck is overwhelmed by an eccentric load applied to a conventional wafer prober.

3 is a state diagram illustrating the reason why the conventional wafer prober is buckled by an eccentric load.

4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which the probe and the wafer are in contact, and FIG. 5 shows a state in which the wafer is separated from the probe. will be.

Figure 6 illustrates a state in which the horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is moved to load or unload the wafer into the chuck.

7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a horizontal vertical movement mechanism of a wafer prober according to another embodiment of the present invention.

8 illustrates a situation in which a force is transmitted when applied to an eccentric load in the horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to the present invention.

[Best form for implementation of the invention]

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail with respect to the structure and operation of the horizontal and vertical movement mechanism with improved mechanical rigidity according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention has improved mechanical stiffness of the vertically movable Z-axis stage, and can be applied to the wafer prober. The scope of applicability is not limited to wafer probers. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the horizontal vertical movement mechanism 30 according to the present invention is mounted at a predetermined area of the base frame 300 and the upper surface of the base frame to drive along a first direction of a predetermined moving surface. The first horizontal drive unit 310, the second horizontal drive unit 320 mounted on an upper surface of the first horizontal drive unit and driven to move along a second direction of a moving surface perpendicular to the first direction; A lower vertical drive part 340 mounted to a central area of an upper surface of the lower vertical drive part 340 and driven to move along a vertical direction with respect to a moving surface of the crab first and second horizontal drive parts, It moves along the first and second directions of the moving surface by the movement of the first and second horizontal drives, and is mounted on the upper surface of the lower vertical drive to drive the bottom vertical drive. An upper vertical drive unit 330 moving in the vertical direction by movement of the control unit, and a controller (not shown) for controlling driving of the first horizontal drive unit, the second horizontal drive unit, the lower vertical drive unit, and the upper vertical drive unit; do.

The first horizontal driver 310 is mounted on a predetermined area of the upper surface of the base frame and is driven to move along a first direction of the predetermined moving surface, for example, the Y direction of the moving surface. The mounting position of the first horizontal drive unit is determined by the radius of movement of the wafer prober in the Y-axis direction, and is preferably mounted at the edge region of the base frame to provide the widest radius of movement.

The first horizontal driving unit 310 is formed of a gantry (Gantry) structure, specifically, a pair of side by side arranged on each of the edges facing each other of the base frame Both end portions are coupled to the first guide, the pair of first guides, respectively, and move along the first guide, and the first slide unit moves the first slide member along the first guide. Equipped. The first drive unit may be implemented as a linear motor, in addition, it may be composed of a ball screw and a rotating motor coupled to the first slide member and the first guide to move the first slide member.

The crab second horizontal drive unit 320 is mounted on the upper surface of the first horizontal drive unit and is driven along the second direction of the moving surface perpendicular to the first direction, for example, along the X direction of the moving surface. The second horizontal drive unit 320 is fixedly mounted on the upper surface of the first slide member of the first horizontal drive unit to move in the Y-axis direction according to the movement in the Y-axis direction of the first horizontal drive unit.

The second horizontal drive unit 320 also has a gantry structure, specifically, a pair of second guides coupled with the first slide member of the first horizontal drive unit to move together with the first slide member, Both ends are coupled to a pair of second guides, respectively, so that the two slide members move along the crab guide and the second drive unit moves the second slide member along the second guide. Since the second drive unit is the same as the first drive unit, repeated description is omitted. The first slide member and the crab guide 2 may be configured in one piece, and may be configured separately. The upper vertical driving part 330 is fixed and mounted on the second slide member.

The lower vertical driver 340 is a central area of the upper surface of the base frame It is fixedly mounted on and driven to move in a direction perpendicular to the moving surface of the first and second horizontal drives. The central axis of the lower vertical driver 340 is arranged to coincide with the central axis of the load applied to the upper surface of the upper vertical sphere eastern part. Therefore, when the horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention is applied to the wafer prober, a chuck is mounted on the upper portion of the upper vertical sphere and the wafer is mounted on the chuck, and the probe card 302 is connected to the electrical test apparatus. Is brought into contact with the wafer so that the central axis of the lower vertical drive unit coincides with the central axis of the probe card _. It is preferable to set the installation position of the lower vertical drive unit.

The lower vertical driving unit 340 includes a lower main body 342, a lower main body fixing member 344 for fixedly mounting the side of the lower main body to a base frame through a bearing, and a lower driving mode for moving the lower main body in the vertical direction. 346, a second motor 347 for driving the lower drive arms. The lower driving modes 346 may use a cam wedge to move the lower body in the vertical direction. However, the lower drive heads of the device according to the present invention may use any power transmission medium capable of moving the lower body in the vertical direction as well as the cam wedge.

The upper vertical drive unit 330 is the upper body 332, the body latch 333 formed to protrude from the side of the upper body, the first side is mounted on the upper surface of the second slide member of the second horizontal drive unit The upper body guide 334 supporting the side surface of the upper body via the bearing, and the second side opposite to the first side surface is formed to protrude from the side surface of the upper body guide. A driving latch 335 configured to move the driving latch in a vertical direction; And a support 338 for supporting the rotor 337 and the lower surface of the upper body. The upper body 332 has a chuck 304 mounted on an upper surface thereof, and a rotating shaft stage mounted between the chuck and the upper surface.

The control unit controls the crab 1 and second drive units of the crab first and second horizontal drives so that the upper vertical drive part moves along the XY direction, and controls the first and second motors of the upper vertical drive part and the lower vertical drive part. Let the upper vertical drive move along the Z direction.

Hereinafter, the operation of the control unit will be described in detail.

4 is a horizontal vertical, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the moving mechanism, the state where the probe is in contact with the wafer is illustrated, and FIG. 5 illustrates the state where the wafer is separated from the probe.

In order to contact the probe with the wafer, the controller of the wafer prober according to the present invention controls the first and second horizontal drivers to move the upper vertical driver to a desired XY position, and then the lower vertical driver. Control to move the upper vertical drive unit upward.

First, referring to FIG. 5, the controller of the wafer prober controls the first and second horizontal drivers to move the upper vertical driver to a desired XY position. Referring to FIG. 5, the control unit first drives the crab 1 motor of the upper vertical driving unit to move the driving latch upward by a second predetermined distance so that the main body latch of the upper body is caught and fixed to the driving latch. Next, the control unit drives the lower vertical driving unit 2 motors to move the lower vertical driving unit downward to the lowest height. The predetermined distance from the direct drive unit is to be separated by one distance. As a result, the upper vertical drive part is fixed to the driving latch by the main latch while the upper vertical drive part is spaced apart from the lower vertical drive part by a predetermined distance 'd'.

Next, while the upper vertical drive unit is fixed and spaced apart from the lower vertical drive unit by a first distance, the controller controls the first and second drive units of the first and second horizontal drive units to move to the desired XY position. The resulting upper vertical drive is also moved to the desired XY position.

Referring to FIG. 4, the process of the controller to move the upper vertical driver upward by controlling the lower vertical driver will be described.

When the upper vertical drive unit is moved away from the lower vertical drive unit and fixed to the desired XY position, the control unit controls the first motor of the upper vertical drive unit. By lowering the driving latch to the lowest position, the main body latch moves up. Do not interfere with. Then, as the drive latch is lowered to the lowest position, the upper body of the upper vertical drive portion is lowered by its own weight and mounted on the upper surface of the lower vertical drive portion. Next, the controller controls the second motor to move the lower vertical driver upward so that the upper vertical driver also moves upward, so that the wafer and the probe contact each other. FIG. 6 illustrates a state in which the horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is moved to load or unload wafers to the chuck.

Referring to FIG. 6, the control unit loads the wafer by controlling the first and second horizontal driving units while fixing the upper vertical driving unit from the lower vertical driving unit. I will move it to a position where it can be unloaded.

As described above, the lower vertical drive unit does not change the XY position and is firmly fixed to the base frame to move only in the vertical direction, thereby providing excellent rigidity.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to the present invention will be described. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to another embodiment of the present invention. The horizontal vertical movement mechanism of the wafer prober according to this embodiment is characterized in that needle cleaner modules are further provided.

Referring to FIG. 7, the horizontal vertical movement mechanism 70 of the wafer prober according to the present embodiment is mounted with the NC modules in which the needle cleaner chuck 730 is mounted in a predetermined region of the support 720 of the upper vertical drive unit. .

The NC module has an NC chuck 730 equipped with a needle cleaner (NC) on its upper surface, and an NC chuck fixing the side of the NC chuck to a low horizontal drive unit for vertical movement and a lower surface mounted on a support of the upper vertical drive unit. And a chuck guide 740, NC drive modules 760 for moving the NC chuck up and down, and an NC motor 750 for driving the NC drive modes.

The NC chuck is moved up and down by the NC motor, and the NC models are firmly mounted on the support.

The operation of the NC module is the same as the operation of the upper manual drive unit. Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, this is merely an example and is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications and variations are not possible, without departing from the essential features of the invention. And differences relating to such modifications and applications should be construed as being included in the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Industrial Applicability

The horizontal vertical movement mechanism according to the present invention is to improve the mechanical rigidity of the Z-axis stage moved in the vertical direction, it can be widely used in the equipment to be moved in the XYZ direction, such as wafer prober.

Claims

[Range of request]

[Claim 1]

Base frame;

A first horizontal driver mounted on a predetermined area of an upper surface of the base frame and driven to move along a first direction of a predetermined moving surface;

A second horizontal driver mounted on an upper surface of the first horizontal driver and driven to move along a second direction of the moving surface perpendicular to the first direction;

A lower vertical drive unit mounted to a central area of the upper surface of the base frame and driven to move along a vertical direction with respect to the moving surface; And

Fixedly mounted to an upper surface of the second horizontal drive unit so as to be movable along a vertical direction with respect to the moving plane and moving along the first and second directions of the moving plane by the movement of the first and second horizontal drive units; It is mounted on the upper surface of the drive portion by the movement of the lower vertical drive ^section, the upper vertical driving unit to move in the vertical direction; A control unit controlling operations of the first horizontal driver, the second horizontal driver, the lower vertical driver, and the upper vertical bulb;

Horizontal vertical movement mechanism with improved mechanical rigidity.

[Claim 2]

The horizontal vertical movement mechanism of claim 1, wherein the first horizontal drive unit and the second horizontal drive unit have a gantry structure.

[Claim 3] ^'of claim 1, wherein the upper vertical drive section, An upper body for mounting a chuck on the upper part; A body latch formed to protrude from a side of the upper body;

An upper main body guide having a first side mounted on the second slide member of the second horizontal driving unit and fixed to the second slide member, the second main side facing the first side to vertically move the upper main body;

A driving latch formed to protrude from a side of the upper main body guide and configured to catch the main latch; A motor for moving the drive latch in an up and down direction; And a support for supporting the lower surface of the upper body;

Horizontal vertical moving mechanism improved mechanical rigidity characterized in that it comprises a

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the lower vertical drive unit,

Lower body;

A lower main body fixing member for fixedly mounting the side of the lower main body to the base frame such that the lower main body is movable along the vertical direction; Lower drive modes for moving the lower body in the vertical direction;

Two motors for driving the lower drive modes; Horizontal vertical movement mechanism improved mechanical rigidity characterized in that it comprises a.

[Claim 5] The horizontal vertical movement mechanism of claim 1, wherein the central axis of the lower vertical drive unit is disposed to coincide with the central axis of the load applied to the upper portion of the upper vertical drive unit.

[Claim 6]

6. The horizontal vertical movement mechanism of claim 5, wherein the load is a probe card of a wafer probe.

[Claim 7]

The method of claim 4, wherein the control unit

The upper vertical driving unit is spaced apart from the lower vertical driving unit by a predetermined first distance and then fixed, and the first vertical driving unit and the second horizontal driving unit are controlled to be moved to a desired position of the moving surface, so that the upper vertical driving unit is moved to a desired position of the moving surface. Characterized by moving to a location,

In order to space the upper vertical drive unit from the lower vertical drive unit by the first predetermined distance, the first motor is driven to move the driving latch upward by the second predetermined distance, and the crab motor is driven to lower the vertical drive unit by the lowest height. The upper body is also mounted on the lower vertical drive unit, and the main body latch is fixed to the driving latch in order to move downward so that the upper body is spaced apart from the lower vertical drive unit by a first distance pre-installed. Horizontal and vertical movement mechanism with improved rigidity.

[Claim 8]

The method of claim 4, wherein the control unit The upper vertical driver is lowered by its own weight and mounted on the upper surface of the lower vertical driver in a state where the upper vertical driver is spaced apart from the lower vertical driver by a predetermined first distance, and the lower vertical driver is moved to a desired position. A vertical vertical movement mechanism with improved mechanical stiffness, characterized by moving upward and upward to move the upper vertical drive unit.

[Claim 9]

The method of claim 1, wherein the horizontal vertical movement mechanism further comprises a needle cleaner (NC) module mounted on the support of the upper vertical drive unit,

The NC mods

NC chuck with needle cleaner (NC) on its top surface;

An NC chuck guide fixing the side of the NC chuck to the two horizontal driving parts so that the vertical movement is possible, and the lower surface mounted on the support of the upper vertical driving part;

NC drive models for moving the NC chuck up and down;

An NC motor for driving the NC drive models;

Horizontal vertical movement mechanism improved mechanical rigidity characterized in that it comprises a.