JP2000174079A - Probe cleaning method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To surely remove deposits on a probe. [PROBLEMS] To clean a probe, a probe material or a probe is sucked in air near one or more probe tips. Is blown near the tip of the probe with ionized air having a polarity corresponding to the material of the deposit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cleaning a probe of a probe card used for a conduction test of a flat test object such as an integrated circuit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a probe card used for an electricity test of an integrated circuit, a probe tip (needle tip) is used at the time of an electricity test.
Is pressed by the electrode part of the integrated circuit to rub the electrode part and scrape off a part of the electrode part. Therefore, it is unavoidable that foreign matter such as shavings of the electrode part adhere to the tip of the probe.

If such foreign matter adheres to the tip of the probe, the electrical contact between the tip of the probe and the electrode portion of the integrated circuit becomes uncertain, and as a result, the inspection itself becomes inaccurate. . For this reason, in this type of probe card, a cleaning operation for removing the probe attached to the tip of the probe is performed.

One of such cleaning techniques is to blow compressed air to the tip of a probe. But,
In this conventional technique, a part of the deposit is removed, but most of the deposit is not removed.

As another cleaning technique, an abrasive flow is mixed with a polishing member such as sandpaper in which an abrasive layer is formed by applying abrasive grains to a sheet material, or a surface layer of a base material such as a sponge. The tip of the probe is pressed against the abrasive layer using an abrasive member or the like having the abrasive layer formed thereon.

However, in this conventional technique, a large amount of deposits can be removed as compared with the technique in which compressed air is blown to the tip of the probe. However, many deposits remain without being removed.

The present inventors have conducted various experiments, and as a result,
It has been found that the reason why a large amount of attached matter remains is that the probe or the attached matter is charged. As shown in FIG. 4, alumina, which is an oxide of a general electrode material of an integrated circuit, generally has positive ions, while tungsten, which is a general probe material, generally has negative ions. . For this reason, both adhere easily and are hard to separate. In FIG. 4, the vertical axis indicates zeta potential, and the horizontal axis indicates pH.

[0008]

Therefore, in the probe cleaning technique, it is important to surely remove the deposit from the probe.

[0009]

The cleaning method of the present invention includes blowing ionized air near the tip of one or more probes. The cleaning device of the present invention also includes an ionizer that blows ionized air near the tip of one or more probes.

The ionizer is preset to ionize the air to a potential opposite to that of the deposit on the probe tip. Such settings can be determined by the probe material. When such air is blown to the tip of the probe, the deposits on the tip of the probe are electrically neutralized or charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the potential of the probe tip. It is easy to be separated from the part.

As a result, according to the present invention, such deposits are separated from the tip of the probe, either spontaneously or by subsequently blowing air.

[0012] The cleaning method and apparatus according to the present invention may further include suctioning air near the tip of the probe while blowing the ionized air near the tip of the probe. In this way, the substances adhering to the probe are sucked together with the air near the tip of the probe and collected at a predetermined location.

In the cleaning method and apparatus according to the present invention, a polishing member can be further provided, and the tip of the probe can be pressed against the polishing member. If the probe tip is pressed against the polishing member before the ionized air is blown, some of the deposits are removed by the polishing member, so that the remaining deposits can be easily charged to the polarity of the potential of the probe tip. . If the probe tip is pressed against the polishing member after the ionized air is blown, it is possible to more reliably remove the deposit.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG.
Is used for cleaning the tips of a plurality of probes 14 provided on a probe card 12 used for an electrical test of an integrated circuit. The probe card 12 is a known one in which a plurality of probes 14 are arranged on a wiring board 16.

The cleaning device 10 includes a plate-like base member 20.
And an ionizer 22 disposed on the base member 20
And an exhaust air passage 24.

The base member 20 has a suction port 26 at the center which penetrates the base member 20. The upper portion of the suction port 26 has a frusto-conical shape having a larger diameter as it goes upward.

The ionizer 22 is a known ionization device which ionizes air positively or negatively and is commercially available. The ionizer 22 has a jet port for jetting air obliquely upward toward a location above the suction port 26. The ionizer 22 receives high-pressure air from a compressor (not shown) via a tube 28 and ionizes the air.

The exhaust air passage 24 is formed of a tube, a hose, or the like. One end of the exhaust air passage 24 communicates with the suction port 26 below the base member 20, and the other end is connected to an exhaust device (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning device 10 is configured so that the suction port 26 opens upward toward the probe 14.
The inspection device 30 is disposed so as to be movable in at least the X direction (in FIG. 2, the left and right direction).

The integrated circuit 32 is arranged on an inspection table 36 arranged on an inspection stage 34. The inspection stage 34 moves the inspection table 36 and the integrated circuit 32 along the X direction, the Y direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2), the Z direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 2), and the θ direction (the axis extending in the vertical direction). (A direction around).

The ionizer 22 is preset so as to ionize the air to a potential opposite to the potential of the substance adhering to the tip of the probe, in other words, to the same polarity as the charge of the probe material. The polarity to be ionized can be determined by the type of material of the probe 14, the type of material of the electrode portion of the integrated circuit 32, and the like.

During the power-on test of the integrated circuit 32, the inspection stage 34 moves the inspection table 36 and the integrated circuit 32 to the inspection position below the probe card 12, and the cleaning device 10 moves to the standby position away from the inspection position. Has been moved to.

At the time of cleaning, the inspection stage 34 moves the inspection table 36 and the integrated circuit 32 from the inspection position to a position different from the standby position, for example, a transfer position of the integrated circuit, and the cleaning device 10 is moved to the inspection position.

In the inspection position, the cleaning device 10 receives compressed air through the tube 28 into the ionizer 22 and ionizes the air to a potential opposite to the potential of the deposit on the tip of the probe 14 in the ionizer 22. It is ejected from the ionizer 22 to the tip of the probe 14.

When the air ionized to the potential opposite to the potential of the deposit is blown to the tip of the probe 14, the deposit on the tip of the probe 14 is electrically neutralized or Or it is charged to the same polarity as the polarity of the potential of the probe tip, it is easy to separate from the probe tip,
Naturally or subsequently blown air ensures separation from the probe tip.

At the same time as the ejection of the ionized air, the cleaning device 10 removes the air near the tip of the probe 14 from the suction port 2.
Suction into 6. Thereby, the attached matter is sucked together with the air near the tip of the probe and collected at a predetermined location.
The flow of air is indicated by arrows in FIGS.

As a result of the above, according to the cleaning device 10, it is possible to surely remove the deposits on the probe 14. Further, since there is no need to use a chemical for dissolving the deposits, it is safe and there is no possibility that such a chemical will deteriorate the working environment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the cleaning device 40 includes a polishing member 4 having a polishing member 42 disposed on the base member 20.
No. 2 shows a polishing material layer formed by applying abrasive grains to a sheet material, or a polishing material layer formed by mixing an abrasive flow into a surface layer of a base material such as a sponge. Is located directly below.

In the cleaning device 40, the suction port 26 of the base member 20 is opened around the polishing member 42 so as to suck air near the tip of the probe 14.

When the cleaning device 40 is used, the tip of the probe 14 is pressed against the abrasive layer of the abrasive 42 before or after the ionized air is sprayed on the tip of the probe 14.

If the tip of the probe 14 is pressed against the polishing member before the ionized air is blown against the tip of the probe 14, some of the deposits are removed in advance by the polishing member 42. The tip can be easily charged to the polarity of the potential.

On the other hand, if the tip of the probe 14 is pressed against the polishing member 42 after the ionized air is blown to the tip of the probe 14, the deposits can be more reliably removed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be applied not only to the technique for cleaning the probe for conducting test of the integrated circuit, but also to the technique for cleaning the probe for conducting test of another flat non-inspection body such as a liquid crystal substrate. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing an embodiment of an inspection device in which the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1 is arranged, wherein FIG. 2A shows a positional relationship between the cleaning device and a probe card during an energization test, and FIG. 3 shows a positional relationship between a cleaning device of a cleaning site and a probe card.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing another embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between zeta potential and pH of various metal materials.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 40 Cleaning device 12 Probe card 14 Probe 20 Base member 22 Ionizer 24 Exhaust air passage 26 Suction port 30 Inspection device 32 Integrated circuit 34 Inspection stage 36 Inspection table 42 Polishing member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tadashi Sugiyama 2-6-8 Kichijoji Honcho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo F-term in Japan Micronics Co., Ltd. (reference) 2G011 AA17 AC13 AC14 AE03 2G032 AA00 AF02 AL00 AL03 4M106 AA02 BA01 BA14 DD18 DD22 DD30 9A001 BB06 KK26 KK63 LL05

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for cleaning a probe, comprising blowing ionized air near the tip of one or more probes. 2. The cleaning method according to claim 1, further comprising sucking air near the tip of the probe while blowing the ionized air near the tip of the probe. 3. The cleaning method according to claim 1, further comprising pressing the tip of the probe against a polishing member before or after blowing the ionized air. 4. An apparatus for cleaning a probe, comprising: an ionizer for blowing ionized air near a tip of one or more probes. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a base member having a suction port opened toward a distal end portion of the probe; and an exhaust air passage communicating with the suction port, wherein the ionizer is disposed on the base member. The cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein 6. The cleaning device according to claim 4, further comprising a polishing member disposed on the base member to press a tip of the probe.