JPH0630367B2 - Probe card - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a probe card.

(Prior Art) A probe card is configured to support probe needles that are brought into contact with a large number of electrodes of each chip of a wafer in order to measure the electrical characteristics of an object to be measured, for example, a semiconductor wafer. This is to electrically connect to an external tester and inspect the presence or absence of continuity with the tester.

Usually, the semiconductor wafer 1 has a substantially disc shape as shown in FIG. 8, and a large number of semiconductor chips 1A are formed on the wafer 1. The external dimensions of this chip are, for example, the A dimension of 3 to 5 mm and the B dimension of 2 to 3 mm, and the number of electrodes arranged on each of the four sides of this chip 1A is 10 to 2 mm.
It is about 00.

Then, the wafers 1 are sequentially taken out one by one from the cassette of the probe device, positioned on the XY table, and then contacted with the probe needles of the probe card to check the electrical characteristics. ing.

An example of this type of probe card will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a large number of probe needles 2 that come into contact with the electrodes of the chip 1A are radially arranged on a base member 3, and the base member 3 is provided with an adhesive 4 made of an insulating material that is cured by the passage of time or by heating. It is designed to be adhesively fixed to 3. The tip 2 of the probe needle 2
A is usually erected at a right angle toward the back surface of the figure.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional probe card described above, the probe needles 2 are attached to the base member 3 so that the many probe needles 2 can contact all the electrodes on the four sides of the chip 1A. Must be glued and fixed on top.

For this purpose, the tips of the probe needles 2 corresponding to the respective sides of the chip 1A are arranged in a straight line at the electrode pitch, and the probe needles 2 contacting the electrodes on the opposite two sides of the four sides of the chip 1A. , 2 facing each other L1 and L2 (see FIG. 9) must be equal to the distance between the electrodes of the tip 1A, and the tip of the probe needle 2 that contacts the tip 1A must be on the same plane. .

Performing such adjustment for all the probe needles 2 corresponding to the four sides of the chip 1A is very complicated even if a jig or the like is used, and the workability of assembling the probe card is extremely poor.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to position the probe needle and the electrode of the tip by a simple method, which contributes to quick and easy assembly. The object is to provide a probe card with good assembling ability.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is directed to a plurality of probe needles corresponding to the electrodes arranged along one side of the object to be measured and a plurality of probe needles on the one side. The probe needle array division body, which is prepared in advance for each side of the object to be measured, is provided on the base member that is arranged and supported corresponding to the electrode position of A fixing member for fixing the plurality of probe needle array divided bodies in a state corresponding to the above, and the probe by being provided between the base member and the fixing member and being fastened at a plurality of positions by screws. A flexible plate member capable of changing the height of the tip of the needle; and, when fastening the base member to the fixing member,
The feature is that the height of the tip of the probe needle can be adjusted for each of the probe needle array dividing members.

Further, the present invention provides a probe member of a number corresponding to the electrodes arranged along one side of the object to be measured, and a base member for arraying and supporting the tip of the probe needle corresponding to a plurality of electrode positions on the one side. And a plurality of probe needles arranged in such a manner that the probe needle array dividing member is prepared in advance for each side of the measured object and the tip of the probe needle is made to correspond to electrode positions on a plurality of sides of the measured object. A fixing member for fixing the array dividing member, and a hole formed in the fixing member or the probe needle array dividing body is formed into a long hole, and the tip position of the probe needle is moved back and forth for each probe needle array dividing body. The feature is that the position can be adjusted.

(Operation) According to the present invention, the probe needle array divided body is formed by dividing and supporting the number of probe needles corresponding to the electrodes of the object to be measured in groups. According to this probe needle array division, only the above-mentioned adjustment items required to manufacture the probe needle array division are necessary, and for both adjustment items, for example, the probe corresponding to one side of the chip is used. Since it is sufficient to perform only on the needle, the assembling property is significantly improved as compared with the conventional probe card in which adjustment of the probe needle corresponding to all sides is required.

Further, according to the conventional method, the probe needles corresponding to all the sides of the chip are arrayed and fixed at once, so that it is unavoidable to manufacture a uniform probe card for a specific number of electrodes.

According to the probe needle array division body, a plurality of types in which a predetermined number of probe needles are arrayed and fixed are manufactured in advance and stocked, and when manufacturing a probe card corresponding to a specific chip, the probe corresponding to the number of electrodes is used. It is possible to give versatility to select and use the needle array divided body.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of the probe needle array divided bodies described above are used, and the probe needle array divided bodies are fixed to the fixing member to manufacture the probe card.

Even when the probe card is manufactured in this way, the above-mentioned adjustment items are necessary, but the adjustment of the probe needle corresponding to each side of the chip has already been adjusted with the single probe needle array division. Since only the adjustment between the respective sides is sufficient, the above adjustment is much simpler than the conventional one, and the assemblability of the probe card is greatly improved.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a probe card for a semiconductor wafer probe will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

First, the probe needle array divided body will be described.

The embodiment described below is applied to a chip in which the electrode pad arrangement pattern of each IC chip is arranged in a square shape, for example, a rectangular shape. This rectangular array electrode pad is divided into units of each side for probe needle array division 10
Make up.

The probe needle array divisional body 10 has an inclined surface 12 formed on a base member 11 made of an insulating material such as ceramic or resin, and the tip ends of a plurality of probe needles 15 are accurately positioned on the inclined surface 12. The array is fixed in one line. The base member 11 is formed in a substantially fan shape as a whole, and the inclined surface 12 of the base member 11 has a thin edge 11A and becomes linearly thicker toward a side facing the edge 11A. It is inclined. In addition, this inclined surface 12
Is determined in consideration of contact with the electrode pad, and the inclined surface 12 is provided with a groove 12A for fixing the probe needle 15.

A side of the base member 11 facing the edge 11 </ b> A has a flat step surface 13 that is thinner than the maximum thickness portion of the inclined surface 12. The step surface 13 has screw holes 14 for adjusting a mounting position, which will be described later, at two places on the left and right and one place in the middle thereof (the screw holes 14 in the middle portion are not shown in FIG. 1 (A)). ).

The attachment structure of the probe needle 15 of the probe needle array division body 10 is configured, for example, as follows.

The groove 12A formed on the inclined surface 12 is formed along the support path of the probe needle 15 as shown in FIG. 2, and in the figure, five grooves 12A are shown for convenience of description. With respect to this groove 12A, as shown in FIG.
First, a gold or solder plating layer 12B is formed on the entire surface of the inclined surface 12 including the groove 12A. Next, the portion above the alternate long and short dash line L in FIG.
Is processed so that the plating layer 12B remains only on the inner side surface and the bottom surface. Then, the probe needle 15 is inserted into the groove 12
It is fitted in A, and the plated layer 12B and the probe needle 15 are fixed by solder 17 as shown in FIG. 3 (B).

The probe needles 15 project from the edge 11A of the inclined surface 12 and are fixed so that the tips of the needles 15 are accurately positioned on the same plane, and the projecting tip portions 16 are bent vertically downward at right angles. ing. The above positioning can be easily performed by using a jig or a robot because the number of probe needles 15 to be positioned is small. As the probe needle 15, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), a coaxial cable in which a conductive core wire 15A is covered with an insulating material 15B and a shield material 15C can be used. In this case, the above-mentioned solder is used. The shield material 15C and the plating layer 12B are fixed by 17. Also, by using such a coaxial cable,
It is possible to carry out accurate measurement implementations that are immune to noise.

A required number of probe needle array divided bodies 10 having the above-described configuration are created. The number of probe needles 15 provided in one probe needle array division body 10 may be the same as the number of electrodes arranged along one side of the chip 1A. The adjustment items necessary for fixing the probe needle 15 are only the above-mentioned adjustment items to. Moreover, both adjustment items need only be performed for the probe needles 15 corresponding to one side of the chip 1A. Therefore, the adjustment is performed by arranging the tips of the probe needles 15 fixed to the base member 11 in a straight line at the electrode pitch. What is done, chip 1A
To align the tips 16 of the probe needles 15 that come into contact with the same plane on the same plane. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the probe needles 15 corresponding to all sides one by one and fix the whole on the same plane accurately by only combining four sides. That is, since the tip of the probe needle 15 of each divided body 10 is accurately positioned, if the flatness of the attachment surface of the divided body 10 is accurate, it is possible to assemble by adjustment in the front, rear, left, and right planes. . In this way, the number of probe needles to be adjusted is reduced and the number of adjustment items is reduced, so that the assembling property is greatly improved.

Next, assembly of the probe card 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

The probe card 20 is a chip 1A that is the object to be measured.
Preliminarily created for each corresponding side (2 sides if the arrangements of the opposite sides match, and 1 side if the 4 sides match). For example, four of the probe needle array divisions 10 To
The tip 16 of the probe needle 15 in each probe needle array division 10 is configured to be supported by a fixing member 21 corresponding to each position of the electrodes 1B on the four sides of the chip 1A.

Between the fixing member 21 and each base member 11, a fourth
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5, a flexible plate material 22 such as silicon rubber is interposed, and the fixing member 21 and the base member 11 are fastened at a plurality of positions, for example, three positions by screws 23. There is. The hole for inserting the screw 23 of the fixing member 21 is a long hole 21A having a long axis in the direction of arrow H in FIG.

In FIG. 1 (A) and FIG. 4, reference numeral 24 is a flexible substrate, which is connected to the other end of the probe needle 15 by soldering. The flexible board 24 is connected to a tester (not shown).

The operation of the probe card 20 configured as above will be described.

The position of the probe needles 15 of the four probe needle array divisions 10 fixed to the fixing member 21 is adjusted in advance as described above.

Therefore, as an adjustment item indispensable for manufacturing the probe card 20 by using a plurality of the probe needle array divided bodies 10, on the opposite two sides of the four sides of the chip 1A as the above-mentioned adjustment item. The facing distances L1 and L2 of the probe needles contacting the electrodes (see FIG. 9) are adjusted to be equal to the distance between the electrodes of the chip 1A. This adjustment is
Since the hole 23 formed in the fixing member 21 is a long hole, the probe needle can be moved by sliding the base member 11 back and forth with respect to the fixing member 21 within a range permitted by the long hole 23. The tip 16 of 15 can be moved in the direction of the arrow H in FIG. 5 to set the facing distances L1 and L2 to be equal to the distance between the electrodes of the chip 1A.

If the above-mentioned adjustment items have already been adjusted in the state of the probe needle array divided body 10 alone, a plurality of the probe needle array divided bodies 10 are combined to manufacture the probe card 20, and in principle, Distance between facing
All you have to do is adjust L1 and L2. However, it may be necessary to readjust the adjustment items even after the probe card 20 is assembled due to the influence of the plane accuracy of the contact surface between the stepped surface 13 of the base member 11 and the fixed member 20.

In this embodiment, a flexible plate material 22 such as silicon rubber is disposed between the contact surfaces, and the screws 2 are provided at three positions.
Since the two are fastened together by 3, the tip end 16 of the probe needle 15 is displaced in the direction of the arrow V shown in FIG. can do.

In the fine adjustment, the tip 16 of the probe needle 15 is
Since one end on the opposite side is connected to the flexible substrate 24, the one end can be freely displaced during the fine adjustment as compared with the case where the printed substrate is directly soldered, so that the fine adjustment can be performed without any trouble. can do.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

For example, the probe needle array divided body 10 is not limited to the method of fixing the probe needles 15 in the above-described embodiment, but may be fixed by adhesion without being provided with the groove 12 while being positioned by a jig or the like. In the case of adhesion, it is inferior in that it takes time for the adhesive to cure. The probe needle 15 is also excellent in preventing noise from entering if it is made of a coaxial cable, but is not necessarily limited to this. further,
The shape of the base member 11 can be changed in various ways depending on the relationship with the fixing member 21 and the like. The arrangement of the probe needles 15 is not limited to the arrangement in which the probe needles 15 are radially arranged as in the above-described embodiment, but the probe needles 15 may be arranged as shown in FIG.
May be arranged in parallel and fixed.

As for the probe card 20, the number of the probe needle array divided bodies 10 to be fixed is generally one in which four probe needle array divided bodies 10 are fixed in correspondence with the four sides of the chip 1A, but this is not always the case. It is not limited to. Moreover, the probe needle array division body 10 to be fixed
Are not necessarily arranged and supported corresponding to the electrodes of one chip 1A, but the probe needles 15 may be in contact with the electrodes of a plurality of chips 1A at the same time. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the probe needles 15 may be arranged and supported in three rows so as to simultaneously contact the electrodes in three rows.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, accurate positioning of the probe needle can be performed quickly and easily, and the assemblability of the probe card is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 (A) is a schematic perspective view of a probe needle array division body, FIG. 1 (B) is a plan view of a probe card, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a base member before attachment of probe needles, and FIG. A),
(B) is a schematic explanatory view showing the process of fixing the probe needles, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the fixing of the probe needle array divided body and the fixing member, and FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the probe needle position adjusting mechanism. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a modification of the array of probe needles, FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a modification having probe needles in contact with a plurality of rows of electrodes, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory view of an example semiconductor wafer, and FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional probe card. 1A: DUT, 10: Probe needle array division, 1
1 ... Base member, 15 ... Probe needle, 20 ... Probe card, 21 ... Fixing member, 22 ... Plate material,
23 ... screw, 24 ... flexible substrate.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A number of probe needles corresponding to the electrodes arranged along one side of the object to be measured, and a base member for arranging and supporting the tips of the probe needles corresponding to a plurality of electrode positions on the one side. , A plurality of probe needle arrays in which the probe needle array division body previously created for each side of the measured object and the tip of the probe needle are made to correspond to the electrode positions of the plurality of sides of the measured object. A flexible member that is provided between the fixing member that fixes the divided body and the base member and the fixing member, and that the tip height of the probe needle can be changed by being fastened at a plurality of positions with screws. And a plate member of, when fastening the base member to the fixing member,
A probe card, wherein the height of the tip of the probe needle can be adjusted for each of the probe needle array dividing members. 2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the probe needle is a coaxial cable having a core wire covered with an insulating material and a shield wire. 3. The probe card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a flexible substrate is connected to one end of the probe needle. 4. A number of probe needles corresponding to the electrodes arranged along one side of the object to be measured, and a base member for arraying and supporting the tips of the probe needles corresponding to a plurality of electrode positions on the one side. , A probe needle array dividing member that is created in advance for each side of the measured object, and a plurality of the probe needle arrays with the tip of the probe needle corresponding to the electrode positions of the plurality of sides of the measured object. A fixing member for fixing the dividing member, and a screw insertion hole formed in the fixing member or the probe needle array dividing member is formed in a long hole, and the tip position of the probe needle is set for each probe needle array dividing member. A probe card whose position can be adjusted back and forth. 5. The probe card according to claim 4, further comprising a flexible plate member provided between the base member and the fixing member. 6. The probe card according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the probe needle is a coaxial cable in which a core wire is covered with an insulating material and a shield wire. 7. A probe according to claim 4, wherein a flexible substrate is connected to one end of the probe needle.
A probe card according to any one of paragraphs.