TWI885365B - Measuring apparatus and failure detection method of semiconductor chip - Google Patents

Abstract

A measuring apparatus includes an optical table, a microscope, an evaluation board and two probes. The microscope is located above the optical table. The evaluation board is located on the optical table and below the lens of the microscope, and is configured to electrically connect a semiconductor chip and to provide a test signal to the semiconductor chip, in which the semiconductor chip is positioned directly under the lens of the microscope. The two probes are located above the optical table. The two probes are configured to contact two internal pads of the semiconductor chip respectively.

Description

Fault detection method for measuring equipment and semiconductor chip

The present disclosure relates to a measuring machine and a semiconductor chip fault detection method.

The demand for mobile phones, laptops, and tablet computers has grown rapidly in recent years, causing consumers' demand for memory to rise sharply. In these electronic devices, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) plays a very important role as a bridge connecting the central processor and flash memory. Therefore, the signal integrity of the dynamic random access memory must meet the requirements of the system, otherwise the electronic device will not be able to operate.

Usually when a memory chip is produced, a test machine or a probe station is used for testing, but these two machines are very large and expensive. If a test machine is not used, the memory can be connected to a motherboard similar to a motherboard and tested using the program inside the motherboard, but this whole machine testing method is limited by the program inside the motherboard and cannot test all parameters of the memory.

One technical aspect of the present disclosure is a measuring machine.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a measuring machine includes an optical table, a microscope, a development board, and two probes. The microscope is located above the optical table. The development board is located on the optical table and under the lens of the microscope, and is configured to electrically connect to a semiconductor chip and provide a semiconductor chip inspection signal, wherein the semiconductor chip is positioned directly under the lens of the microscope. The two probes are located above the optical table, and the two probes are configured to contact two internal contacts of the semiconductor chip respectively.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the measuring machine further comprises a circuit board. The circuit board is located between the development board and the semiconductor chip and is electrically connected to the development board.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the measuring machine further comprises a slot. The slot is located on the circuit board and electrically connected to the circuit board, and the slot is configured for inserting a semiconductor chip.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the slot is vertically aligned with the lens of the microscope.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the measuring machine further includes at least one air cushion foot, which is located under the optical table and configured to keep the optical table level.

Another technical aspect of the present disclosure is a semiconductor chip fault detection method.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a semiconductor chip fault detection method includes electrically connecting the semiconductor chip to a development board; placing the development board on an optical table, wherein the optical table has a microscope, the microscope is located above the optical table, and the semiconductor chip is located directly below the lens of the microscope; using the development board to provide an inspection signal to the semiconductor chip; locating the positions of two probes based on the image of the semiconductor chip obtained by the microscope, wherein the two probes are located above the optical table; and using the two probes to measure the measurement signal of the semiconductor chip.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the semiconductor chip fault detection method further includes opening the semiconductor chip cover before electrically connecting the semiconductor chip to the development board.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the semiconductor chip fault detection method further includes inserting the semiconductor chip into a socket, wherein the socket is electrically connected to a circuit board; and placing the circuit board on a development board so that the circuit board is electrically connected to the development board.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the semiconductor chip fault detection method further includes using two probes to contact two internal contacts of the semiconductor chip respectively, wherein the side length of each of the two internal contacts is in the range of 0.9 microns to 1.1 microns.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the semiconductor chip fault detection method further includes using at least one air cushion foot located under the optical table to maintain the level of the optical table.

In the above-mentioned embodiments disclosed herein, since an optical table and a development board are used in the semiconductor chip fault detection method, the size of the test machine is greatly reduced and its cost is also reduced. Since the probe can be positioned according to the image obtained by the microscope, and the signal is directly measured using the probe, a clear image can be obtained by simply adjusting the relative position between the microscope and the semiconductor chip. In this way, the microscope and the semiconductor chip do not need to move in a direction parallel to the optical table top, the operation is simple, the test repeatability is high, and the test flexibility is also increased. It can be widely used in chip failure analysis, new product testing, or product failure testing.

The embodiments disclosed below provide many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of the subject matter provided. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present invention. Of course, these examples are only examples and are not intended to be limiting. In addition, the present invention may repeat component symbols and/or letters in each example. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity, and does not itself specify the relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

Spatially relative terms such as "below," "beneath," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like may be used herein for descriptive purposes to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element or feature as illustrated in the accompanying figures. Spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the accompanying figures. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a measuring machine 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged schematic diagram of the vicinity of the lens 122 of the microscope 120 of the measuring machine 100 of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the measuring machine 100 includes an optical table 110, a microscope 120, a development board 130, and two probes 140a and 140b. The microscope 120 is located above the optical table 110. The microscope 120 can be placed directly on the optical table 110 or suspended on the optical table 110 through a shelf. In some embodiments, the microscope 120 can be an optical microscope, which can include a compound microscope having lenses of different magnifications. The development board 130 is located on the optical table 110 and under the lens 122 of the microscope 120. When testing the semiconductor chip 150, the development board 130 is configured to electrically connect the semiconductor chip 150 and provide the semiconductor chip 150 with a check signal. For the sake of clarity, the microscope 120 in FIG. 1 is represented by a dotted line to avoid shielding the components below it. For example, the semiconductor chip 150 is positioned directly under the lens 122 of the microscope 120. Two probes 140a and 140b are located above the optical table 110. The two probes 140a and 140b are configured to contact two internal contacts 152a and 152b of the semiconductor chip 150 respectively (to be described in detail in FIG. 6).

The measuring machine 100 further includes a circuit board 160. The circuit board 160 is electrically connected to the development board 130. When testing the semiconductor chip 150, the circuit board 160 is located between the development board 130 and the semiconductor chip 150. The measuring machine 100 further includes a slot 170. The slot 170 is located on the circuit board 160 and electrically connected to the circuit board 160, and the slot 170 is configured for inserting the semiconductor chip 150. The slot 170 is aligned with the lens 122 of the microscope 120 in a vertical direction. According to different types of semiconductor chips 150, there are different types of slots 170 for inserting the semiconductor chips 150. For example, if the semiconductor chip 150 to be measured is a single fifth-generation double data rate synchronous DRAM (DDR5 SDRAM), there will be a socket 170 dedicated to this memory chip. The socket 170 is electrically connected to the circuit board 160. In some embodiments, the circuit board 160 may be a printed circuit board (PCB), but the present disclosure is not limited to this. There will be undefined pins on the development board 130. When preparing to electrically connect the semiconductor chip 150 to the development board 130, these undefined pins will first be defined through the human-machine interface in the development board 130 to correspond to each pin of the semiconductor chip 150. Different circuit boards 160 are designed according to different types of semiconductor chips 150 , so that the semiconductor chip 150 can be electrically connected to the development board 130 through the circuit board 160 and the socket 170 .

It should be understood that the connection relationship, materials and functions of the components described above will not be repeated, and are described first. In the following description, a method for detecting a semiconductor chip failure using the measuring apparatus 100 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a semiconductor chip fault detection method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, the semiconductor chip fault detection method includes the following steps. First, in step S1, the semiconductor chip is electrically connected to the development board; then, in step S2, the development board is placed on an optical table, wherein the optical table has a microscope, the microscope is located above the optical table, and the semiconductor chip is located directly below the lens of the microscope; then, in step S3, the development board is used to provide an inspection signal to the semiconductor chip; then, in step S4, the positions of two probes are located according to the image of the semiconductor chip obtained by the microscope, wherein the two probes are located above the optical table; and in step S5, the two probes are used to measure the measurement signal of the semiconductor chip.

In some embodiments, the semiconductor chip fault detection method is not limited to the above steps S1 to S5. For example, in some embodiments, steps S1 to S5 may further include other steps between two preceding and following steps, or may further include other steps before step S1 and further include other steps after step S5. In the following description, the above steps will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the semiconductor chip 150 of FIG. 1 before the cover is opened. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the semiconductor chip 150 of FIG. 4 after the cover is opened. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged top view of the semiconductor chip 150 of FIG. 5 after the cover is opened. Referring to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, the fault detection method of the semiconductor chip further includes opening the cover of the semiconductor chip 150 before electrically connecting the semiconductor chip 150 to the development board 130. When measuring the semiconductor chip 150, the semiconductor chip 150 is first decapped to at least remove the packaging glue on the top of the semiconductor chip 150 (such as the portion above the dotted line shown in FIG. 4) to expose the internal circuit. The step of opening the cover can be performed by dry etching or wet etching, but is not limited thereto. After opening the cover, the semiconductor chip 150 will expose the internal circuit, which includes internal pads 152a and 152b. In the subsequent measurement step, the probes 140a and 140b will contact the internal pads 152a and 152b to obtain the measurement signal.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, after opening the semiconductor chip 150, the semiconductor chip 150 can be inserted into the slot 170, wherein the slot 170 is electrically connected to the circuit board 160. Then, the circuit board 160 is placed on the development board 130 so that the circuit board 160 is electrically connected to the development board 130. In this way, the semiconductor chip 150 can be electrically connected to the development board 130 through the slot 170 and the circuit board 160. After performing the above steps, the development board 130 to which the semiconductor chip 150 is electrically connected can be placed on the optical table 110 so that the semiconductor chip 150 is located directly below the lens 122 of the microscope 120.

After the development board 130 is placed on the optical table 110, the development board 130 can be used to provide a test signal to the semiconductor chip 150. Specifically, when the development board 130 provides the test signal to the semiconductor chip 150, the signal to be provided can be changed by adjusting the human-machine interface in the development board 130.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, the positions of the two probes 140a and 140b can then be located based on the image of the semiconductor chip 150 obtained by the microscope 120. In this way, the two probes 140a and 140b can be used to measure the measurement signal of the semiconductor chip 150, for example, the two probes 140a and 140b are used to contact the two internal contacts 152a and 152b of the semiconductor chip 150 respectively. For example, a set of signals that are all high (i.e., all 1) can be provided and then measured by the probes 140a and 140b. If the signal measured by the probes 140a and 140b at a certain internal contact (assuming it is the internal contact 152a) is 0, it can be determined to be abnormal. In addition, the clock generator inside the development board 130 can also be used to generate a high-frequency signal, and the probes 140a and 140b can be used to contact the internal contacts 152a and 152b to detect whether there is an abnormality. If the waveform is different from the expected and noise occurs, it can be determined to be abnormal.

In some embodiments, the side length of each of the two internal contacts 152a, 152b of the semiconductor chip 150 is in the range of 0.9 micrometers to 1.1 micrometers, for example, a square metal contact with a side length of 1 micrometer. When using the probes 140a, 140b to contact the internal contacts 152a, 152b of the semiconductor chip 150, an image can be first obtained at a relatively small magnification, and the probes 140a, 140b can be roughly positioned using the image, and then the magnification can be gradually increased to finally accurately position the probes 140a, 140b to the internal contacts 152a, 152b, for example, the probe 140a contacts the internal contact 152a, and the probe 140b contacts the internal contact 152b, but the present disclosure is not limited to this aspect. When positioning the probes 140a and 140b, the image obtained by the microscope 120 is used for judgment and positioning the probes 140a and 140b. Therefore, during the positioning process, the distance between the microscope 120 and the semiconductor chip 150 is adjusted so that the image can be focused to obtain a clear image. The probes 140a and 140b may include capillary probes, the tip diameter of which is approximately in the micron order, so as to contact the internal contacts 152a and 152b of the same micron order and measure the measurement signal.

Since an optical table and a development board are used in the semiconductor chip fault detection method, the size of the test machine is greatly reduced and its cost is also reduced. Since the probe can be positioned according to the image obtained by the microscope, and the signal is directly measured using the probe, a clear image can be obtained by simply adjusting the relative position between the microscope and the semiconductor chip. In this way, the microscope and the semiconductor chip do not need to move in a direction parallel to the optical table surface. The operation is simple, the test repeatability is high, and the test flexibility is increased. It can be widely used in chip failure analysis, new product testing, or product failure testing.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of the optical table 110 of the measuring machine 100 of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 at the same time, the measuring machine 100 further includes at least one air cushion foot 180, and the air cushion foot 180 is located under the optical table 110. In this way, the air cushion foot 180 can be used to maintain the level of the optical table 110. In this embodiment, the air cushion foot 180 is directly set on the ground as the table leg of the optical table 110, but in actual application, the air cushion foot 180 can be set in other ways, such as being set between the table leg of the optical table 110 and the platform of the optical table 110. In FIG. 7, only one air cushion foot 180 is shown at a corner of the optical table 110. However, in actual application, the number of air cushion feet 180 depends on the shape of the optical table 110. For example, when the top view of the optical table 110 is a rectangle, an air cushion foot 180 can be set at each of the four corners of the optical table 110. The air cushion feet 180 not only enable the optical table 110 to remain completely horizontal during the entire detection test process, but also have the effect of isolating external noise. When the clock generator inside the development board 130 is used to generate a high-frequency signal, this high-frequency signal is easily affected by the low-frequency noise in the environment, thereby generating a superposition of waveforms. Without the air cushion foot 180, it is difficult to determine whether the measured abnormality is caused by an abnormality in the internal circuit of the semiconductor chip 150 or the influence of environmental noise. By setting the air cushion foot 180, external low-frequency noise is isolated, allowing the measurement to be performed more accurately.

The foregoing summarizes the features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art can better understand the aspects of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should understand that they can easily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures to achieve the same purpose and/or achieve the same advantages as the embodiments described herein. Those skilled in the art should also recognize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they can make various changes, substitutions and modifications here without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

100: Measuring machine 110: Optical table 120: Microscope 122: Lens 130: Development board 140a, 140b: Probe 150: Semiconductor chip 152a, 152b: Internal contacts 160: Circuit board 170: Socket 180: Air cushion S1, S2, S3, S4, S5: Steps

The disclosure is best understood from the following embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying illustrations. Note that various features are not drawn to scale in accordance with standard practice in the industry. In fact, the sizes of various features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity of discussion. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a measuring machine according to one embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged schematic diagram of the vicinity of the lens of the microscope of the measuring machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a fault detection method for a semiconductor chip according to one embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the semiconductor chip of FIG. 1 before the cover is opened. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the semiconductor chip of FIG. 4 after the cover is opened. FIG. 6 shows a partially enlarged top view of the semiconductor chip in FIG. 5 after the cover is opened. FIG. 7 shows a side view of the optical table of the measuring machine in FIG. 1.

Domestic storage information (please note in the order of storage institution, date, and number) None Foreign storage information (please note in the order of storage country, institution, date, and number) None

100: Measuring machine

110:Optical table

120:Microscope

130: Development board

140a, 140b: Probe

150: Semiconductor chip

160: Circuit board

Claims (10)

A measuring machine comprises: an optical table; a microscope located above the optical table; a development board located on the optical table and under a lens of the microscope, configured to electrically connect to a semiconductor chip and provide a check signal to the semiconductor chip, wherein the semiconductor chip is positioned directly under the lens of the microscope, and a plurality of pins of the development board correspond to a plurality of pins of the semiconductor chip respectively; a circuit board located under the development board A development board, wherein the width of the development board is greater than the width of the circuit board, and at least a portion of the circuit board exceeds an edge of the development board and is located outside the edge; a slot, located on the circuit board, configured for the semiconductor chip to be inserted, wherein the development board, the circuit board, the slot and the semiconductor chip are arranged in sequence from bottom to top; and two probes, located above the optical table, and configured to contact two internal contacts of the semiconductor chip respectively. A measuring machine as described in claim 1, wherein the circuit board is electrically connected to the development board. A measuring machine as described in claim 2, wherein the slot is electrically connected to the circuit board. A measuring machine as described in claim 3, wherein the slot is vertically aligned with the lens of the microscope. The measuring machine as described in claim 1 further comprises: at least one air cushion foot located under the optical table and configured to keep the optical table level. A semiconductor chip fault detection method comprises: electrically connecting the semiconductor chip to a development board, wherein a plurality of pins of the development board correspond to a plurality of pins of the semiconductor chip respectively, a circuit board is located on the development board, the width of the development board is greater than the width of the circuit board, at least a portion of the circuit board exceeds an edge of the development board and is located outside the edge, a slot is located on the circuit board, the semiconductor chip is inserted into the slot, the development board, the circuit board, the slot and The semiconductor chip is arranged in order from bottom to top; the development board is placed on an optical table, wherein the optical table has a microscope, the microscope is located above the optical table, and the semiconductor chip is located directly below a lens of the microscope; the development board is used to provide an inspection signal to the semiconductor chip; the positions of two probes are located according to the image obtained by the microscope of the semiconductor chip, wherein the two probes are located above the optical table; and the two probes are used to measure a measurement signal of the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip fault detection method as described in claim 6 further comprises: opening the cover of the semiconductor chip before electrically connecting the semiconductor chip to the development board. The semiconductor chip fault detection method as described in claim 6 further comprises: inserting the semiconductor chip into the slot, wherein the slot is electrically connected to the circuit board; and placing the circuit board on the development board so that the circuit board is electrically connected to the development board. The semiconductor chip fault detection method as described in claim 6 further includes: using the two probes to contact two internal contacts of the semiconductor chip respectively, wherein a side length of each of the two internal contacts is in the range of 0.9 microns to 1.1 microns. The semiconductor chip fault detection method as described in claim 6 further includes: using at least one air cushion foot located under the optical table to maintain the level of the optical table.

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