TWI806091B - Needle for vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency. In the vertical probe card needle head with improved alignment efficiency, if a horizontal virtual line is formed in the center of the section, the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the cross-section is different from the cross-sectional area of the lower part of the cross-section. The torsion-generating resistance during contact is oriented in such a way that no extra steps are required to accurately align the tip to the pre-set inside side of the guide.

Description

Vertical Probe Card Tips with Improved Alignment Efficiency

The present invention relates to a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency, and more particularly, to a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency, which can form a fine pitch and make multiple needle heads The tip of the probe card is aligned with the preset position, which can greatly improve the detection reliability of the probe card.

Generally speaking, the semiconductor manufacturing process is completed through the following steps, including: the fabrication step of forming a pattern on the wafer; testing the electrical characteristics of each chip (chip) that constitutes the wafer The electrical grain sorting (Electrical Die Sorting, EDS) step; the assembly (assembly) step of assembling the patterned wafer onto each wafer.

Here, the EDS step is to identify defective chips in the chips that make up the wafer. It mainly uses a detection device called a "probe card (probe card)", which loads electrical signals to the chips that make up the wafer. Poor judgment of the signal detected from the loaded electrical signal.

Such a probe card includes a plurality of needles that contact patterns of individual wafers constituting a wafer to load electrical signals. Normally, the needles of the probe card are brought into contact with the electrode plates of each device on the wafer, a specific current is supplied through the needles, and the electrical characteristics of the output at this time are measured.

In addition, there has been a trend in recent semiconductor devices to further refine the design rules and achieve ultra-miniaturization while achieving high integration. Therefore, in order to connect with the patterns of semiconductor devices that are becoming smaller and smaller, the needles of the probe card also need to be miniaturized according to the appropriate size that matches them, and the spacing between the needles also needs to be finer. It is configured in the form of fine pitch.

Therefore, in order to ensure that the distance between the probe needle and the probe needle can be arranged more closely, a vertical probe close to the shape of "1" has been developed. An example is registered in Korean Patent No. 1859388 (hereinafter referred to as "conventional probe card") discloses a vertical type probe card using such probe needles.

1( a ) and ( b ) are cross-sectional views of conventional probe cards.

As shown in Figure 1 (a) and (b), the existing probe card 100 is made up of the following parts: the first guide plate 110 is provided with the first insertion hole 111 on one side; The lower part of the guide plate 110 is spaced apart from the first guide plate 110 and has a second insertion hole 121 on one side; and a needle head 130 inserted into the first insertion hole 111 and the second insertion hole 121 .

Here, the needle portion 130 can be divided into an upper end portion, which is the head H, a lower end portion, which is the tip T, and a central area, which is the main body B. The head H and the tip T are respectively inserted into the first insertion hole 111 of the first guide plate 110 and the second insertion hole 121 of the second guide plate 120 and is supported by the inner sides of the first guide plate 110 and the second guide plate 120, so that the main body B is bent in one direction.

For this kind of conventional probe card 100, when the tip T comes into contact with the detection object, under the action of the contact pressure transmitted to the upper part of the needle part 130, the main body part B will bend in the bending direction and point downward. The part T provides elastic force, so as to ensure that the needle part 130 is in stable contact with the detection object.

In this case, when the plurality of needle parts 130 contact the detection object, the main body part B will be bent toward a certain direction, so that the tip part T will scrub (scrub) according to a certain distance, and the second guide The inner side of the plate 120 is supported for alignment. Therefore, in the conventional probe card 100 , the tips T of the plurality of needle parts 130 are aligned at different positions, which leads to a problem that the reliability of the probe card 100 is reduced.

In particular, in order to form a fine pitch, when the curvature of the main body B is set to be small, that is, the closer the needle portion 130 is arranged in a vertical manner to form a fine pitch, the more the bending direction of the needle portion 130 becomes. If it is not fixed, it will be more difficult to align the tip T of the needle part 130 .

(Problem to be solved by the invention)

The present invention was developed to solve the above problems. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vertical probe card needle with improved alignment efficiency, which is vertically arranged on the guide plate to form a fine pitch, even without increasing the In the manufacturing process, the tips of the plurality of needle parts can also be aligned to preset positions, thereby greatly improving the detection reliability of the probe card. (technical means to solve the problem)

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a vertical probe card needle with improved alignment efficiency is provided, for contacting with the detection object and transmitting the electrical signal transmitted from the detection object to the external testing equipment. For the vertical probe card with improved efficiency, the needle is inserted into the sockets respectively provided on the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate of the probe card, and the upper end and the lower end are respectively provided with the sockets. The inner side of the upper guide plate and the inner side of the lower guide plate provide support. If a horizontal imaginary line is formed in the center of the cross section, the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the cross-section and the cross-sectional area of the lower part of the cross-section are based on the virtual line. different from each other.

In addition, preferably, the cross section is formed into a trapezoid.

In addition, a protrusion protruding outward from one side of the cross section may be formed.

Meanwhile, preferably, any one of the upper end portion and the lower end portion is bent outward.

In addition, at least one separation hole is provided along the length direction in the central area to form a plurality of beams. If a horizontal imaginary line is formed in the center of the cross-section of each beam, the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the cross-section is equal to The size of the cross-sectional area of the lower part of the cross-section is different from each other. (compared to the effect of previous technology)

As described above, according to the present invention, if a horizontal imaginary line is formed in the center of the cross section, the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the cross-section and the cross-sectional area of the lower part of the cross-section are formed to be different in size, so that resistance is generated in a certain direction. Resistance against torsion forces generated during contact with the test object enables accurate alignment of the tip to the inside side of the pre-set guide plate without the need for additional steps.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a vertical probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a vertical probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments Schematic diagrams of cross-sections of vertical probe card needles with improved alignment efficiency. FIGS. Schematic diagram of the shape.

First of all, let’s take a look at the probe card 1 that adopts the needle head of the vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2 , including: a first guide plate 10 and a second guide plate 20 , and the needle 30.

The first guide plate 10 is plate-shaped with a certain thickness, and a plurality of first insertion holes 11 are arranged at predetermined intervals on one side, and a needle head 30 to be described later is inserted in the first insertion hole 11, and the head H of the needle head 30 is inserted into the first insertion hole 11. Supported by the inner side.

Like the first guide plate 10, the second guide plate 20 is plate-shaped with a certain thickness, and is provided with a plurality of second insertion holes 21 at predetermined intervals on one side, which are spaced apart from the first guide plate 10 and disposed on the second guide plate. 1 the lower part of the guide plate 10.

In addition, the tip T is inserted into the second insertion hole 21, and the outer side of the tip T is supported by the inner side. Thereby, the tip part T which wipes in a specific direction is supported, and the 2nd guide plate 20 plays the role of aligning the tip part T to the preset position by this.

In order to keep the distance between the first guide plate 10 and the second guide plate 20, the vertical probe card 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a jig plate J inserted between the first guide plate 10 and the second guide plate 20. (jig plate).

As shown in FIG. 3 , the needle 30 is roughly in the shape of a strip arranged along the vertical direction, and can be divided into an upper end, namely the head H, a lower end, namely the tip T, and a central area, namely the main body B.

In addition, as described above, the head H of the needle 30 is inserted into the first insertion hole 11 and is supported by the inner side of the first guide plate 10 . The tip T is inserted into the second insertion hole 21 and is supported by the inner side of the second guide plate 20 .

The function of the needle 30 is that its tip T is in elastic contact with the prepared detection object, and while a specific current is energized, the electrical signal output at this time is transmitted to the external testing equipment through the space converter K connected to the upper part .

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, if the needle 30 according to this embodiment is formed with a horizontal imaginary line G in the center of the cross-section, the cross-sectional area S at the upper part of the cross-section is equal to the cross-sectional area R at the lower part of the cross-section based on the virtual line G. different from each other.

This is for aligning each tip T to a preset position inside the second guide plate 20 when a plurality of needle heads 30 come into contact with the detection object, and the related operations will be described in more detail in the following description. illustrate.

In addition, in this embodiment, although it is introduced that the section of the needle 30 is trapezoidal, the cross-sectional shape of the needle 30 of the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. As shown in Figure 5(a) to (e), in a quadrilateral, as long as the corners on both sides of the upper section form a curved shape or protrude from one side of the upper and lower corners of the section toward the outer direction to form a Any shape may be used, such as the shape of the protrusion, in which the size of the upper and lower parts of the cross-section is different from each other.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the moment when the needle of the vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency is in contact with the detection object according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 7 shows the vertical probe with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention A schematic diagram of the cross-sectional twisted state of the card needle under the condition of applying torsion force. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the state that the tip is supported by the inner side of the second guide plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Next, an operation of aligning efficiency-improved vertical probe card needles according to an embodiment of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 .

First, the detection object moves upward, and when the tip T contacts the detection object, under the action of the contact pressure, the main body B bends in one direction, and then a torsion force is generated according to the cross-sectional shape of the needle 30 .

In this case, the cross-sectional areas of the upper and lower parts of the cross-section of the needle 30 according to the present embodiment are different in size from each other. Therefore, the torsional force is resisted with different strengths in the upper and lower parts of the cross section, and the torsional force is twisted toward the side with less resistance.

In addition, the tip T moves in a twisted direction at a certain interval and is supported by the inner side of the second guide plate 20. The inner side of the corresponding second guide plate 20 provides support for alignment.

In this case, the needle head 30 according to this embodiment can control the twisting direction by adjusting the relative size of the upper and lower parts of the section, and as the twisting direction is controlled, the position supported by the inner side of the second guide plate 20 can be determined. , so that the tips T of the plurality of needles 30 can be accurately aligned to a certain position.

Thus, when the plurality of tip Ts are aligned to the correct position, each tip T can accurately contact the preset position in the contact area of each detection object, thereby improving the detection quality, and thereby greatly improving the detection quality. Improve inspection reliability.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency according to another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 10 (a) and (b) show the state of applying torsion to each beam according to another embodiment of the present invention schematic diagram.

The basic structure of the embodiment described in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 (a) and (b) is the same as the embodiment described in Fig. 2 to Fig. 8, but the basic structure of the embodiment described in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 (a) and (b) The configuration is such that the needle 30 can be aligned more stably.

As shown in FIG. 9 , this embodiment is different from the previous embodiments in that at least one separation hole 31 is formed inside the main body B of the needle 30 along the length direction, and the inside of the needle 30 is formed in the shape of a plurality of beams 32 . As shown in FIG. 9 , when each beam 32 forms a horizontal imaginary line at the center of the cross section, its upper and lower cross sections are formed with different sizes.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the torsional force generated when the tip T of the needle 30 contacts the detection object is transmitted to each beam 32 , and the resistance to the torsional force is different in the upper and lower parts of the cross-section of each beam 32 . Therefore, as shown in Fig. 10 (a) and (b), it will be twisted in the direction of less resistance.

Here, if any beam 32 in the plurality of beams 32 is excessively twisted due to the influence of external factors, this will be compensated from other beams 32 to prevent misalignment, so that the tip T can be accurately moved to the second position. The position set in the inner side of the guide plate 20 is moved and aligned.

In addition, in this embodiment, in order to facilitate understanding of the description, all the cross sections of the plurality of beams 32 will be described in the same form. However, depending on environmental changes, the cross sections of the plurality of beams 32 may be formed in different shapes from each other.

The structure other than that is the same as that of the aforementioned basic embodiment, so the rest of the description will be omitted here.

Although the present invention has been described in association with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, various modifications or variations can be implemented without departing from the gist and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the appended patent claims include such modifications or variations as fall within the gist of the present invention.

1: Probe card 10: The first guide plate 11: 1st jack 20: The second guide plate 21: 2nd jack 30: Needle 31: Separation hole 32: Beam 100: probe card 110: The first guide plate 111: 1st jack 120: The second guide plate 121: 2nd jack 130: needle head B: Main body G: virtual line H: head J: Fixture plate K: Space Transformer R: cross-sectional area S: cross-sectional area T: tip

Fig. 1 (a) and (b) are the sectional views of existing probe card; 2 is a cross-sectional view of a vertical probe card according to an embodiment of the present invention; 3 is a perspective view of a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a perspective view of a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention; 5( a ) to ( e ) are schematic diagrams showing another form of cross-section of the vertical probe card needle with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention; 6 shows a schematic diagram of the moment when the needle of the vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency is in contact with the detection object according to an embodiment of the present invention; 7 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional twisted state of a vertical probe card needle with improved alignment efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention when torque is applied; Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a state where the tip is supported by the inner side of the second guide plate according to an embodiment of the present invention; 9 is a perspective view of a needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency according to another embodiment of the present invention; 10( a ) and ( b ) are schematic diagrams showing a state of applying torsion to a plurality of beams (multi beam) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

30: Needle

G: virtual line

R: cross-sectional area

S: cross-sectional area

Claims (4)

A needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency, which is in contact with a detection object and transmits an electrical signal transmitted from the detection object to an external test device, and is characterized in that: it is inserted into the probe card In the sockets on the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, the upper end and the lower end are respectively supported by the inner side of the upper guide plate and the inner side of the lower guide plate provided with the insertion hole. If a horizontal imaginary line is formed, the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the cross-section and the cross-sectional area of the lower part of the cross-section are formed with different sizes based on the virtual line, and are formed in a shape different from the shape of the insertion hole, And at least one separation hole is provided along the length direction in the central area to form a plurality of beams. If the beams are formed with a horizontal imaginary line in the center of the cross-section, the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the cross-section is the same as that of the cross-section with the virtual line as a reference. The sizes of the cross-sectional areas of the lower parts are different from each other. According to claim 1, the needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency, wherein the cross-section is formed as a trapezoid. According to claim 2, the needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency is formed with a protrusion protruding outward from one side of the cross section. According to claim 1, the needle head for a vertical probe card with improved alignment efficiency, wherein either one of the upper end and the lower end is bent outward.

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