JP2966671B2 - Probe card - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention
The present invention relates to a probe card used for conducting a conduction test on a CD circuit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device and a process of manufacturing an LCD glass substrate (hereinafter, referred to as an LCD substrate), a probing test is performed to examine a disconnection or an electric characteristic of a circuit. For example, a probing test machine (hereinafter referred to as a prober) is used for a probing test of a semiconductor chip circuit. The prober has a loading / unloading section and a test section. A pre-alignment stage is provided in the loading / unloading section. The test section has a wafer stage,
In addition, a probe card is provided.

As shown in FIG. 21, a large number of probe needles 7 made of tungsten or an alloy of gold and copper are attached to a conventional probe card 6. The probe card 6 is fixed to the frame of the prober, and the wafer table 5 mounted on the wafer stage is located immediately below the probe card.

As shown in FIG. 22, the chip 3 is viewed through the opening 6a of the probe card and the pad 4 is probed using an optical system position detecting device such as a microscope 8 or a CCD camera (not shown). Align with the tip of the needle 7. This positioning operation is called teaching. The wafer table 5 is moved in the XYZ-θ directions based on the teaching, and as shown in FIG.
To the tip of each probe needle 7. Then, the circuit is energized via the probe needle 7 and a signal returning from the circuit is sent to the tester. The tester determines whether the IC chip is good or bad based on the test signal.

[0005]

Recently, semiconductor devices tend to be highly integrated at 16 Mbits or 64 Mbits, and accordingly, the number of pads 4 provided in one chip is increased to several hundreds. Has been extended. At the same time, the pads 4 and the pads 4 approach each other, and the pitch distance between the pad rows is extremely small. For example, each pad 4
Has a side of 60 μm to 100 μm square, and a pitch distance between pad rows is 100 μm to 200 μm. Therefore, the number of probe needles 7 to be attached to the probe card 6 must be greatly increased, for example, to several hundreds, and the layout design of the probe needles 7 has become extremely difficult.

Further, in a large-scale integrated circuit such as VLSI or ULSI or a gate array formed by combining a plurality of standard cells into a composite chip, the pad 4 is provided not only in the peripheral region of the chip 3 but also in the central region of the chip 3. Exists. For this reason, it has become impossible to test the VLSI, ULSI, and composite chip IC using the conventional type probe card 6. This is because the rows of the probe needles 7 are laid out so as to be in contact with the pads 4 in the chip peripheral area, but are laid out so as to be able to make contact with the pads 4a in the chip central area. It is not.

In order to increase the test efficiency, a plurality of chips, for example, 8 to 16 chips can be tested at the same time in a conventional probe card in which the probe needle 7 is provided only at the periphery. Can not do.

[0008] In order to perform a probing test on such a VLSI or the like, a probe card in which probe needles are double-laid on an insulating substrate has conventionally been provided. However,
In the multi-needle type probe card, it is difficult to adjust the mounting accuracy because hundreds of probe needles having a tip diameter of about 60 μm have to be mounted on the substrate. I have. Further, such a multi-needle probe card is manufactured at a high cost because it is manufactured manually.

By the way, pads of semiconductor chips and LCDs
It is necessary to ensure electrical contact with the pads of the substrate.
For example, the pad 4 is pressed against the probe needle 7 so that the wafer stage 5 is overdriven in the Z direction, and the tip of the probe needle 7 penetrates the natural oxide film on the upper surface of the pad and penetrates to some extent. However, VLSI, UL
In a large chip such as an SI, variations in height (irregularities) between pads become large, and such irregularities in the pad row cannot be dealt with by a conventional metal probe needle. That is, the probe needle penetrates too deeply into a high pad, while the probe needle makes insufficient contact with a low pad (causing poor contact).
For this reason, there is a problem that a reliable probing test cannot be performed with the conventional probe card.

Further, according to the conventional probe card,
Only one chip can be tested for probing at a time. Therefore, when testing a wafer having 100 or more chips, a long time is required for the test.

On the other hand, since the LCD substrate is larger than the semiconductor chip, the conventional probe card cannot inspect one LCD substrate at one time, but performs the inspection several times while moving the probe card. ing. In this case, since the position of the pad on the LCD substrate and the probe needle must be adjusted for each inspection, one L
It takes a long time to inspect a CD substrate. Especially recently, L
The CD substrate has become larger, and it takes a very long time to perform a probing test on a large-sized LCD substrate such as a 450 mm square. Therefore, there is a need for a low-cost probe card having a contactor capable of stably and uniformly contacting all pads of an LCD substrate during a test.

An object of the present invention is to provide a VLSI chip, ULS
It is an object of the present invention to provide a probe card capable of maintaining stable contact with a pad such as an IC, a compound chip IC, and an LCD substrate. It is another object of the present invention to provide a probe card which can easily perform a positioning operation between a probe needle (contactor) and a pad, makes a batch contact with a large number of pads over a wide range, and can perform a test in a short time. Another object is to provide a probe card that is easy to manufacture and maintain.

[0013]

A probe card according to the present invention includes a support plate, a circuit board having a circuit supported by the support plate and electrically connected to test signal supply means, A metal sphere that is electrically connected to the circuit and is in one-to-one contact with the pad of the subject is embedded.
A contactor having an elastic projection, and an elastic member provided to back up a region where the contactor is attached.

Silicone rubber, fluorine resin, polyethylene, etc. can be used for the projections of the elastic body. Further, it is preferable to use a nickel ball or an iron ball plated with gold or silver as the metal ball.

Further, in order to realize a high-speed test of VLSI or ULSI, it is desirable that the circuit from the contactor contact to the pogo pin contact is continuous without any intermediate connection and the circuit has low impedance. In addition, it is desirable that a through-hole through which a pad or an alignment mark on the subject can be seen is formed in the support plate.

Further, the contactor can be provided not only at the periphery of the area to be tested but also at the center thereof. This makes it possible to perform a probe test on a device such as an IC in which a pad is also provided in the central region of the chip.

[0017]

In the probe card according to the present invention, a simple
Contact position (only the pad and contactor
When the pad is pressed against the contactor beyond the position , the elastic member elastically deforms and the protrusion of the elastic member elastically deforms.
Shape and the metal ball is exposed from the tip of the elastic projection to the pad
Contact. The elastic projection follows the contact surface of the pad
It deforms freely and the metal spheres
Holds more securely between pads,
Each contactor is padded even if there are irregularities
And the test signal is applied to each circuit.
Can be sent reliably.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the prober 10 has a loading / unloading unit 11 and a test unit 21. Above the test section 21, a test head 28 and an upper CCD camera 25 are provided. Test head 2
8 is a tester 5 backed up by the CPU 51
Connected to 0. A probe card 30 is detachably attached to the lower surface of the test head 28 by a holder 29. The probe card 30 faces the wafer 2 on the stage 22.

The loading / unloading section 11 is provided with a cassette stage 12 and a pre-alignment stage 15. The cassette stage 12 has a CP
It is supported by a lifting mechanism 13 controlled by U51. A wafer cassette 14 is mounted on the stage 12. The cassette 14 contains 25 semiconductor wafers 2. A transfer arm (not shown) is provided in the loading / unloading section 11. The semiconductor wafers 2 are taken out of the cassette 14 one by one by the transfer arm, transferred, and placed on the pre-alignment stage 15.

A transfer device (not shown) is provided in the test section 21. The transfer device transfers the semiconductor wafer 2 from the pre-alignment stage 15 to the test stage 22. The test stage 22 has a vacuum suction device (not shown) for holding the wafer 2 on the wafer table 5. The test stage 22
Is an XYZ-θ drive mechanism (not shown) for moving the wafer table 5 in each of the X, Y, Z, and θ directions.
Built-in. The XYZ-θ driving mechanism is a CPU 51
Is controlled by the The joystick 23 is connected to the test stage 22. The joystick 23 is operated by an operator and can control the moving amount of the stage 22 on the order of microns. In addition, lower C
A CD camera 24 is attached. The lower CCD camera 24 includes a contactor 4 serving as a reference for the probe card 30.
2 is for detecting the position of the end of the second part. Note that the upper and lower CCD cameras 24 and 25 are
Are connected to the input side of the

As shown in FIG. 2, an upper CCD camera 25 and a height sensor 26 are provided at appropriate places in the test section 21. The upper CCD camera 25 and the height sensor 26 convert the semiconductor wafer 2 on the test stage 22 into X, Y, Z, θ
Used for axial positioning. Next, the probe card 30 of the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the probe card 30 has a flexible printed circuit (F
(PC) 34. Probe card 3
0 of the substrate 31 is formed in a disk shape,
9 supported. The substrate 31 is made of a small deformable metal plate such as a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 5 to 10 mm and a diameter of 200 to 250 mm. The substrate 31 has four openings. The center of the FPC 34 is located below the substrate 31, while the peripheral edge of the FPC 34 is located above the substrate 31 through the opening.

The periphery of the FPC 34 is bonded to the upper surface of the substrate 31 via an insulating sheet 49. A large number of terminals 37 are provided at equal pitches on the periphery of the FPC 34. Each terminal 37 is electrically connected to the contactor 42 on a one-to-one basis. In the illustrated case, the terminals 37 are arranged in a line at the periphery of the FPC 34, but the terminals 37 may be arranged in two or three lines.

The tip of a pogo pin 98 is in contact with each terminal 37. Each pogo pin 98 is held in a recess in the frame 28a of the test head and is urged by a compression spring 99. In addition, each pogo pin 98
Are electrically connected to the tester 50 via the test head 28.

An insulating member 32 is adhered to the center of the lower surface of the substrate 31. Further, an FPC 3 is provided on the lower surface of the insulating member 32.
4 are adhered. The insulating member 32 allows the substrate 3
1 to the FPC 34 are insulated. A number of contactors 42 are provided so as to project from the lower surface of the FPC 34. The elastic member 33 is embedded in the central region of the insulating member 32, and the mounting region of the contactor 42 is backed up by the elastic member 33. Silicone rubber or polyurethane is used for the elastic member 33.

As shown in FIG. 5, the contactors 42 are arranged in a regular lattice. Such a contactor 42
Have the same number and arrangement as those of the pads 4 on the semiconductor chip 3. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the contactors 42 correspond one-to-one to the pads 4,
It is a contact terminal having a diameter of several tens of μm formed in a projection shape on the FPC 34. The number of contactors 42 can be increased up to the maximum number of terminals of the tester 50 (for example, 500).

The contactor 42 is electrically connected to a terminal 37 via a printed circuit board of the FPC 34. The terminal 37 is connected to the pogo pin 98 of the test head 28.
Is in contact with Further, the FPC 34 of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 6, one surface (upper surface) of the FPC 34 is
Adhered to.

As shown in FIG. 7, the substrate 35 of the FPC 34
Is made of a polyimide resin film. Substrate 3
As shown in FIG. 8, a large number of patterned terminals 37 are formed on one surface (upper surface) of No. 5. Pogo pins 98 are in contact with each terminal 37. On the other hand, a printed circuit board 36 is formed on the other surface (lower surface) of the substrate 35, as shown in FIG. Next, FIGS.
A case where a probing test is performed on a semiconductor chip circuit by the prober will be described with reference to FIG.

First, one semiconductor wafer 2 is taken out of the cassette 14 and placed on a pre-alignment stage 15 for pre-alignment. As shown in FIG. 11, a large number of chips 3 are formed on a wafer 2. In the pre-alignment, the orientation flat 2a of the wafer 2 is aligned in a desired direction. After the pre-alignment, the wafer 2 is transferred and placed on the test stage 22 (Step 101). As a result, the wafer 2 faces the probe card 30.

The probing test is performed by dividing one wafer 2 into four times. That is, the test is performed in the order of the upper left area, the upper right area, the lower left area, and the lower right area shown in FIG. 64 semiconductor chips 3 are formed in each region. As the reference pad 4a, a pad located at the upper left corner is selected from pads formed on the upper left chips 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d in each region.

The stage 22 is moved in the XY plane and the lower CC
The optical axis of the D camera 24 is aligned with the tip of the reference contactor 42 (Step 102). The position of the tip of the reference contactor 42 is stored in the CPU 51 (teaching). Here, the reference contactor 42 refers to the one located at the upper left corner in FIG.

The stage 22 is moved in the XY plane, and the reference pad 4 of the first chip 3a is aligned with the optical axis of the upper CCD camera 25 (step 103). Stage 22 X
Move in the Y plane to align the reference pad of the 22nd chip 3 with the optical axis of the upper CCD camera 25 (Step 10).
4). Through these two alignment operations, the wafer 2
Is shifted from the probe card 30, the stage 22 is rotated by θ in the XY plane to correct the position of the wafer 2 with respect to the probe card 30.

The reference pad 4 of the first chip 3a is aligned with the reference contactor 42 (step 105). In this case, the joystick 23 may be used to finely adjust the alignment between the two. After the alignment, the test stage 22 is raised, and each pad 4 is brought into contact with the contactor 42. At this time, the rising stroke of the test stage 22 is overdriven beyond the simple contact position (the position where the pad / contactor simply contacts). Since the silicone rubber of the contactor 42 and the elastic member 33 are elastically deformed, the contact between the pad and the contactor over the entire test area is ensured.

A test signal is sent from the tester 50 to each contactor 42 to perform a probing test on the 64 semiconductor chips 3 (step 106). It is determined whether or not all tests have been completed for wafer 2 (step 10).
7). If the determination in step 107 is no, the test
The probe 22 is moved by the index amount so that the probe card 30 faces the upper right area of the wafer 2 (step 10).
8). Then, the operations from Step 103 to Step 107 are repeated, and the chip 3 in the upper right area of the wafer 2 is tested. Further, the same operation is repeated twice to obtain the wafer 2
Are tested in the lower left area and lower right area of FIG.

If the determination in step 107 is YES, the wafer 2 is unloaded from the test stage 22 (step 10).
9). Then, it is determined whether or not to test the next wafer 2 (step 110). If the determination in step 110 is yes, a new wafer 2 is placed on the test stage 22 (step 111). Then, from Step 103 to Step 108
Repeat until If the determination in step 110 is no, the test ends.

Using the probe card 30 of the first embodiment, when testing the wafer 2 on which as many as 256 LSI chips 3 were formed, the required test time could be reduced by 256 seconds as compared with the conventional case. .

Also, despite the large number of contact points between the pad 4 and the contactor 42, the contactor 42 fits all of the pads 4, and the test signal is reliably transmitted to the LS.
It can be transmitted to the I circuit. In particular, even when there is unevenness between the pads 4, the elastic member 33 and the elastic sheet 41 are deformed, so that the contactor 42 fits the pad 4 reliably. Further, the contactor 42
According to this, a large current capacity can be obtained with a low conduction resistance, and reliable contact can be obtained even with a small electrode area.

Further, since the circuit from the contactor 42 to the terminal 37 is a circuit having a low impedance coaxial pattern, it is possible to accurately cope with a high frequency test having a frequency of 100 MHz or more.

Further, the contactor /
Since the flatness of the contact area between the pads is maintained, the contact between them is stably ensured. For this reason, it is not necessary to perform the test again due to the contact failure, and the throughput of the LSI manufacturing is improved. Next, a probe card according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

A contact board 38 is attached to the contact area of the probe card of the second embodiment. The contact substrate 38 has a glass substrate 39 and an elastic sheet 41. The glass substrate 39 is for maintaining the flatness of the contact substrate 38. The elastic sheet 41 is for causing the contactor 42 a to follow the pad 4. Silicone rubber is used for the elastic sheet 41. In addition, a flexible material such as a fluorine-based resin or polyethylene may be used for the elastic sheet 41.

The silicone rubber sheet 41 is used for the glass substrate 3
9 is provided on one surface (lower surface). Contactor 42a
Is a small ball 43 buried in a projection projecting downward from the silicone rubber sheet 41. Contactor 4
The silicone rubber protrusion 2a has a protrusion length of 80 to 100.
μm, base diameter 50-60 μm, pitch interval 90
１１０110 μm. By the way, one semiconductor chip 3
Are formed with 400 bump pads 4. The contact surface of each pad 4 is a square having a side of 60 to 100 μm.

A plurality of small balls 43 are arranged in a row in a silicone rubber projection. The small ball 43 has a diameter of 25 to 3
It is a 0 μm nickel ball plated with gold. The top small ball 43 is in contact with the terminal 44 of the glass substrate 39. The lowermost ball 43 is embedded in the tip of the silicone rubber projection. When the contactor 42 a is pressed against the pad 4, the tip of the rubber projection is broken and the small ball 43 is exposed, so that the small ball 43 comes into electrical contact with the pad 4. Conversely, when the contactor 42a is separated from the pad 4, the tip of the rubber projection closes and the small ball 43 is hidden inside, so that the small ball 43 does not fall from the rubber. Such small balls 43 can be repeatedly exposed and retracted because the silicone rubber is in a gel state.

A method for manufacturing such a contactor 42a will be described. The required number of small balls 43 are put in the concave portion of the mold, and a liquid silicone rubber raw material is poured into the mold, and this is placed in a magnetic field. Then, the small spheres 43 in the recess are aligned by the magnetic force. When the silicone rubber is coagulated, a silicone rubber sheet 41 having a large number of contactors 42a is obtained. The silicone rubber sheet 41 is bonded to one surface of the glass substrate 39 with an adhesive.

A large number of terminals 44 are formed on one surface (lower surface) of the glass substrate 39. On the other hand, a conductive pattern circuit 40 is formed on the other surface (upper surface) of the glass substrate 39. The conductor pattern circuit 40 has a coaxial pattern for impedance matching. The terminal 44 and the conductor pattern circuit 40 are formed by plating the glass substrate 39 with copper foil.

As shown in FIG. 13, the FPC 34a
The printed circuit 36a is electrically connected to the conductor pattern circuit 40 on the glass substrate 39. Also, many terminals 37a are electrically connected to the printed circuit 36a,
A pogo pin 98 is pressed against each of the terminals 37a by a spring 99 and is in contact therewith. Next, a probe card 60 according to a third embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the probe card 60 has a board 61 on which an FPC 64 is assembled. The substrate 61 of the probe card 60 has a disk shape, and its peripheral edge is supported by the holder 29. Substrate 6
1 is made of a polyimide resin plate having a thickness of 4.2 mm and a diameter of 20 mm.

The periphery of the FPC 64 is adhered to the lower surface of the substrate 61. Further, the FPC 64 is
Is fixed to the substrate 61. A large number of terminals 67 are provided at equal pitches on the periphery of the FPC 64. The terminal 68 and the printed circuit 66 are electrically connected by the pin 68. Each terminal 6
7 are electrically connected to the contactors 72 on a one-to-one basis. In the illustrated case, the terminals 67 are arranged in a line at the periphery of the FPC 64, but the terminals 67 may be arranged in two or three lines.

The tips of the pogo pins 98 are in contact with the terminals 67, respectively. Each pogo pin 98 is held in a recess in the frame 28a of the test head and is urged by a compression spring 99. In addition, each pogo pin 98
Are electrically connected to the tester 50 via the test head 28.

An insulating member 62 is adhered to the center of the lower surface of the substrate 61. Further, a contact substrate 76 is adhered to the lower surface of the insulating member 62. Multiple contactors 72
Are provided so as to protrude from the lower surface of the contact substrate 76. The elastic member 63 is embedded in the central region of the insulating member 62, and the mounting region of the contactor 72 is
3 is backed up. The elastic member 63 includes
Use silicone rubber or polyurethane.

As shown in FIG. 16, the contactors 72 are arranged in a regular lattice. Such a contactor 72
Have the same number and arrangement as those of the pads 4 on the semiconductor chip 3. That is, the contactors 72 correspond to the pads 4 on a one-to-one basis. Further, the contact substrate 76 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The contact substrate 76 is formed by bonding the elastic sheet 71 to the FPC 64. The FPC 64 is substantially the same as the FPC 34 shown in FIGS. The elastic sheet 71 is for causing the contactor 72 to follow the pad 4. Silicone rubber is used for the elastic sheet 71. In addition, a flexible material such as a fluorine-based resin or polyethylene may be used for the elastic sheet 71.

The silicone rubber sheet 71 is provided on one surface (lower surface) of the FPC 64. The contactor 72 has a small ball 73 embedded in a projection projecting downward from the silicone rubber sheet 71. The silicone rubber protrusion of the contactor 72 has a protrusion length of 80 to 100 μm, a base diameter of 50 to 60 μm, and a pitch interval of 90 to 110 μm.
μm.

A plurality of small balls 73 are arranged in a row in a silicone rubber projection. The small ball 73 has a diameter of 25 to 3
It is a 0 μm nickel ball plated with gold. The top small ball 73 is in contact with the printed circuit 66 of the FPC 64. The lowermost ball 73 is embedded in the tip of the silicone rubber projection. When the contactor 72 is pressed against the pad 4, the tip of the rubber projection is broken and the small ball 73 is exposed, so that the small ball 73 comes into electrical contact with the pad 4. Conversely, when the contactor 72 is separated from the pad 4, the tip of the rubber projection closes and the small ball 73 is hidden inside, so that the small ball 73 does not fall out of the rubber. Such small balls 73 can be repeatedly exposed and retracted because the silicone rubber is in a gel state.

By using the probe card 60 of the third embodiment, when a wafer 2 on which 256 LSI chips 3 are formed is tested, the required test time can be reduced by 256 seconds as compared with the conventional case. .

Further, even when there is unevenness between the pads 4, the elastic member 63 and the elastic sheet 71 are deformed, so that the contactor 72 fits the pad 4 reliably. As a result, a reliable test can be performed even for the LSI chip 3 on which the high-density pads 4 are formed.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The probe card 80 of the fourth embodiment is used for performing a probing test on a liquid crystal display substrate (LCD substrate). In this embodiment, a case where four LCD substrates are inspected simultaneously will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the probe card 80 includes an insulating substrate 81 and a flexible substrate 8.
4, a transparent plate 95, and an elastic member 83. The insulating substrate 81 is made of a material having excellent heat resistance and dimensional stability, such as polyimide. When the probe card 80 is mounted on a holder (not shown), the pogo pins 98 come into contact with the terminal pads 97, and the contactors 92 of the probe card 80 are electrically connected to the tester 50.

The flexible substrate 84 is formed using a flexible film made of an insulating material such as silicone rubber as a base material, and a conductive contactor 92 is provided on one surface thereof. The contactors 92 are arranged so as to correspond to the pads of the LCD substrate on a one-to-one basis.
The same number of contactors 92 as the terminal pads 97 are provided. For example, 500 contactors 92 can be provided up to the maximum number of terminals of the tester 50.

As shown in FIG. 21, the contactor 92
At least one row of metal particles 93 is arranged in the thickness direction of the silicone rubber sheet 94. According to such a contactor 92, a large current capacity can be obtained with a low conduction resistance, and reliable contact can be obtained even with a small electrode area. The uppermost metal particle 93 is in contact with the conductive pattern 86 of the FPC 84. Metal particles 93 at the bottom
Are to be contacted with the pads on the LCD substrate.

The transparent plate 95 is a member for fixing the flexible substrate 84, and is made of a material such as a glass plate. The transparent plate 95 is fixed to one surface (upper surface) of the flexible substrate 84 by a fixing member 90. The transparent plate 95 is for maintaining the flatness of the flexible substrate 84. Note that an alignment mark 91 is provided on the upper surface of the transparent plate 95.

The elastic member 83 is made of five sheets made of polyurethane, and is inserted between the insulating substrate 82 and the flexible substrate 84. The insulating substrate 82 is attached to the lower surface of the main substrate 81 by four screws 87. The insulating substrate 82 and the main substrate 81
It can be assembled more accurately. The insulating substrate 82 is made of a material having good dimensional stability.
Its surface is finished to high flatness.

The periphery of the flexible substrate 84 is fixed to the insulating substrate 81 by a ring-shaped fixing member 79. Thus, the conductive pattern 86 of the FPC 84 is electrically connected to the terminal pad 97.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, four opening windows 81a are formed at appropriate positions on the main substrate 81.
The alignment mark 91 is recognized by the upper CCD camera 25 through these opening windows 81a, and
The positions of the pads on the substrate and the contactors 92 are adjusted. Next, the operation of the fourth embodiment will be described.

The LCD substrate is transported from the cassette of the sender of the LCD substrate inspection apparatus, and is placed on the test stage. Here, in order to inspect four LCD substrates at a time, the LCD substrates are sequentially placed on a test stage. The test stage is moved in the horizontal direction while viewing the alignment mark 91 from the window 81 a of the probe card 80, and the LCD substrate is aligned with the probe card 80. Next, the test stage is raised, and the pads of the LCD substrate are brought into contact with the contactor 92. At this time,
The contactor 92 follows the unevenness of the pad on the LCD substrate and makes reliable contact. Further, even if the probe card 80 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane due to the inaccurate mounting of the probe card 80, the inclination is corrected by the deformation of the elastic member 83, and all the contactors 92 are attached to the pads of the LCD substrate. The contact can be made surely. The contactor 92 is selectively operated by the tester to apply a voltage signal (test signal) to the pad of the LCD substrate. The inspected LCD substrate is transported to the receiver, and the inspection is completed.

According to the fourth embodiment, since the insulating substrate 81 of the probe card 80 is located immediately above the LCD substrate during the test, there is no danger of dust or particles falling on the LCD substrate. A clean state can be maintained.

According to the fourth embodiment, the LCD substrate only needs to be aligned once with respect to the probe card 80, and one LCD panel is formed by this initial alignment.
The entire substrate or a plurality of LCD substrates can be inspected.

Since the FPC 84 is mounted on the insulating substrate 81 by the fixing member 79, the contactor 9
If it becomes necessary to replace the probe card 80 due to damage, wear, or the like, it is not necessary to replace the entire probe card. In this case, the components from the flexible substrate 84 to the insulating substrate 81 may be replaced as a single unit. In addition, the flexible substrate 84 can always be attached with high accuracy by the positioning pins 87 even when replacing the probe card.

[0069]

According to the probe card of the present invention, V
Probing tests can be reliably performed on LSI chips, ULSI chips, composite chip gate arrays, and LCD substrates. For this reason, the occurrence rate of the retest can be significantly reduced.

According to the probe card of the present invention,
Since the operation of aligning the contactor and the pad is easy and a large number of pads can be brought into contact at once in a wide range, a VLSI or a large LCD can be tested in a short time.

Furthermore, the probe card of the present invention is relatively easy to manufacture and low in cost. In addition, since it is not necessary to brush the needle tip unlike the related art, maintenance and inspection are also facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a prober.

FIG. 2 is a simple plan layout diagram of a prober.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the probe card according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the probe card of the first embodiment as viewed from above.

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a contactor mounting portion provided at the center of the probe card of the first embodiment as viewed from below.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a part of the probe card of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an upper surface pattern of the FPC (the connection side of the tester with the pogo pins).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a lower surface pattern of the FPC.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing a probing test.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a pattern formation surface of a semiconductor wafer.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view showing one semiconductor chip in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a part of a probe card according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a probe card according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the probe card of the third embodiment as viewed from above.

FIG. 16 is a partial plan view of a contactor mounting portion provided at the center of the probe card according to the third embodiment as viewed from below.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a contactor mounting portion of the probe card of the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a probe card according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of the probe card of the fourth embodiment as viewed from above.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a contactor mounting portion of the probe card of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing an outline of a conventional probe card.

FIG. 22 is a partially enlarged view schematically showing a contact portion between a conventional probe needle and a pad.

FIG. 23 is an enlarged plan view schematically showing a relationship between a conventional probe needle and a pad.

[Explanation of symbols]

31, 61, 81 ... support plate, 32, 62 ... insulating member, 3
3, 63, 83 ... elastic members, 42, 42a, 72, 92
... Contactor, 34, 64, 84 ... FPC, 37, 6
7, 97 terminal, 39 glass substrate, 41, 7
1, 94: elastic sheet, 43, 73, 93: small ball, 9
8 ... Pogo pin

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-158765 (JP, A) JP-A-3-65659 (JP, A) JP-A-1-108738 (JP, A) JP-A-59-1983 135739 (JP, A) JP-A-2-218966 (JP, A) JP-A-2-303139 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/66 G01R 1 / 073 G01R 31/26

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A probe card used in a probing test machine for exchanging a test signal with a circuit through a pad of a subject and inspecting electrical characteristics of the circuit. A circuit board having a circuit electrically connected to the signal supply means, and a metal ball electrically connected to the circuit of the circuit board and being in one-to-one contact with a pad of the subject are embedded.
A contactor having a projection of an elastic body, and an elastic member provided to back up a region where the contactor is attached, and when the contactor is brought into contact with a pad, the elastic member is elastically deformed. A probe card characterized in that: