JP2610657B2 - Inspection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus capable of rotating a test head.

(Prior Art) For example, in a semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus, a probe device is used to contact a probe needle or the like with an electrode pad of each chip on the semiconductor wafer, while a tester applies a measurement pattern to each chip via the probe needle. And an electrical pattern of each chip on the semiconductor wafer is inspected by monitoring an output pattern from each chip with a tester.

In recent years, particularly when performing high-frequency measurement, if the input / output cable from the semiconductor wafer to the tester is long, accurate inspection cannot be performed due to superimposition of noise. The head is in a connected state, and is retracted during non-inspection to enable use of a microscope on the probe device.

In order to most easily execute such a movement of the test head, a configuration in which the test head is rotated is advantageous.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, since the test head to be rotated is connected to the tester by a cable, the cable must be disconnected during the rotation of the test head. The cable may be disconnected due to repeated twisting, or the cable may interfere with the rotation mechanism of the test head, which may hinder the rotation operation. In addition, there is a problem in that the addition of preventing the rotation of the test head due to twisting of the cable acts on the test head, so that the position of the center of gravity of the object to be rotated fluctuates and a smooth rotation operation cannot be performed.

Conventionally, such cable handling has been dealt with by modifying the prober device.Therefore, no satisfactory cable handling has been realized, and reliable cable handling is provided on the prober body having the test head rotating mechanism. There has been a long-awaited need for an inspection apparatus capable of performing the above.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a relatively simple structure, and can perform cable handling in synchronization with the rotation of the test head, thereby disconnecting the cable and interfering with the rotation mechanism. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inspection device capable of reliably preventing the occurrence of an error.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) According to the invention of claim 1, the test head is driven to rotate a main shaft to which the test head is fixed, so that the connection position with the prober and the non-connection position can be determined. A clamper that clamps a cable drawn from the test head toward an axial direction of the main shaft that rotates integrally with the test head, and that the clamper is integrally rotated with the main shaft. A rotation mechanism that follows the rotational movement of the test head, the rotation mechanism having a base end fixed to the main shaft, and a free end configured by a rotation arm extending in a direction perpendicular to the main shaft. The clamper is fixed to the free end of the rotating arm.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided two probers, one loader unit disposed between the two probers, for loading and unloading an object to be inspected with respect to each prober, and two probers. Two test heads that rotate and move to a connection position and a non-connection position, respectively, two main shafts that are respectively fixed and driven to rotate, and that rotate together with the two test heads Two clampers each for clamping a cable drawn from each of the test heads in the axial direction of each of the main shafts; two bases fixed to the two main shafts, respectively; And two rotating arms each to which the clamper is fixed.

(Function) In each of the first and second aspects of the present invention, the cable connected to the test head is bundled and held by the clamper, and the clamper is synchronized with the main shaft rotating integrally with the test head. Can rotate and move.

Therefore, since the cable always rotates and expands and contracts following the test head, no relative position change occurs particularly between the cable fixed end of the test head and the base of the cable fixed to this fixed end. Therefore, disconnection of the cable can be prevented. Further, by holding the cable by the clamper and rotating it synchronously with the test head, it is possible to reliably prevent the cable from interfering with the rotation mechanism of the test head due to such cable separation.

Also, if the angle of the center of gravity of the part where the cable is clamped and moved matches the angle of the center of gravity of the test head, there is no change in the center of gravity when the test head rotates clockwise or counterclockwise.
This is preferable because smoother rotational movement can be ensured.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a two-stage semiconductor wafer inspection apparatus will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

First, the outline of the two-stage inspection apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The prober main body 10 is constituted by arranging measurement units 10b and 10c on the left and right sides of a center loader unit 10a. The measuring section 10b or 10c is a device for contacting an electrode pad of each chip of the semiconductor wafer with a probe needle or the like to secure an electrical connection with each chip. Through the second
The tester and cable 12 (second
(Not shown in the figure).

The prober body 10 and the test head 1 can be electrically connected to each other by a connector, a pogo pin contact, or the like. As shown by a solid line in FIG.
Is connected when the test head 1 is arranged directly above the test head 1.

The test head 1 is rotatably supported by a hinge box 14 arranged next to the prober body 10, and is rotated by 180 ° on a side desk 16 arranged on the left side of the hinge box 14. By doing so, the connection with the prober main body 10 is released, and the prober can be evacuated. The prober main body 10 and the side desk 16 have the test head clamper 10 of the test head 1 respectively.
d, 16a are provided. In addition, the hinge box 14
Are provided with a swing switch for moving the test head 1 to the prober body 10 and a swing switch for moving the test head 1 to the side desk 16.

Next, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG.
The rotation mechanism of the cable 12 will be described.

The test head 1 is connected to a spindle 20 via a rotating arm 22.
The test head 1 is fixed by rotating the spindle 20 by, for example, driving an air cylinder.
It can rotate 180 ° together with 20.

As a characteristic configuration of the apparatus of the present embodiment, first, the cable 12 is connected to the back side of the test head 1, that is, to be pulled out along the axial direction of the main shaft 20. The left and right test heads 1 can be attached with the rotating arms 22 on both left and right sides thereof. When the test head 1 is arranged on the left side of the two stages, the rotating arms 22 are attached on the left side. When the test head 1 is arranged on the right side of the two stages, the rotating arm 22 is attached to the right side surface thereof. As a result, even if the cable 12 is pulled out from the rear side thereof, it is possible to arrange one type of common test head 1 on either the left or right side.

Next, the cable 12 pulled out as described above is
It is bundled and held by a cable clamper 30 on the rear side of the prober body 10.

A rotary arm 32 for rotating the cable clamper 30 is provided. One end of the rotary arm 32 is fixed to the end of the main shaft 20, and the other end of the rotary arm 32 is substantially the same as the test head 1 with the cable clamper 30. It is designed to hold at a rotation angle.

 Next, the operation will be described.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a case where the test head 1 is rotated toward the side desk 16 when the test head 1 is on the prober body 10 will be described.

First, after confirming that the test head clampers 10d and 16a are in the released state, swing the prober body to the side desk. Then, since the movable part of the air cylinder (not shown) moves horizontally while descending, a rotational force acts on the center point of the spindle 20 connected to the movable part, so that the spindle 20 rotates to the side desk 16 side. become.

When the main shaft 20 is driven to rotate, the test head 1 fixed to the main shaft 20 by the rotary arm 22 rotates together with the main shaft 20 toward the side desk 16. By such driving, the test head 1
By rotating and moving along a locus shown in the figure and rotating by 180 °, it is rotated and moved to a position where it is placed on the side desk 16.

Here, in the present embodiment, the cable 12 pulled out from the test head 1 is also rotated together with the rotation of the test head 1.

That is, the rotating arm 32 for the cable clamper 30 is fixed to the end of the main shaft 20, and when the main shaft 20 rotates, the cable clamper 32 also integrally rotates through the rotating arm 32. Become.

Therefore, while the test head 1 is rotating, the cable clamper 30 always moves at the same angle as each rotation angle of the test head 1.

For this reason, at the base of the cable 12 with respect to the tested head 1, both the test head 1 and the cable 12 move at the same angle, so that there is no relative change between the two. Accordingly, since an excessive torsional load does not act on the root portion of the cable 12 in which disconnection is particularly likely to occur, it is possible to reliably prevent the cable 12 from being disconnected when the test head 1 rotates.

In addition, by rotating the base of the cable 12 integrally with the test head 1, the cable can be separated during the rotation of the test head 1, so that the cable 12 interferes with the rotation mechanism of the test head 1. This also prevents the test head 1 from rotating smoothly. In addition, since the driving force for separating the cable can also be used as the driving force for rotating the test head 1, the driving force can be easily achieved without requiring any special driving source. If the rotation angle of the center of gravity of the cable clamper 30 holding the cable 12 is set to match the rotation angle of the center of gravity of the test head 1, the smooth rotation of the main shaft 20 at both the left and right rotations is achieved. It is preferable in that it can be maintained.

Furthermore, by performing cable handling in this way,
Since the cable 12 is not twisted at the base thereof, and as a result, an external force that hinders the rotation of the test head 1 does not act, the fluctuation of the center of gravity of the rotating object during the rotation of the test head 1 is extremely small. That is, it is possible to ensure smooth rotation of the test head 1 without increasing the driving force of the rotation drive source of the test head 1.

Connect the cable 12 from the back of the test head 1 to the spindle.
The main shaft is drawn out along the 20 axis direction.
Cable handling can be easily realized without the cable 12 being entangled with the cable 20.

By pulling out the cable 12 from the rear side of the test head 1 in this manner, the left and right test heads 1 and 1 in the case of a two-stage inspection apparatus can be used without reversing the positions of the test pins. 1 can be completely shared.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), when the cable 12 is pulled out from the side surface of the test head 1 in the two-stage inspection apparatus, if the left and right test heads 1 are shared, the first test (A)
It is as shown in. Since the positions of the first test pins on the left and right are reversed left and right with respect to the two measurement units when viewed from the operator side, the alignment of the semiconductor wafer differs between the left and right measurement units 10b and 10c, There is a problem that the operation is confused because the positioning of the probe needle is reversed left and right.

In the case of the present embodiment, if the left and right test heads 1 are arranged so that the cable 12 can be pulled out from the rear side of the test head 1 only by allowing the rotation arm 22 to be mounted on both sides, FIG. As shown in (B), the positions of both first test pins can be set to the same position.

Therefore, the configurations of the left and right measuring units 10b and 10c can be completely shared, and the operation does not become confused by the operator.

The above effect is achieved by connecting the test head 1 to the side desk.
When moving from the 16 side to the prober main body 10 side, the same can be obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

For example, as the cable clamper 30, various configurations capable of holding the cable 12 on the rear side of the test head 1 can be employed, and a cable clamper capable of appropriately clamping the cable 12 according to the outer shape of the cable 12 is employed. be able to.

Further, when the present invention is applied to a two-stage inspection apparatus, an additional effect that the test head 1 can be shared while preventing the position of the test pin from being inverted can be obtained. Can be applied to an ordinary one-stage inspection apparatus.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by rotating the cable drawn from the test head in synchronization with the rotation of the test head, a cable disconnection accident that easily occurs when the test head rotates. Or, a rotation operation defect or the like due to interference of the cable with the rotation mechanism can be reliably prevented, and the cable can be properly separated, so that a smooth rotation operation of the test head can always be ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an apparatus in which the present invention is applied to a two-stage inspection apparatus, FIG. 2 is a front view of the inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 (A) is a schematic explanatory view for explaining a cable clamper located on the back side of the apparatus, and FIG. 4 (A) illustrates the reversal of the position of the first test pin in the case of the conventional apparatus in which the cable is pulled out from the side of the test head. FIG. 4B is a schematic explanatory diagram for
FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining a position of a first test pin in the case of the embodiment device of FIG. 1 ... Test head, 10 ... Prober body, 12 ... Cable, 14 ... Hinge box, 16 ... Side desk, 20 ... Spindle, 30 ... Cable clamper, 32 ... Rotating arm.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An inspection apparatus for rotating a test head between a connection position and a non-connection position with a prober by rotating a main shaft to which the test head is fixed, wherein the main shaft integrally rotates with the test head. A clamper for clamping a cable pulled out from the test head toward the axial direction of the test head, and integrally rotating the clamper together with the main shaft,
A rotating mechanism for following the rotational movement of the test head,
The rotation mechanism has a base end fixed to the main shaft, a free end configured by a rotation arm extending in a direction perpendicular to the main shaft, and the clamper is fixed to the free end of the rotation arm. An inspection apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. A prober, comprising: two probers; one loader unit disposed between the two probers, for loading and unloading an object to be inspected to and from each prober; and two loaders for each of the two probers. Two test heads that rotate to a connection position and a non-connection position, two main shafts that are respectively fixedly driven to rotate, and two spindles that rotate together with the two test heads. Clamp the cables drawn from the test heads in the axial direction of the spindle.
Two clampers and a base end fixed to each of the two spindles, and two free ends
An inspection apparatus, comprising: two rotating arms to which each of the clampers is fixed.