JP4965425B2 - Probe apparatus and inspection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a probe device for inspecting an electrical property of an object to be inspected using a probe card, and more specifically, a probe device in which a head plate for fixing a probe card is formed of a shape memory alloy, and the probe device. The present invention relates to an inspection method to be used.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the inspection apparatus includes a loader chamber 1 for transporting a wafer W and a prober chamber 2 for inspecting the wafer W. The prober chamber 2 is a substrate on which the wafer W is placed. A mounting table 3, an X and Y table 4 for moving the mounting table 3 in the X and Y directions, a probe card 6 disposed above the mounting table 3 and provided at the center of the head plate 5, and the mounting table 3 And an alignment mechanism 7 for aligning the wafer W and the probe 6A of the probe card 6. A tester (not shown) is connected to the probe card 6 via a connection ring R and a test head T, and an inspection signal is transmitted between the probe card 6 and the tester via the test head T and the connection ring R. Will be given and received.

  When inspecting the wafer W, the alignment mechanism 7 aligns the probe 6A of the probe card 6 with the electrode pad of the device formed on the wafer W, and then the mounting table 3 is placed at a predetermined position via the XY table 4. Then, the mounting table 3 raises the wafer W to electrically contact the electrode pad of the device and the probe 6A to inspect the electrical characteristics of the device.

  In recent years, a plurality of devices are inspected at the same time, and the number of probe cards 6 is rapidly increasing. In some cases, the device may be inspected by bringing the probe card and all the devices on the wafer W into contact with each other. Therefore, the probe card is increased in size, and the contact load between the probe card 6 and the wafer W is rapidly increasing. In the conventional probe apparatus, when the wafer W is inspected in a batch contact, the test head T and the connection ring R are rotated and arranged above the probe card 6 as shown in FIG. These are lowered, and are brought into electrical contact with the upper surface of the probe card 6 as shown in FIG. At the time of inspection, the mounting table 3 is raised, and the wafer W and the probe 6A of the probe card 6 are brought into electrical contact with each other with a predetermined contact load as shown in FIG.

  However, in the conventional probe device, when the test head T comes into contact with the probe card 6, the test head T is, for example, 200 kg or more. Therefore, even if the head plate 5 is made of a metal such as cast iron, aluminum or stainless steel, the test head With the load of T, the head plate 5 bends downward as shown in FIG. Further, when the mounting table 3 is raised at the time of inspection and the wafer W and the probe 6A of the probe card 6 come into contact with each other, the contact load at that time reaches, for example, 100 kg or more, so the probe card 6 is lifted by the mounting table 3 and the head The plate 5 bends upward, the parallelism between the probe card 6 and the wafer W on the mounting table 3 is deteriorated, and a positional deviation occurs between the probe 6A and the electrode pad, which may reduce the reliability of the inspection. . Furthermore, when the high temperature inspection is performed, since the mounting table 6 is heated by the built-in heater, the probe card 6 is thermally expanded by heat radiation from the mounting table 6 and the parallelism between the probe card 6 and the wafer W is lowered.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and even if the weight of the test head or the contact load at the time of inspection acts on the probe card, the deflection of the head plate is corrected and a highly reliable inspection is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a probe device and an inspection method that can be used.

  The probe device according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a probe card disposed above a movable mounting table on which an object to be inspected is mounted, and a head plate to which the probe card is mounted via a card holder. The head plate is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes the shape of an unloaded state that recovers when heated, and the head plate includes heating means.

  The probe device according to claim 2 of the present invention is the probe device according to claim 1, wherein the card holder is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes a shape of an unloaded state that is recovered by heating. It is characterized by being.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the probe device according to the second aspect, wherein the card holder incorporates a heating means.

  The probe device according to claim 4 of the present invention is the probe device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shape memory alloy is made of a Ni-Ti alloy. To do.

  The probe device according to claim 5 of the present invention is the probe device according to claim 4, wherein the head plate recovers to a no-load state at a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher. .

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a probe card disposed above a movable mounting table on which an object to be inspected is mounted, and a head to which the probe card is mounted via a card holder. The head plate is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes an unloaded state that recovers when heated, and the head plate is inspected using a probe device that incorporates heating means. A method for inspecting electrical characteristics of a body, the step of raising the mounting table and electrically contacting the object to be inspected and a plurality of probes of the probe card, and heating the head plate by the heating means And a step of returning the head plate to an unloaded shape.

  In the inspection method according to claim 7 of the present invention, in the invention according to claim 6, the card holder is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes a shape in an unloaded state that is recovered by heating. It is characterized by this.

  An inspection method according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the inspection method according to the seventh aspect, wherein the card holder incorporates a heating means.

  The inspection method according to claim 9 of the present invention is characterized in that, in the invention according to any one of claims 6 to 8, the shape memory alloy is made of a Ni-Ti alloy. To do.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the ninth aspect, the head plate is heated to a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher to restore the head plate to an unloaded state. It is characterized by this.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a probe device and an inspection method capable of performing a highly reliable inspection by correcting the deflection of the head plate even when the load of the test head or the contact load at the time of inspection acts on the probe card. can do.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part in a state where a wafer is inspected using the probe apparatus of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the probe apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a movable mounting table 11 on which an object to be inspected (for example, a wafer) W is mounted, and a probe card 12 disposed above the mounting table 11. A head plate 14 on which the probe card 12 is mounted via a card holder 13, and an alignment mechanism (not shown) for aligning the wafer W on the mounting table 11 and the plurality of probes 13A of the probe card 12. It is equipped with. A test head T is electrically connected to a terminal electrode on the upper surface of the probe card 12 via a connection ring R. A tester (not shown) applies inspection signals to the plurality of devices through the test head T, the connection ring R, the plurality of probes 12A, and the plurality of electrode pads of the wafer W, thereby Inspect at the same time.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the head plate 14 is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes the shape of an unloaded state. The no-load state means a free state in which the test head T and the connection ring R are not in contact with the upper surface of the probe card 12 and a contact load is not applied to the probe card 12 from the mounting table 11. As the shape memory alloy, a Ni—Ti alloy is preferable. This Ni-Ti alloy has been subjected to a one-way shape memory treatment so as to recover the shape in an unloaded state, and is subjected to a shape memory treatment so as to recover the shape in an unloaded state at a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher. It is preferable. Further, the card holder 13 attached to the probe card 12 is also preferably formed of a shape memory alloy that has been subjected to a unidirectional shape memory treatment in the same manner as the head plate 14.

  As shown in FIG. 1, heating means (heater) 15 is built in the head plate 14, and the head plate 14 is heated by the heater 15. Although not shown, it is preferable that the card holder 13 has a built-in heater like the head plate 14.

  Since the head plate 14 is formed of the Ni—Ti alloy that has been subjected to the unidirectional shape memory processing as described above, the test head T and the connection ring R are connected to the probe card 12 as shown in FIG. Even if the head plate 14 is deformed by applying a contact load in the direction of arrow B from the mounting table 11 to the probe card 12 when the inspection is performed in a state where the weight is loaded in the direction, the head plate 14 is heated by the heater 15. 1 is heated to 100 ° C. or higher, the memory shape of the head plate 14 can be recovered as shown in FIG. As a result, the probe card 12 and the wafer W on the mounting table 11 are in contact with each other in a parallel state, and all the probes 12A and all the electrode pads of the wafer W are in electrical contact without being misaligned. High inspection can be performed.

  When the wafer W is inspected at a high temperature of 100 ° C. or higher, the probe plate 12 recovers its unloaded shape even when the probe card 12 is heated via the head plate 14. , And the parallelism between the probe card 12 and the wafer W on the mounting table 11 can be maintained. At this time, since the card holder 13 also recovers the unloaded shape, the parallelism with the wafer W can be more reliably maintained.

  Next, an embodiment of the inspection method of the present invention using the probe device 10 will be described. In the inspection, the test head T is connected to the upper surface of the probe card 12 through the connection ring R as shown in FIG. At this time, the head plate 14 is bent downward by the weight of the test head T (see FIG. 3B). Next, after mounting the wafer W on the mounting table 11, the alignment of the plurality of electrode pads of the wafer W and the plurality of probes 12 </ b> A of the probe card 12 is performed using an alignment mechanism.

  Thereafter, the mounting table 11 moves immediately below the probe card 12. At this position, the mounting table 11 is raised, the plurality of electrode pads of the wafer W on the mounting table 11 and the plurality of probes 12A of the probe card 12 are brought into contact with each other. The plurality of electrode pads and the plurality of probes 12 are in electrical contact with each other with the contact load. The head plate 14 bends upward due to the contact load (see FIG. 3C). In this state, there is a positional shift due to the deflection of the head plate 14 between the plurality of electrode pads and the plurality of probes 12A.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the heater 15 is turned on via the control device, and the head plate 14 is heated by the heater 15. When the head plate 14 is heated by the heater 15 and reaches a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher, the head plate 14 recovers its unloaded shape due to the shape memory effect, and the deflection of the head plate 14 is eliminated as shown in FIG. The head plate 14 and the probe card 12 are parallel to the wafer W on the mounting table 11. Therefore, the positional deviation between the plurality of electrode pads on the wafer W and the plurality of probes 12A on the probe card 12 is eliminated, and a uniform contact load acts between all the probes 12 and the corresponding electrode pads, Highly reliable inspection can be performed. At this time, since the card holder 13 also recovers the unloaded shape due to the shape memory effect, the flatness of the probe card 12 can be further maintained.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the head plate 14 to which the probe card 12 is fixed is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes the shape of an unloaded state that recovers at a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher, and the head Since the plate 14 incorporates the heater 15, when the inspection is performed, the mounting table 11 rises with the test head T and the connection ring R connected to the upper surface of the probe card 12, and the mounting table is subjected to a predetermined contact load. 11, even if the wafer W on the head 11 and the probe card 12 are in contact with each other and the head plate 14 is bent, if the head plate 14 is heated to a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher by the heater 15, the head plate 14 recovers its unloaded shape. To correct the deflection and eliminate the positional deviation between the plurality of electrode pads on the wafer W and the plurality of probes 12A on the probe card 12. Can be made uniform contact load of the probes 12A, it is possible to perform highly reliable test with.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the card holder 13 is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes the shape of the no-load state, the card holder 13 is heated with the heating of the head plate 14 and is in an unloaded state. Thus, the probe card 12 can be held horizontally. Moreover, since the card holder 13 has a built-in heater, it can be restored to an unloaded state in a short time. In addition, since the head plate 14 and the card holder 13 are made of a shape memory alloy made of a Ni—Ti alloy, both of them recover to a no-load state at a temperature of 100 ° C. or higher, and the probe card 12 is placed horizontally. It can be held, and the reliability of the high temperature inspection can be improved.

  In addition, this invention is not restrict | limited at all to the said embodiment, The design change of the component of this invention can be carried out suitably.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be suitably used for a probe apparatus that performs a high-temperature inspection of an inspection object such as a wafer.

It is a side view which shows the principal part of the state which test | inspects a wafer using the probe apparatus of this embodiment. It is a front view which shows an example of the conventional probe apparatus partially fractured | ruptured. (A)-(c) is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the state which the head plate bent in the test | inspection method using the probe apparatus shown in FIG. 1, respectively, (a) is a test head connected to a probe card. The figure which shows a state immediately before, (b) is a figure which shows the state where the test head was connected to the probe card, (c) is the figure which shows the state which makes the wafer contact the probe card and inspects.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Probe apparatus 11 Mounting stand 12 Probe card 12A Probe 13 Card holder 14 Head plate 15 Heater (heating means)
W wafer (inspected object)

Claims (10)

  A probe card disposed above a movable mounting table on which an object to be inspected is mounted; and a head plate to which the probe card is mounted via a card holder. The head plate is heated and recovered. A probe device, characterized in that it is made of a shape memory alloy that memorizes the shape of an unloaded state, and the head plate incorporates heating means.   2. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the card holder is formed of a shape memory alloy that memorizes a shape of an unloaded state that recovers when heated.   The probe apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the card holder includes heating means.   The probe device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shape memory alloy is made of a Ni-Ti alloy.   The probe apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the head plate recovers to an unloaded shape at a temperature of 100 ° C or higher.   A probe card disposed above a movable mounting table on which an object to be inspected is mounted; and a head plate to which the probe card is mounted via a card holder. The head plate is heated and recovered. The head plate is formed by a shape memory alloy that memorizes a shape in an unloaded state, and the head plate is a method for inspecting the electrical characteristics of the object to be inspected using a probe device having a built-in heating means, Raising the pedestal to electrically contact the object to be inspected and a plurality of probes of the probe card; and heating the head plate by the heating means to return the head plate to a no-load state; An inspection method comprising:   The inspection method according to claim 6, wherein the card holder is formed of a shape memory alloy that stores a shape of an unloaded state that is recovered by heating.   The inspection method according to claim 7, wherein the card holder includes heating means.   The inspection method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the shape memory alloy is made of a Ni-Ti alloy. 10. The inspection method according to claim 9, wherein the head plate is heated to a temperature of 100 ° C. or more to recover the head plate to a no-load state.

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