JPS6055987B2 - Blow card inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention particularly relates to a probe card testing device used for testing the electrical characteristics of semiconductor wafers.

Conventionally, this type of device moves the probe card parallel to a reference surface plated with an electrically conductive material such as gold, which is located in a plane parallel to the probe card, and uses the probe in the probe card as a reference. When the probe was brought into contact with a surface, and the contact resistance fell below a certain standard, a contact display device made by Rahnop et al. was used to display the contacting probe.

Since there is only one standard value for contact resistance and it is set low, I wonder if the contact display device is displaying the contact status of each probe due to variations in the height of each probe tip. Alternatively, it was not possible to determine whether the contact display device was displaying the contact state of each probe because the contact resistance was increased due to the surface condition of the tip of each probe, such as dirt. In other words, in conventional devices of this type, even if the contact display device indicates that the probe is not in contact with the reference surface, it is difficult to know whether the probe is actually in a non-contact state due to the height of the probe, or if the probe is not in contact with the reference surface. Although they were in contact, it was not possible to determine whether they were in a non-contact state due to dirt on the tip of the probe. In order to solve these drawbacks, the present invention sets the reference value of contact resistance to two resistance values, high resistance and low resistance, compares the contact resistance between each probe and the reference surface, and displays the results.

Therefore, by comparing with the high resistance reference value, it is possible to detect variations in the height of each probe tip, and by comparing with the low resistance reference value, it is possible to detect dirt, etc. at the tip of each probe. Can be detected. The present invention provides, for example, means for holding a probe card in a plane parallel to a reference plane made of a good electrical conductor, arbitrarily varying the distance from the reference plane, and measuring the displacement/amount, and the probe Manual cutting involves inspecting variations in the electrical characteristics of a plurality of probe tips in the card by measuring the electrical contact resistance between the reference surface and the probes, and a preset high resistance value and The probe card tester is characterized by comprising means for comparing a low-resistance binary reference resistance and the gate electrical contact resistance for each probe, and displaying the comparison results.

A detailed explanation will be given below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a mechanical section of a probe card tester according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a probe card to be inspected, 2 is a probe, 3 is a reference plane, 4 is a reference plane up/down operation section, 5 is a probe card fixing member, 6 is a probe card support member, and 7 is a connector. The probe card to be tested 1 is a probe card fixing member 5
It is fixed to the card support member 6 by. The probe card support member 6 always keeps the probe card 1 under test on the reference surface 3.
The reference up/down operation unit 4 has a mechanism that can vary the distance from the probe card 1 to be tested while always keeping the reference plane 3 in a plane parallel to the probe card 1 to be tested.

The reference surface 3 is made of a good electrical conductor in order to obtain electrical continuity by contacting the probe 2 of the probe card 1 to be tested. The connector 7 is for electrically connecting the reference surface 3 of the mechanism section and each probe 2 to a measurement display section to be described later. FIG. 2 shows the main circuit of the measurement display section of the probe card tester according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a probe card to be inspected, 2 is a probe, 3 is a reference plane, and 7 is a connector, which are included in the mechanism section. 8 is a constant current power supply, 9a19b19c19n is a relay, 10a
, 10b, 10c, 10n are high resistance comparison circuits, 11a,
11b, 11c, 11n are low resistance comparison circuits, 12a, 1
2b, 12c, 12n are high resistance holding circuits, 13a, 13
b, 13c, 13n are low resistance holding circuits, 14a, 14b
, 14c, 14n are high resistance display circuits, 15a, 15b,
15c and 15n are low resistance display circuits, 16 is a high resistance reference voltage, 17 is a low resistance reference voltage, 18 is a relay drive circuit, 1
9 is a reset circuit, 20 is a start switch, and 21 is a stop switch.

The output of constant current power supply 8 is connected to probe card 1 to be tested via connector 7 via relays 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9n, respectively. Nao relay! 9a, 9b, 9c, 9
n is connected to the probe 2 of the probe card 1 to be tested in a one-to-one relationship. Each of the relays 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9n is controlled by the relay drive circuit 18 so that the relay 9a first closes its contacts, then opens its contacts after a certain period of time, and then the relay 9b closes its contacts.
After a certain period of time, the contacts are opened, and in the same way, relays 9c and 9n also close their contacts, and so on. The start switch 20 prompts the relay drive circuit 18 to start operating, and the above-described operation is repeated until the stop switch 21 is activated. Relays 9a, 9b, 9c, 9n are connected to probe card 1 to be tested, while high resistance comparison circuits 10a, 10b, 10c, 10n and low resistance comparison circuit 1
1a, 11b, 11c, and 11n. The high/low resistance comparator circuits 10a, 10b, 10c, 10n are connected to a high resistance reference voltage that is generated by the contact resistance between the probe 2 of the probe card 1 to be tested and the reference surface 3, and the constant current supplied from the constant current power supply 8. Voltage 16 reference) Voltage is compared as input,
An output is output to the high resistance holding circuits 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12n only when the reference voltage of the high resistance reference voltage 16 is high.
The low resistance comparison circuits 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11n compare the constant current supplied from the constant current power supply 8 with the voltage generated by the contact resistance between the probe 2 of the probe card 1 to be tested and the reference surface 3, and the low resistance. The reference voltage of the reference voltage 17 is input and compared, and only when the reference voltage of the low resistance reference voltage 17 is high, an output is output to the low resistance holding circuits 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13n. In other words, high resistance comparison circuits 10a, 10b, 1
0c and 10n output only when the contact resistance between the probe 2 and the reference surface 3 reaches a certain reference value, for example, several kΩ or less. It is designed to output an output only when the contact resistance with the surface 3 falls below a certain reference value, for example, several ohms. High resistance holding circuits 12a, 12b, 12c, 12n1
The low resistance holding circuits 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13n hold the respective outputs of the high resistance comparison circuits 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10n1 and the low resistance comparison circuits 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11n until they receive a reset signal from the reset circuit 19. It is something to do. For example, the high resistance holding circuit 12a is
The output state of the high-resistance comparator circuit 10a when the relay 9a is closed is held until a reset signal output from the reset circuit 19 is received the next time the relay 9a closes again. High resistance holding circuits 12a, 12b,
The outputs of 12c and 12n are high resistance display circuits 14a and 14b.
, 14c, 14n, low resistance holding circuits 13a, 13b,
The outputs of 13c and 13n are low resistance display circuits 15a and 15b.
, 15c, and 15n, respectively, and the contact state between the probe 2 and the reference surface 3 is displayed. The above is the explanation of the drawings. Next, a method of using an embodiment of the device of the present invention will be described. The tester attaches the probe card 1 to be tested to the probe card testing mechanism section as shown in FIG.

The start switch 20 is operated while the reference plane up and down operation section 4 is operated to bring the reference plane 3 closer to the probe 2. When the probe 2 closest to the reference surface 3 contacts the square reference surface 3, the high resistance display circuits 14a, 14b, 14c, 1
Among 4n, the one corresponding to the probe that made contact performs the display.
The inspector can judge from this display that the probe has contacted the reference surface 3. Furthermore, when the reference surface up and down operation section 4 is operated to move the reference surface 3 closer to the probe 2, the high resistance display circuit corresponding to all the probes displays the contact between the probe 2 and the reference surface 3. Since the displacement position of the reference surface 3 can be read by the reference surface up/down operation section 4, the variation in height of each probe tip can be measured during the above-mentioned operation. Also, after the high resistance display circuit indicates contact between the probe and the reference surface 3, if the reference surface 3 is brought closer to the probe card by a specified amount, it corresponds to a probe whose contact resistance does not decrease due to dirt on the tip of the probe, etc. A low resistance display circuit that corresponds to a probe with a clean tip and a reduced contact resistance does display. Therefore, by using the device of the present invention, an inspector conducting a probe card inspection can not only measure the variation in the height of each probe tip, but also easily detect the other side of each probe tip. Appropriate measures can be taken to repair the probe card.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mechanical section in an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A surface member having a reference surface made of an electrically conductive material that is in contact with a plurality of probes of a probe card to be brought into contact with electrodes of a semiconductor substrate, and holding the probe card in a plane parallel to the reference surface of this surface member. a distance adjusting means for adjusting and measuring the distance between the holding means and the reference surface; a resistance detecting means for detecting the electrical contact resistance between the reference surface and the probe as a voltage; A probe card inspection device comprising: comparison means for comparing the output from the resistance detection means with voltages corresponding to predetermined high and low resistance values; and display means for displaying the output of the comparison means. .