JPS628938B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a testing device for semiconductor devices that continuously tests the electrical characteristics of semiconductor devices and sorts them into non-defective products and defective products. The present invention relates to a test head device for shunting a semiconductor device to the next stage after testing it. [Technical background of the invention and its problems] For example, in the case of semiconductor devices such as ICs (semiconductor integrated circuit devices), electrical characteristic tests are conducted on each manufactured product to sort them into good and defective products. is required. And a large amount
In order to continuously and automatically perform the above-mentioned tests on IC products, etc., test equipment equipped with a so-called high-speed handler has been used. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the conventional test apparatus for semiconductor devices. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a pre-test chute section for arranging continuously supplied semiconductor devices in a single row. Semiconductor devices a ₁ , a ₂ arranged in a single row in the pre-test chute section 1...
are shot one by one to a test head section 2 disposed immediately downstream of a pre-test chute section 1. The test head section 2 tests the electrical characteristics of the shunted semiconductor devices, and the semiconductor devices determined to be good or defective are shunted to the sorting chute section 3. After the test head section 2 becomes empty, the next semiconductor device is thrown out from the pre-test shoot section 1. Note that the test of the semiconductor device described above is performed using a tester (not shown) connected to the test head section 2. On the other hand, if the semiconductor device thrown out from the test head section 2 is a non-defective product, the sorting chute section 3 receives a command from the tester (not shown) and selects a non-defective device disposed immediately downstream thereof. Shoot to the shooting section 4. Further, if the semiconductor device that has been shunted out is a defective product, the sorting chute section 3 is rotated by 90 degrees according to a command from the tester (not shown), and the defective product chute section arranged in the rotated direction is removed. 5, defective semiconductor devices are shunted to As described above, the conventional test apparatus for semiconductor devices was equipped with only one test head section 2, and was configured as a single-row chute circuit system as a whole. Moreover, the test head section 2 was not configured to be able to test multiple samples at the same time.
It is necessary to adopt a system in which semiconductor devices are sequentially supplied to the test head section 2 one by one and tested one by one, and there is a problem in that the loss time during this process is quite large. Furthermore, when a semiconductor device determined to be a defective product is to be shunted to the defective product chute section 5, the sorting chute section 3 must be rotated, and there is a problem in that time is lost at this time as well. Due to these factors, in conventional test equipment for semiconductor devices, the overall machine index has to be quite large, approximately 1.0 to 15 seconds, which makes it difficult to improve work efficiency and overall productivity. This had become a major obstacle. By the way, as is clear from the above, the following two points can be cited as basic concepts for constructing an efficient semiconductor device testing apparatus with a small machine index. First, the shunt circuit system of the semiconductor device in the test apparatus is formed into a plurality of parallel shunt circuit systems, each of which includes a test head section. Second
The first objective is to allow individual test heads to test a plurality of semiconductor devices at the same time. In order to realize such a semiconductor device, a test head device that meets the above two requirements is required. Incidentally, if the specific structure of the test head section 2 in the conventional semiconductor device test apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is considered from this viewpoint, it will be as follows.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic structure of the test head section 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the test head section 2
A chute row 6 defined by upper and lower support plates is formed in the chute row 6, and semiconductor devices are shot into this chute row from the pre-test chute section 1. A small air cylinder (hereinafter referred to as a pen air cylinder) 8 is provided at the lower end of the chute row, and when a semiconductor device is shunted, the piston rod of this pen air cylinder 7 protrudes into the chute row to remove the semiconductor. Moor the device (in the following description this action will be referred to as pen air cylinder extension). A contact 8 connected to a tester (not shown) is provided at the mooring position of the semiconductor device. By contacting the external leads of the tethered semiconductor device, the contactor 8 tests the semiconductor device using the tester (not shown). A blow nozzle 9 is provided at the upper end of the contactor 8 facing downstream, and when the test of the moored semiconductor device is completed, the blow nozzle 9 is opened at the same time as the pen air cylinder 7 is retracted.
By blowing out the semiconductor devices, the unmoored semiconductor devices are thrown to the sorting chute section 3. Now, if a plurality of shoot circuit systems including the test head section are to be constructed using the conventional test head section as described above, a plurality of similar test head sections must be arranged in parallel. Further, as long as the above-mentioned test head section is used, a plurality of semiconductor devices cannot be tested at the same time with one test head section. Therefore, in order to realize an efficient test equipment for semiconductor devices with a small machine index based on the two basic concepts mentioned above, a new test head device that is compatible with these concepts is required. Ru. [Object of the Invention] A first object of the present invention is to provide a test head device that can simultaneously perform electrical characteristic tests on a plurality of semiconductor devices using one shoot train. A second object of the present invention is to provide a test head device that can completely control the shoot timing when all of a plurality of semiconductor devices tested at the same time are shot to the next stage. be. A third object of the present invention is to provide a test head section in which a plurality of shoot columns for testing semiconductor devices are arranged in parallel. A more general object of the present invention is to provide a test head device with a high operating rate that makes it possible to realize a test device for semiconductor devices with a small machine index based on the two basic concepts described above. In order to realize the first basic concept described above, it is necessary to install multiple test heads in parallel,
As mentioned in the third objective, it is not enough to simply provide a plurality of parallel chute rows in the test head device.
Although a distribution shute device is required to distribute semiconductor devices supplied in a single row from a pre-test shute section to a plurality of parallel shute circuits, this is outside the scope of the present invention. In addition, in order to realize the second basic concept described above, it is not enough to achieve the first objective; a shoot mechanism that makes this possible throughout the semiconductor device test equipment is required. It is said that This is also included in the present invention as the second objective. Furthermore, a semiconductor device testing apparatus using the test head device of the present invention requires a new sorting chute section that can accommodate this, but this is outside the scope of the present invention. [Summary of the Invention] The first feature of the test head device of the present invention is that a plurality of contacts are provided along the chute row of the test head device for contacting external leads of a semiconductor device to test its electrical characteristics. That's true. A second feature of the test head device of the present invention is that it includes a detector that detects when a semiconductor device is thrown onto the chute row, and a detection signal from the detector that causes the test head to project into the chute row and bring the semiconductor device into contact with the chute row. A shoot timing control mechanism that includes a pen air cylinder that is moored at the contact position and a blow nozzle that shunts the semiconductor device to the next stage in synchronization with the unmooring of the pen air cylinder is connected to each of the individual contacts. This is because we have set up one set for each. The first and second features described above make it possible to achieve the first and second objects of the present invention. A third feature of the test head device of the present invention is that a plurality of chute rows having the first and second features described above are provided in parallel. [Embodiment of the Invention] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a schematic structure of a test head device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
It is a side view seen from the figure-line direction. In these figures, 11 is a test head device. As shown in FIG. 4, the test head device 11 has chute rows 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ defined in parallel by a lower support frame 12 and an upper support frame 13. Contacts _15a and 15b are provided at the lower and upper portions of the shoot row 141 for contacting external leads of semiconductor devices and testing their electrical characteristics.
is provided. Similarly, the chute row ₁₄₂ also has two contacts 15c and 15d along the chute row.
is provided. These contacts 15a-15
As shown in FIG. 4, drive cylinders 16a to 16d are attached to each of the contacts 15a to 16d, and the drive cylinders cause the respective contacts 15a to 15d to protrude into or retreat from the chute row. ing. A detector 17a made of an optical fiber sensor is embedded at the position of the contact 15a in the chute row ₁₄₁ . This detector 17
A is used to detect that the semiconductor device has been shunted, and also to detect that the contact protrudes and comes into contact with an external lead of the semiconductor device.
Further, a pen air cylinder 18a is provided downstream of the contactor 15a. The pen air cylinder protrudes into the chute row 14a when the detector 17a detects the shunted semiconductor device,
The external leads of the semiconductor device are properly connected to the contacts 15.
Moor it in a position where it can come into contact with a. On the other hand, contact 1
A blow nozzle 19a facing downstream of the chute row ₁₄₁ is provided on the upstream side of the chute 5a. The blow nozzle 19a blows out low-pressure air in synchronization with the retreat of the contactor 15a and the pen air cylinder 18a, thereby shunting the unmoored semiconductor device to the next stage. As shown in FIG. 4, the tips of the pen air cylinder 18a and the blow nozzle 19a are connected to the upper support frame 13.
It is buried in. Note that the detector 17a, the pen air cylinder 18a, and the blow nozzle 19a
constitute a set of shoot timing control mechanisms. The chute row ₁₄₁ has a contactor 15.
A similar shoot timing mechanism 17 is also used for b.
b, 18b, and 19b, and furthermore, shoot timing control mechanisms 17 having the same configuration are provided at the positions of contacts 15c and 15d in the shoot row ₁₄₂ , respectively.
c, 18c, 19c and 17d, 18d, 19
d is provided. In addition, 20 in the figure indicates two parallel chute rows 2.
This is a distribution chute device including 1 ₁ and 21 ₂ . This distribution chute device 20 transfers semiconductor devices, which are shunted in a single row from the pre-test chute section in a semiconductor device testing device, to the chute rows 14 ₁ , 14 of the test head device 11 having the above-described configuration.
This is to distribute and shoot to each of _{the two} . Further, 30 is a sorting chute device including two chute rows 31 ₁ and 31 ₂ , and a test head device 11
This is for sorting the semiconductor devices that have been tested and are thrown out from the shoot rows 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ into non-defective products and defective products. As already mentioned, these are outside the scope of the present invention, so further explanation will be omitted, and their effects will be explained as necessary in the following explanation. Next, the operation of the test head device 11 having the above structure will be explained. In the illustrated state, it is assumed that two semiconductor devices are housed in the chute row ₂₁₁ of the distribution chute device 20 , and the chute row ₂₁₂ is empty. It is also assumed that the chute row ₁₄₁ of the test head device 11 is empty, and in the chute row ₁₄₂ , semiconductor devices are set on the contacts 15c and 15d, respectively. In this state, the distribution chute device 20
When one of the semiconductor devices housed therein is thrown from the chute row _21-1 of the test head device 11 to the chute row _14-1 of the test head device 11, the detector 17
a detects this and projects the pen air cylinder 18a. As a result, the semiconductor device that has been shot is anchored at a position where it can be set on the contact 15a. Subsequently, when another semiconductor device is thrown out from the chute row ₂₁₁ of the distribution chute device, the detector 17b and the pen air cylinder 18b operate in the same manner, and the semiconductor device is shunted to the contactor 15.
b is moored in a position where it can be set. Then,
The contacts 15a, 15b are the drive cylinders 16a, 1
6b to protrude into the chute row ₁₄₁ and come into contact with external leads of semiconductor devices moored at respective locations. At this time, the detector 17a,
17b, the semiconductor device detects the protrusion of the contacts 15a, 15b so that the contactors 15a, 15b
After confirming that the contacts 15a and 1 are set to
An electrical characteristic test is started using a tester (not shown) to which 5b is connected. During this time, two semiconductor devices are chuteed and housed in the chute row ₂₁₂ of the distribution chute device 20 from the pre-test chute device (not shown). On the other hand, while the above operation is being carried out, the chute row ₁₄₂ of the test head device 11
After the test of the semiconductor devices set at 5c and 15d is completed, the contacts 15c and 15d are retracted, and the next operation is performed. First, the pen air cylinder 18c retreats to remove the mooring of the semiconductor device, and the blow nozzle 19c blows air.
Semiconductor devices that have been unmoored are sent to a sorting chute
30 to the shoot column ₃₁₂ . Next, the pen air cylinder 18d and the blow nozzle 19d perform the same operation as described above, and shoot the semiconductor device to the chute row ₃₁₂ of the sorting and chute device 30 . The sorting chute device 30 selects only the semiconductor devices determined to be good through the test out of the two chuteed semiconductor devices into the chute line 31 ₂ .
Items that are determined to be defective are not stored in chute row ₃₁₂ and are directly transferred to chute row 3.
1 Shute to the defective product chute section located below ₂ . After the above operations are carried out in parallel, the distribution chute 20 is moved to a position where its chute row ₂₁₂ communicates with the chute row ₁₄₂ of the test head device 11 , and the sorting chute 30 is moved to a position where its chute row 212 communicates with its chute row 31. is the chute row 1 of the test head device 11 .
4 Move to the position where it communicates with ₁ . Then, in the shoot column ₁₄₁ of the test head device 11 , the same operation as that previously performed in the shoot column 142 is performed, and in the shoot column ₁₄₂ , the shoot column ₁₄₁ is first operated _.
The same actions as were performed are performed. In addition,
The non-defective semiconductor devices previously accommodated in the chute row ₃₁₂ of the sorting chute device 30 are carried directly above the non-defective chute section by the movement of the sorting chute section 30 at this time, and are shunted. Thereafter, the distribution chute device 20 and the sorting chute device 30 are moved to the illustrated positions again, and the above-described operations are repeated thereafter. As described above, according to the test head device 11 of the above embodiment, each shoot row 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ can test two semiconductor devices at the same time. By the way, in order to configure a semiconductor device test equipment including such a test head section,
It is necessary to ensure that the two semiconductor devices tested at the same time can be reliably separated into non-defective products and defective products by the sorting chute section 30 . For this purpose, it is necessary to shoot out the semiconductor devices one by one from the test head device 11 in a manner corresponding to the proper sorting operation of the sorting and shooting device 30 .
11 , it is necessary to be able to completely control the shoot timing when each of the two semiconductor devices tested simultaneously in each shoot column is sent to the sorting shoot section 30 . Regarding this point as well, in the test head device 11 of the above embodiment, the two semiconductor devices tested simultaneously in each shoot row 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ are completely controlled by independent shot timing control mechanisms for each semiconductor device. Its shoot timing is controlled and meets the above requirements. In addition, since the test device 11 of the above embodiment is provided with two parallel chute rows 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ , by using an appropriate distribution chute device 20 in combination, a plurality of parallel chute rows including the test portion can be It is possible to realize a test device for semiconductor devices that includes a shoot circuit system. As is clear from the above explanation of the operation, if the test head device 11 of the above embodiment is used in conjunction with an appropriate distribution chute device 20 and sorting chute device 30 , one of the chute rows 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ can be It is also possible to perform the operations of distributing and setting the devices and the operation of shunting semiconductor devices that have been tested in the other chute column to the sorting chute section 30 in the same manner. In this case, it is actually possible to set the machine index to zero. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, by providing three or more contacts provided with a shoot timing control mechanism in each shoot row 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ , three or more semiconductor devices can be tested at the same time. Moreover, three or more chute rows may be provided, and conversely, even if a single chute row is provided, the first and second objects, which are the main objects of the present invention, can be achieved. Further, as the detection devices 17a to 17d, in addition to optical fiber sensors, photoelectronic switches or micro switches can also be used. [Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the test head device of the present invention, the electrical characteristics of a plurality of semiconductor devices can be tested at the same time. It is possible to construct a parallel shoot circuit system. Therefore, it has the remarkable effect of making it possible to realize an extremely efficient semiconductor device testing apparatus with a small machine index.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a conventional semiconductor device testing device, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of a test head in the conventional semiconductor device testing device.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a test head apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view taken in the direction of the line in FIG. 11 ...Test head device, 12...Lower support frame, 13...Upper support frame, ₁₄₁ , ₁₄₂ ...Chute row, 15a-15d...Contactor, 16a-
16d... Drive cylinder, 17a-17d... Detector, 18a-18d... Pen air cylinder, 1
9a-19d... Blow nozzle, 20 ... Distribution chute device, 30 ... Sorting chute device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. At least one chute row through which a semiconductor device is shunted, and a plurality of chute rows provided along the chute row for contacting external leads of the semiconductor device to test their electrical characteristics. a drive device for starting a test by protruding the contactor into the chute row and bringing it into contact with an external lead of a semiconductor device, and retracting the contactor out of the chute row at the end of the test; An air cylinder having a detector for detecting that a semiconductor device has been shunted, and a piston rod that protrudes into the chute row in response to a detection signal from the detector to moor the semiconductor device at the position of the contact; A set of blow nozzles for shunting the semiconductor device to the next stage in synchronization with unmooring of the cylinder, and a shoot timing control mechanism provided for each of the plurality of contacts. A test head device comprising:
In the test equipment for semiconductor devices, one semiconductor device is continuously supplied to each of the plurality of contacts, and the test is performed simultaneously. A test head device characterized in that it shoots to a sorting chute device for sorting out defective products. 2. A plurality of the chute rows are provided in parallel, and one chute row performs the operation of setting a semiconductor device to each of the plurality of contacts, and at the same time, the other chute portions perform a test of the set semiconductor device. 2. The test head device according to claim 1, wherein the test head device is configured to shoot the test head to the next stage. 3. The test head device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an optical fiber sensor is used as a detector constituting the shoot timing mechanism. 4. The test head device according to claim 3, wherein the optical fiber sensor is embedded in a wall defining the chute row. 5. The test head device according to claim 3, wherein the optical fiber sensor is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the chute row. 6. The blow nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the blow nozzle is embedded in a wall defining the chute row at a predetermined angle with the wall. Test head equipment. 7. The test head device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the air cylinder is embedded in a wall defining the chute row.