JPH0719807B2 - Probe device - Google Patents

Description

Description: [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a probe apparatus used for test measurement of an IC chip formed on a semiconductor wafer in an IC chip manufacturing process or the like. .

(Prior Art) Generally, a probe device is used for test measurement of an IC chip formed on a semiconductor wafer in an IC chip manufacturing process or the like.

A conventional probe device automatically loads a semiconductor wafer onto a measurement table of a test measurement unit by a transfer unit according to a predetermined program, and in the test measurement unit, a probe card probe is used to load a large number of IC chips on the semiconductor wafer. Touch the electrode pad. When the measurement is completed, the operation of unloading the semiconductor wafer for which the measurement has been completed, accommodating it in a wafer cassette or the like, and loading the next semiconductor wafer on the measurement table is repeated. Also bad
Some have a marking mechanism such as an inker that performs inking on the IC chip.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described conventional probe device, for example, there is an erroneous input of a measurement program, a probe card probe has a defect, or other erroneous operation or defect. In some cases, there is a risk that the measurement will proceed and the good semiconductor chips will continue to be determined as defective.

In such a case, inking by inker is performed,
Even if a large number of defective chips are generated or the inking is not performed, it is necessary to measure again the semiconductor wafer once measured by the probe device, which requires labor and time. Occurs.

The present invention has been made in response to such a conventional situation, and can prevent a large number of semiconductor wafers from being measured in this state even if there is a malfunction, a defective measuring device, or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a probe device in which no defective chips are generated and it is not necessary to collect a large number of semiconductor wafers and perform remeasurement.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) That is, the present invention is a test measurement unit for performing test measurement by moving a measurement table to bring a probe into contact with a semiconductor wafer arranged on the measurement table. And a transfer unit for loading the semiconductor wafer on the measurement table and unloading the semiconductor wafer after the test measurement is completed, and a control for stopping the unload operation by the transfer mechanism when an unload stop command signal is input. And a section.

(Operation) In the probe device of the present invention, the control unit is configured to stop the unload operation by the transport mechanism when the unload stop command signal is input.

Therefore, for example, it is possible to stop the first semiconductor wafer at the start of measurement or a semiconductor wafer in which the number of non-defective products in the semiconductor wafer is smaller than a preset predetermined number on the measuring table after the measurement is completed, and the measurement program is erroneously input Also, it is possible to confirm whether or not there is a defect in the probe of the probe card and other misoperations or defects.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the probe device of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

The probe apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a probe card 3 having a large number of probes 2 and a measuring table 5 composed of an XY table for sucking and holding a semiconductor wafer 4 by a vacuum chuck or the like, and the measuring table 5 is moved. Then, the semiconductor wafer 4 is loaded on the test measuring unit 6 in which the probe 2 is brought into contact with the electrode pads of a large number of IC chips formed on the semiconductor wafer 4, and the semiconductor wafer 4 is unloaded after the measurement is completed. And a transfer unit 8 that is housed in the wafer cassette 7, a control unit 9 that controls the test measurement unit 6 and the transfer unit 8, and an input unit.
It is composed of 10 and.

The test measurement program and the like are stored in a memory inside the tester 11 arranged outside the probe apparatus 1,
Signals and the like necessary for test measurement are supplied from this tester 11, and measurement data are also sent to the tester 11.

Like the conventional probe device, the control unit 9 controls the test measuring unit 6 and the transfer unit 8 to load the semiconductor wafer 4 from the wafer cassette 7 onto the measuring table 5, and to detect a large number of probes of the probe card 3. 2 are brought into contact with the electrode pads of the IC chips on the semiconductor wafer 4 one after another, and a predetermined test measurement is performed. Then, when the test measurement of all the IC chips formed on one semiconductor wafer 4 is completed, the semiconductor wafer 4 is unloaded and accommodated in the wafer cassette 7, and
The next semiconductor wafer 4 is loaded on the measuring table 5.

Further, the control unit 9 is configured to be able to input an unload stop command signal by, for example, an unload stop switch arranged in the input unit 10. When the unload stop command signal is input, the test measurement is performed. The semiconductor wafer 4 that has finished is stopped on the measuring table 5 without unloading and the operation is stopped. In this case, the alarm may be sounded after the operation is stopped.

That is, in the probe device of this embodiment having the above-described configuration, for example, at the time of starting measurement, an instruction to stop unloading is input to the control unit 9 by an unload stop switch or the like arranged in the input unit 10 in advance. , The first semiconductor wafer 4
When the test measurement is completed, the semiconductor wafer 4 is not unloaded, and is stopped on the measuring table 5 to stop the operation. Therefore, at the time when the test measurement of the first semiconductor wafer 4 is completed, it is possible to confirm whether or not there is an erroneous operation or a defect in the measuring device, and a large number of semiconductor wafers 4 can be detected in the presence of the erroneous operation or the defect in the measuring device. Can be prevented from being measured.

In addition, depending on the result of the IC chip pass / fail judgment determined by the tester 11, for example, when the non-defective rate is below a certain value or when the defective rate is above a certain value, an unload stop command signal is generated. The unloading stop command signal may stop the unloading of the semiconductor wafer 4 from the measurement table 5. This is because, for example, when most of the IC chips formed on the semiconductor wafer 4 are measured as defective products, there is a possibility that they are not due to defective IC chips but due to defective measurement conditions. is there. With such a configuration, even when a probe has a defect during measurement, for example, it is possible to prevent a large number of semiconductor wafers 4 from being measured while the measuring device has a defect.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, the probe device of the present invention can prevent a large number of semiconductor wafers from being measured in this state even if there is an erroneous operation or a defect of the measuring device.
Therefore, there is no need to generate a large number of defective chips or to collect a large number of semiconductor wafers and perform remeasurement.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a probe device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... Probe device, 4 ... Semiconductor wafer, 5 ... Measuring stand, 6 ... Test measuring unit, 8 ... Transporting unit, 9 ... Control unit,
10 …… Input section.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A test measurement unit for moving a measurement table to bring a probe into contact with a semiconductor wafer arranged on the measurement table, and a semiconductor wafer loaded on the measurement table to perform the test measurement. A probe apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that unloads the semiconductor wafer after the end and a control unit that stops an unload operation by the transfer mechanism when an unload stop command signal is input. 2. The unload stop command signal is generated when the measured number of non-defective products in a semiconductor wafer is smaller than a predetermined number set in advance. The described probe device.