JPH0727938B2 - Double contact probe device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a double contact probe apparatus capable of using two types of probe needles.

(Prior Art) A probe apparatus for inspecting the electrical characteristics of an object to be inspected such as a semiconductor wafer has a measuring unit for measuring the electrical characteristics of a large number of elements on the wafer and a wafer stored in a cassette in which the wafer is stored. The loader unit is configured to take out the wafer, supply it to the measuring unit, and return the wafer for which the measurement is completed to the cassette and convey the wafer.

The measuring unit generally comprises a probe card having probe needles at the same positions and arrangements as many electrodes on the wafer, and a tester is connected to the probe card to measure the electrical characteristics of each element. is there.

By the way, in recent years, a large-sized liquid crystal substrate (hereinafter, also referred to as an LCD) that constitutes a television screen is used as an object to be inspected, and an electrical characteristic thereof is inspected by a probe device of this type.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When inspecting the electrical characteristics of the above-mentioned LCD, for example, in addition to measuring the electrical characteristics using a conventional probe card, the electrical characteristics of a specific pixel on the LCD are measured. There is an increasing demand for inspecting the characteristics, and in this case, the inspection cannot be performed by the probe card. Therefore, it is necessary to bring one probe needle called a manipulator into contact with the electrode of the specific pixel to perform the inspection.

Therefore, in the probe device with the probe card fixed,
This kind of measurement was not possible, and there was no choice but to remove the probe card and attach a manipulator for measurement, or to use another probe device with a manipulator attached.

As described above, when performing measurement using two types of probe needles, conventionally, two probe devices are prepared, or
Or there is only a method to replace the probe needle and measure,
There was a problem that the inspection time was prolonged, and the burden on the inspector was heavy.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to enable two types of probe needles to be used in the same device without the need to remove the needles, thus burdening the inspector. It is an object of the present invention to provide a double contact probe device that can reduce the inspection time and can significantly reduce the inspection time.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) The present invention is designed to bring a probe needle into contact with an electrode of a device under test,
In a probe device for inspecting electrical characteristics of an object to be inspected, a plurality of first probe needles contacting electrodes of the object to be inspected at a first measurement position in a height direction, and a second probe below the first measurement position. A plurality of second probe needles that come into contact with the electrodes of the device under test at a measurement position, position adjusting means that can individually adjust the tip of each second probe needle, and the tip of the second probe needle as described above. A plurality of movement support means for simultaneously movably supporting between the retracted position above the first measurement position and the second measurement position are included.

(Operation) In the present invention, the electrical characteristics of the object to be inspected can be inspected by the two types of probe needles, that is, the plurality of first probe needles or the second probe needles. Here, the first probe needle contacts the device under test at the first measurement position, the second probe needle contacts the device under test at the second measurement position, and the second measurement position is below the first measurement position. Located in.

Therefore, when inspecting an object to be inspected using the second probe needle, the mounting table on which the object to be inspected is placed and fixed is
The inspection is executed by setting the measurement position. In this case, since the tip of the first probe needle is located at the first measurement position above the second measurement position, the tip of the first probe needle does not come into contact with the object to be inspected, and the inspection can be performed by the second probe needle alone.

Further, since the position of the tip of the second probe needle can be individually adjusted by the position adjusting means, for example, the position between the needles is changed by planarly adjusting the position, or the position between the needles is adjusted by adjusting the position in the vertical direction. The contact pressure with the body can be adjusted. Therefore, the measurement accuracy of the inspection is improved.

Next, when performing an inspection using the first probe needle, first, the tip of the second probe needle is moved to the retracted position above the first measurement position. Then, after that, if the mounting table is set to the first measurement position, the first probe needle alone can perform the inspection without interfering with the second probe needle.

Here, since a plurality of second probe needles simultaneously move between the retracted position and the second measurement position by the movement support means,
The relative positions of the tips of the respective second probe needles can be retreated without shifting.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to an electrical characteristic inspection of an LCD will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

This embodiment has a chuck 10 as shown in FIG. 1 as a mounting table for mounting and fixing the LCD 1 which is the object to be inspected. It can be placed and fixed. The chuck 10 can move up and down in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 and can rotate in the direction of arrow B. In addition, the chuck 10 is provided with an X, Y table, etc.
It can be moved independently in the Y direction.

As a characteristic configuration of this embodiment, two kinds of probe needles are prepared for the inspection of the electrical characteristics of the LCD 1 mounted and fixed on the chuck 10.

The first probe needles are a large number of probe needles 21 arranged at the same intervals and positions as the electrodes arranged on the LCD 1 at equal intervals, and these are fixed to the probe card 20.

The second probe needle is a coaxial needle that can detect even a minute current in order to inspect the electrical characteristics of the specific pixel of the LCD1.
31.

The tip of the first probe needle 21 is located at a height position (first position) L1 in the vertical direction of the chuck 10. On the other hand, the tip of the coaxial needle 31, which is the second probe needle, is located at the second position L2, which is lower than the first position L1. The coaxial needle 31 can be rotated and retracted in the direction C in the figure so that the coaxial needle 31 does not interfere with the LCD 1 when the first probe needle 21 is inspected.

Next, a specific configuration of this double contact probe device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. As shown in FIG. 1 when the double contact probe device was viewed from the left side, it was mounted and fixed on the chuck 10 at the center.
An LCD 1 is arranged, and the probe card 20 is fixedly supported above the LCD 1 and on the left side of the figure.

On the other hand, on the right side of FIG. 2, as an example of the second probe needle, for example, four sets of manipulators Assy 30 are arranged in an arc shape.

The coaxial needles 31 fixed to the manipulator Assy 30, respectively, are the SMA connector 31a provided on the mounting end side as shown in FIG. The first probe needle 21 composed of the contacting tungsten needle 31c.
It is possible to detect a very small current.

The manipulator Assy 30 is provided with adjusting screws 32, 33, 34 capable of adjusting the height direction of the coaxial needle 31 and each direction orthogonal to the two-dimensional plane so that the tip position of the coaxial needle 31 can be changed. It has become. As a result, each of the four manipulators
Assy30 uses the needle tip position as the area A, area B, and area C in FIG.
The position can be changed in each of the area and D area.

Each of the manipulators Assy 30 is fixed on a swing plate 40 as shown in FIG. This swing plate 40
Is a spindle provided on a base 50 fixed to the probe device.
It is swingably supported by 51 and is normally set to be inclined with respect to the base 50 by a tension coil spring 52.

On the base 50 and on both sides of the swing plate 40, an air cylinder 53 and a sloped cam 54 that slides in the direction of arrow D by the air cylinder 53 are arranged. The slope cam 54 is the swing plate.
The pin-shaped cam followers 41 protruding from both sides of 40 are always in contact with each other.

Further, the base 50 has the first and second positions at the positions shown in FIG.
The detection sensors 55 and 56 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, each of these is provided with a light emitting element and a light receiving element at U-shaped opposite ends. Then, the first detection sensor 55 detects that the coaxial needle 31 is at the inspection position by blocking the optical path by the light blocking plate 42a that swings integrally with the swing plate 40, and similarly. The second
The detection sensor 56 is configured to detect that the coaxial needle 31 is at the retracted position by blocking the optical path by the light blocking plate 42b.

Next, the operation will be described.

In the apparatus of the present embodiment, as a mode for inspecting the electrical characteristics of the LCD 1, a first mode for inspecting using the probe card 20 and a second mode for inspecting using the manipulator Assy30 are alternatively selected. You can choose.

The switching between the first mode and the second mode can be executed by a switch or the like on the operation panel, and which mode is selected is displayed on the display (not shown). Therefore, erroneous operation can be prevented.

Here, when executing the first mode, first, with respect to the probe needle 21 fixed to the probe card 20,
The LCD 1 is positioned by using the rotating mechanism of the XY table and the chuck 10 so that the electrodes on the LCD 1 are properly contacted, and this position is stored. Note that this positioning is performed while observing the inside of the device using a scope.

Further, the contact position (first position L1) of the LCD 1 when the probe card 20 is used is stored in advance.

After the operations such as the positioning described above are completed, the chuck 10 is moved upward, and the LCD 1 is moved to the first position where the LCD 1 comes into contact with the probe needle 21. At this time, since a position sensor (not shown) is arranged in the ascending / descending path of the chuck 10, by counting the number of pulses after passing through this position sensor, the first position L1 can be correctly detected. You can stop. In this case, the manipulator Assy 30 is set to the retracted position above the first position, and this state is detected because the light path of the second detection sensor 56 is blocked by the light blocking plate 42b. There is.

After the LCD 1 is set to the first position L1, the probe card 20 is used to inspect the electrical characteristics of the LCD 1 by a tester output or visually.

After the completion of such inspection, the inspection with the coaxial needle 31 is executed as necessary. That is, the second mode. In this second mode, after the inspection using the probe card 20 has been completed for all the LCDs of one lot, the LC is re-executed.
D1 may be carried from the cassette and this mode may be executed, or this mode may be executed for the same LCD1 subsequently after the end of the first mode.

When executing the second mode, first, the chuck 10 is lowered from the first position, moved at least below the second position which is the contact point of the coaxial needle 31, and stopped.

After the downward movement of the chuck 10 is detected by the position sensor, the manipulator Assy 30 is set to the inspection position from the current retracted position.

That is, the air cylinder 53 is driven to move the slope cam 51 to the right of the chain line position in FIG. Then, the cam follower 41 rises along the slope of the slope cam 51 against the biasing force of the tension coil spring 52, and as a result, the swing plate 40 rotates counterclockwise around the support shaft 51 in FIG. Therefore, the inspection position is set as shown by the solid line in FIG.

At this time, the light shielding plate that moves integrally with the swing plate 40
Since the optical path of the first detection sensor 55 is blocked by 42a, it is detected that the manipulator Assy 30 is set to the inspection position.

When the setting of the manipulator Assy 30 is detected by the first detection sensor 55, the chuck 10 starts to move up and is driven and controlled so as to be stopped at the second position L2 stored in advance. It should be noted that this position is correctly set by counting the number of pulses after passing through the position sensor as in the above-described operation.

In this way, by setting the LCD 1 to the second position L2, the coaxial needle 31 of the manipulator Assy 30 comes into contact with an electrode or the like of a specific pixel of the LCD 1 and the coaxial needle 31 capable of detecting a minute current is used. All special electrical characteristics inspections are possible.

Needless to say, the position of the LCD 1 is adjusted in advance by using an XY table, a rotation mechanism, etc., even when the coaxial needle 31 is used for the inspection.

As described above, according to the apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to selectively use two types of probe needles to perform two types of inspections with one device, and this type of inspection can be performed as in the conventional case. The inspection time can be greatly shortened and the burden on the inspector can be greatly reduced as compared with the operation performed by changing the device or exchanging the probe needle.

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, regarding the two types of probe needles applied to the present invention, the above-described embodiment is only an example, and in addition to the probe card and the coaxial needle used as one set, other combinations may be used. You can also Normally, in this type of probe device, since the probe card 20 is always required, this probe card is arranged on the side of the first probe needle, and retreat movement is not required, thereby making complicated position adjustment of many probe needles. Can be kept to a minimum.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, one device
It is possible to use different types of probe needles and selectively use one of the probe needles for inspection, which shortens the inspection time and the burden on the inspector, and increases the inspection capability of one probe device. It can be increased more than before. Further, according to the present invention, since the positions of the tips of the plurality of second probe needles can be individually adjusted by the position adjusting means, the measurement accuracy of the inspection can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a characteristic configuration of a double contact probe device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment device, and FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a swing mechanism of a manipulator Assy. 1 ... Object to be inspected, 10 ... Mounting table, 20 ... Probe card, 21 ... First probe needle, 30 ... Manipulator As
sy, 31 …… Second probe needle (coaxial needle), 40 …… Rotating plate, 41 …… Cam follower, 51 …… Spindle, 54 …… Slope cam.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A probe device for inspecting an electrical characteristic of an object to be inspected by bringing a probe needle into contact with the electrode of the object to be inspected, and contacting the electrode of the object to be inspected at a first measurement position in a height direction. A plurality of first probe needles, a plurality of second probe needles that come into contact with the electrodes of the device under test at a second measurement position below the first measurement position, and a tip of each of the second probe needles, respectively. A position adjusting means capable of position adjustment, and a movement supporting means for supporting a plurality of tips of the second probe needles so as to be simultaneously movable between a retracted position above the first measurement position and the second measurement position. A double contact probe device including the above. 2. The position adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the position adjusting device is orthogonal to the first adjusting device for moving the tip of the second probe needle in the vertical direction of the height direction. Second adjusting means for moving the tip of the second probe needle in one horizontal axis direction on the plane, and tip of the second probe needle in the other horizontal axis direction orthogonal to the one horizontal axis on the plane. A third adjusting means for moving the second
A double contact probe device characterized in that the tip of a probe needle is three-dimensionally adjusted in position. 3. The first probe needle according to claim 1, wherein the first probe needle is fixed to a probe card so as to come into contact with electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals on an object to be inspected. The second probe needle is a double-contact probe device characterized in that it is composed of a coaxial needle capable of measuring a minute current of an object to be inspected. 4. The retracted position sensor for detecting that the tip of the second probe needle is located at the retracted position according to any one of claims (1) to (3), or the second probe needle. A double contact probe device, comprising at least one of a measurement position sensor that detects that the tip of the is located at the second measurement position.