JP2000346875A - Probe card and IC testing device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a probe card for an IC test apparatus capable of preventing a decrease in contact reliability due to thermal deformation of a probe card and improving a throughput. A probe card (2) electrically connected to a substrate of a test head (1) of an IC test apparatus and provided on one main surface thereof with a plurality of needles (21) electrically contacting a wafer (W) is provided. The heat generating pattern 26 is provided on 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC testing apparatus for testing various electronic components (hereinafter, typically referred to as ICs) such as semiconductor integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to an IC testing apparatus for testing a test head and a device under test. The present invention relates to a probe card used for connection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After a large number of semiconductor integrated circuit devices are manufactured on a silicon wafer or the like, electronic devices are completed through various processes such as dicing, wire bonding, and packaging. For such an IC, an operation test is performed before shipment, and the test of the IC is performed both in a finished product state and in a wafer state.

An IC for testing an IC under test in a wafer state
As a test apparatus, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-15431 is known. This kind of wafer I
In the C test apparatus, a test is performed by vacuum-absorbing a wafer to be tested on a wafer chuck and bringing a needle (needle-shaped contact) provided on a probe card into contact with a contact formed in the wafer.

[0004]

However, in this type of wafer IC testing apparatus, a high temperature test is performed by applying a high temperature thermal stress to the wafer by a heater embedded in the wafer chuck. Is mainly transmitted to the probe card via the needle, and the temperature of the needle and the probe card substrate rises during the test.

[0005] As a result, the entire probe card is thermally deformed during the test, and the relative position between the contact point of the wafer and the needle fluctuates due to the thermal deformation of the needle and the probe card substrate. When the needle is repeatedly brought into contact with the wafer in such a state, there has been a problem that the pressing force at the time when the needle comes into contact with the wafer changes and the contact reliability is reduced. For this reason, in the conventional wafer IC test apparatus, it is necessary to delay the start of the test until the probe card is sufficiently heated to stabilize the thermal deformation of the needle. For example, in a high temperature test at 100 ° C., one wafer is required to be tested. A loss time of about 30 minutes occurred every time the measurement was performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and is a probe for an IC test apparatus capable of preventing a decrease in contact reliability due to thermal deformation of a probe card and increasing throughput. The purpose is to provide the card.

[0007]

(1) In order to achieve the above object, a probe card for an IC test apparatus according to the present invention is electrically connected to a test head substrate of the IC test apparatus and electrically connected to a device under test. In a probe card for an IC test device provided with a plurality of needle-like contacts on one main surface, a heating element is provided on the substrate of the probe card.

In the probe card for an IC test apparatus according to the present invention, a heating element is provided on the substrate of the probe card. Therefore, when the high temperature thermal stress is applied to the device under test, the probe card is also heated by the heating element. As a result, the probe card substrate is immediately thermally deformed and stabilized while maintaining the deformation. Therefore, if the test is performed in this state, it is possible to prevent the relative position between the needle-like contact and the DUT from changing during the test, and to improve the contact reliability. At this time, the temperature of the probe card substrate rises in a short time, so that the throughput of the IC test apparatus is also improved.

In addition, since the heating element is provided on the probe card substrate, the probe card itself can be inspected for thermal deformation in a state of the probe card without being mounted on an IC test apparatus. That is, for example, after attaching the needle-shaped contacts to the probe card, an inspection for confirming the needle positions of the needle-shaped contacts can be performed in the state of the probe card, which is extremely convenient.

(2) In the above invention, the heating element is provided on the substrate of the probe card. Particularly preferably, the heating element is formed on the needle-like contact on the substrate of the probe card. It is provided in the vicinity.

[0011] The high-temperature thermal stress applied to the test object is transferred to the probe card substrate via the needle-shaped contacts. , The heat deformation of the probe card substrate during the test can be prevented.

In this case, although not particularly limited, when the probe card substrate is formed of a laminated substrate, the inner layer close to the mounting position of the needle-like contact, especially the surface on the main surface side on which the needle-like contact is mounted. It is preferable that the heating element is formed in a nearby layer by a print pattern or the like. Further, in addition to the inner layer of the probe card substrate, for example, a sheet heater or the like may be attached to the surface on the main surface side on which the needle contacts are mounted.

Further, although not particularly limited in the above invention, the apparatus may further include a sensor for detecting the temperature of the substrate of the probe card, and a controller for controlling the temperature of the heating element based on the temperature detected by the sensor. More preferred.

By doing so, the temperature of the probe card substrate can be controlled to the same temperature as that of the device under test, so that a temperature gradient is eliminated during the test and thermal deformation can be prevented.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a test head of an IC test apparatus to which the probe card of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where the probe card of FIG. 1 is assembled to the test head, and FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the probe card of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of the probe card of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of main parts showing another embodiment of the probe card of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wafer IC (hereinafter, simply referred to as a wafer W), which is a device under test, has a large number of semiconductor circuits integrated on a single wafer. Is vacuum-sucked on the wafer chuck 3 and held in a state of being positioned with high precision. Although illustration is omitted, when a high temperature test is performed by applying a predetermined temperature to the wafer W, the wafer W is heated via a heater built in the wafer chuck 3.

The card holder 4 located above the wafer chuck 3 has a circular through hole 41 formed at the center, and a step 42 for holding the probe card 2 is formed at the periphery of the through hole 41. . As shown in FIG. 2, the card holder 4 is fixed to a ring carrier 43. Positioning of the card holder 4 with respect to the top plate 11, which will be described later, is performed by providing a guide pin 44 provided on the ring carrier 43 side on the top plate 11 side. This is performed by inserting the guide bush 13 into the guide bush 13.

The probe card 2 of the present embodiment has a substrate 20 formed in a circular shape, and has one main surface (FIGS. 1, 2 and 2).
4 and FIG. 5, two pairs of needle groups 21 (corresponding to needle-shaped contacts of the present invention) are provided at substantially the center of the lower surface (in FIG. 5) so that two ICs can be measured simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 3, the two pairs of needle groups 21 have two staggered (alternating) shapes corresponding to the shape of the ICs integrated on the wafer IC (one is a square in the illustrated example). It is arranged.

One of the needle groups 21 is provided with as many needles 211 as to be in contact with the terminals (contacts before wire bonding) of one IC integrated on the wafer IC. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 and 5, the tip of the needle 211 is directed toward the wafer IC and the other end is connected to the probe card 2.
Is fixed to the substrate 20.

Incidentally, the two needle groups 21 are arranged in a staggered manner as shown in FIG.
11 to avoid interference with each other. Also,
In the present embodiment, an example of performing two simultaneous measurements has been described. However, the probe card 2 of the present invention is not limited to the number of simultaneous measurements, and may be a type that performs single measurement or three or more simultaneous measurements. good.

In the probe card 2 of this embodiment, one of the zero insertion / removal force connectors 22a is mounted on the outer peripheral edge of the opposite main surface (the upper surface in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the substrate 20 at substantially equal intervals. ing.

This zero insertion / extraction force connector (Zero Insersion
Force Connector) is a contact ring 1 described later
2 is a type of connector that does not need to apply a force in the insertion / removal direction (vertical direction in this example) when being inserted into / removed from the other zero insertion / removal force connector 22b provided in the connector 2b. The rail that is engaged with the rail is driven back and forth by the cylinder to raise and lower the cam that engages with the rail, and the pitch of the socket contact sandwiching the pin contact is narrowed or widened by the vertical movement of the cam, or other methods. Can be used.

Each needle 211 and zero insertion / extraction force connector 2
Each contact 2a refers to a wiring pattern 24 or a through-hole 25 formed on the substrate 20 of the probe card 2 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).
Reference).

In the IC test apparatus of the present invention, the means for electrically connecting the probe card 2 and the test head 1 is not limited to the above-mentioned zero insertion / removal force connectors 22a and 22b, but other types. There is no problem even if the connector or connection terminal is used.

On the other hand, above the wafer chuck 3, an IC
A test head 1 of the test apparatus is located, and various substrates such as a performance board are provided here, although not shown. A top panel 11 is fixed to the lowermost surface of the test head 1 as shown in FIGS.
Further, a contact ring 12 is fixed to the lower surface of the top panel 11.

The contact ring 12 of the present embodiment is formed in a ring shape as shown in FIG. Has been fixed. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 shows the state of attachment of the zero insertion / extraction force connector 22b.

The positioning of the probe card 2 and the contact ring 12 described above is performed by engaging a guide pin 23 provided on the probe card 2 side with a guide bush 122 provided on the contact ring 12 side. Done.

Incidentally, although not shown, the zero insertion / removal force connector 22 attached to the contact ring 12 side is used.
b and the performance board in the test head 1 are electrically connected by a number of wires or daughter boards.

Particularly, as shown in FIG. 4, the probe card 2 of this embodiment has a zero insertion / removal force connector 22a and a needle 2
A wiring pattern 24 and a through hole 25 for electrically connecting the probe card 11 to the main surface 11 are formed in a laminated substrate structure. A heating pattern 26 (corresponding to a heating element of the present invention) is built in the vicinity. The heating pattern 26 is composed of a resistor that generates heat by passing an electric current, such as a sheet heating element, and is formed by a printing method or the like when the wiring pattern 24 is printed. The heating pattern 26 is preferably formed in a layer around the mounting base of the needle 211 and near the lower surface of the probe card substrate 20.

The heating element according to the present invention is not limited to forming the heating pattern 26 in the layer of the laminated substrate, and a sheet-like heater 26a such as a sheet heating element as shown in FIG. It can also be configured by sticking to the surface. Also in this case, the sheet-like heater 26a
Preferably around the mounting base of the needle 211,
It is attached to the surface of the probe card substrate 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, a temperature sensor 27 for detecting the temperature of the probe card board 20 is provided on the probe card board 20 itself, and the controller 28 generates heat based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 27. The configuration may be such that the power supplied to the pattern 26 is controlled.

Next, the operation will be described. When testing a wafer IC, first, the wafer W is held by suction while being positioned on the wafer chuck 3 such that the needle 211 of the probe card 2 contacts the contact point of the two target ICs. The chuck 3 is raised while being positioned on the XY plane. As a result, the test of the first two ICs is executed. When the test is completed, the wafer chuck 3 is slightly lowered, and the next two ICs are tested.
The wafer chuck 3 is raised again while being positioned on the XY plane so that the needle 211 of the probe card 2 comes into contact with the contact point C. This operation is sequentially repeated to test wafer ICs in all regions. When performing a high-temperature test on the wafer W, the heater inside the wafer chuck 3 is operated to heat and raise the temperature of the wafer W to, for example, 100 ° C.

In particular, in the probe card 2 of this embodiment,
In the case of performing a high-temperature test, the probe card substrate 20 is heated to a temperature rise value of the wafer W by passing a current through the heating pattern 26. As a result, the probe card substrate 20 also rises in temperature from around the mounting base of the needle 211 in parallel with the temperature rise of the wafer W by the heater provided in the wafer chuck 3. The probe card substrate 20 undergoes thermal deformation when absorbing a predetermined amount of heat. When the thermal deformation is stabilized, a relative position between the needle 211 and the contact point of the wafer W is located, and a test is executed based on the initial value. . This suppresses a change in relative position due to thermal deformation of the probe card substrate 20 during the test,
1 and the contact force between the wafer contacts will be remarkably stabilized. That is, in the present embodiment, the probe card 2 is quickly heated to the temperature to be tested, the needle 211 and the wafer W are positioned in a thermally deformed state, and then the test is performed. 20 is not deformed, and the contact force of the needle 211 can be kept uniform.

In particular, while the temperature sensor 27 detects the temperature of the probe card
By controlling the power supplied to the heat generation pattern, the probe card substrate 20 can be accurately maintained at the same temperature as the wafer W, and the temperature gradient with the wafer W is eliminated.
Heat is prevented from conducting through the needle 211 during the test.

Further, if the heat generation pattern 26 and the sheet-like heater 26a are provided on the probe card substrate 20, after the needle 211 is mounted on the probe card substrate 20,
The needle position accuracy due to thermal deformation can be inspected by the probe card 2 alone, and the quality of the probe card 2 can be determined before using the probe card 2 in an IC test apparatus.

The embodiments described above are described for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and are not described for limiting the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the relative position between the needle contact and the DUT during the test can be prevented from changing, and the contact reliability can be improved. At this time, the temperature of the probe card substrate rises in a short time.
The throughput of the test equipment is also improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a test head of an IC test apparatus to which a probe card of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where the probe card of FIG. 1 is assembled to a test head.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the probe card of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of the probe card of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment of the probe card of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Test head 11 ... Top plate 12 ... Contact ring 121 ... Through hole 122 ... Guide bush 13 ... Guide bush 2 ... Probe card 20 ... Probe card board 21 ... Needle group 211 ... Needle (needle contact) 22a ... Zero insertion / extraction force Connector (probe card side) 22b Zero insertion / extraction force connector (contact ring side) 23 Guide pin 24 Wiring pattern 25 Through hole 26 Heating pattern (heating element) 26a Sheet heater (heating element) 3 Wafer chuck 4. Card holder 41. Circular through hole 42. Step 43. Ring carrier 44. Guide pin

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H01L 21/66 G01R 31/28 K F term (reference) 2G003 AA07 AA10 AB01 AC03 AD03 AG04 AG10 AG12 AG16 AG20 AH04 2G011 AA02 AA17 AB10 AC06 AC14 AC21 AE03 AF06 2G032 AB01 AB13 AE03 AE11 AF02 AK03 AL03 AL11 4M106 AA01 AA02 BA01 BA14 CA60 DD03 DD04 DD10 DD13 DD16 DD30 DJ02

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A probe card for an IC test apparatus, wherein a plurality of needle-like contacts electrically connected to a test head substrate of the IC test apparatus and electrically contacting a device under test are provided on one main surface. A probe card for an IC test apparatus, wherein a heating element is provided on a substrate of the probe card. 2. The probe card for an IC test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating element is provided on the substrate of the probe card near the needle contact. 3. The probe card for an IC test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said heating element is buried near a surface of said one main surface of said substrate of said probe card. 4. The probe card for an IC test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said heating element is provided on a surface of said one main surface of a substrate of said probe card. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a sensor for detecting a temperature of a substrate of said probe card; and a controller for controlling a temperature of said heating element based on a temperature detected by said sensor. 5. The probe card for an IC test device according to any one of 4. 6. An IC test apparatus comprising the probe card according to claim 1.