JP5715444B2 - Mounting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mounting device including a cooling mechanism that cools an object to be processed to a predetermined temperature when the object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is processed at a low temperature. More specifically, the cooling mechanism is simplified. The present invention relates to a mounting device that can be reduced in cost.

  Conventional mounting apparatuses are used in various processing apparatuses in the semiconductor manufacturing field. Here, a mounting apparatus used in an inspection apparatus for inspecting electrical characteristics of a semiconductor wafer will be described as an example.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a conventional inspection apparatus E includes a loader chamber L for transferring a semiconductor wafer W, a prober chamber P for inspecting electrical characteristics of the semiconductor wafer W transferred from the loader chamber L, and a control device. (Not shown), the semiconductor wafer W is transferred from the loader chamber L to the prober chamber P under the control of the control device, and the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor wafer W are inspected in the prober chamber P. It is comprised so that W may be returned.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the prober chamber P has a wafer chuck 1 on which a semiconductor wafer W is placed and temperature can be adjusted, an XY table 2 that moves the wafer chuck 1 in the X and Y directions, and the XY table 2. A probe card 3 disposed above the wafer chuck 1 that is moved through, an alignment mechanism 4 that accurately aligns the plurality of probes 3A of the probe card 3 and the plurality of electrode pads of the semiconductor wafer W on the wafer chuck 1; It has.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a test head T of a tester is rotatably disposed on the head plate 5 in the prober chamber P. The test head T and the probe card 3 are electrically connected via a performance board (not shown). It is connected to the. Then, for example, the inspection temperature of the semiconductor wafer W is set between the low temperature region and the high temperature region of the semiconductor wafer W on the wafer chuck 1, and a signal from the tester is transmitted to the probe 3A via the test head T. Conduct electrical property inspection.

  When a low temperature inspection of the semiconductor wafer W is performed, the cooling liquid is generally cooled by a cooling device 6 connected to the wafer chuck 1 as shown in FIG. 5, and the cooling liquid is passed through a refrigerant passage in the wafer chuck 1. Then, the semiconductor wafer W is cooled to a low temperature region of, for example, several tens of degrees Celsius. As the cooling device 6, for example, there is a cooling heating device proposed by the present applicant in Patent Document 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the cooling and heating device 6 circulates a cooling liquid between a cooling liquid tank 61 that accumulates the cooling liquid and the wafer chuck 1 and the cooling liquid tank 61 via a first pump 62 </ b> A. The first coolant circulation path 62, the second coolant circulation path 63 through which the coolant in the coolant tank 61 circulates via the second pump 63A, and the temperature of the coolant in the coolant tank 61 are detected. The temperature sensor 61A that operates, the temperature controller 64 that operates based on the detected value of the temperature sensor 61A, and the heat engine drive inverter that operates based on the signal from the temperature controller 64 (hereinafter simply referred to as “inverter”). ) 65 and a Stirling heat engine 66 (see FIG. 2) driven based on a signal from the inverter 65, and the Stirling heat engine 66 heats the coolant passing through the second coolant circulation path 63. It is configured so as to cool.

  When the cooling liquid is cooled using the cooling heating device 6, the cooling liquid in the cooling liquid tank 61 circulates between the first cooling liquid circulation path 62 and the wafer chuck 1 by the action of the first pump 62A. The wafer chuck 1 is cooled. During this time, the temperature of the coolant that has returned to the coolant tank 61 rises. The temperature sensor 61 </ b> A detects the temperature of the coolant in the coolant tank 61 and transmits a detection signal to the temperature controller 64. The temperature controller 64 compares a preset set temperature with the detected temperature, and drives the inverter 65 based on the temperature difference. The inverter 65 drives the Stirling heat engine 66 at a predetermined frequency based on a command signal from the temperature controller 64. The Stirling heat engine 66 cools the coolant circulating through the second coolant circulation path 63 in the heat exchanger 67 by the action of the second pump 63A. As described above, the cooling and heating device 6 shown in FIG. 5 does not use valves, and the piping structure is simplified, so that there are advantages such as fewer failures and reduced power consumption.

JP 2006-060361 A

  However, in the case of the mounting apparatus using the cooling and heating apparatus 6 of the wafer chuck 1 shown in FIG. 5, the cooling liquid tank 61, the first and second cooling liquid circulation paths 62 and 63, and the first and second pumps. Installation space for 62A, 63A, Stirling heat engine 66, and the like is required, and the cooling device used for the mounting device has a problem in saving space.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can realize space saving and cost reduction of a cooling mechanism for cooling an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer mounted on the mounting body. An object of the present invention is to provide a mounting device that can be used.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting apparatus comprising: a mounting body on which the object to be processed is mounted in order to perform a predetermined process on the object to be processed; and the object to be processed via the mounting body. A cooling mechanism for cooling, the cooling mechanism includes a heat exchanger provided on the lower surface of the mounting body, and a cooling device having a heat absorption part that absorbs heat from the heat medium of the heat exchanger, The heat exchanger includes the heat medium that is in surface contact with the lower surface of the mounting body, and a housing that contains the heat medium and is formed of a heat insulating material, and the cooling device is disposed in the heat medium. The heat exchanger is fixed to the heat exchanger via the heat absorption part inserted into the heat exchanger.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting device according to the first aspect, wherein the cooling device is configured as a Stirling cooler.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting heat apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the heat medium is made of metal.

  Moreover, the mounting apparatus of Claim 4 of this invention is a support body which supports the said mounting body in an outer periphery part in this invention of any one of Claims 1-3. And a lifting mechanism that lifts and lowers the support at a plurality of locations.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein the elevating mechanism is configured as a cylinder mechanism.

  Moreover, the mounting apparatus of Claim 6 of this invention is a to-be-inspected object in which the to-be-processed object performs an electrical property test | inspection in the invention of any one of Claims 1-5. It is characterized by.

According to the present invention, the cooling mechanism for cooling the object to be processed placed on the placing body absorbs heat from the heat exchanger provided on the lower surface of the placing body and the heat medium of the heat exchanger. A cooling device having a heat absorption part, and the heat exchanger includes the heat medium that is in surface contact with the lower surface of the mounting body, and a housing that contains the heat medium and is formed of a heat insulating material. And the cooling device is fixed to the heat exchanger via the heat absorbing portion inserted into the heat medium, so that the housing of the heat exchanger suppresses heat input to the heat medium from the outside. It is possible to provide a mounting apparatus in which the heat absorbing unit can efficiently absorb the heat of the mounting body through the heat medium , and space saving and cost reduction of the cooling mechanism can be realized.

It is sectional drawing which shows one Embodiment of the mounting apparatus of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the cooling device applied to the mounting apparatus shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows other embodiment of the mounting apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the test | inspection apparatus provided with the conventional mounting apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the mounting apparatus used for the inspection apparatus shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the mounting apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes a mounting body (wafer chuck) 11 on which a semiconductor wafer W is mounted, and a cooling mechanism that cools the semiconductor wafer W via the wafer chuck 11. 12, a support 13 that supports the wafer chuck 11 at the outer periphery, and a lifting mechanism 15 that supports the support 13 so that it can be lifted on the base 14. For example, an electrical characteristic inspection of the semiconductor wafer W is performed. It is configured to be applied to an inspection device.

  A probe card 20 is provided above the wafer chuck 11. The probe card 20 is mounted on a head plate 30 that forms the upper surface of the prober chamber of the inspection apparatus via a card holder 20A. An alignment mechanism (not shown) is provided in the prober chamber, and alignment of the semiconductor wafer W on the wafer chuck 11 and the probe 21 of the probe card 20 is performed via the alignment mechanism.

  When the low temperature inspection of the semiconductor wafer W is performed, the semiconductor wafer W on the wafer chuck 11 is cooled to a predetermined temperature in a low temperature region of −10 ° C., for example, by the cooling mechanism 12. While the semiconductor wafer W is cooled, the semiconductor wafer W on the wafer chuck 11 is aligned with the electrode pad and the probe 21 of the probe card 20 via the alignment mechanism. The plurality of devices formed on the semiconductor wafer W are electrically inspected in a predetermined manner by bringing the plurality of electrode pads of the semiconductor wafer W and all the probes 21 of the probe card 20 into electrical contact all at once. At low temperatures.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the cooling mechanism 12 includes a heat exchanger 121 provided at the center of the lower surface of the wafer chuck 11 and a heat absorbing portion 122 </ b> A inserted into the inside from the side surface of the heat exchanger 121. A cooling device 122, and the cooling device 122 is fixed laterally to the side surface of the heat exchanger 121 via a heat absorbing portion 122A. The heat exchanger 121 includes a heat medium 121A and a housing 121B that houses the heat medium 121A. The heat medium 121A is formed of a metal or the like having excellent heat conductivity, and the housing 121B is formed of a heat insulating material. As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling device 122 includes a heat absorbing portion 122A and a driving portion 122B connected in the lateral direction of the heat absorbing portion 122A, and the heat absorbing portion 122A and the driving portion 122B are integrated via a housing. It has become.

  The cooling device 122 will be further described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the heat absorbing unit 122A includes a first cylinder 122C, a displacer 122D that is reciprocally movable in the first cylinder 122C, and a regenerator 122E that is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the first cylinder 122C. , And a first housing part 122F for housing them, and working gas is sealed in the first housing part 122F. As shown in FIG. 2, the drive unit 122B reciprocally moves the second cylinder 122G disposed directly below the first cylinder 122C, the piston 122H disposed so as to be capable of reciprocating in the second cylinder 122G, and the piston 122H. And a second housing part 122J for housing these, and the piston 122H is configured to reciprocate in the second cylinder 122G via the driving mechanism 122I in the second housing part 122J. ing. The first housing part 122F and the second housing part 122J are integrated as a housing. The first housing portion 122F and the second housing portion 122J are partitioned outside the second cylinder 122G. In the cooling device 12, the first cylinder 122C and the second cylinder 122G are formed to have the same outer diameter and the same inner diameter. The first cylinder 122C and the second cylinder 122G may be integrated, and a communication hole may be formed in the lower end portion of the heat absorbing portion 122A.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the housing, the drive mechanism 122I is driven, the piston 122H reciprocates along the second cylinder 122G, and the displacer 122D above the piston 122H is fixed to the piston 122H in the first cylinder 122C. While reciprocating with the phase difference, the working gas reciprocates in the direction indicated by the arrow through the regenerator 122E to form an expansion space and a compression space above and below the displacer 122D. In the expansion space, the temperature of the working gas decreases to absorb heat from the outside, and in the compression space, the temperature of the working gas increases to dissipate heat to the outside. In the expansion space, heat is absorbed through heat absorption fins, and in the compression space, heat is discharged through heat exhaust fins.

Therefore, while the displacer and the piston reciprocate within the first and second cylinders with a certain phase difference, a Stirling cycle in which the working gas repeats compression and expansion is performed, and heat is absorbed at the tip of the heat absorbing portion 122A. The heat is discharged between the displacer 122D and the piston 122H. Heat absorbing unit 122A, because they are inserted into the heat exchanger 121 as shown in FIG. 1, the heat absorbing portion 122A absorbs heat from the heat medium 121A, the wafer chuck 11 is cooled through the heat medium 121 A, with the wafer The semiconductor wafer W on the chuck 11 can be cooled.

  Since the cooling mechanism 12 used in this embodiment is directly attached to the lower surface of the wafer chuck 11 as described above, the cooling liquid tank, compared with the conventional case where the wafer chuck is cooled using the cooling liquid, The cooling fluid circulation piping, the circulation pump, and the like are omitted, and each installation space is not required, the structure as the cooling mechanism 12 can be greatly simplified, and a significant cost reduction can be realized. .

  Although the case where the cooling device 122 is mounted on the side surface of the heat exchanger 121 in the lateral direction has been described in FIG. 1, the cooling device 122 can be mounted vertically from the lower surface of the heat exchanger 121 as illustrated in FIG. 3. . In this case, since the axes of the cooling device 122 and the wafer chuck 11 coincide with each other, the placement device 10 can move with good balance when moving in the horizontal direction. Further, the cooling device 122 is supported by the drive unit 122 </ b> B by the lifting guide 16 so as to be lifted and lowered.

  Next, the operation will be described. First, when the electrical characteristic inspection of the semiconductor wafer W is performed, the wafer chuck 11 of the mounting apparatus 10 is cooled by the cooling mechanism 12 in advance. At this time, in the cooling mechanism 12, as shown in FIG. 2, the driving mechanism 122I is driven in the driving unit 122B of the cooling device 122, and the piston 122H is reciprocated according to the second cylinder 122G. When the piston 122H reciprocates, the displacer 122D reciprocates according to the first cylinder 122C with a constant phase difference from the piston 122H in the heat absorbing portion 122A. At this time, the working gas expands on the upper side of the displacer 122D and absorbs heat from the heat medium 121A of the heat exchanger 121 through the heat absorbing fins. On the other hand, the working gas is compressed between the displacer 122D and the piston 122H, the temperature rises, and the heat is exhausted out of the housing through the exhaust heat fin. By repeating this Stirling cycle at a constant cycle, the heat absorbing section 122A gradually absorbs heat from the heat medium 121A of the heat exchanger 121 to cool the wafer chuck 11. The heat absorbed by the heat absorbing portion 122A is radiated from the compression space between the displacer 122D and the piston 122H to the outside of the housing through the heat radiating fins.

  In this way, while being cooled via the cooling mechanism 12, the pre-aligned semiconductor wafer W is placed on the wafer chuck 11. The semiconductor wafer W is aligned with respect to the probe card 20 via the alignment mechanism. Thereafter, the elevating mechanism 15 is driven and the wafer chuck 11 is cooled to a predetermined low temperature (for example, −50 ° C.) and raised, and the electrode pads of the semiconductor wafer W and all the probes 21 of the probe card 20 are in electrical contact. A predetermined low temperature inspection is performed. After the low temperature inspection of the semiconductor wafer W, the semiconductor wafer W is returned from the wafer chuck 11 to the original location, and the low temperature inspection of the next semiconductor wafer W is performed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cooling mechanism 12 attached to the mounting apparatus 10 absorbs heat from the heat exchanger 121 provided on the lower surface of the wafer chuck 11 and the heat medium 121A of the heat exchanger 121. And a cooling device 122 having a heat absorbing portion 122A. The cooling device 122 is fixed to the heat exchanger 121 via the heat absorbing portion 122A. No need for tanks or coolant circulation piping, etc., and the structure of the cooling mechanism 12 is extremely simplified, so that space saving as the cooling mechanism 12 can be realized, and cost reduction can be realized. Can do.

  In addition, this invention is not restrict | limited to the said embodiment at all, A design change can be suitably carried out as needed. In the above-described embodiment, the mounting apparatus used for the inspection apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can be widely applied to a mounting apparatus having a function of cooling an object to be processed. Further, although metal is used as the heat medium 121A of the heat exchanger 121, a substance other than metal can also be used. Further, the Stirling cooler used as the cooling device 122 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the design of the components can be appropriately changed as necessary.

10 Placement device 11 Wafer chuck (placement body)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Cooling mechanism 13 Support body 15 Lifting mechanism 121 Heat exchanger 121A Heat medium 122 Cooling device 122A Heat absorption part W Semiconductor wafer (to-be-processed object or to-be-inspected object)

Claims (6)

A mounting body for mounting the object to be processed in order to perform a predetermined process on the object to be processed; and a cooling mechanism for cooling the object to be processed through the mounting body. A heat exchanger provided on the lower surface of the mounting body, and a cooling device having a heat absorbing portion that absorbs heat from the heat medium of the heat exchanger, the heat exchanger facing the lower surface of the mounting body The heat exchanger that contacts the heat medium, and a housing that contains the heat medium and is formed of a heat insulating material, and the cooling device includes the heat exchanger that is inserted into the heat medium through the heat absorbing portion. The mounting apparatus characterized by being fixed to the.   The mounting device according to claim 1, wherein the cooling device is configured as a Stirling cooler.   The mounting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat medium is made of metal.   The support body which supports the said mounting body in an outer periphery part, and the raising / lowering mechanism which raises / lowers this support body in multiple places were provided, The any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Mounting device.   The mounting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the lifting mechanism is configured as a cylinder mechanism.   The mounting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed is an object to be inspected for electrical property inspection.

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