JPH0258348A - Method of handling cleaning wafer of probing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the efficiency of cleaning operation by using a cleaning wafer having substantially the same shape as that of a wafer, incorporating it in an elevator placing base, and handling the cleaning wafer according to a wafer supplying and recovering course. CONSTITUTION:As a cleaning wafer, a wafer having substantially the same shape as that of a wafer during handling is employed. A box 7 for containing the cleaning wafer 5 is provided on a placing base 3 of a cassette 2, contains it and is waited. In case of necessitating cleaning, the box 7 of the wafer 5 is lifted to the position of a pressing plate 4 to receive the wafer 5, to feed it to a belt 8, to set it on a wafer table by a suction conveyor 9 through the same route as that of a normal wafer, to then feed it to a position under an inspection contact stylus, and to vertically move it under the stylus, thereby performing the cleaning operation. It is again returned to a wafer supplying position through the route of the normal wafer, and contained in the box 7.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is applied to a probing machine that tests the performance of an electronic circuit formed on a wafer in the process of semiconductor manufacturing. The present invention relates to a method of handling a ceramic plate or the like, which is generally referred to as a cleaning wafer, in order to clean the tip of a stylus.

<U.S.-based technology> When a contact failure occurs with the stylus, a cleaning wafer is placed on standby in an area outside the wafer transport path of the probing machine, and the cleaning wafer is sent to the wafer transport path and placed in the probing section, and the cleaning wafer is placed on the tip of the stylus. 97 retrieval of the needle tip is performed by pressing. At this time, stop the sound stop inspection, manually feed a cleaning wafer onto the wafer table instead of the wafer, perform a cleaning operation by moving the stylus up and down on the cleaning wafer, and take out the cleaning wafer after the operation. I was doing it. Normal operations will be suspended during the cleaning process, so
Work efficiency was decreasing.

Method for Solving Problems in the Present Invention In the present invention, cleaning wafers having almost the same shape as the wafers are used, and the cleaning wafers are placed on an elevator platform and handled according to the wafer supply and recovery course. This is an attempt to streamline cropping.

EXAMPLE In FIG. 1, a large number of wafers to be inspected are stacked in a cassette 2 (JJI), set on the platform 3 of the elevator at the 70-bar supply position, and loaded from the cassette. The wafers are sent one by one onto the belt 8 by a pushing plate.The wafers that have been inspected are placed in the empty shelf of the cassette being supplied, and when one cassette is completed, the cassette is replaced manually or automatically. In the present invention, a cleaning wafer having almost the same shape as the 17 wafers being handled is used.A storage box 7 for cleaning wafers 5 is provided on the mounting table 3 of the cassette 2. Place it inside and wait.

And when cleaning is required, the cleaning wafer 5
The storage box 7 is raised to the position of the push-out plate 4'C, and the cleaning wafer 5 is delivered to the receiving belt 8, passed through the same route as the wafer for cleaning, and set on the wafer table by the suction conveyor 9 for inspection. The table is moved up and down under the stylus to carry out the cleaning operation. Then, the wafer is returned to the wafer supply position again through the normal wafer route and placed in the cleaning wafer storage box 7.

Here, since the cleaning wafer is placed on the table from the storage box through the same course as the wafer and is stored through the storage course, it is desirable that the cleaning wafer has approximately the same shape as a normal wafer.

Effectiveness> This has made it possible to perform cleaning operations automatically, making unmanned operation possible.

Furthermore, since the cleaning wafer was housed under the cassette table of the elevator, the working area of the probing shore could be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an apparatus for carrying out the present invention. 1... Wafer 2... Cassette 3... Elevator mounting table 4... Extrusion plate 5... Cleaning wafer 8... Receiving conveyor belt
9...Wafer suction transport device 7...Cleaning wafer storage box Figure 1 Patent applicant Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A storage box for storing cleaning wafers of approximately the same shape as the wafers is provided below the cassette table of the elevator on which the storage cassettes for wafers to be inspected are mounted and the wafers are fed up and down, and the cleaning wafers inside If necessary, follow the normal wafer table handling course.
A method for handling cleaning wafers in a probing machine, in which the cleaning wafers are sent out, advanced to an inspection position, and cleaned, and after the operation is completed, the cleaning wafers are stored in the storage box according to the wafer storage course.