JPH04256868A - Prober and electronic-part inspecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a prober and an electronic-part inspecting apparatus which can cope with the inspection for the functions of an electronic part having the high-density functions. CONSTITUTION:A part wherein an insulating thin film 6 is formed around a conductive wire 5 is used in the electrode part and the signal transmitting part of a prober. It is not necessary to connect a signal transmitting lead wire to the prober. The part wherein the insulating thin film 6 is formed around the minute conductive wire 5 is used. Therefore, the prober which is suitable for the inspection of an electronic part having the high-density functions is obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Purpose of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic component testing device used for testing electronic components, and more particularly to a prober suitable for testing electronic components having high-density functions.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, image display devices using liquid crystals have been developed and put into practical use, with a focus on large-capacity, high-density devices intended for use in television displays, graphic displays, and the like. This liquid crystal display device is generally constructed by sandwiching liquid crystal between two opposing substrates, and electrodes for controlling the liquid crystal are arranged in stripes on at least one of the two substrates.

[0003] If a short circuit occurs between adjacent electrodes among these plurality of electrodes, accurate pixel control becomes impossible, making it difficult to identify the displayed image. Furthermore, if each electrode has a defect such as a disconnection, a line defect will occur on the display screen. For this reason, it is essential to check the conductivity of each electrode after arranging the electrodes or to check the insulation between adjacent electrodes. For such inspection, an inspection device generally called a prober is used. FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional prober. The probe 16 is housed within a protective cover 17 so as to be movable in its longitudinal direction. Further, a spring 18, for example, is provided as a spring action at the rear end of the probe 16 so that a predetermined contact pressure can be obtained when the probe 16 contacts an electrode of an electronic component. Further, a lead wire 19 is connected to the rear end of the probe 16 for transmitting a measurement signal to a measurement unit (not shown). Based on this measurement signal, the measurement unit determines whether the electronic component is good or bad.

By the way, in response to the increase in the capacity of liquid crystal display devices mentioned above, the number of electrodes on a substrate continues to increase. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of inspection, devices are being considered in which multiple probes are fabricated individually and then incorporated into a support base to inspect multiple electrodes at once. This device is generally called a prober card. FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a conventional prober card. After the probe part 20 is manufactured as a single unit, it is arranged on the support base 21 by adhesive or mechanical method according to the arrangement pattern of the electrodes of the electronic component to be measured. A lead wire 19 for transmitting signals is connected.

On the other hand, in response to the increasing density of liquid crystal display devices, the distance between each electrode on the substrate has become extremely small. However, when assembling the prober card using the conventional method,
Since the diameter of each prober is relatively large, it is difficult to make the interval between the probes 16 minute, and in reality, it is considered that the limit is several hundred μm. Furthermore, when the distance between the probers becomes fine, it becomes very difficult to connect the lead wire 19 for transmitting the measurement signal to the measurement unit to each probe 16.

Furthermore, when inspecting electronic components, if the hardness of the probe is too high, there is a risk of damaging the electrodes of the electronic component. For this reason, there is a limit to the hardness of the prober, and the probe inevitably wears out, making it necessary to replace the prober card. In this case, if a conventional prober card is used, the cost becomes extremely high.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Taking these technical backgrounds into consideration, the present invention provides a prober that is capable of highly efficient functional testing of electronic components having high-density functions and is capable of reducing costs. We provide electronic component inspection equipment using the following methods. [Structure of the invention]

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is constructed by forming an insulating thin film around each of a plurality of needle-shaped conductors, and tightly bundling the conductors, at least at the tips of the conductors. Use an exposed prober.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the present invention, fine-pitch probes are brought into close contact with each other in parallel through an insulating thin film, and adjacent probes are maintained at a constant interval, so functional inspection of electronic components with high-density functions can be performed. can be performed with high efficiency.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a prober of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

[0011] The conductor used in the prober requires a certain amount of contact pressure in order to obtain the required contact resistance during measurement. This contact pressure can be obtained by increasing the elasticity of the conductor, and in the present invention, a highly elastic conductive wire such as a piano wire, molybdenum wire, or tungsten wire is used. As shown in FIG. 2, the surface of the conductive wire 5 has a thickness of several μm to several tens of μm.
The insulating thin film 6 is formed by, for example, a vapor deposition method. As this insulating thin film 5, a material having sufficient insulating properties, such as polyurethane, is used. The conductive wires 5 thus coated with insulation are tightly wound around a drum, arranged in parallel at a predetermined pitch, and bound with a binding film 7 made of resin or the like. As a binding method, for example, the binding film 7 can be heated from the outside and then melted and cooled. As shown in FIG. 1, the probe section 1 and the signal transmission section 3 are integrally formed. Thereafter, a support base 8 made of, for example, resin may be provided around these to further reinforce the prober. A prober subjected to this process is shown in FIG.

FIG. 4(a) shows a perspective view of the tips of the conductive wires 5 bound after forming the above-mentioned insulating thin film. The insulating thin film 6 coated on the tip of each conductive wire 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the tip 1 is removed by etching.
is formed. At this time, if the distance between the electrodes of adjacent probers is not sufficient, there is a risk of a short circuit due to contact, so the probe 1 may be further etched to reduce its diameter. Figure 4(c) is a perspective view of the prober that has undergone this treatment.
). In this example, the shape of the probe 1 is shown in Fig. 4 (
c), but any shape may be used as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the invention. (Embodiment 2) Next, an embodiment of an electronic component inspection apparatus having a measurement head using a prober of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 shows a part of the electronic component inspection apparatus of this embodiment. The electronic component to be measured (liquid crystal module 13 here) is supported by an electronic component support stand 14, and is transported to a predetermined position by the rotational drive of an electronic component position control mechanism, for example, a motor 12 here. On the other hand, the measuring head 9 is movably supported by a measuring head support stand 10, and a measuring head position control section (not shown) positions the probe of the measuring head at a position where it contacts an electrode on the liquid crystal module. The electrical signal detected by the measuring head 9 is sent to a measuring unit electrically connected to the probe by a signal transmission section integrated with the probe, and the quality of the electronic component is determined. The defective parts detected in this way are removed by a sorting mechanism (not shown). (Example 3)

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a measuring method for inspecting open electrodes of electronic components using the electronic component inspection apparatus of the present invention. A pair of measurement heads 9 are brought into contact with both ends of the electrodes on the liquid crystal module 13, respectively. A measuring unit 15 is connected in series with these measuring heads 9,
Based on the signal transmitted from the measurement head 9, it is determined whether or not the electrode is disconnected. (Example 4)

Another embodiment using the measuring head of the present invention will be described. Inspecting the electrodes immediately after they are formed on the substrate in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal module is important for improving the yield in manufacturing the liquid crystal module. At this time, the measurement head 9 is rotated within the measured plane of the liquid crystal module by the measurement head support 10, so that the measurement head 9 is brought into contact with the electrode to be measured so as to form an angle x (0≦x≦2π). By controlling this angle x,
This test can be performed on liquid crystal modules with different pitches between electrodes. In each of the embodiments described above, the electronic component testing device is not limited to testing the functionality of liquid crystal modules, but can be used to test the functionality of electronic components having high-density functions, such as IC chips.

[0016]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the probe part and the signal transmission part of the prober are integrally formed, and the prober main body is composed of a conductive wire and an insulating thin film formed around the wire. A prober that can be used for functional testing of electronic components having pitched electrodes can be obtained. Furthermore, since the required contact pressure can be obtained by the elasticity of the conductive wire used in the prober, reliable measurements can be performed while having a simple structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a measurement head and a signal transmission section of an embodiment of an electronic component inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a measurement head of an embodiment of the electronic component inspection apparatus of the present invention along line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a measurement head of an embodiment of the electronic component inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing manufacturing steps in an embodiment of the prober of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the electronic component inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view schematically showing a measurement circuit of an embodiment of the electronic component inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing one measurement method using the measurement head of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional prober.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional prober card.

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Probe section 2... Binding part 3...Signal transmission section 4... Probe 5...Conductive wire 6...Insulating thin film 7… Binding film 9...Measuring head 10...Measuring head support stand 15...Measuring unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: An insulating thin film is formed around each of a plurality of needle-shaped conductors, the conductors are tightly bundled in parallel, and at least the tip portion of the conductor is exposed. Characteristic prober. 2. A measurement head having a plurality of probe needles, a measurement unit that determines the quality of electronic components based on measurement signals from the measurement head, and a signal transmission section that electrically connects the measurement head and the measurement unit. 2. An electronic component testing device comprising: a prober according to claim 1;