JPH0669056B2 - Probe device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a probe device.

(Prior Art) A probe device such as a semiconductor wafer prober is disclosed in JP-A-60-
This is well known in the publication 24030, and the prior art will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. A large number of semiconductor chips (3) formed on a semiconductor wafer (2) placed on an inspection stage (1) are confirmed by a magnifying glass (4) and at the same time needles attached to a probe card (5). A program such as the alignment between the semiconductor chip (3) and the pad (6) to be inspected and the movement range movement path of the probe card (5) are initialized. That is, such an inspection operation is taught and thereafter the inspection of the semiconductor chip (3) of the same type is performed fully automatically. The magnifying glass (4) which is the magnifying mechanism is held by a column (8) which is completely fixed to the rear surface side (7) of the upper surface of the housing of the semiconductor wafer prober.
The operator was only able to inspect from a fixed direction on the front side (9) of the semiconductor wafer prober.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When the teaching operation of the semiconductor wafer prober is performed, a magnifying mechanism for magnifying and viewing the semiconductor chip (3) formed on the wafer (2) is a conventional semiconductor wafer prober. Most of them were completely fixed and attached to one location on the rear side (7) of the top surface of the chassis, but let's efficiently perform management and repair of the wafer prober in a limited clean room. Then, there is a demand for a configuration in which the semiconductor chip enlarging mechanism is moved to a place where operation is easy. In this way, the wafer prober with the semiconductor chip enlargement mechanism fixed has difficulties in terms of repair, management, and setting changes.
There was also a problem that the arrangement was limited and the effective use of the limited clean room was hindered. Furthermore, there are two types of wafer transfer mechanisms, one for right and the other for left, depending on the installation position of the wafer prober. Corresponding to this, the wiring inside the test head for the left and right test heads was also rotated 180 degrees. Since it was necessary to prepare ones for each of the left and right test heads, the manufacturing price was high and the versatility was lacking.

The present invention has been made in response to the conventional technique, and in the prober, the columns holding the above-mentioned expansion mechanism can be attached to at least two places, so that the repair / management / installation change layout can be achieved. It provides a prober that makes it easier and allows the operator to set the operating position independently.

[Structure of Invention]

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a support provided upright on a casing having an inspection unit for inspecting a semiconductor wafer, and the inspection described above via an arm mechanism on the support. In a probe device provided with an enlarging mechanism for enlarging and viewing a semiconductor chip formed on the wafer from above the portion, the enlarging mechanism is provided at least at two positions on the left and right side portions and the rear side portion of the housing. The present invention is characterized in that each of the support columns is provided with a support column mounting portion capable of selectively standing and holding the support column held via the arm mechanism.

(Operation) In the probe device having the above-described configuration, the enlargement mechanism is armed to the column mounting portion provided at at least two of the left and right side portions and the rear side portion of the housing having the inspection portion that inspects the semiconductor wafer. Since the support pillars held via the mechanism can be selectively erected and held, it is possible to easily change the standing position of the support pillars of the expansion mechanism to the left and right side portions or the rear side portion of the housing. In this way, considering the installation position / arrangement of the probe device and the operation place of the operator in the limited narrow clean room, the enlargement mechanism, this arm mechanism, and the support pillar should be operated easily without obstruction. Supporting the expansion mechanism at the optimal position according to the situation can be installed upright, and it is easy for the operator to operate and repair, manage, and change the setting layout.

(Embodiment) Next, an embodiment in which the probe device of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer prober will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. The feature of this embodiment is that the semiconductor wafer (2) mounted on the inspection stage (1) shown in FIG. 3 is electrically connected to the pads (6) of a large number of semiconductor chips (3) shown in FIG. In order to surely contact the needle (10) attached to the probe card (5) used to inspect various performances, a magnifying mechanism for enlarging this contact portion, for example, the installation position of the microscope (21) It has a degree of freedom.

The wafer prober carries the wafer cassette into the cassette housing section (31), takes out the wafers one by one from the housing section (31), and carries the wafer onto the inspection stage (1). After the transferred wafer is aligned with the orientation flat or the like as a reference, the probe card (5) is automatically soft-landed from above and the inspection is automatically started. In order to execute this automatic process, it is necessary to perform a teaching operation prior to the continuous process. This operation is performed by the operator while confirming the pad position of the wafer using a microscope. This is done only by a single person, and operability is a problem in order to do it accurately and quickly.

In order to solve this problem, the above microscope (21)
The column (22) holding the (microscope) is, for example, 100 m on a side.
This m-shaped rectangular rod has at least two of the left and right side portions and the rear side portion of a housing having an inspection unit (inspection stage 1) for inspecting the semiconductor wafer of the wafer prober. It is configured such that it can be selectively erected and held in two places, for example, a rear surface side (23) side portion and a right surface side (24) side portion, which are respectively provided to the column mounting portions. .

Each of the pillar mounting portions has two openings, a rear surface side (23) side portion and a right surface side (24) side portion, which are upper surfaces of the housing, respectively, and a holding shaft ( 33) are fixed respectively, and a tenon, which is a post-fitting joint, projects from the upper end of the holding shaft (33), and the tenon at the upper end of the holding shaft (33) is arranged from above to the lower end of the supporting column (22). The strut (22) can be detachably set upright and retained by fitting the tenon and fastening it with the tightening screw (34). The microscope (21) is held by an arm mechanism (25) attached to the column (22), and the arm mechanism (25)
Is configured to be rotatable about the pillar (22) from the center of the inspection stage (1) to the left and right, for example, 90 ° and 180 ° in total, respectively. The arm mechanism (25) has a vertical movement control mechanism (2
6) is installed, and the microscope (21) can be moved and adjusted, for example, in a height range of 200 mm to 450 mm upward from the inspection stage (1). Further microscope (2
The focus adjustment knob (27) of 1) is attached to the tip of the arm mechanism (25) to facilitate fine adjustment. Note that FIG. 1 shows a state in which the support shaft (33) of the support shaft mounting portion near the right surface side (24) of the housing is fitted with the support pillar (22) and fixed upright, and in this state, the rear surface side ( twenty three)
Cap (not shown) on the upper opening of the column mounting part
Is fitted and closed to keep the upper surface of the housing flat. As described above, it goes without saying that in the prober device, it is of course possible to further increase the supporting mechanism for the columns (22). The configuration of the probe device is well known to those skilled in the art, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Figure 1 shows the right side surface (2
The post (22) is detachably fitted to the 4), which allows the operator to perform the inspection operation from the left side (28), and the test head for high-frequency inspection is also the setting position of the inspection section. Depending on the front side (29), rear side (23),
It is possible to install from the left side (28) and 3 directions. Also, by removing the pillar (22) from the right side surface (24) and fitting it to the pillar mounting position on the rear surface side (23), the inspection operation can be performed from the operator front side (29), and the above test head is also the front side. (29) ・ The right side (24) and the left side (28) can be mounted from 3 directions. Test head mounting direction when the column (22) is mounted on the right side (24) and the rear side (23)
The test head can be mounted from four directions by matching the mounting directions of.

Although the example in which the microscope is used as the enlargement mechanism has been described in the above embodiment, the teaching head may be attached by attaching the camera head of the ITV camera to the position of the microscope (21) and displaying it on the TV monitor (32). . In this case, the teaching operator can teach while monitoring the monitor (32). The use of the monitor (32) is effective not only during teaching, but also during normal probe test to constantly monitor the operation.

As another embodiment, the column (22) holding the microscope (21) is provided on the right side (24) of the semiconductor wafer prober.
It is also possible to mount not only on the left side (28) and the front side (29). As a result, there is no restriction on the mounting direction of the test head to be mounted when inspecting the high-frequency measuring chip, and by configuring the inspection unit at the center of the wafer prober, the test head can be mounted from each direction. For example, when the prop of the expansion mechanism is provided on the other side of the prober housing, the test head
It can be attached from the rear side of the prober. This allows the internal wiring to be compatible with the test heads of the same standard without preparing left and right test heads. Further, it is possible to extremely easily change the layout corresponding to a fully automated wafer transfer system between other semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses in a clean room, and the effect is very large in practical use.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the probe device of the present invention, the enlarging mechanism is provided as an arm mechanism in the support mounting portion provided at at least two positions, that is, the left and right side portions and the rear side portion of the housing having the inspection portion that inspects the semiconductor wafer. Since the strut that is being held via the configuration can be selectively erected and held, the upright position of the strut of the expansion mechanism can be easily changed to the left and right side parts or the rear side part of the housing, In consideration of the installation position / arrangement of the probe device and the operation place of the operator in a limited narrow clean room, the expansion mechanism, this arm mechanism, and the support post were adapted so that they could be easily operated without obstruction. The pillar of the expansion mechanism can be erected at the optimum position, and the operator's operation, repair, management, and change of installation layout can be easily performed, and the operability can be improved and the effect of improving productivity can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a diagram of a semiconductor wafer prober for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a wafer on which the semiconductor chip of FIG. 1 is formed, and FIG. 3 is a semiconductor wafer prober of FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of the inspection section of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a conventional semiconductor wafer prober. 1 …… Inspection stage 2 …… Semiconductor wafer 5 …… Probe card 21 …… Microscope 22 …… Strut 25 …… Arm mechanism 26 …… Upward / downward movable mechanism

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pillar is erected on a housing having an inspection unit for inspecting a semiconductor wafer, and a semiconductor chip formed on the wafer is enlarged from above the inspection unit via an arm mechanism on the pillar. In a probe device provided with a magnifying mechanism for viewing, at least two of the left and right side portions and the rear side portion of the housing are selectively erected to hold columns that hold the magnifying mechanism through an arm mechanism. A probe device, characterized in that it is provided with a respective strut mounting part. 2. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the magnifying mechanism is a microscope. 3. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the enlargement mechanism is a TV camera.