JPH07273159A - Probe unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a probe unit in which the possibility of damaging a wafer is eliminated by providing specific prober body, moving plate, wafer pan, and carrying mechanism thereby carrying a wafer as a sample to other place while mounting on the pan. CONSTITUTION:The probe unit comprises a prober body 1 comprising a chamber 2 for housing a plurality of wafers and a measuring part 16, a plate moving horizontally from the prober body 1 to its outside, a wafer pan 14 fixed detachably to the moving plate, and a mechanism for carrying a single wafer into the pan 14 or carrying out the water. For example, the wafer carrying mechanism takes out a wafer from the chamber 2 and mount the wafer on the pan 14. The moving plate is provided, at the rear end, with a front stopper for regulating forward draw-out of the moving plate. Furthermore, a space is provided below the chamber 2 in the probe body 1 and upper and lower guide rollers are disposed on the opposite side walls of the space on the opposite sides of the moving plate.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a probe device which is responsible for a semiconductor wafer checking process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a wafer prober is generally used to measure a wafer to discriminate between a good product and a defective product. In actual measurement, the wafers stored in the storage chamber in units of a plurality of wafers are taken out from the storage chamber provided in the prober main body, and the measurement wafers are placed on the measurement unit of the main body. Then, the measurement is performed for each chip of the wafer. Currently,
The wafer removing operation, the placing operation on the measuring unit, the collecting operation from the measuring unit, and the storing operation in the storing chamber are all automated.

[0003]

However, in the conventional wafer prober, it is possible to automate each of the above-mentioned operations by incorporating various mechanisms. However, for example, the manual measurement is individually performed. Since automation has not progressed until it becomes necessary to carry the wafer in the storage chamber to another place as a sample in such a case, during such special transportation, the operator still stores it with tweezers etc. each time as before. There was no other way than to take the sample wafer out of the chamber and carry it to another place. For this reason, in the past, a major problem called wafer damage has been raised, and there is a strong desire in the field to solve such a problem.

[0004]

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned demands of the prior art, and includes a prober main body having a storage chamber for storing a plurality of wafers and a measuring section, and a prober main body. A probe apparatus provided with a moving plate that horizontally moves outside the main body, a wafer tray that is detachably provided on the moving plate, and a wafer transfer mechanism that loads and unloads a single wafer to and from the tray. is there.

In this case, the wafer transfer mechanism takes out the wafer from the storage chamber, places the wafer on the tray, and provides a forward direction stopper at the rear end of the moving plate to move the moving plate. It regulates the withdrawal to the front.

Further, the forward direction stopper comprises an engaging groove provided on the moving plate and a means for engaging with the engaging groove, and a space is provided below the accommodating chamber of the prober main body. The upper and lower guide rollers are arranged on both side walls of this space with the moving plate sandwiched therebetween. A side guide roller is disposed between the upper and lower guide rollers, a guide regulating portion for the movable plate by the side guide roller is provided, and a rearward direction stopper for regulating the rearward movement of the movable plate is provided in the void. Is preferred. Further, the rearward direction stopper is composed of at least one of a leaf spring type stopper and a screw type stopper, and each of the movable plate and the tray is provided with a support pin or an engagement hole, and further, the movable plate is provided with a handle hole. It is preferable that it is configured as follows.

[0007]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when it is necessary to carry the wafer in the storage position to another place as a sample for the reason of individually performing the manual measurement, the normal measurement is performed. Using the wafer transfer mechanism etc. used, the wafer in the storage chamber is taken out, placed on the saucer, and then the moving plate that supports the saucer is pulled out from the prober body. Since the wafer can be transferred to another place while being placed, there is no fear of damaging the wafer during the transfer as in the conventional case.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to an illustrated embodiment. A wafer prober according to this embodiment also has a storage chamber for storing a plurality of wafers in a prober body 1 as shown in FIG. Although not specifically shown, the wafer 2 is provided with a measuring unit 16 and the like, and a measuring unit 1 for taking out the wafer 3 from the storage position.
It is premised that all the mounting work on 6, the collecting work from the measuring unit 16 and the storing work in the storage chamber 2 are performed through an automatic mechanism. The characteristic features are as follows. It depends on the composition of.

That is, in the present embodiment, FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, a space 4 is defined below the storage chamber 2 of the prober body 1, and upper and lower guide rollers 6 and 7 are provided at fixed intervals on both side walls of the space 4 via mounting brackets 5. And the side guide roller 8 is disposed between the upper and lower guide rollers 6 and 7, and is guided between the upper and lower guide rollers 6 and 7 by being guided by the side guide roller 8. The movable plate 9 is provided so that it can be pulled out in the lateral direction.

Further, a forward direction stopper 10 that abuts against the bracket 5 is fixed to at least one side of the rear end portion of the moving plate 9 so that the moving plate 9 can be prevented from being pulled out in the forward direction. A leaf spring type rearward direction stopper 11 abutting against the rear end concave surface 9a of the moving plate 9 and a finely adjustable screw type rearward direction stopper 12 are fixedly provided at the bottom portion defining the space 4. The stoppers 11 and 12 restrict the movement of the moving plate 9 in the backward direction.

Further, in the present embodiment, a plurality of support pins 13 are erected on the upper surface of the moving plate 9 at a predetermined interval, while the pins 1 on the lower surface of the tray 14 on which the wafer 3 is placed.
Engagement hole 1 having a tapered guide surface at a position corresponding to 3
5, the support pins 13 are inserted into the respective insertion holes 15 so that the tray 14 can be reliably positioned on the moving plate 9 and can be detachably supported. It should be noted that the upper surface side of the tray 14 is formed with a plurality of annular step portions capable of reliably mounting the wafer 3 according to the diameter.

Therefore, even in the wafer prober having such a structure, if the wafer 3 is taken out from the accommodation position of the prober main body 1 and the wafer 3 is placed on the measuring unit 16, each chip of the wafer 3 is obtained. It goes without saying that measurement is possible.

However, when it becomes necessary to carry the wafer 3 at the storage position to another place as a sample for reasons such as manual measurement individually, a wafer 3 transfer mechanism used for normal measurement. (Not shown) or the like, the wafer 3 in the storage position is taken out, and the wafer 3 is placed on the tray 14 supported by the moving plate 9. Then, as shown in FIG. If the movable plate 9 is pulled out from the prober main body 1 through the handle hole 9b of the prober until the front direction stopper 10 contacts the bracket 5, the wafer 3 moves together with the tray 14 without using tweezers or the like as in the conventional case. It can be easily taken out from the plate 9.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, since the wafer 3 can be transferred to another place while being placed on the tray 14, there is no fear of damaging the wafer 3 during transfer as in the conventional case. After the wafer 3 is transferred, the receiving plate 14 is again supported by the moving plate 9 via the support pin 13 and the engaging hole 15 until the moving plate 9 is regulated by the rearward direction stoppers 11 and 12. When 9 is retracted into the space 4, there is no fear of impeding the normal measurement of the wafer 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the movable plate 9 is pulled out, engaging means 17a and 17b which engage with each other are provided at the rear end portion of the movable plate 9 and the bottom portion which defines the space 4. If each is provided, it becomes possible to reliably lock the moving plate 9 in the pulled-out position. In this embodiment, the roll 17a pressed against the moving plate from below by the spring and the engaging groove 17b provided at the rear end of the moving plate 9 constitute the engaging means. It can be changed arbitrarily.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a prober main body having a storage chamber for storing a plurality of wafers and a measuring section, a movable plate horizontally moving from the prober main body to the outside of the main body, and this movable plate. It is characterized in that it is equipped with a wafer tray detachably attached to the tray and a wafer transfer mechanism for loading and unloading a single wafer to and from the tray. If it becomes necessary to carry the wafer as a sample to another place in the above procedure, the wafer in the storage position is taken out by using the wafer transfer mechanism or the like used for normal measurement, and the wafer is placed on the tray. After that, if the moving plate that supports the tray is pulled out from the prober body, the wafer can be transferred to another place while being placed on the tray without using tweezers, etc. That worry is completely eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a wafer prober according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of relevant parts showing the relationship between a moving plate and a tray or the like.

FIG. 3 is a front view of relevant parts showing a relationship between a moving plate and a tray.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of relevant parts showing a state where a moving plate is pulled out.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an essential part showing a state in which a moving plate is pulled out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Prober Main Body 2 Storage Room 3 Wafer 4 Vacancy 6 Upper Guide Roller 7 Lower Guide Roller 8 Side Guide Roller 9 Moving Plate 10 Forward Orientation Stopper 11, 12 Rear Orientation Stopper 13 Support Pin 14 Receiving Plate 15 Insertion Hole 16 Measuring Section 17b Ditch

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A prober main body having a storage chamber for storing a plurality of wafers and a measuring unit, a moving plate horizontally moving from the prober main body to the outside of the main body, and a wafer tray detachably mounted on the moving plate. And a wafer transfer mechanism for loading and unloading one wafer into and from the tray. 2. The probe apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wafer transfer mechanism takes out a wafer from the storage chamber and places the wafer on the tray. 3. A front direction stopper is provided at a rear end portion of the moving plate to restrict the pulling out of the moving plate in a front direction. Probe device. 4. The front-direction stopper comprises an engaging groove provided on the moving plate and a means for engaging with the engaging groove, as claimed in claim 3. Probe device. 5. A vacant space is provided below the storage chamber of the prober main body, and upper and lower guide rollers are disposed on both side walls of the vacant space with the moving plate sandwiched therebetween. The probe device according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. The probe according to claim 5, wherein a side guide roller is arranged between the upper and lower guide rollers, and a guide regulating portion for the movable plate by the side guide roller is provided. apparatus. 7. The probe device according to claim 5, wherein a rearward direction stopper that restricts the rearward movement of the movable plate is provided in the space. 8. The probe device according to claim 7, wherein the rearward direction stopper comprises at least one of a leaf spring type stopper and a screw type stopper. 9. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein a support pin or an engagement hole is provided on each of the moving plate and the tray. 10. The probe device according to claim 1, wherein the moving plate is provided with a handle hole.