JP2584546Y2 - Pressure application stage for pressure element measurement - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure application stage for measuring a pressure element formed on a semiconductor wafer while applying pressure, and more particularly to a positioning of a semiconductor wafer on the stage. The present invention relates to a pressure application stage which can easily perform the pressure application.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art One of semiconductor devices is a device called a pressure device. This is an element incorporating a material that generates a voltage by applying a pressure, and is integrally formed on a semiconductor wafer including a circuit. As shown in FIG. 6A, many such pressure elements 11 are formed on the semiconductor wafer 1.

Before separating a semiconductor element (chip) formed on a semiconductor wafer, the characteristics of each element are measured to remove defective chips from a subsequent process. Usually, in order to measure the electrical characteristics, a stylus is brought into contact with the electrode pad of each element, and an electric signal is input / output via the stylus to perform the measurement. A device for bringing the stylus into contact with the electrode pad is called a probing device, and an IC tester generates and processes an electric signal.

When the above-described characteristic measurement is performed on a semiconductor wafer on which a pressure element is formed, it is necessary to measure the characteristic after actually applying a pressure. Then, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the semiconductor wafer 1 is mounted on the special mounting table 3 and pressure is applied to each element 11, and then the stylus 91 of the probe socket 9 is moved. The measurement is performed by contacting the electrode pad. The IC tester is connected to the probe socket 9. The mounting table 3 is provided on an XYZ movable table that can move in three axial directions, and brings the stylus 91 into contact with the electrode pad of each element.

On the mounting table 3, each element 1 on the semiconductor wafer 1 is mounted.
An opening 31 is provided in a form corresponding to the position 1, and each opening 31 is connected by a communication hole 32, and further connected to the outside through a connection port 33. This connection port 33
When a vacuum pump is connected to and a vacuum pressure is applied, the opening 31
Since a force is applied to the portion of the element 11 that is in contact with, measurement is performed in this state. The size of the opening 31 is set so that pressure is applied to a predetermined portion of the pressure element 11. In order to form the air path 32, the mounting table 3 is divided into upper and lower parts, processed, and then integrated. If the air path 32 is enlarged over the entire surface, distortion occurs on the upper surface when a vacuum pressure is applied, which affects the pressure element. Therefore, the air path 32 needs to be connected by a thin path.

As is clear from the above, the semiconductor wafer 1
It is necessary to provide an opening 31 on the mounting table 3 in accordance with the arrangement of the elements 11 above, and it is necessary to align the position of the opening 31 with the element 11 during measurement. One method is to match while observing with the naked eye. However, since the semiconductor wafer 1 is opaque, it is not easy to match each element 11 with the opening 31.

Therefore, the positioning for pressing the reference surface 21 of the wafer mounting plate 2 so as to contact the reference guide 4 is performed as follows.
Until now, this was done by a human pushing the wafer mounting plate.

[0008]

The probing apparatus is required to automate the measurement operation. Therefore, FIG.
As shown in (1), the supply of the semiconductor wafer 1 to the probing apparatus is performed by storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers in the storage box 101. The wafers 1 in the box 101 are taken out one by one by a transfer device, and are set on a wafer stage (wafer chuck).
After being moved below the probe socket 9 having the stylus fixed on the probe 8 and finely adjusting the positions of the wafer 1 and the stylus using a microscope or the like, the measurement is performed by bringing the stylus into contact with the electrode pad. . After the measurement of all the elements on the wafer 1 is completed, the wafer 1 is returned to the storage box 101 through the reverse path.

In addition to the supply of the semiconductor wafer 1 as described above,
The supply of probe sockets and the adjustment of the positions of the semiconductor element and the stylus according to the type of the semiconductor element are also automated. However, when supplying the semiconductor upper lobe of the pressure element in the wafer autofeed mechanism shown in FIG. 8, be provided with openings resulting vacuum pressure on the wafer stage 8, the wafer stage 8 and the semiconductor weather
Since the position of c does not match, pressure cannot be applied to each element.

The semiconductor wafer 1 usually has an orientation
There is a cutout called a flat
And a guide is provided on the mounting table 3 for orientation.
It is conceivable that the flat
You. However, the semiconductor wafer 1 needs to be in close contact with the mounting table 3.
The semiconductor wafer 1 is completely within the surface of the mounting table 3
And the semiconductor wafer 1 has a thin plate shape
Therefore, the semiconductor wafer 1 on the mounting table 3 is pressed against the guide.
It is quite difficult to realize such a mechanism,
There is a possibility that the body wafer 1 may be damaged. Furthermore, semiconductor
When moving the wafer 1 so that it slides on the mounting table 3
Causes a scratch on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 1. With pressure element
In such a case, such a scratch on the back surface is also a major problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has been improved to enable automation of a pressure application stage of a probing apparatus that can measure characteristics while applying pressure to a semiconductor wafer of a pressure element. The purpose is to do.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems,
Therefore, in the present invention, each pressure element of the semiconductor wafer
If there is a through hole at the position, a wafer mounting plate is prepared.
A semiconductor wafer is mounted on the EHA mounting plate for operation. That
Means for moving the wafer mounting plate on the mounting table
You. Or means for moving the mounting table and the mounting table
Equipped with means for stopping the wafer mounting plate moving together
You. That is, the present invention is formed on a semiconductor wafer in large numbers.
Measure the characteristics of the pressure elements while applying pressure to each pressure element
In the pressure application stage for pressure element measurement to perform
It has through holes corresponding to each pressure element of the semiconductor wafer,
Supports wafer mounting plate with two reference planes on the surface, through hole
An interconnected air path having an opening at a location where
A mounting table having a reference guide on the upper surface with which a reference surface is in contact,
Vacuum means for applying vacuum pressure to the air path;
(C) mounting plate moving means for moving the mounting plate on the mounting table;
The semiconductor wafer so that the pressure elements correspond to the through holes.
After mounting on the wafer mounting plate, the reference surface of the wafer mounting plate is
By pressing against the reference guide, the through hole and air path
Align with opening and apply vacuum pressure from air path
Then, pressure is applied to each pressure element.

In another aspect of the present invention, instead of the mounting plate moving means, a mounting table moving means for moving the mounting table and a mounting plate for stopping the wafer mounting plate mounted and moved on the mounting table. It is characterized by having a stopping means.

[0014]

[Function] The wafer mounting plate can be processed precisely.
Yes, accurate positioning with the mounting table is possible with a guide, etc.
Noh. The mounting of the wafer on the wafer mounting plate is independent.
For example, the wafer mounting plate
It is also possible to perform while looking from the back side, and each element is mounted on a wafer.
C It is relatively accurate to accurately position each hole in the mounting plate
And easily. Since the wafer mounting plate on which the semiconductor wafer is mounted is mounted on the mounting table with a certain degree of directional accuracy and positional accuracy, the reference surface comes into contact with the reference guide if it is pushed toward the reference guide by the mounting plate moving means. To perform positioning. Also, if the wafer mounting plate on the mounting table that is moved by the mounting table moving means is stopped by the mounting plate stopping means, the wafer mounting plate relatively moves toward the reference guide. Positioning can be performed by contacting the guide.

[0015]

FIG . 7 shows a wafer mounting plate and a guide for the mounting table 3.
It is a figure which shows the position alignment. As shown,
It has a through hole 22 corresponding to the arrangement of the elements 11 on Eha 1.
The elements and through holes 22 are previously placed on the wafer mounting plate 2
The semiconductor wafer 1 is placed in a state where it is aligned, and both are attached.
Attach. A reference surface 21 is provided on a side surface of the wafer mounting plate 2.
The reference surface 21 is pressed against the reference guide 4.
Then, the positional relationship between the mounting table 3 and the wafer mounting plate 2 is determined. Loading
An opening 31 is provided in the mounting table 3 with a hole corresponding to the through hole 22.
The through hole 22 and the opening 31 are aligned when positioning is performed.
By applying a vacuum pressure to the connection port 33, each element 11
Is applied. The wafer mounting plate 2 is generally made of glass
When the semiconductor wafer 1 is mounted on a flat plate,
It can be done while observing. Therefore, each pressure of the semiconductor wafer 1
It is possible to accurately position the force element in the through hole 22
Yes, and easily. The wafer mounting plate 2 includes a mounting table
It is machined to make precise contact with the surface of 3
Sufficient vacuum pressure while slidable and in contact on the surface of 3
Can be applied to each element. Figure 1 is a top Ru FIG der showing a structure for moving the wafer mounting plate 2. Semiconductors wafer 1 is supplied attached to the wafer mounting plate 2.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a mounting table, on which a reference guide 4 is provided.
The reference surface 21 is positioned in contact with the reference guide 4. An opening 31 is provided at a position corresponding to the through hole 22 of the wafer mounting plate 2 in the positioned state.
The openings 31 are connected by an air path 32, and the vacuum pump 5 is connected to the air path 32, and a vacuum force is applied to each opening 31.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a moving means for moving the wafer mounting plate 2, which has a structure in which a pressing plate 61 is pressed by an air cylinder 62. Here, the operation of the wafer mounting plate 2 when pushing the wafer mounting plate 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The wafer mounting plate is mounted on the mounting table 3 with a certain degree of directional accuracy and positional accuracy. This is pushed by the push plate 61. The reference guide 4 makes an angle of 45 ° with respect to the pressing direction of the pressing plate 61, and the reference surface 2
1 is placed so as to be substantially parallel to the surface of the reference guide 4.

Ideally, the mounting position is on a line indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 2, but even if it is displaced, it is pushed by the push plate 61 as shown in FIG. Contact. Thereafter, it moves along the reference guide 4 on the left side and contacts the upper reference guide and stops. An air cylinder 62 pushes the pressing plate 61, and by appropriately setting the pressing pressure, the wafer mounting plate 2
And slides as it is after contacting one of the reference guides, and stops when it comes into contact with both reference guides 4. Therefore, the upper surfaces of the wafer mounting plate 2 and the mounting table 3, the surface of the reference guide 4, and the contact surface with the pressing plate 61 need to be processed so as to be easily slidable.

When the mounting direction of the wafer mounting plate 2 is deviated, a force for rotating the wafer mounting plate 2 when the wafer mounting plate 2 is pushed and comes into contact with the reference guide acts, and the reference surface 21 and the reference surface 21 are displaced. The reference guide 4 comes into contact. The allowable error range of the mounting position of the wafer mounting plate 2 is a range where the center of the wafer mounting plate 2 is within the width of the push plate 61.

Next, consider a case where the wafer mounting plate 2 is pushed by a push plate that contacts at two points as shown in FIG. In this case, since the position of the wafer mounting plate 2 is defined by three of the two contact points of the push plate 61 and the two contact surfaces of the reference guide 4, as shown in FIG. It can also happen that no contact is made. Therefore, accurate positioning cannot be performed, which is not preferable. However, if the direction and the positional relationship between the reference guide 4 and the pressing plate 61 have sufficient accuracy, there is no practical problem.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the number of push plates 61 is one and the number of air cylinders 62 is one. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the number of push plates 63 and 65 and the number of air cylinders 64 and 66 are combined. The wafer mounting plate 2 may be pushed from the direction. In this case, it is not preferable to move in only one direction and move it in the other direction while being pressed against one of the reference guides by the force of the air cylinder because the frictional force increases. Therefore, after pressing on one side, release the force and move in the other direction, or move each push plate simultaneously or alternately as shown in Fig. 4 and move it along the dashed line in the figure. Is desirable.

The above is a case where the wafer mounting plate 2 is moved. If the mounting table 3 is moved and the wafer mounting plate 2 mounted thereon is stopped, the wafer mounting plate 2 is moved. It will be moved with respect to the mounting table 3. Positioning is still possible, and FIG. 5 shows such an embodiment. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 7 denotes a member for stopping the wafer mounting plate 2, which has a contact surface perpendicular to the moving direction of the mounting table 3. Also in this case, the reference guide 4 has a contact surface that forms an angle of 45 ° with the moving direction of the mounting table 3. The operation of the wafer mounting plate 2 accompanying the movement of the mounting table 3 is the same as in the embodiment of FIG. 1, and the same applies to the description with reference to FIGS.

The wafer stage used in the probing apparatus is provided with a three-axis moving mechanism. In the example shown in FIG. 5, a stop member 7 and a reference guide 4 are provided, and the mounting table 3 is connected to the air path. There is an advantage that the air cylinder need only be changed to the one provided, and it is not necessary to newly provide an air cylinder. As described above, the wafer mounting plate 2 is described as having a circular shape.
The shape of the pressure element is not limited to this shape, and may be anything as long as it is positioned by pressing against the reference guide 4. By enabling positioning without manual operation, the pressure element measurement can be further automated. Will be possible.

[0024]

According to the present invention, it is possible to further automate a probing apparatus for measuring a semiconductor wafer of a pressure element.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which a wafer mounting plate is pressed.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining movement of a wafer mounting plate in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a problem when the wafer mounting plate is pressed at two points.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an embodiment in which a wafer mounting plate is pressed independently from two vertical directions.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment in which a wafer mounting plate is stopped and a mounting table is moved.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a stage for measuring the characteristics of a pressure element while applying pressure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a wafer mounting plate on which a semiconductor wafer is mounted and alignment with a reference surface thereof.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a probing apparatus in which wafer supply is automated.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 semiconductor wafer 2 wafer mounting plate 3 mounting table 4 reference guide 5 vacuum means 6 mounting plate moving means 7 mounting plate stopping means 11 pressure element 21 reference plane 22 through hole 31 Opening 32: Air path 61: Push plate 62: Air cylinder

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01R 31/26 H01L 21/66 H01L 21/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A pressure device for measuring the pressure applied stage for the characteristics measured while applying pressure to the pressure element of a number formed pressure element on a semiconductor wafer, corresponding to the pressure element of the semiconductor wafer through A wafer mounting plate having a hole and two reference surfaces on side surfaces, an interconnected air path having an opening at a position corresponding to the through hole, and a reference guide on the upper surface of which the reference surface is in contact Mounting table, vacuum means for applying a vacuum pressure to the air path, and
A mounting plate transfer for moving the wafer mounting plate on the mounting table.
After the semiconductor wafer is mounted on the wafer mounting plate so that the pressure element corresponds to the through hole, a reference surface of the wafer mounting plate is pressed against the reference guide. A pressure applying stage for pressure element measurement, wherein the through hole is aligned with an opening of the air path, and a vacuum pressure is applied from the air path to apply pressure to each pressure element. 2. A pressure device for measuring the pressure applied stage for the characteristics measured while applying pressure to the pressure element of a number formed pressure element on a semiconductor wafer, corresponding to the pressure element of the semiconductor wafer through A wafer mounting plate having a hole and two reference surfaces on side surfaces, an interconnected air path having an opening at a position corresponding to the through hole, and a reference guide on the upper surface of which the reference surface is in contact table, vacuum means for applying a vacuum pressure to the air path, the stage moving means for moving the mounting table, and the placement
Stop the wafer mounting plate that is mounted and moved
After the semiconductor wafer is mounted on the wafer mounting plate such that the pressure element corresponds to the through hole, the reference surface of the wafer mounting plate is pressed against the reference guide. A pressure application stage for measuring a pressure element, wherein the position of the through hole and the opening of the air path is adjusted by applying the pressure, and a vacuum pressure is applied from the air path to each pressure element.