JPH04338662A - Regeneration method for used probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to prolong the life of a probe card by firmly touching a shielding member, being used for shielding the portion other than a probe, to a probe card by removing metallic contamination stuck to the tip of the probe by jetting acid or alkaline aqueous solution to said tip, and by washing with water and then drying. CONSTITUTION:A probe card to be treated 1 has many probes 5 fixed by a resin layer 4 in such a manner that the tips will be arranged at the portion of a through hole 2 in the center of a substrate. A portion of about 0.5mm long of the tip of the probe 5 is positioned perpendicular to the surface of paper and is bent toward you, thereby forming a contact point with a pin of LSI. When performing regeneration treatment, a cylindrical shielding material 6 is firmly adhered to a resin layer 4 in such a manner that the exposed portion of the probe 5, that is, the through hole 2 will be surrounded. By doing this, the portion other than the probes 5 is shielded, and a chemical solution is jetted from the center of the shielding material 6 to the tip of the probe 5.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for regenerating a used probe card of an electronic device tester into a usable state.

0002

[Prior Art] Electronic devices such as various ICs and LSIs are
At the final stage of the manufacturing process, it is inspected to see if it has predetermined functions and characteristic values. The tester used at this time uses a component called a probe card to make electrical contact with the terminal pins of the electronic device to be tested. The probe card has as many conductors and probes shaped like thin hooks as the number of terminal pins of the electronic device fixed thereon, with their tips corresponding to the pin arrangement, and all the pins and probes are fixed at a ratio of 1:1. This allows them to be brought into contact at the same time. Each probe can be connected to the tester main body via printed wiring, terminal pins, connection cables, etc. on the probe card, so it is possible to perform many tests in a short time by using the probe card. .

Needless to say, in order for the probe of the probe card to perform its prescribed function as a contact needle, the pin contact point at its tip must be kept clean at all times. However, the tip of the probe is extremely prone to dirt, which tends to cause poor continuity. In other words, since it is necessary to arrange a large number of probes on the board at extremely narrow intervals, the probes need to be as thin as possible, and they also need to be firmly pressed against the pins of the electronic device, so the probes must be made of a fairly hard metal such as tungsten. It is made of. Therefore, the tip of the probe becomes contaminated with metallic material scraped from the surface of the pin during repeated contact with the electronic device pin, which is generally made of a softer metal than the probe. This buildup of dirt prevents good contact between the pins and the probe and increases the electrical resistance between them, leading to erroneous test results. Because the probes are extremely thin and closely arranged with high precision, it is extremely difficult to clean probes with dirty tips. The damaged probe card had no choice but to be discarded.

0004

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION Probe cards require advanced technology and labor to manufacture, and are therefore extremely expensive. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for recycling a probe card, which had to be discarded when the probe became dirty, as described above, and to make it possible to extend the life of the probe card.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A probe card recycling method successfully provided by the present invention is to attach a shielding material that shields parts other than the probe to the probe card, and remove metallic contamination attached to the tip of the probe. This method is characterized by spraying a soluble acid or alkali aqueous solution onto the tip of the probe to remove the metallic contamination, washing with water, and then drying.

Metallic contamination that adheres to the tip of the probe is aluminum, silver, palladium, etc., and is almost determined depending on the object to be inspected. If a mixture, or even an alkali, is made into an aqueous solution at an appropriate concentration and sprayed onto the tip of the probe, the attached contaminants will be dissolved and removed. The impact that the probe receives from the chemical liquid injection is so weak that it hardly bends the probe, so there is no risk that the probe arrangement will be disturbed. By spraying an aqueous surfactant solution prior to dissolving and removing contaminants, the chemical solution can penetrate better and the treatment time can be shortened. After treatment, neutralize as necessary, wash thoroughly with water, and dry by blowing hot air. The chemical liquid or the like is sprayed so as to pass through the opening in the center of the probe card where the probes are placed. By suctioning from the opposite side at the same time as injection, it is possible to prevent the chemical liquid and the like from scattering.

The above processing is performed using a shielding material to prevent chemical solution or water from adhering to parts other than the probe. An example of a suitable shielding material is a cylindrical body whose inner diameter is selected so that it can be applied to the base of the probe and surround only the probe portion. If the lower end is made of an elastically deformable material such as rubber, it will have good adhesion to the probe card, and the shielding effect will be ensured. An amorphous masking agent that forms a removable chemical-resistant film may be applied to parts of the probe card other than the probes, and the masking agent may be peeled off after the chemical treatment is completed. The shielding material may be used only on the chemical liquid injection surface side of the probe card, or may be used on both sides.

[0008]

EXAMPLE The probe card 1 shown in FIG. 1, which had been used for an LSI test for a long period of time and had developed contact failure at the probe tip due to aluminum contaminants, was regenerated by the method of the present invention. The probe card 1 to be processed has a large number of probes 5 fixed by a resin layer 4 such that their tips are arranged in the through hole 2 portion of a substrate 3 having a through hole 2 in the center. Tip approximately 0.5mm
In FIG. 1, the portion is bent toward the front perpendicular to the plane of the paper and becomes the point of contact with the pin of the LSI. When performing the regeneration process, as shown in FIG. 2 and as indicated by the chain line in FIG.
By bringing a cylindrical shielding material 6 into close contact with the resin layer 4 so as to surround it, parts other than the probe 5 are shielded,
A chemical solution or the like was sprayed from the center of the shielding material 6 toward the tip of the probe 5.

[0009] The regeneration process was carried out through the following eight steps. ■ Degreasing process: Spraying a neutral surfactant aqueous solution for 90 seconds ■ Water washing process ■ Chemical injection process: Spraying a mixed acid aqueous solution containing nitric acid and phosphoric acid as main components for 100 seconds ■ Water washing process ■ Neutralization process: Spraying a weak alkaline aqueous solution Spray for 90 seconds■
Water washing process ■ Pure water washing process ■ Drying process: Blow hot air at about 80°C for about 180 seconds. After processing, the probe card had fully recovered its functionality and could be used like a new one.

0010

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to clean only the tip of the probe and restore its function without impairing the accuracy of probe placement or damaging parts other than the probe. This makes it possible to extend the life of expensive probe cards and significantly reduce the cost of testing electronic devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a probe card that has been recycled in an example.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state where a shielding material is attached to the probe card of FIG. 1 and the probe card is recycled.

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: A shielding material that shields parts other than the probe is tightly attached to the probe card of an electronic device tester, and an aqueous acid or alkali solution capable of dissolving metallic contamination attached to the probe tip is sprayed onto the probe tip. A method for recycling used probe cards, which comprises removing the metal contamination, washing with water, and then drying. 2. The regeneration method according to claim 1, wherein an aqueous solution of an acid containing nitric acid or/and phosphoric acid as main components is injected onto the tip of the probe.