Needle point coated probe and preparation method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a needle point coated probe and a preparation method thereof, the needle point part of the probe is subjected to surface treatment, and the probe at the position is a single probe body or a probe installed on a probe card and is subjected to surface treatment under the condition that the probe is not detached; and coating the tip part of the probe subjected to surface treatment, and coating the whole tip part with a coating to form a metal coating structure. The metal rhodium with high wear resistance and high conductivity is adopted to perform coating treatment on the needle tip part, so that the durability and the conductivity of the needle tip of the probe are enhanced, the contact resistance of the needle tip is reduced, the strength of a base material is enhanced, and the needle kneeling phenomenon is reduced; therefore, the actual performance of the probe card can be improved by processing the original probe structure, or the use performance of the probe card can be recovered by directly processing the tip of the probe of the card by recovering and reusing the failed probe card without dismounting, so that the cost is effectively reduced, and resources are recycled.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of electronic testing and measuring, and in particular to a needle tip coated probe and a preparation method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In the field of electronic testing, traditional probes face many challenges when contacting silicon carbide wafers and pads. Silicon carbide materials are known for their high hardness and smooth surface, similar to glass, which makes it difficult for traditional probes to penetrate and form stable electrical connections. This material property causes the probe to apply greater pressure during the test, which increases the risk of sliding and kneeling needles, seriously affecting the reliability of the probe and the accuracy of the test results. In addition, due to poor contact, the contact impedance between traditional probes and silicon carbide wafers and pads is large, which limits the quality and speed of signal transmission, may cause signal distortion, and further affect the test results.

[0003] At the same time, in high-voltage and high-current application scenarios, the limitations of traditional probes are more obvious. Traditional probes usually have a small current resistance value and cannot withstand large currents. In addition, the contact impedance is large, and a large voltage will be generated when a large current is transmitted, which seriously affects the accuracy of performance testing and evaluation, and limits the application of probes in high-precision testing.

[0004] In addition, as the frequency of use of the probe card increases, the needle tip will wear out, resulting in changes in resistance, causing misjudgment, and affecting quality control and production. And excessive probe contact force will also cause damage to the object being tested and the grain solder joints. These problems ultimately lead to a decline in the overall physical performance of the probe card, which requires disassembly and replacement of the probe for maintenance. This frequent disassembly, replacement, and even scrapping leads to a large waste of resources. As a high-cost consumable, the replacement frequency of the probe card is directly related to production costs and the effective use of resources. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a needle tip coated probe and a preparation method thereof, which can optimize the physical and electrical properties of the probe and optimize the probe card maintenance process, improve utilization, and save resources and costs.

[0006] To this end, the technical solution of the present invention is: a method for preparing a needle tip coated probe, comprising the following steps: S1. Surface treatment is performed on the tip of the probe, and the probe here is a single probe body, or a probe installed on a probe card, and the surface treatment is performed on the probe without disassembly; S2. Plating the probe tip after surface treatment, wherein the plating covers the entire probe tip to form a metal plating structure.

[0007] On the basis of the above scheme and as a preferred scheme of the above scheme: before the step S1, the shape of the needle tip of the probe can be designed first, and the shape of the needle tip can be modified to make it bullet-shaped, round or wedge-shaped.

[0008] On the basis of the above scheme and as a preferred scheme of the above scheme: the tip of a single probe body is modified in shape by cutting, laser or grinding process; the probe installed on the probe card is modified in shape by grinding the tip without disassembly.

[0009] On the basis of the above scheme and as a preferred scheme of the above scheme: in the step S2, the material of the plating structure is rhodium, and its thickness is 2-3 μm.

[0010] On the basis of the above scheme and as a preferred scheme of the above scheme: in the step S2, the coating is plated by an electroplating process or an atomic layer deposition process.

[0011] Another technical solution of the present invention is: a needle tip coated probe, including a probe body, the probe body including a needle tip part and a needle body part; the probe body has and only has a coating structure on the outside of the needle tip part, and the coating structure covers the entire needle tip part; the material of the coating structure is a metal conductive material.

[0012] On the basis of the above scheme and as a preferred scheme of the above scheme: the material of the plating structure is rhodium, and its thickness is 2-3 μm.

[0013] On the basis of the above scheme and as a preferred scheme of the above scheme: the probe body is a rhenium tungsten probe or a P7 probe.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: The present invention uses metal rhodium with high wear resistance and high conductivity to plate the needle tip to enhance the durability and conductivity of the probe needle tip, reduce the contact impedance of the needle tip, enhance the strength of the substrate, reduce the kneeling needle phenomenon, improve the current resistance performance, and ensure the stability and safety of the probe card under high voltage and high current conditions.

[0015] The present invention can improve the actual performance of the needle card by processing the original probe structure, or by recycling and reusing the failed needle card, directly processing the probe tip of the card without disassembling it to restore its performance, thereby effectively reducing costs and reusing resources.

[0016] The invention can customize the shape of the probe tip to improve contact performance, reduce contact impedance, improve wear resistance and extend life. In addition, the design also reduces the kneeling needle phenomenon and is particularly suitable for testing silicon carbide chips and silicon carbide pads. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a structural cross-sectional view of the present invention.

[0018] The following are marked in the figure: probe body 1 , needle tip 11 , needle body 12 , and coating structure 2 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that directional words, such as the terms "center", "lateral (X)", "longitudinal (Y)", "vertical (Z)", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc., indicating directions and positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, which are only for the convenience of narrating the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and cannot be understood as limiting the specific scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features. Therefore, the definition of "first" and "second" features can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, "several" and "a number" mean two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0021] See the attached drawings. The needle tip coated probe of this embodiment includes a probe body, and the probe body 1 can be a metal probe, such as a rhenium tungsten probe, a P7 probe, etc., which can enhance the mechanical strength and thermal stability of the probe.

[0022] The probe body 1 includes a needle tip portion 11 and a needle body portion 12; the probe body 1 has and only has a coating structure 2 on the outside of the needle tip portion 11, and the coating structure 2 covers the entire needle tip portion 11, and there is no coating on the outside of the needle body portion; the thickness of the coating structure is 2~3μm, and the coating material used is a metal conductive material, including rhodium and other materials with good conductivity and high hardness, so as to further improve the corrosion resistance and service life of the probe, enhance the durability and conductivity of the needle tip, reduce the contact impedance of the needle tip, enhance the strength of the substrate, and reduce the kneeling needle phenomenon.

[0023] The probe of this embodiment can be a new single probe body, or a probe that has not been disassembled from a recovered probe card. The two types of probes are plated separately as follows.

[0024] The first type is a single probe body, and the coating steps are as follows: S0. In the early stage, the tip of the probe is customized according to the usage scenario. The design shape includes but is not limited to: bullet head, round, wedge. The processing technology used here includes but is not limited to cutting, laser or grinding technology.

[0025] S1. Finely polish the surface of the probe tip to reduce surface roughness and further improve the contact quality between the probe and the device under test.

[0026] S2. The polished probe tip is plated, the coating covers the entire tip and ends at the junction of the tip 11 and the needle body 12, forming a metal coating structure on the outside of the tip. The material of the coating structure is rhodium, and the thickness is 2-3 μm. The coating can be electroplated or atomic layer deposition to accurately control the thickness of the metal coating.

[0027] The second method is to recycle the probes that have not been removed from the probe card. The plating steps are as follows: S0. In the early stage, the shape of the needle tip of the probe is customized according to the usage scenario. Here, the shape of the needle tip is changed on the original basis. The needle tips of all the probes on the probe card are polished in turn to change the shape.

[0028] S1. Finely polish the surface of the probe tip to reduce the surface roughness and further improve the contact quality between the probe and the device under test. Here, a special polishing cloth can be used to polish the tips of all probes on the probe card in turn.

[0029] S2. The probe needle tip on the entire probe card is plated. The plating covers the entire needle tip and ends at the junction of the needle tip 11 and the needle body 12. A metal plating structure is formed on the outside of the needle tip. The material of the plating structure is rhodium, and its thickness is 2~3μm. The plating can be carried out by electroplating process or atomic layer deposition process to accurately control the thickness of the metal plating.

[0030] During the entire coating process, the probes are installed on the probe card. This method can recycle and reuse failed probe cards. Without disassembling the card, the probe tips of the card can be directly processed to restore their performance, thereby effectively reducing costs and reusing resources.

[0031] In this embodiment, the needle tip shape design and needle tip coating technology can significantly improve the contact performance between the probe and the silicon carbide material. By coating the probe tip with a layer of metal such as rhodium, the hardness and wear resistance of the probe tip can be improved, so that it can better penetrate the high-hardness silicon carbide surface and reduce the sliding amount and kneeling needle problem. This improvement not only improves the reliability of the probe and reduces the contact impedance, but also improves the accuracy of the test results.

[0032] In this embodiment, the needle tip shape design and needle tip coating technology can significantly improve the conductivity and current resistance of the probe, effectively increase the amount of current passing through the probe and reduce the contact resistance, effectively reduce the voltage attenuation and current attenuation during large current transmission, thereby improving the accuracy of high-voltage and high-current testing and evaluation. Meet the testing and development needs of high-voltage and high-current. In addition, the effective reduction of contact impedance, and the reduction of contact impedance from 1Ω to 0.3Ω or even 0.1Ω, further meet the testing requirements of WAT cards, and therefore greatly expand the scope of use of probe cards.

[0033] In this embodiment, the needle tip shape design and needle tip coating technology can be applied to the initial production process of the probe to improve the wear resistance and current resistance of the probe, thereby increasing the service life of the probe and reducing the overall probe card replacement frequency caused by needle tip wear, thereby saving costs and reducing resource waste.

[0034] At the same time, the needle tip shape design and needle tip coating technology can also be applied to the process of repairing old probes. Without disassembling or destroying the probe card, the performance loss of the probe card caused by needle tip wear can be adjusted and restored only by performing shape design and needle tip coating technology on the probe tip, thereby greatly improving the utilization rate of the probe card, reducing the risk of further damage caused by disassembly and replacement of the probe card, and improving production efficiency.

[0035] In summary, the coated probes prepared by the needle tip morphology design and needle tip coating technology in this example show obvious advantages in contact performance, current resistance and resource utilization efficiency. These advantages make the new probes have broad application prospects in the field of electronic testing and can bring about economic benefits and improved operational efficiency.

[0036] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions under the concept of the present invention belong to the protection scope of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, some improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a needle tip coated probe, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1. Surface treatment is performed on the tip of the probe, and the probe here is a single probe body, or a probe installed on a probe card, and the surface treatment is performed on the probe without disassembly; S2. Plating the probe tip after surface treatment, wherein the plating covers the entire probe tip to form a metal plating structure.

2. The method for preparing a needle tip coated probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before the step S1, the shape of the needle tip of the probe may be designed first, and the shape of the needle tip may be modified to be a bullet shape, a circle or a wedge shape.

3. The method for preparing a needle tip coated probe according to claim 2, characterized in that: The tip of a single probe body is modified in shape by cutting, laser or grinding; the shape of the probe mounted on the probe card is modified by grinding the tip without disassembling it.

4. The method for preparing a needle tip coated probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step S2, the material of the plating structure is rhodium, and its thickness is 2-3 μm.

5. The method for preparing a needle tip coated probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step S2, the coating is formed by electroplating or atomic layer deposition.

6. A needle tip coated probe, comprising a probe body, wherein the probe body comprises a needle tip portion and a needle body portion; characterized in that: The probe body has and only has a coating structure on the outer side of the needle tip, and the coating structure covers the entire needle tip; the material of the coating structure is a metal conductive material.

7. A needle tip coated probe as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that: The material of the plating structure is rhodium, and the thickness thereof is 2-3 μm.

8. A needle tip coated probe as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that: The probe body is a rhenium tungsten probe or a P7 probe.

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