Probe card for high-speed signal transmission

Abstract

The present invention relates to a probe card for high-speed signal transmission that reduces processing and assembly time by eliminating the need to separate the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board, and also facilitates processing and reduces processing time by requiring only one processing groove to be processed on one side of the main board, and reduces the length of the signal line by inserting a signal line into the processing groove formed on one side of the main board and electrically connecting the inserted signal line to a pogo pin, thereby transmitting signals at high speed and increasing stability. The present invention relates to a probe card comprising a reinforcing plate (3); an auxiliary ring (5) installed at the center of the bottom surface of the reinforcing plate (3); a spider (7) installed on one side of the bottom surface of the auxiliary ring (5); and a needle (17) installed on the spider (7). The probe card comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) (11) installed along the edge of the bottom surface of the reinforcing plate (3) at a certain distance from the auxiliary ring (5), and having a processing groove (9) on one side of the bottom surface. It includes a plurality of via holes (13) installed at regular intervals inside a printed circuit board (11) so as to be in communication with the processing groove (9); a pogo pin (15) installed in the via hole (13); and a signal line (19) inserted into the processing groove (9), with one side electrically connected to the pogo pin (15) and the other side electrically connected to the needle (17).

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a probe card, and more specifically, to a probe card for high-speed signal transmission that eliminates the need to separate the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board, thereby reducing processing and assembly time, and also facilitates processing and reduces processing time by requiring only one processing groove to be machined on one side of the main board.

[0002] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a probe card for high-speed signal transmission that allows for high-speed signal transmission and increased stability by reducing the length of the signal line through the insertion of a signal line into a processing groove formed on one side of a main board and electrically connecting the inserted signal line to a pogo pin. Background Technology

[0004] Generally, semiconductor devices are completed through a series of semiconductor manufacturing processes, including a process for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer, a process for manufacturing multiple unit semiconductor chips on the semiconductor wafer, an electrical die sorting test process for determining whether the semiconductor chips are defective, a process for packaging good semiconductor chips, and a process for finally testing the packaged semiconductor chips. The EDS inspection process is a process for determining whether a semiconductor chip formed on a wafer is in an electrically good or defective state, and utilizes an inspection device that determines defects by applying an electrical signal to the semiconductor chip on the wafer.

[0005] The above-described inspection device comprises a tester that generates an electrical signal and a probe card equipped with a plurality of needles to send the electrical signal from the tester to an electrode formed on a semiconductor chip on a semiconductor wafer. The probe card serves to transmit the electrical signal generated from the tester to the wafer or to transmit the electrical signal from the wafer to the tester through the needles that contact the wafer.

[0006] Referring further to FIG. 1, the probe card comprises a printed circuit board (10), a needle (20), and a high-speed signal cable (40). The upper surface of the printed circuit board (10) is provided with a plurality of contact terminals to be in contact with the pogo pins (not shown) of a tester in a portion of the edge area (A), and a via hole is formed in each contact terminal. Additionally, the printed circuit board (10) is provided with at least three via holes (30, 50, 70) for each needle (20) and high-speed signal cable (40) for wiring for high-speed signal testing. The needle (20) is fixed to the lower part of the printed circuit board (10), with one end in contact with a wafer (not shown) to be tested, and the other end connected to the lower part of the via hole (30). A high-speed signal cable (40) is positioned on the upper part of a printed circuit board (10) and is connected from the upper part of a via hole (30) to the upper part of a via hole (50). For example, a coaxial cable with impedance matching can be used as the high-speed signal cable (40). A signal line (60) connects the middle part of a via hole (50) and the middle part of a via hole (70) inside the printed circuit board (10). The upper part of the via hole (70) is connected to a corresponding contact terminal.

[0007] Since FIG. 1 is a side view, the signal line (60) appears to connect the via hole (50) and the via hole (70) in a straight line, but there are via holes corresponding to various contact terminals formed between the via hole (50) and the via hole (70), so the signal line (60) actually takes the form of a winding or bending several times to bypass these via holes. Therefore, the total length of the signal line (60) reaches several times to tens of times the straight distance between the via hole (50) and the via hole (70). A printed circuit board (10) is provided with at least five contacts, such as a contact (25) for connecting a needle (20) and a via hole (30), a contact (35) for connecting a via hole (30) and a high-speed signal cable (40), a contact (45) for connecting a high-speed signal cable (40) and a via hole (50), a contact (55) for connecting a via hole (50) and a signal line (60), and a contact (65) for connecting a signal line (60) and a via hole (70). These contacts may be solder contacts. When testing a high-speed signal, the high-speed signal is transmitted from the pogo pin of the tester to the wafer via the contact terminal, via hole (70), signal line (60), via hole (50), high-speed signal cable (40), via hole (30), and needle (20), or from the wafer to the pogo pin of the tester via the needle (20), via hole (30), high-speed signal cable (40), via hole (50), signal line (60), via hole (70), and contact terminal.

[0008] In the above probe card, the needle (20) must extend from the wafer to the via hole (30) in the printed circuit board (10), so the length is long, and impedance matching required for high-speed signal transmission is not properly achieved. Due to the multiple contacts mentioned above, high-speed signal loss occurs, and as the high-speed signal is transmitted through the long signal line (60) within the printed circuit board (10), the transmission speed is slowed down, stability is reduced, and problems such as noise, signal loss, and impedance mismatch occur.

[0010] To solve the aforementioned problem, an application was filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on July 9, 2014, under Application No. 10-2014-0086089 (Title of Invention: Probe Card for Testing a Wafer and Printed Circuit Board thereof). Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the claims are defined as follows: "A probe card for testing a wafer comprises: a printed circuit board; a needle to contact the wafer; and a high-speed signal cable with one end connected to the needle, wherein a plurality of contact terminals to contact the pogo pins of a tester are provided in a portion of the upper surface of the printed circuit board, wherein the printed circuit board is divided into a sub-board which is part of the printed circuit board and a main board which is the remaining part of the printed circuit board, wherein the sub-board is coupled to and separated from the main board on the upper surface side of the main board and is provided with some of the contact terminals among the plurality of contact terminals, and wherein the main board is configured to accommodate the sub-board A probe card characterized by having a receiving space formed corresponding to the shape of a sub-board, and a guide portion formed on the main board for guiding a high-speed signal cable from the bottom of the main board to a via hole corresponding to at least one contact terminal provided on the sub-board.

[0011] However, the printed circuit board of the above probe card is separated into a main board and a sub-board, which has the problem of increasing processing costs.

[0012] In addition, there is a cumbersome problem in that a groove must be machined on one side of the main board to fix the sub-board to one side of the main board, and there is also a problem in that the difficulty of assembly increases because the sub-board must be fixed in the machined groove.

[0013] In particular, since multiple through grooves must be machined at regular intervals on one side of the main board, there are problems such as the difficulty of machining and increased machining time. Furthermore, since signal lines are inserted into each of the machined through grooves and electrically connected to pogo pins, the long length of the signal lines prevents high-speed signal transmission, resulting in reduced stability.

[0014] Therefore, the above probe card has the problem that it is difficult to process, which not only increases processing costs and time but also increases assembly time.

[0015] In addition, the above probe card has a problem of reduced stability because it cannot transmit signals at high speeds due to the long length of the signal line. The problem to be solved

[0017] Accordingly, the present invention is an improved invention designed to solve the various problems associated with the aforementioned prior art. The objective of the present invention is to provide a high-speed signal transmission probe card that not only reduces processing and assembly time by eliminating the need to separate the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board, but also facilitates processing and reduces processing time by requiring only one processing groove to be machined on one side of the main board, and reduces the length of the signal line by inserting the signal line into the single processing groove formed on one side of the main board and electrically connecting the inserted signal line to a pogo pin, thereby enabling high-speed signal transmission and increased stability.

[0019] However, the purpose of the present invention is not limited to the purposes mentioned above, and other unmentioned purposes will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. means of solving the problem

[0021] A probe card for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned purpose comprises: a reinforcing plate (3); an auxiliary ring (5) installed at the center of the bottom surface of the reinforcing plate (3); and a spider (7) installed on one side of the bottom surface of the auxiliary ring (5); A probe card comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) (11) having a processing groove (9) on one side of the bottom surface, installed along the bottom edge of a reinforcing plate (3) at a certain distance from the auxiliary ring (5), wherein the probe card comprises: a plurality of via holes (13) installed at a certain distance inside the printed circuit board (11) so as to communicate with the processing groove (9); a pogo pin (15) installed in the via hole (13); a needle (17) installed in the spider (7); and a signal line (19) inserted into the processing groove (9), wherein one side is electrically connected to the pogo pin (15) and the other side is electrically connected to the needle (17), wherein the needle (17) is electrically connected to a semiconductor wafer to transmit an electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer to the signal line (19), and the signal line (19) transmits the electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer sent from the needle (17) to the pogo pin (15). By sending, there is no need to separate the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board, which reduces processing and assembly time. Furthermore, since only one processing groove needs to be processed on one side of the main board, processing is not only easier but also processing time can be reduced. Additionally, by inserting a signal line into the single processing groove formed on one side of the main board and electrically connecting the inserted signal line to a pogo pin, the length of the signal line can be reduced, thereby enabling high-speed signal transmission and increased stability.

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[0031] As described above, the probe card for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention has the effect of reducing processing and assembly time by eliminating the need to separate the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board. Furthermore, since only one processing groove needs to be processed on one side of the main board, it has the effect of making processing easier and reducing processing time.

[0032] In addition, the present invention has the effect of increasing stability and transmitting signals at high speed by reducing the length of the signal line through a processing groove formed on one side of the main board and electrically connecting the input signal line to a pogo pin. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0034] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a probe card of a first embodiment according to the prior art, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a probe card of a second embodiment according to the prior art, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the side of the probe card of FIG. 2. FIG. 4a is a drawing showing the upper surface of a probe card for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention. FIG. 4b is a drawing showing the bottom surface of the probe card for high-speed signal transmission of FIG. 4a. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-section of a probe card for high-speed signal transmission of FIG. 4a. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the cross-sectional portion of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is an actual photograph of one side of the upper surface of a printed circuit board related to the cross-sectional portion of FIG. 5. Figure 8 is a real photograph of one side of the bottom surface of a printed circuit board related to the cross-sectional portion of Figure 5. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0035] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a probe card for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention will be described.

[0036] In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known functions or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present invention, such detailed description will be omitted.

[0038] FIG. 4a is a drawing showing the top surface of a probe card for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention, FIG. 4b is a drawing showing the bottom surface of the probe card for high-speed signal transmission of FIG. 4a, FIG. 5 is a drawing showing a cross-section of the probe card for high-speed signal transmission of FIG. 4a schematically, FIG. 6 is an enlarged drawing of a key part of the cross-section of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a real photograph of one side of the top surface of a printed circuit board related to the key part of the cross-section of FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a real photograph of one side of the bottom surface of a printed circuit board related to the key part of the cross-section of FIG. 5.

[0040] As illustrated in FIGS. 4a to 8, the probe card (1) for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention is,

[0041] Reinforcement plate (3) and;

[0042] An auxiliary ring (5) installed at the center of the bottom surface of the reinforcing plate (3);

[0043] A spider (7) installed on one side of the bottom surface of the above auxiliary ring (5);

[0044] A printed circuit board (PCB) (11) installed along the bottom edge of the reinforcing plate (3) at a certain distance from the auxiliary ring (5), and having a processing groove (9) on one side of the bottom surface;

[0045] A plurality of via holes (13) installed at regular intervals inside the printed circuit board (11) so as to be in communication with the above-mentioned processing groove (9);

[0046] A pogo pin (15) installed in the above via hole (13);

[0047] A needle (17) installed on the above spider (7);

[0048] It includes a signal line (19) that is inserted into the above processing groove (9), with one side electrically connected to a pogo pin (15) and the other side electrically connected to a needle (17).

[0049] Here, the needle (17) is electrically connected to a semiconductor wafer to transmit an electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer to a signal line (19), and the signal line (19) sends the electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer sent from the needle (17) to a pogo pin (15).

[0051] The manufacturing process of the probe card (1) for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention, as described above, is as follows.

[0052] Here, the manufacturing process of the high-speed signal transmission probe card (1) according to the present invention can be changed at any time depending on the manufacturer.

[0054] First, after positioning the reinforcing plate (3), an auxiliary ring (5) is installed at the center of the bottom surface of the reinforcing plate (3).

[0056] And, a spider (7) is installed on one side of the bottom surface of the auxiliary ring (5).

[0058] Then, after positioning a printed circuit board (PCB) (i.e., main board) (11) in which the main board and sub-board are integrated, a processing groove (9) is formed on one side of the bottom surface of the printed circuit board (11).

[0059] Then, a plurality of via holes (13) are formed at regular intervals inside the printed circuit board (11) so as to be connected to the processing groove (9).

[0060] Then, a pogo pin (15) is installed in the via hole (13).

[0062] Then, after installing the needle (17) on the spider (7), the printed circuit board (11) including the processing groove (9), a plurality of via holes (13) and pogo pins (15) is installed along the bottom edge of the reinforcing plate (3) at a certain distance from the auxiliary ring (5).

[0064] Then, after inserting a signal line (19) into the processing groove (9) of the printed circuit board (11), one side of the signal line (19) is electrically connected to a pogo pin (15) and the other side of the signal line (19) is electrically connected to a needle (17).

[0066] The operation of the high-speed signal transmission probe card (1) according to the present invention, manufactured as described above, is as follows.

[0068] Before describing the operation of the probe card (1) for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention, a semiconductor wafer is electrically connected to the needle (17).

[0070] Then, the semiconductor wafer is electrically connected to a high-speed signal transmission probe card (1) and electrically connected to the inspection device.

[0072] When a high-speed signal transmission probe card (1) is electrically connected to the inspection device as described above,

[0073] The above needle (17) transmits an electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer to the signal line (19), and the signal line (19) sends the electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer sent from the needle (17) to the pogo pin (15).

[0074] Here, the signal line (19) is inserted into the processing groove (9) of the printed circuit board (11), and one side is electrically connected to the pogo pin (15) and the other side is electrically connected to the needle (17).

[0075] The length of the above signal line (19) is shorter than the length of the signal line installed in the probe card according to the prior art.

[0077] Accordingly, the signal line (19) of the high-speed signal transmission probe card (1) according to the present invention is shorter than the length of the signal line installed in the probe card of the first embodiment and the probe card of the second embodiment according to the prior art, so that the signal is transmitted at high speed.

[0079] As seen above, the probe card (1) for high-speed signal transmission according to the present invention does not require separating the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board, thereby reducing processing and assembly time. Furthermore, since only one processing groove needs to be processed on one side of the main board, processing is easy and processing time can be reduced.

[0080] In addition, the present invention allows for the signal line to be inserted into a processing groove formed on one side of a main board and electrically connected to a pogo pin, thereby reducing the length of the signal line, enabling high-speed signal transmission, and increasing stability.

[0082] The detailed description of the invention above is merely illustrative of the invention and is used only for the purpose of explaining the invention, not to limit the meaning or the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

[0083] Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent alternative embodiments are possible therefrom. Accordingly, the true technical scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical concept of the appended claims. Explanation of the symbols

[0085] 1 : Probe card for high-speed signal transmission 3 : Reinforcement plate 5 : Auxiliary ring 7: Spider 9: Machining groove 11 : Printed circuit board 13 : Via Hole 15 : Pogopin 17 : Needles 19 : Signal line

Claims

Claim 1 A reinforcing plate (3); an auxiliary ring (5) installed at the center of the bottom surface of the reinforcing plate (3); and a spider (7) installed on one side of the bottom surface of the auxiliary ring (5); A probe card comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) (11) having a processing groove (9) on one side of the bottom surface, installed along the bottom edge of a reinforcing plate (3) at a certain distance from the auxiliary ring (5), wherein the probe card comprises: a plurality of via holes (13) installed at a certain distance inside the printed circuit board (11) so as to communicate with the processing groove (9); a pogo pin (15) installed in the via hole (13); a needle (17) installed in the spider (7); and a signal line (19) inserted into the processing groove (9), wherein one side is electrically connected to the pogo pin (15) and the other side is electrically connected to the needle (17), wherein the needle (17) is electrically connected to a semiconductor wafer to transmit an electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer to the signal line (19), and the signal line (19) transmits the electrical signal of the semiconductor wafer sent from the needle (17) to the pogo pin (15). A high-speed signal transmission probe card characterized by the fact that, by sending, there is no need to separate the printed circuit board of the probe card into a main board and a sub-board, thereby reducing processing and assembly time, and by only processing one processing groove on one side of the main board, processing is easy and processing time is reduced, and by inserting a signal line into the processing groove formed on one side of the main board and electrically connecting the inserted signal line to a pogo pin, the length of the signal line can be reduced, thereby enabling high-speed signal transmission and increased stability. Claim 2 delete Claim 3 delete Claim 4 delete Claim 5 delete

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