SEMICONDUCTOR MEASURING APPARATUS, SEMICONDUCTOR MEASURING SYSTEM, AND SEMICONDUCTOR MEASURING METHOD

Abstract

Provided are a semiconductor measurement device, a semiconductor measurement system, and a semiconductor measurement method with which it is easy to measure electrical characteristics of a to-be-measured block corresponding to a function element on a semiconductor substrate.　A semiconductor inspection device 1 provided with: probe pairs PP0-PP7; a probe control unit 61 that causes a probe card 2 to move relative to a semiconductor substrate W, whereby at least one active pair among the probe pairs PP0-PP7 is brought into contact with a microphone element M, the at least one active pair having been selected in accordance with positioning of the microphone element M; a measurement unit 61 that floats the potential of an inactive probe pair different from the active pair and measures the capacitance Cm of the microphone element M as a measurement characteristic by using the active pair; a storage unit 67 that stores a correction value K, which corresponds to a combination pattern of the active pair and the inactive pair; and a correction unit 63 that corrects the capacitance Cm on the basis of the correction value K that corresponds to the combination pattern at the time of measurement.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor measuring device, a semiconductor measuring system, and a semiconductor measuring method for measuring electrical characteristics of a semiconductor substrate. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, microphones formed on silicon wafers by micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have been known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The microphone described in Patent Document 1 includes a diaphragm electrode that functions like a capacitor and a fixed sensing electrode. When the diaphragm electrode vibrates in response to sound waves, the distance between the diaphragm electrode and the fixed sensing electrode changes, and the capacitance changes in response to the sound waves. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-254517 A (particularly paragraph 0002) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As described above, it is known that a functional element such as a microphone is formed on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer. There is a need to measure the electrical characteristics of a measurement target block corresponding to such a functional element on the semiconductor substrate without separating the functional element from the semiconductor substrate.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor measuring device, a semiconductor measuring system, and a semiconductor measuring method that can easily measure the electrical characteristics of a measurement target block corresponding to a functional element on a semiconductor substrate. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] a measurement unit that measures the electrical characteristics of the measurement target block by using the active pair and the inactive pair; a memory unit that stores in advance a correction value corresponding to a combination pattern of the active pair and the inactive pair in the set number of probe pairs, for each of the set number of probe pairs, corresponding to the set number of probe pairs; and a correction unit that corrects the measurement characteristic based on the correction value stored in the memory unit for the combination pattern when the measurement characteristic is measured.

[0007] Moreover, a semiconductor measurement method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor measurement method for measuring electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of measurement target blocks in a semiconductor substrate having the plurality of measurement target blocks, the method including: a probe control step of bringing at least one pair of the set number of probe pairs selected according to an arrangement of the measurement target blocks into contact with the measurement target block by moving two or more set number of paired probes relative to the semiconductor substrate together; a measurement step of setting each of the at least one pair of probes as an active pair and setting other probe pairs of the set number of probe pairs as inactive pairs, floating a potential of the inactive pair probe pair, and measuring the electrical characteristics of the measurement target block as a measurement characteristic using the active pair probe pair; and a correction step of correcting the measurement characteristic based on a correction value corresponding to a combination pattern of the active pairs and the inactive pairs when the measurement characteristic is measured, the correction value corresponding to the combination pattern of the set number of probe pairs and being stored in advance corresponding to each of the set number of probe pairs.

[0008] A semiconductor measurement system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the above-mentioned semiconductor measurement device, a reference characteristic measurement unit that measures the electrical characteristics of each of the measurement target blocks as reference characteristics by sequentially contacting each of the measurement target blocks with only a pair of probes, and a correction value calculation unit that calculates the correction value based on the difference between the reference characteristic and the measured characteristic measured for the same measurement target block. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The semiconductor measuring device, the semiconductor measuring system, and the semiconductor measuring method configured as above can easily measure the electrical characteristics of a measurement target block that corresponds to a functional element on a semiconductor substrate. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a semiconductor inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2]2 is a top view of the semiconductor substrate W shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually explaining the microphone element M shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining combination patterns of an active pair and an inactive pair. [Diagram 5] 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the contact positions of the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 that come into contact with the unit measurement area B. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of pattern numbers assigned to each combination pattern. [Figure 7] 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a combination pattern of each unit measurement area B stored in the storage unit 67. FIG. [Figure 8] 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operations of a reference characteristic measuring section 65 and a correction value calculating section 66. FIG. [Figure 9] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the semiconductor inspection device 1 when generating a correction value K. [Figure 10] 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the capacitance Cm measured by the measuring unit 62. FIG. [Figure 11] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a difference D calculated by a correction value calculation unit 66. FIG. [Figure 12] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a correction value K calculated by a correction value calculation unit 66. FIG. [Figure 13] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the semiconductor inspection device 1 when performing inspection. [Figure 14] 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the capacitance Cc corrected by the correction unit 63. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, components with the same reference numerals in each drawing are the same components, and the description thereof will be omitted. The semiconductor inspection device 1 shown in Fig. 1 corresponds to an example of the semiconductor measurement device and the semiconductor measurement system according to the present invention.

[0012] The semiconductor inspection device 1 shown in FIG. 1 generally comprises a probe card 2, a switching circuit 3, a measuring circuit 4, an AC power source 5, a table 7, and a control unit 6.

[0013] The probe card 2 has a set number of pairs, for example, eight pairs of probe pairs PP0 to PP7. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the set number is eight. Note that the set number need only be two or more and is not limited to eight. Probe pair PPn (n is 0, 1, 2,..., 7, the same applies below) has probes Pn1 and Pn2. The probe card 2 is detachable and replaceable with respect to the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 main body.

[0014] Hereinafter, the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 are collectively referred to as probe pair PP, and the probes Pn1 and Pn2 are collectively referred to as probe P. As the probe P, various types of probes can be used, such as a cantilever-shaped, pin-shaped, bump-shaped, or pad-shaped probe.

[0015] A semiconductor substrate W to be inspected is placed on the table 7. The table 7 is movable by a movement mechanism (not shown). This allows the probe P to come into contact with any desired location on the semiconductor substrate W placed on the table 7. The movement mechanism only needs to be able to move the probe pairs PP relative to the semiconductor substrate W, and may also move the probe card 2. By moving the probe card 2 or the table 7, a plurality of probe pairs PP can be moved together relative to the semiconductor substrate W.

[0016] The switching circuit 3 includes switches SWn1 and SWn2. The switches SWn1 and SWn2 are turned on and off in response to a control signal from a control unit 6. The measurement circuit 4 includes an ammeter An. The ammeter An outputs a current value In of the measured AC current to the control unit 6. The AC power source 5 outputs an AC voltage with a preset frequency f and voltage V.

[0017] The probe Pn1 is connected to the positive terminal of the ammeter An via the switch SWn1. The negative terminal of the ammeter An is connected to the circuit ground. The probe Pn2 is connected to the positive terminal of the AC power supply 5 via the switch SWn2. The negative terminal of the AC power supply 5 is connected to the circuit ground.

[0018] The control unit 6 is configured using a so-called microcomputer. The control unit 6 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes predetermined arithmetic processing, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores data, a non-volatile storage unit 67 such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores predetermined programs and data, and peripheral circuits thereof.

[0019] The control unit 6 functions as a probe control unit 61, a measurement unit 62, a correction unit 63, an inspection unit 64, a reference characteristic measurement unit 65, and a correction value calculation unit 66, for example, by executing the above-mentioned program.

[0020] 2, a semiconductor substrate W is a so-called semiconductor wafer having a plurality of microphone elements M and a test element group (TEG) 8 formed by MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) on the top surface thereof. The microphone elements M correspond to an example of a measurement target block. Note that the measurement target block is not limited to one formed by MEMS, and does not have to be a microphone element.

[0021] 3 includes, for example, a diaphragm electrode that vibrates in response to sound waves and a fixed sensing electrode disposed opposite the diaphragm electrode, and in a silent state, a capacitance C is generated between the diaphragm electrode and the fixed sensing electrode. The microphone element M includes an electrode E1 connected to the diaphragm electrode and an electrode E2 connected to the fixed sensing electrode.

[0022] Therefore, by measuring the capacitance between the electrodes E1 and E2, the capacitance C can be measured. If the capacitance C is outside the normal range, the microphone element M is considered to be defective. Therefore, the semiconductor inspection device 1 brings the probes Pn1 and Pn2 into contact with the electrodes E1 and E2, and measures the capacitance between the electrodes E1 and E2, i.e., the capacitance C, with the probes Pn1 and Pn2.

[0023] The capacitance C corresponds to an example of an electrical characteristic. Note that the electrical characteristic is not limited to the capacitance. The electrical characteristic may be an inductance, an impedance, a resistance value, or the like.

[0024] Hereinafter, bringing the probes Pn1 and Pn2 into contact with the electrodes E1 and E2 of the microphone element M will be simply referred to as bringing the probe pair PPn into contact with the microphone element M.

[0025] The probe control unit 61 controls a movement mechanism (not shown) to move the probe card 2 integrally relative to the semiconductor substrate W, thereby bringing at least one pair selected from the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 according to the arrangement of the microphone elements M into contact with the microphone elements M. Hereinafter, the probe pair PP that comes into contact with the microphone elements M will be referred to as an active pair, and the probe pair PP that does not come into contact with the microphone elements M will be referred to as an inactive pair.

[0026] The measurement unit 62 floats the potential of the probe pair PP of the inactive pair and measures the capacitance C of the microphone element M by the probe pair PP of the active pair. The measurement unit 62 floats the potential of the probe pair PPn of the inactive pair by turning off the switches SWn1 and SWn2, and can perform measurement by the probe pair PPn of the active pair by turning on the switches SWn1 and SWn2.

[0027] When the switches SWn1 and SWn2 are turned on, the measurement section 62 can calculate the capacitance C using the following formula (1) based on the current value In measured by the ammeter An. Capacitance C = In / (V × 2πf) (1)

[0028] Since the probe card 2 has eight probe pairs PP, the probe pairs PP can be brought into contact with eight microphone elements M at one time, and the capacitances C of eight microphone elements M can be measured in parallel at one time.

[0029] In Fig. 4, the range of eight microphone elements M that can be brought into contact with eight probe pairs PP at one time is shown as a unit measurement area B. The position of each unit measurement area B is shown as an X coordinate 0 to 2 and a Y coordinate 0 to 19 in an XY Cartesian coordinate system. The unit measurement area B with coordinates (X, Y) is shown as unit measurement area B(X, Y).

[0030] As shown in FIG. 5, the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 are brought into contact with each unit measurement area B in order from right to left.

[0031] In the unit measurement area B(1,0) shown in Fig. 4, all of the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 are in contact with the microphone element M, so in the unit measurement area B(1,0), all of the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 are active pairs. If the numbers 0 to 7 of the probe pairs PP correspond to binary digits and active pairs are represented by "0", the combination pattern of active pairs and inactive pairs in the unit measurement area B(1,0) (hereinafter simply referred to as combination pattern) can be represented in binary as "00000000".

[0032] On the other hand, the unit measurement area B(0,0) includes a portion where the probe pair PP contacts the microphone element M, a portion where the probe pair PP contacts an area on the semiconductor substrate W where the microphone element M is not formed, and an area where the probe pair PP is located outside the semiconductor substrate W. In Fig. 4, the portion where the probe pair PP contacts an area on the semiconductor substrate W where the microphone element M is not formed and the area where the probe pair PP is located outside the semiconductor substrate W are indicated by diagonal hatching.

[0033] In the area indicated by diagonal hatching, the probe pair PP is not in contact with the microphone element M, and therefore the probe pair PP corresponding to this hatched area is an inactive pair. If an inactive pair is represented by "1", the combination pattern in the unit measurement area B(0,0) can be expressed in binary as "11111100".

[0034] In the unit measurement area B(1,1), the TEG8 indicated by the black square is located at the position of the probe pair PP3. That is, at the position of the probe pair PP3 indicated by the black square, the probe pair PP does not contact the microphone element M, so the probe pair PP corresponding to the area indicated by the black square becomes an inactive pair. Therefore, the combination pattern in the unit measurement area B(1,1) can be expressed in binary as "00001000".

[0035] In the example shown in Fig. 6, when a combination pattern is expressed in binary, the value obtained by expressing the binary in decimal is directly used as the pattern number. As shown in Fig. 6, each combination pattern and a pattern number are associated with each other and stored in advance in the storage unit 67.

[0036] Further, the storage unit 67 stores in advance combination patterns of each unit measurement area B shown in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 7, combination patterns corresponding to unit measurement areas B (0,0) to (2,19) are stored in the storage unit 67. The combination patterns may be stored by pattern number.

[0037] As shown in Figure 7, storing the combination patterns of each unit measurement area B obtained according to the arrangement of the microphone elements M in the memory unit 67 corresponds to selecting an active pair corresponding to each unit measurement area B from among the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 according to the arrangement of the microphone elements M.

[0038] Based on the combination pattern of each unit measurement area B pre-stored in the memory 67, the measurement unit 62 turns off the switches SWn1 and SWn2 corresponding to the inactive pairs to float the potential of the inactive pairs, turns on the switches SWn1 and SWn2 corresponding to the active pairs, and measures the capacitance C of each microphone element M as a measurement characteristic by the active pairs. Hereinafter, the capacitance C measured as a measurement characteristic by the measurement unit 62 using the probe card 2 is referred to as capacitance Cm.

[0039] The storage unit 67 stores in advance the correction values ​​K corresponding to the combination patterns of the unit measurement area B for each of the probe pairs PP0 to PP7. Specifically, the correction values ​​K calculated by the correction value calculation unit 66 may be stored in advance in the storage unit 67 before being used in the correction unit, or the correction values ​​K obtained separately outside may be stored in the storage unit 67 in advance.

[0040] The correction unit 63 corrects each capacitance Cm measured by the measurement unit 62 based on a correction value K stored in the storage unit 67 in association with the combination pattern when each capacitance Cm was measured.

[0041] The inspection unit 64 compares each capacitance Cm corrected by the correction unit 63 with a preset reference value Cref to determine the pass / fail of each microphone element M. Hereinafter, the capacitance Cm corrected by the correction unit 63 is referred to as a capacitance Cc (correction characteristic).

[0042] When generating the correction value K, as shown in Fig. 8, the probe card 2 of the semiconductor inspection device 1 is replaced with a probe card 2a, and then the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 and the correction value calculating unit 66 are operated. The probe card 2a has only one probe pair PP, for example, only the probe pair PP0. When calculating the correction value K, it is preferable to use a semiconductor substrate Wr that is known in advance to have a high yield rate of microphone elements M included in one semiconductor substrate W.

[0043] The reference characteristic measuring unit 65 uses the probe card 2a to sequentially bring only the probe pair PP0 into contact with each microphone element M, thereby measuring the capacitance C of each microphone element M as a reference characteristic. Hereinafter, the capacitance C measured as the reference characteristic by the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 using the probe card 2a is referred to as capacitance Cr.

[0044] The correction value calculation unit 66 calculates a correction value K for the same microphone element M based on the difference D between the capacitance C (reference characteristic) measured by the reference characteristic measurement unit 65 and the capacitance C (measured characteristic) measured by the measurement unit 62, and stores the correction value K in the memory unit 67.

[0045] Next, the operation of the semiconductor inspection device 1 configured as described above will be described. First, the operation of the semiconductor inspection device 1 when generating the correction value K will be described with reference to Fig. 9. First, for example, a user attaches a probe card 2a to the semiconductor inspection device 1 as shown in Fig. 8.

[0046] With the probe card 2a attached to the semiconductor inspection equipment 1, the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 measures the capacitance Cr of each microphone element M (step S1).

[0047] Next, for example, a user replaces the probe card 2a with the probe card 2, and the semiconductor inspection device 1 is brought into the state shown in FIG. 1 (step S2).

[0048] Next, the measurement unit 62 measures the capacitance Cm (measurement characteristic) of each microphone element M in association with a combination pattern for each measurement value group corresponding to the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 using the probe card 2 (step S3). During the measurement, the measurement unit 62 floats the potential of the probe pair PP of the inactive pair and measures the capacitance Cm by the probe pair PP of the active pair.

[0049] In the example shown in Fig. 10, the capacitance Cm of each microphone element M is indicated by the coordinates of the unit measurement area B and the number of the probe pair PP. The capacitances Cm corresponding to the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 in each unit measurement area B correspond to measurement value groups. In the example shown in Fig. 10, combination patterns represented by pattern numbers are associated with measurement value groups of the capacitance Cm.

[0050] Next, the correction value calculation section 66 calculates the difference D for each of the measurement value groups corresponding to each unit measurement area B, for each of the probe pairs PP0 to PP7, by the following formula (2) (step S4). Difference D=Cm-Cr (2)

[0051] As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the differences D corresponding to the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 in the measurement value group, that is, the differences D corresponding to each microphone element M, are calculated.

[0052] Next, the correction value calculation unit 66 calculates a correction value K by averaging the differences D for each combination pattern of the measurement value groups corresponding to each unit measurement area B, between those corresponding to the same probe pair PP (step S5).

[0053] In the example shown in Fig. 4, there are two unit measurement areas B (0,7) and (0,10) that have a combination pattern of "11001000" and a pattern number of 200. When the differences D of unit measurement areas B (0,7) and (0,10) shown in Fig. 11 that correspond to the same probe pair PP are averaged, the correction value K of probe pair PP0 is 4, the correction value K of probe pair PP1 is 4, the correction value K of probe pair PP2 is 5, the correction value K of probe pair PP4 is 8, and the correction value K of probe pair PP5 is 9.

[0054] 12, the correction value K of the probe pair PP0 corresponding to pattern number 200 is 4, the correction value K of the probe pair PP1 is 4, the correction value K of the probe pair PP2 is 5, the correction value K of the probe pair PP4 is 8, and the correction value K of the probe pair PP5 is 9. The correction values ​​K corresponding to the other combination patterns are calculated in a similar manner.

[0055] If some of the microphone elements M included in the semiconductor substrate Wr used to calculate the correction value K are defective, different measurement results may be obtained even with the same combination pattern, and the difference D may become an abnormal value. However, the correction value calculation unit 66 can reduce the influence of such an abnormal value by setting the average value of the differences D as the correction value K.

[0056] In step S5, the difference D exceeding a preset abnormal value determination value for determining an abnormal value may be excluded from the averaging. This makes it possible to further improve the accuracy of the correction value K.

[0057] Next, the correction value calculation unit 66 stores the correction values ​​K corresponding to the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 for each combination pattern, for example, the correction values ​​K shown in FIG. 12, in the storage unit 67 (step S6).

[0058] According to the semiconductor inspection device 1 equipped with the probe card 2, a plurality of capacitances C can be measured at once by a plurality of probe pairs PP0 to PP7, and it is easy to increase the measurement speed. However, when the probe card 2 is used, as shown in FIG. 4, there are some probe pairs PP that do not contact the microphone element M but contact the TEG 8 or are located in an area where the microphone element M is not formed.

[0059] In this way, if the AC power supply 5 or the circuit ground is connected to the probe pair PP that does not contact the microphone element M, an unintended current may flow in and deteriorate, for example, the TEG 8 or the measurement circuit 4. Therefore, the measurement unit 62 turns off the switches SWn1 and SWn2 corresponding to the inactive pair that does not contact the microphone element M to float the potential of the inactive pair. This makes it possible to reduce the risk of an unintended current flowing in.

[0060] On the other hand, the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 and the wiring from the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 to the switching circuit 3 are arranged substantially adjacent to each other, causing capacitive coupling between them. The inventors of the present invention have found that when the switches SWn1, SWn2 corresponding to the inactive pairs are turned off to float the potential of the inactive pairs, the stray capacitance of the probe pair PP of the inactive pair increases, affecting the surrounding probe pairs PP that are capacitively coupled with the inactive pairs.

[0061] The inventors of the present invention have found that an error occurs in the measurement value measured by the probe card 2 depending on the combination pattern, which is a combination of an active pair and an inactive pair.

[0062] According to steps S1 to S5, the switches SWn1 and SWn2 corresponding to the inactive pair are turned off to float the potential of the inactive pair, and the switches SWn1 and SWn2 corresponding to the active pair are turned on, thereby calculating a correction value K that can correct the error caused by measuring the capacitance C of each microphone element M by the active pair.

[0063] Note that the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 is not limited to the example including the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 and the correction value calculating unit 66. For example, the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 may not include the reference characteristic measuring unit 65, and step S1 may be performed by an apparatus other than the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 that includes the probe card 2a and the reference characteristic measuring unit 65, and the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 that does not include the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 may perform steps S3 to S6 based on the obtained capacitance Cr.

[0064] Alternatively, the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 may not include the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 and the correction value calculating unit 66, and the correction value calculating unit 66 may be configured by another information processing device such as a personal computer. Step S1 may be executed by an apparatus other than the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 that includes the probe card 2a and the reference characteristic measuring unit 65, step S2 may be executed by the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 that does not include the reference characteristic measuring unit 65 and the correction value calculating unit 66, and steps S4 and S5 may be executed by the correction value calculating unit 66 of the information processing device. In this way, the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 may be configured as a semiconductor measurement system in which a plurality of devices are combined.

[0065] Also, in the combination pattern "00000000" where all the probe pairs PP are active pairs, no probe pairs PP with floating potentials are generated. Therefore, no influence of stray capacitance due to the floating probe pairs PP occurs. Therefore, for combination patterns where all the probe pairs PP are active pairs, steps S1, S3, S4, and S5 may not be executed, and the correction value K corresponding to the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 may be fixed to 0 in step S6. This can simplify the calculation process of the correction value K.

[0066] Next, the operation of the semiconductor inspection device 1 when inspecting the semiconductor substrate W to be inspected will be described.

[0067] 13, first, the semiconductor substrate W to be inspected is placed on the table 7. In this state, the measurement unit 62 measures the capacitance Cm of each microphone element M by using the probe card 2 for each measurement value group corresponding to the probe pairs PP0 to PP7 in association with a combination pattern (step S11). As in step S2, the measurement unit 62 floats the potential of the probe pair PP of the inactive pair and measures the capacitance Cm by the probe pair PP of the active pair.

[0068] As a result, for example, similarly to FIG. 10, the capacitance Cm of each microphone element M is measured in association with the combination pattern.

[0069] Next, the correction unit 63 corrects the capacitance Cm of each microphone element M based on the correction value K according to the corresponding combination pattern to obtain a capacitance Cc (correction characteristic) (step S12).

[0070] A specific example will be described below in which the capacitance Cm shown in FIG. 10 is measured in step S11. When correcting the capacitance Cm of the unit measurement area B(0,0), the correction unit 63 obtains a correction value K corresponding to the pattern number 252 of the unit measurement area B(0,0). In the example of FIG. 12, the correction value K corresponding to the pattern number 252 is 4 for the probe pair PP0 and 7 for the probe pair PP1. The correction unit 63 subtracts 4 and 7 from 105 and 108, which are the capacitances Cm for the probe pair PP0 and PP1 of the unit measurement area B(0,0) shown in FIG. 10. Then, 101 and 101 are obtained as the capacitances Cc for the probe pair PP0 and PP1 of the unit measurement area B(0,0) shown in FIG. 14.

[0071] For the other unit measurement areas B, the same correction as for the unit measurement area B(0,0) is repeated to obtain the corrected capacitance Cc of each microphone element M as shown in FIG.

[0072] As described above, the inventors of the present invention have found that an error occurs in the measurement value measured by the probe card 2 depending on the combination pattern, which is a combination of active pairs and inactive pairs. Therefore, according to steps S11 and S12, the capacitance Cm measured by the probe card 2 can be corrected based on the correction value K pre-stored in the storage unit 67 depending on the combination pattern. As a result, the capacitances C of multiple microphone elements M can be measured in parallel at once using multiple probe pairs PP0 to PP7 while reducing the risk of unintended current leakage caused by floating the inactive pairs. This makes it easy to measure the capacitances C of multiple microphone elements M at once, and as a result, it is easy to measure the electrical characteristics of the measurement target block corresponding to the functional element such as the microphone element M on the semiconductor substrate W. It becomes.

[0073] Next, the inspection unit 64 judges whether each microphone element M passes or fails by comparing the capacitance Cc of each microphone element M with the reference value Cref (step S13). Specifically, for example, the capacitance Cc of each microphone element M is compared with the reference value Cref, and if the difference between the capacitance Cc and the reference value Cref is within a preset error range, the microphone element M is judged to be a good product, and if the difference between the capacitance Cc and the reference value Cref is outside the error range, the microphone element M is judged to be defective. This makes it possible to inspect functional elements such as the microphone element M formed on the semiconductor substrate W.

[0074] In addition, in the combination pattern "00000000" in which all the probe pairs PP are active pairs, as described above, there is no effect of stray capacitance due to the floating probe pairs PP. Therefore, for combination patterns in which all the probe pairs PP are active pairs, the correction in step S12 may not be performed, and the capacitance Cm measured in step S11 may be used as the capacitance Cc as it is. This simplifies the correction process.

[0075] Furthermore, the semiconductor inspection equipment 1 may be a semiconductor measuring equipment that does not include the inspection unit 64 and does not execute step S13.

[0076] That is, a semiconductor measuring apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor measuring apparatus that measures electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of measurement target blocks on a semiconductor substrate having the plurality of measurement target blocks, and includes: a set number of paired probes (two or more); a probe control unit that brings at least one pair of the set number of probe pairs selected according to an arrangement of the measurement target block into contact with the measurement target block by moving the set number of probe pairs relative to the semiconductor substrate as a unit; a measurement unit that sets each of the at least two pairs of probes as an active pair and sets other probe pairs of the set number of probe pairs as inactive pairs, floats the potential of the inactive probe pairs, and measures the electrical characteristics of the measurement target block as measurement characteristics using the active probe pairs; a memory unit that pre-stores correction values ​​corresponding to combination patterns of the active pairs and the inactive pairs in the set number of probe pairs, corresponding to each of the set number of probe pairs; and a correction unit that corrects the measurement characteristics based on the correction values ​​stored in the memory unit corresponding to the combination pattern when the measurement characteristics are measured.

[0077] Moreover, a semiconductor measurement method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor measurement method for measuring electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of measurement target blocks in a semiconductor substrate having the plurality of measurement target blocks, the method including: a probe control step of bringing at least one pair of the set number of probe pairs selected according to an arrangement of the measurement target blocks into contact with the measurement target block by moving two or more set number of paired probes relative to the semiconductor substrate together; a measurement step of setting each of the at least one pair of probes as an active pair and setting other probe pairs of the set number of probe pairs as inactive pairs, floating a potential of the inactive pair probe pair, and measuring the electrical characteristics of the measurement target block as a measurement characteristic using the active pair probe pair; and a correction step of correcting the measurement characteristic based on a correction value corresponding to a combination pattern of the active pairs and the inactive pairs when the measurement characteristic is measured, the correction value corresponding to the combination pattern of the set number of probe pairs and being stored in advance corresponding to each of the set number of probe pairs.

[0078] According to these configurations, since the set number of probe pairs is two or more, the electrical characteristics of the set number of measurement target blocks can be measured at one time by moving the multiple probe pairs relative to each other as a unit, and it is easy to increase the measurement speed. However, when the set number of probe pairs are moved relative to each other as a unit to contact the semiconductor substrate, there may be a probe pair that does not contact the measurement target block. In this way, when the operation of measuring the electrical characteristics is performed using a probe pair that does not contact the measurement target block, an unintended current may be generated, which may adversely affect the semiconductor substrate and the measurement circuit. Therefore, the measurement unit floats the potential of the inactive pair that does not contact the measurement target block and performs the measurement using the active pair, thereby reducing the risk of adverse effects. On the other hand, each probe pair and the wiring connected to each probe pair may generate capacitive coupling with each other.

[0079] The inventors of the present invention found that floating the potential of the probe pair corresponding to the inactive pair increases the stray capacitance of the probe pair of the inactive pair, affecting the probe pair of the active pair that is capacitively coupled with the inactive pair. The inventors of the present invention found that an error occurs in the measurement value measured by the probe pair depending on the combination pattern, which is the combination of the active pair and the inactive pair. According to these configurations, the measurement characteristic measured by the active pair is corrected based on the correction value corresponding to the combination pattern of the active pair and the inactive pair when the measurement characteristic is measured, so that the electrical characteristics of multiple measurement target blocks can be measured in parallel at one time using multiple probe pairs while reducing the risk of unintended current leakage caused by floating the inactive pair. This makes it easy to measure the electrical characteristics of multiple measurement target blocks at one time, and as a result, it is easy to measure the electrical characteristics of the measurement target block corresponding to the functional element on the semiconductor substrate.

[0080] The electrical characteristic may be capacitance.

[0081] This configuration makes it possible to measure the capacitance of the measurement target block.

[0082] In addition, it is preferable that the correction unit does not execute the correction of the measurement characteristics when all of the set number of probe pairs in the combination pattern are the active pair.

[0083] When all of the set number of probe pairs are active pairs, there are no floating probe pairs, so there is no adverse effect on the measurement due to floating. Therefore, with this configuration, when all of the set number of probe pairs are active pairs, the process can be simplified by not performing correction of the measurement characteristics.

[0084] Moreover, a semiconductor measurement system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the above-mentioned semiconductor measurement device, a reference characteristic measurement unit that measures the electrical characteristics of each of the measurement target blocks as reference characteristics by sequentially contacting each of the measurement target blocks with only a pair of probes, and a correction value calculation unit that calculates the correction value based on the difference between the reference characteristic and the measured characteristic measured for the same measurement target block.

[0085] According to this configuration, it is possible to calculate a correction value corresponding to a combination pattern of an active pair and an inactive pair.

[0086] Further, it is preferable that the correction value calculation unit treats the set number of measurement characteristics measured at one time by the set number of probe pairs as a measurement value group, calculates a difference between the reference characteristic and the measurement characteristic for each of the set number of probe pairs for a plurality of the measurement value groups, and calculates the correction value by averaging the differences between those corresponding to the same probe pair for each combination pattern of each of the measurement value groups, and the memory unit stores the correction value calculated by the correction value calculation unit.

[0087] If some of the measurement blocks included in the semiconductor substrate used to calculate the correction value are defective, different measurement results may be obtained even with the same combination pattern, and the difference may become an abnormal value. With this configuration, the average value of the differences is used as the correction value, thereby reducing the influence of such abnormal values.

[0088] In addition, it is preferable that the correction value calculation unit does not calculate the correction value when the combination pattern includes a set number of probe pairs in which all of the set number of probe pairs are the active pairs, and the memory unit stores 0 as the correction value for each of the set number of probe pairs corresponding to the combination pattern in which all of the set number of probe pairs are the active pairs.

[0089] When all of the set number of probe pairs are active pairs, there are no floating probe pairs, so there is no adverse effect on the measurement due to floating. Therefore, according to this configuration, when all of the set number of probe pairs are active pairs, the correction value is not calculated, and the storage unit stores 0 as the correction value for each of the set number of probe pairs corresponding to the combination pattern in which all of the set number of probe pairs are active pairs. As a result, the process of calculating the correction value can be simplified. [Explanation of symbols]

[0090] 1. Semiconductor inspection equipment (semiconductor measuring equipment, semiconductor measuring system) 2,2a Probe Card 3 Switching circuit 4. Measurement circuit 5 AC power supply 6. Control Unit 7 Tables 61 Probe control section 62 Measuring part 63 Correction section 64 Inspection Department 65 Reference characteristic measurement section 66 Correction value calculation unit 67 Memory section A1~A7,An ammeter B Unit Measurement Area C Capacitance (electrical characteristic) Cc Capacitance (correction characteristic) Cm Capacitance (measurement characteristics) Cr Capacitance (reference characteristic) Cref Reference Value D difference E1,E2 electrode I0~I7 Current value K correction value M Microphone element (measurement target block) P, P01~P72 probe PP, PP0~PP7 probe pairs SW01~SW72 Switches V Voltage W, Wr semiconductor substrate f frequency

Claims

1. 1. A semiconductor measuring apparatus for measuring electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of measurement target blocks in a semiconductor substrate having the plurality of measurement target blocks, comprising: a set number of paired probes, the set number being two or more; a probe control unit that moves the set number of probe pairs together relative to the semiconductor substrate, thereby bringing at least one pair selected from the set number of probe pairs according to an arrangement of the measurement target block into contact with the measurement target block; a measurement unit that sets each of the at least two pairs of probes as an active pair and sets the other probe pairs among the set number of probe pairs as an inactive pair, floats the potential of the inactive probe pairs, and measures the electrical characteristic of the measurement target block as a measurement characteristic by the active probe pairs; a storage unit that stores in advance a correction value corresponding to a combination pattern of the inactive pair and the active pair in the set number of probe pairs, the correction value corresponding to each of the set number of probe pairs; a correction unit that corrects the measurement characteristic based on the correction value stored in the storage unit in correspondence with the combination pattern when the measurement characteristic is measured.

2. 2. The semiconductor measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical characteristic is capacitance.

3. 3. The semiconductor measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the correction section does not correct the measurement characteristics when the combination pattern includes all of the set number of probe pairs being the active pairs.

4. A semiconductor measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a reference characteristic measuring unit that measures the electrical characteristic of each of the measurement object blocks as a reference characteristic by sequentially contacting only the pair of probes with each of the measurement object blocks; A semiconductor measurement system comprising: a correction value calculation unit that calculates the correction value based on a difference between the reference characteristic and the measured characteristic measured in the same measurement target block.

5. the correction value calculation unit sets the set number of the measurement characteristics measured at one time by the set number of probe pairs as a measurement value group, calculates a difference between the reference characteristic and the measurement characteristic for each of the set number of probe pairs for a plurality of the measurement value groups, and calculates the correction value by averaging the differences between those corresponding to the same probe pair for each combination pattern of the each measurement value group; The semiconductor measuring system according to claim 4 , wherein the storage unit stores the correction value calculated by the correction value calculation unit.

6. the correction value calculation unit does not calculate the correction value when all of the set number of probe pairs in the combination pattern are the active pair, 6. The semiconductor measurement system according to claim 4, wherein the storage unit stores 0 as the correction value for each of the set number of probe pairs corresponding to the combination pattern in which all of the set number of probe pairs are the active pairs.

7. 1. A semiconductor measurement method for measuring electrical characteristics of a plurality of measurement target blocks in a semiconductor substrate having the plurality of measurement target blocks, comprising: a probe control step of moving a set number of probe pairs, which is two or more, together relative to the semiconductor substrate, thereby bringing at least one pair selected from the set number of probe pairs according to the arrangement of the measurement target block into contact with the measurement target block; a measurement step of setting each of the at least two pairs of probes as an active pair and setting the other probe pairs among the set number of probe pairs as an inactive pair, floating a potential of the inactive probe pair, and measuring the electrical characteristic of the measurement target block as a measurement characteristic by the active probe pair; and a correction step of correcting the measurement characteristic based on a correction value corresponding to a combination pattern of the active pair and the inactive pair when the measurement characteristic is measured, The correction values ​​correspond to the combination patterns of the set number of probe pairs, and are stored in advance corresponding to each of the set number of probe pairs.

Images