Title: Contact probe and probe device
Abstract: A probe device having a contact probe including a film, a plurality of wiring patterns formed on the film with each wiring pattern having a front end portion projecting from the film so as to form contact pins, and a metal layer provided on the film. In one embodiment, the contact probe device includes first and second contact probes connected to each other, the first contact probe including a first film, and a plurality of first wiring patterns formed on the first film, each first wiring pattern having a front end portion projecting from the first film so as to form contact pins. The second contact probe includes a second film, and a plurality of second wiring patterns formed on the second film. The plurality of second wiring patterns are connected to the plurality of first wiring patterns, and the second contact probe is formed separately from the first contact probe.
Patent Number: 6,937,042 Issued on 08/30/2005 to Yoshida, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Yoshida; Hideaki (Sanda, JP);
Ishii; Toshinori (Sanda, JP);
Matsuda; Atushi (Sanda, JP);
Ueki; Mituyoshi (Sanda, JP);
Tachikawa; Noriyoshi (Sanda, JP);
Nakamura; Tadashi (Sanda, JP);
Katou; Naoki (Sanda, JP);
Tai; Shou (Sanda, JP);
Sasaki; Hayato (Sanda, JP);
Iwamoto; Naohumi (Sanda, JP);
Mishima; Akihumi (Omiya, JP);
Hiji; Toshiharu (Omiya, JP);
Masuda; Akihiro (Omiya, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Genesis Technology Incorporated (Nishiwaki, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
902861 |
| Filed:
|
August 2, 2004 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| May 23, 1996[JP] | 8-128570 |
| Sep 30, 1996[JP] | 8-259829 |
| Sep 30, 1996[JP] | 8-259831 |
| Nov 14,
1996[JP] | 8-303322 |
| Nov 18, 1996[JP] | 8-306829 |
| Dec 04, 1996[JP] | 8-324430 |
| Dec 26, 1996[JP] | 8-349119 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
324/754; 324/761; 324/762 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G01R 031/02 |
| Field of Search: |
324/725,754-758,761-762,765,158.1
439/169,174,482,912
29/825,827,883-884
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 4686463 | Aug., 1987 | Logan.
| |
| 4972143 | Nov., 1990 | Kamensky et al.
| |
| 5382898 | Jan., 1995 | Subramanian.
| |
| 5416429 | May., 1995 | McQuade et al.
| |
| 5521518 | May., 1996 | Higgins.
| |
| 5673477 | Oct., 1997 | Hattori et al.
| |
| 2001/0019276 | Sep., 2001 | Yoshida et al.
| |
| 2004/0160236 | Aug., 2004 | Yoshida et al.
| |
Primary Examiner: Tang; Minh N.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/776,326 filed
Feb. 12, 200, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/076,508 filed
Feb. 19, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,608, which in turn is a divisional of U.S.
application Ser. No. 08/862,414 filed May 23, 1997 now abandoned, and this application
further claims priority to Japanese Patent Application 8-128570 filed May 23, 1996,
Japanese Patent Application 8-259829 filed Sep. 30, 1996, Japanese Patent Application
8-259831 filed Sep. 30, 1996, Japanese Patent Application 8-303322 filed Nov. 14,
1996, Japanese Patent Application 8-306829 filed Nov. 18, 1996, Japanese Patent
Application 8-324430 filed Dec. 4, 1996, and Japanese Patent Application 8-349119
filed Dec. 26, 1996, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Claims
1. A probe device comprising:
a film;
a plurality of wiring patterns formed on a first surface of the film, each wiring
pattern having a front end portion projecting from the film to form contact pins;
a metal layer provided on a second surface of the film;
wherein said film comprises:
a contact probe main body including a plurality of the wiring patterns disposed
as main wiring patterns; and
a contact probe branch portion which branches from the contact probe main body,
integrally formed with the contact probe main body, and includes a plurality of
the wiring patterns disposed as branch wiring patterns formed by dividing portions
of the main wiring patterns.
2. The probe device recited in claim 1, further comprising:
a wiring substrate having a plurality of substrate side wiring patterns respectively
connected to middle portions of the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring
patterns; and
support members for supporting respective front end portions of the main wiring
patterns.
3. The probe device recited in claim 2, wherein said wiring patterns comprise nickel.
4. The probe device recited in claim 3, wherein said contact pins are coated
with gold.
5. The probe device recited in claim 1, further comprising:
a wiring substrate having a plurality of substrate side wiring patterns respectively
connected to rear end portions of the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring
patterns; and
support members for supporting respective front end portions of the main wiring
patterns.
6. The probe device recited in claim 5, wherein said wiring patterns comprise nickel.
7. The probe device recited in claim 6, wherein said contact pins are coated
with gold.
8. The probe device recited in claim 1, wherein said wiring patterns comprise nickel.
9. The probe device recited in claim 1, wherein said contact pins are coated
with gold.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a contact probe used as a probe pin, or a socket
pin etc., for electrical testing of devices, such as semiconductor IC (Integrated
Circuit) chips, liquid crystal devices, etc., and more particularly to a contact
probe integrated into a probe card, a probe device, a test socket, etc. and which
are brought into contact with respective terminals of a device under test.
2. Description of Related Art
Contact pins are generally used for carrying out an electrical testing by
being brought into contact with respective terminals of a device under test, for
example, such as a semiconductor chip, such as an IC chip, an LSI (Large Scale
Integrated Circuit) chip, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), etc.
In recent years, with high integration and miniaturization of devices, such as
IC chips etc., contact pads configured as electrodes formed with a narrow pitch,
multi pins, and narrow pitch contact pins have been required. According to one
solution to the above requirements, a contact probe made of tungsten needles used
as contact pins has been proposed. However, with this solution it is difficult
to deal with multi pins and narrow pitch requirements due to a limitation in the
diameter of the tungsten needles.
In Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. JP-B-7-82027, a contact probe technology
where a plurality of wiring patterns are formed on a resin film and respective
front end portions of the wiring patterns are arranged to project from the resin
film to form contact pins is proposed. According to this technology, a probe device
having multi pins and narrow pitch is possible and numerous complex parts are not
required as compared to other technologies. As shown in FIG. 110, a conventional
contact probe
1A has a structure where wiring patterns
3A formed
from Ni (nickel) or a Ni alloy are attached on one face of a polyimide resin film
2A and front end portions of the wiring patterns
3A are projected
from an end portion of the resin film
2A so as to form contact pins
3aA.
In FIG. 110, positioning holes
4A are formed in the polyimide resin film
2A as will be described later.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A6-324081 proposes a probe
device (probe card) using contact probes having a flexible substrate, as in the
previously discussed publication, where front end portions of wiring patterns constitute
contact pins. According to this probe device, a matching is conducted with respect
to a difference in pin pitches of an IC chip or device under test, etc. and a tester.
The proposed probe device is suitable for probe testing an IC chip etc. having
multi pins and narrow pitch.
FIGS. 111-113 will now be used to explain the operation of a conventional probe
device
11A where a contact probe
1A is integrated with a mechanical
parts
10A. The mechanical parts
10A include a mounting base
12A,
a top clamp
13A and a bottom clamp
14A. The probe device
11A
includes the top clamp
13A securing a printed circuit board
15A,
the mounting base
12A, and the contact probe
1A via a bottom clamp
14A. The bottom clamp
14A is attached to the top clamp
13A
by bolts
17A and bolt holes
16A. The contact probe
1A having
wiring patterns
3A (FIG. 10) is pressed by the bottom clamp
14A,
so that the wiring patterns
3A press against an IC chip under test while
being maintained in a constant inclined state.
FIG. 112 illustrates the probe device
11A of FIG. 111 after assembly.
FIG. 113 is a sectional view taken along a line E-E of FIG.
112. As shown
in FIG. 113, the front ends of the wiring patterns
3A are brought into contact
with an IC chip I by the mounting base
12A. The mounting base
12A
is provided with positioning pins
18A for adjusting the position of the
contact probe
1A, and the wiring patterns
3A. Thus, the IC chip I
can be accurately positioned by inserting the positioning pins
18A into
the positioning holes
4A of the contact probe
1A. Elastic bodies
20A of the bottom clamp
14A are pressed against portions of the wiring
patterns
3A at windows
19A provided in the contact probe
1A.
In this way, the wring patterns
3A at the windows
19A are brought
into contact with electrodes
21A of the printed circuit board
15A
forming a signal path by which signals obtained from the wiring patterns
3A
can be transmitted via the electrodes
21A of the printed circuit board
15A.
However, the above-described conventional contact probe
1A has the
following problems. As shown in FIG. 114, the contact pins
3aA of
the conventional contact probe
1A are attached on one face of the resin
film
2A. However, the resin film
2A is fabricated from, for example,
polyimide resin and therefore, the resin may be elongated by absorbed moisture
changing an interval t between the contact pins
3aA. Accordingly,
the contact pins
3aA may not accurately contact pads of an IC chip,
or device under test, etc. and therefore, an accurate electrical test cannot be
conducted. Furthermore, although the positioning holes
4A for integrating
the contact probes
1A to the probe device
11A are provided in the
resin film
2A of the contact probe
1A, the resin film
2A has
a small hardness value and accordingly, the positioning holes
4A are susceptible
to being deformed. Therefore, accurate positioning of the contact probe
1A
cannot be performed
Furthermore, according to the contact probe
1A FIGS.
110-
113),
during testing of a device, an amount of pressure applied to contact pins of the
contact probe is increased or decreased to provide a desired contact pressure.
A large amount of pressure must be applied to the contact pins in order to provide
a large contact pressure. However, according to the first type of contact probe,
front end portions of wiring patterns of the contact probe are used to form the
contact pins. The contact pins are made from a material such as Ni (nickel). Therefore,
a hardness of the contact pins is typically about Hv 300. Due to the low hardness
of the contact pins
3aA the contact pins may be bent or deformed
under excessive contact pressure. Accordingly, there is a limited amount of pressure
that can be exerted on the contact pins so that a large contact pressure cannot
be obtained. Therefore, a sufficient contact pressure cannot be obtained during
electrical measurements of a device under test, resulting in contact failure.
To solve the above problem, there is provided a means of adding an additive agent,
such as saccharin etc. in the Ni plating of the contact pins. Although at normal
temperature the contact pins have a hardness of Hv 350 or more, the hardness of
the contact pins drops rapidly to Hv 200 or less when the contact pins are heated
to a high temperatures (e.g., 300° C.). This is due to the S (sulphur) content
of the additive agent, such as saccharin etc. which reduces the contact pin hardness
at high temperatures. Therefore, the above-described contact probe cannot typically
be used at high temperatures, particularly when the contact probe is used as a
chip carrier for a burn-in test, etc. which subjects the contact probe to high temperatures.
In addition, surfaces of respective terminals (pads) of an IC chip, etc. are
typically
made from a material, such as an Al (aluminum) alloy, etc. When such terminals
are exposed to air, oxidation occurs and the terminals have a thin aluminum oxide
film formed thereon. Therefore, during electrical testing, the aluminum oxide film
formed on the surface of the pads of an IC chip, etc. must be removed in order
to expose an aluminum matrix underneath the surface so as to ensure proper electrical
conductivity between the pads and the contact pins. Accordingly, the contact pins
of a contact probe are overdriven while being brought into contact with the surfaces
of the pads (e.g., the contact pins are pulled across the pads during contact)
so that the aluminum oxide film on the surfaces of the pads is scrubbed off by
front end portions of the contact pins exposing the internal aluminum matrix of
the pads. The above-described operation is referred to as scrubbing and is important
for ensuring proper contact between the contact pins and the pads of the IC chip,
etc. during electrical testing thereof.
In performing the scrubbing operation, it is necessary to prevent the contact
pins from damaging the aluminum matrix underneath the aluminum oxide film on the
surfaces of the pads. Accordingly, in fabricating the contact pins, a mask exposure
technology is used and the front end portions of the contact pins are formed having
circular are (convex) faces in a plane view. This is due to the fact that it is
difficult to form a fine pattern on a mask in accordance with a desired shape (see
FIG.
10). In contrast, a conventional tungsten needle has a planer front
end face due to a polishing operation which is performed on the front end portions
of the needles in order to adjust the lengths of the respective needles. However,
the above-described contact pins are provided with a convex circular face resulting
in a small contact area with the pad of the IC chip, etc. so that the contact pins
exert a large contact pressure on the pad due to the small contact area. Accordingly,
the contact pins are liable to scrape off the aluminum matrix of the pad during
the scrubbing operation as compared with the conventional tungsten needle contact probe.
Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a large enough contact angle of the
contact pin with respect to the pad so that the aluminum matrix of the pad is not
damaged during the scrubbing operation. This is due to the fact that when the contact
angle is small, an amount of removed aluminum at the surface of the pad can significantly
increase resulting in damage to the aluminum matrix of the pad. However, contact
pins
3aA which are formed from a resin film
2A project along
a face of the resin film
2A and the contact angle of the contact pin cannot
be greater than the angle of the face of the resin film
2A (see FIG.
110).
In other words, the angles of the contact pins
3aA are restricted
by the angle of the face of the resin film
2A. Therefore, the angles of
the contact pins
3aA cannot be set independently from the surface
of the resin film
2A.
In the contact probe described above, it is possible to increase the contact
angle
of the contact pins by increasing the angle of the face of the resin film by devising
a way of integrating the contact probe in a probe card which sets the angle of
the resin film and the contact pins. In such a case, the scrubbing distance (i.e.,
length for scrubbing off a skin along the surface of the pad) is extended and depending
on a magnitude of the contact angle since the contact angle determines how far
the front end portions of the contact pins project over the pads during the scrubbing
operation. For example, in the case of a pad having a substantially square form
in a plane view with a sides of approximately 90 μm to 100 μm in length,
when the scrubbing distance is set to 8 μm with an amount of overdriving
of 75 μm and a contact angle of 15° to 20°, even with a slight
increase in the contact angle of 5°, the scrubbing distance becomes 12 μm
or more.
Furthermore, when the angle of the face of the resin film is increased
as described above, the resin film is raised with respect to the contact face by
an amount of the angle. In such a case, the resin film and contact probe constitute
a probe device which is integrated with various mechanical parts to form a probe
card (or prober). When the angle of the resin film is increased, the height dimension
of the probe device also increase. However, the above-described probe device is
mounted in a prober and the prober cannot be typically made so that it is of a
variable height (i.e., a distance/height from the IC chip etc.). Therefore, when
the height of the probe device exceeds a predetermined level, the probe device
cannot be mounted in the prober.
However, the following problems remain in the above-described contact probe
and probe device including the contact probe (contact probe
1A, FIGS.
110-
113).
Connection from electrodes of the IC chip I to the electrodes
21A of the
printed circuit board
15A is conducted via the wiring patterns
3A
integrated on the resin film
2A. Therefore, there is no degree of freedom
in the pad arrangement of the electrodes
21A on the side of the printed
wiring board
15A. Although no particular problem is caused in the case where
the electrodes of the IC chip I are arranged uniformly at four sides thereof, it
is difficult to deal with the case where the electrodes are arranged nonuniformly
on the four sides. In other words, in the case where the electrodes are concentrated
on one side of the IC chip, for example, in the case of a driver IC of an LCD,
etc. (i.e., several hundreds pins are formed on the longer side of a 3 mm×1
mm size chip), there is no space for arranging pads of the electrodes
21A
on the printed circuit board
15A. Therefore, it is difficult to connect
the electrodes of the IC chip I to the printed wiring board
15A.
According to the previously described contact probe
1A, one side
of the contact probe is typically arranged to align with the pad positions of an
IC chip, etc., while the other side is connected to the printed wiring board
15A.
In order to widen the pitch of the wiring patterns
3A of the contact probe
1A, the contact probe
1A is formed in a trapezoidal shape (see FIGS.
110-
113). Furthermore, positioning holes
4A are provided in
the contact probe
1A and the contact probe
1A is integrated with
highly accurately fabricated mechanical parts by using the positioning holes
4A.
In this way the mechanical parts are integrated with the printed wiring board
15A.
In addition, according to the contact probe
1A, a photolithography technology
capable of finely forming patterns is used for a fabricating and forming process
of the wiring pattern
3A. Therefore, the contact probe
1A, advantageously,
provides a narrowed pitch front end portion so that the contact probe
1A
can be brought into contact with the narrow pitch of the contact pads of a device
under test.
However, the accuracy of positioning the contact pins
3aA
of the contact probe
1A with respect to the contact pads of an IC or an
LCD, is dependent upon the accuracy of the fixing means with respect to the mechanical
parts. In other words, the accuracy of fasteners using the positioning holes
4A.
Accordingly, even if the pitch of the contact pins
3aA is narrowed
or the diameter of the front end of each of the contact pins
3aA
is considerably diminished, when the accuracy of positioning is poor, it is difficult
to take advantage of the advantages of the contact probe
1A.
Furthermore, there are the following additional problems in the contact
probe
1A. According to the contact probe
1A, the front end is provided
with a portion where the pitch of the wiring patterns
3A is narrowed. Therefore,
the yield is lowered in the photolithography or plating step, etc. used in fabricating
the contact probe
1A due to the narrow pitch area. This means that in fabricating
the contact probe
1A, the yield of the contact probe
1A is governed
by the yield of the portion where the pitch is narrowed. In this case, the contact
probe
1A is formed in a trapezoidal shape with the narrower front end portion
having the narrower pitch wiring patterns
3A and the wider rear end portion
having wiring patterns
3A that are coarse. Moreover, in integrating the
contact probe
1A to the printed wiring board
15A, a considerably
large area is required to accommodate the contact probe
1A. In this case,
a necessity of a large area for the contact probe
1A results in a small
number of the contact probes
1A being able to be formed from a resin film
2A used as a raw material and having limited area. Therefore, when the above-described
contact probe
1A is fabricated, the yield is governed by the front end portion
having the narrow area with the narrow pitch wiring, while the area per se of the
contact probe is governed by the wider portion with the coarse pitch wiring.
Furthermore, in relation to the above-described problems, the front
end portion or contact pin of the contact probe
1A is liable to be destroyed
since the contact pins project from the resin film
2A. In this case, the
entire contact probe
1A must be replaced even if only one contact pin is
damaged. Accordingly, maintenance costs of a probe device using the contact probe
1A increase. Furthermore, the above-described contact probe
1A does
not allow for ease of changing contact pressure of the contact pins.
A conventional probe card is shown in FIG.
116. According to the probe
card,
perforated portions are provided at measurement positions of the card comprising
a glass epoxy plate with contact pins (needles) projecting from the measurement
positions. A material, such as W (tungsten) having a small degree of wear is generally
used as the material for fabricating the needle. The probe card is provided in
a shape of a leaf spring where the contact pins are extended toward a direction
inclined downwardly and is referred to as a horizontal arranged needle type probe
card. In addition, as illustrated by FIGS.
115(
a) and
115(
b),
terminals to be inspected by the probe card are peripherally arranged, wherein
terminal electrodes are formed only at a periphery of a chip (FIG.
115(
a)),
and planarly arranged, wherein terminal electrodes are formed over the entire face
of the chip (FIG.
115(
b)). In this case, although the above-described
horizontal arranged needle type probe card can deal with the peripherally arranged
terminals, it cannot deal with the planarly arranged terminals. Furthermore, there
is a limitation in multi pin formation of the probe card. In addition, according
to the horizontal needle arranged type probe card, the total length of the contact
pin is typically 40 mm to 30 mm. Therefore, there is a limitation in an inspection
speed using the probe card. Hence, a vertically arranged probe card was devised
as shown in FIG. 117 to overcome the deficiencies of the above-described horizontally
arranged needle type contact probe. According to the vertically arranged type probe
card, the card can deal with the planarly arranged terminals, multi pin formation
can be realized, and the problem of the inspection speed is also improved since
the length of the contact pin is approximately 11 mm to 7.5 mm which is comparatively short.
However, the vertically arranged type probe cards have the following problems.
When there is a more or less a deviation with the respective total lengths of the
contact pins, if all of the contact pins including contact pins of various lengths
are brought into contact with respective terminals, the longer contact pins are
bent during an overdriving operation (i.e., contact pins are pulled down further
than from where they are brought into contact with the terminals). According to
the above-described probe card, the material of the contact pins is tungsten which
is highly rigid. Therefore, in overdriving the contact pin, the longer contact
pins are not sufficiently bent and the shorter contact pins are not firmly brought
into contact with the terminals. Particularly, in the case of the vertical needle
type probe card, the contact pins are brought into contact with the terminals substantially
in a vertical direction which makes the contact pins less likely to bend. In addition,
the above-described contact pins made of tungsten are devoid of flexibility. Therefore,
even if they are bent, the direction of bending does not stay constant. As a result,
contiguous ones of the contact pins may erroneously be brought into contact with
each other causing shorting between contact pins. Also, according to the above-described
needle type contact probe, the integration of the contact pins, alignments of the
heights and the positions of the respective pins must be performed manually, which
is very difficult. Furthermore, it is difficult to deal with the multi pin and
narrow pitch formation due to the limitation in the diameter of the tungsten needle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a contact
probe capable of carrying out accurate electrical tests by minimizing a change
in intervals between contact pins due to a change in humidity and by firmly bringing
the contact pins into contact with pads of a device under test (also referred to
as object of measurement) with accurate positioning by minimizing deformation of
positioning holes.
Another object of the present invention to provide a contact probe exhibiting
a large amount of hardness and excellent thermal resistance during high temperature operation.
A further object of the present invention to provide a contact probe and a probe
device including the contact probe which perform an adequate scrubbing operation
but prevent the scrubbing distance from increasing more than is necessary and without
damaging material under a film on a surface of a pad of a device under test (also
referred to as an object of measurement).
An additional object of the present invention to provide a contact probe and a
probe device including the contact probe allowing for multi pin and narrow pin
pitch formation applicable to testing a semiconductor device, such as an IC chip,
LCD, etc. having electrodes which are not arranged in uniform fashion along sides
of the semiconductor device.
A still further object of the present invention to provide a contact probe having
ease of positioning with respect to pads of a device under tests, such as an IC,
or LCD, etc.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide a contact probe with reduced
fabrication costs ease of maintenance, such as ease of replacing contact probes
or changing contact pressure.
Yet a farther object of the present invention to provide a contact probe and
a probe device including the contact probe specified as follows:
(1) The contact probe can deal with planarly arranged terminals;
(2) The total length of the contact pin is short and the inspection speed is fast;
(3) The contact probe can deal with the multi pins and narrow pitch formation;
(4) The contact pin is flexible during an overdriving of the pin;
(5) The direction of bending the contact pin can be adjusted so as to be constant; and
(6) The contact probe exhibits excellent high frequency characteristic.
The above and other objects are achieved according to the present invention by
to providing by providing in a probe device, an improved contact probe including
a film; a plurality of wiring patterns formed on the film, each wiring pattern
having a front end portion projecting from the film so as to form contact pins;
and a metal layer provided on the film.
According to the above-described probe device, the film, such as a resin
film, etc. is liable to extend due to moisture absorption. Accordingly, a metal
layer is provided on the film so that extension of the film is restrained by the
metal layer under various humidity conditions. In other words, a small deviation
in an interval between the respective contact pins occurs and the contact pins
can be brought into contact with pads accurately and with fine precision. Accordingly,
a proper scrubbing operation is ensured since the contact pins can brought into
precise contact with pads of a device under test and the angle of the contact pin
with respect to the pad does not deviate much from a desired value. Furthermore,
the metal film can be used as a ground whereby a design taking an impedance matching
up to the vicinity of the front end of the contact probe can be performed. In this
way, adverse influences caused by reflection noise can be prevented in performing
a test in a high frequency region. In other words, when the characteristic impedance
between the side of the substrate wiring and the contact pins is not matched in
the middle of a transmitting cable from a tester (also referred to as a prober),
reflection noise results. In this case, the longer the transfer cable having different
characteristic impedances, the more the reflection noise is increased. The reflection
noise constitutes a signal distortion and is liable to cause erroneous operation
in a high frequency region. According to the contact probe, by using the metal
film as a ground, the characteristic impedance can be matched up to the vicinity
of the front end of the contact pin by the side of the substrate wirings and erroneous
operation caused by reflection noise can be restrained.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the first aspect, wherein the contact pins of the contact probe
are made of a nickel-manganese alloy including manganese in a range from 0.05 wt.
% to 1.5 wt. %.
According to the above-described probe device, the front end portion is
made of a nickel-manganese alloy including manganese in a range of from 0.05 wt.
% to 1.5 wt. %.
Accordingly, the front end portion of the contact pins exhibit a hardness
of Hv 350 or more even during high temperature operation (e.g., 500° C.).
In other words, the hardness of the Ni-Mn alloy is not extremely lowered by high
temperature heating. Furthermore, when the amount of manganese (Mn) is less than
0.05 wt. %, the hardness of Hv 350 or more cannot be obtained When amount of manganese
(Mn) exceeds 1.5 wt. %, the contact pins may be bend due to an increase in stresses
at the front end portion thereof and the contact pins also become very brittle
and toughness is lowered. Accordingly, by setting the manganese content in the
above-specified range, the high hardness and toughness necessary for a contact
probe can be provided.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the first aspect, wherein the contact pins of the contact probe
are bent at a middle position thereof.
According to the above-described probe device, the contact pin is bent
at the middle portion and therefore, the angle with respect to an object of measurement
(pad) can be changed at the front end portion and the base end portion of the contact
pin. Thereby, an angle (contact angle) of the front end portion of the contact
pin with respect to the pad can be fixed to be large without enlarging an angle
of the film with respect to the pad. Accordingly, a matrix of the pads can be prevented
from impairing in the scrubbing operation without excessively enlarging the scrubbing
distance and without enlarging the height of the probe device.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the third aspect, wherein each of the contact pins of the contact
probe has a tip portion opposite an end portion, the tip portion configured such
that when the tip portion is brought into contact with an object of measurement,
an angle of the tip portion with respect to a contact face thereof is in a range
of 60° to 90°, and the end portion configured such that an angle of the
end portion with respect to the contact face is in a range of 0° to 30°.
According to the above-described probe device, the angle of the front end
portion of the contact pin with respect to the contact face is provided to be 60°
or more. Therefore, the matrix of the pad is not damaged. In addition, the angle
of the front end portion of the contact pin with respect to the contact face is
set to be smaller than 90°. This is because if the angle of the front end
portion is 90° or more, the skin of the pad cannot be properly scrubbed off
during the scrubbing operation and sufficient conductivity is not ensured resulting
in contact failure during testing. Furthermore, the angle of the base end portion
of the contact pin with respect to the contact face is set to be 30° or less.
Therefore, the scrubbing distance is not excessively prolonged and the front end
of the contact pin is not projected from the pad in the scrubbing operation. In
addition, the angle of the base end portion of the contact pin with respect to
the contact face is fixed to be 0° or more, because if this condition is not
satisfied, a sufficient overdriving amount cannot be provided in the scrubbing operation.
Furthermore, according to the above-described probe device, a face having
a parallel degree with respect to the contact face of the pad that is higher than
that of the conventional contact pin, is formed at the front end portion by bending
the contact pin as described above. This is required due to the following positioning
operation. In positioning the contact pin with respect to the pad, a method where
light is irradiated from the direction of the pad (normally, from below) toward
the contact pin and light reflected from the contact pin is detected so that the
position of the contact pin is recognized is used. However, according to a conventional
contact pin, which is not bent, when the contact pin is integrated to a probe card,
the contact pin only projects to the contact face of the pad with a low angle of,
for example, about 15° to 20°. Accordingly, even if light is irradiated
from the direction of the pad, the amount of reflected light is small. Therefore,
positional detection of the contact pin is difficult. In respect thereto, according
to the contact pin of the present invention, a face having a high vertical degree
is formed with respect to a direction in which light is irradiated. Therefore,
a sufficient amount of light is reflected whereby the positional detection is facilitated.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the fourth aspect, further including a substrate attached to
the contact probe, the substrate having terminals connected to respective base
ends of the wiring patterns; and an inclination holding member having a lower face
inclined at angle in a range of 0° to 30° with respect to the contact
face of an object of measurement and configured to maintain the end portion so
that the angle of the end portion with respect to the contact face is in the range
of 0° to 30°; wherein the contact probe is supported by the inclination
holding member such that the metal layer of the film is brought into contact with
the lower face of the inclination holding member.
According to the above-described probe device, the inclination holding
member is installed and the lower face is gradually inclined downwardly toward
the front end side by an angle in a range of 0° to 30° with respect to
the contact face. The front end side of the film is supported by being brought
into contact with the lower face. Therefore, the angle of the base end portion
of the contact pin projected from the front end of the film with respect to the
contact face is stably maintained to a value described in the fourth aspect of
the present invention.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the first aspect, the contact probe further including a contact
probe main body including a plurality of the wiring patterns disposed as main wiring
patterns; and a contact probe branch portion which branches from the contact probe
main body, integrally formed with the contact probe main body, and includes a plurality
of the wiring patterns disposed as branch wiring patterns formed by dividing portions
of the main wiring patterns.
The above-described probe device includes the contact probe main body where the
main wiring patterns are formed and the contact probe branch portion that is branched
from the contact probe main body and is integrally formed therewith. The contact
probe branch portion is provided with the branch wiring patterns formed by branching
portions of the main wiring patterns. Accordingly, the portions of the main wiring
patterns are distributed to the branch wiring patterns by which the branch wiring
patterns can be connected to locations other than those of the main wiring patterns.
In other words, even if electrodes are concentrated on one side of a semiconductor
chip, etc., the main wiring patterns connected to the one side of the electrodes
are branched by the branch wiring patterns and are dispersed to the other locations.
Also, the contact probe main body and the contact probe branch portion are integrally
formed. Therefore, there is an advantage where the both the contact probe main
body and the contact probe branch portion can be formed with equivalent high dimensional
accuracy with minimal positional shifting in the main wiring patterns and the branch
wiring patterns.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the sixth aspect, further including a wiring substrate having
a plurality of substrate side wiring patterns respectively connected to middle
portions or rear end portions of the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring
patterns; and support members for supporting respective front end portions of the
main wiring patterns.
According to the above-described probe device, the substrate side wiring
patterns respectively connected to the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring
patterns in the contact probe according to the sixth aspect, are formed at the
wiring substrate. Therefore, the main wiring patterns are divided by the branch
wiring patterns by which the substrate side wiring patterns connected thereto are
also divided and are formed at separate locations and the arrangement space is
wide and can be set with a high degree of freedom.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the seventh aspect, wherein the wiring substrate is provided
with a rectangular opening for arranging the contact probe, a plurality of the
contact pins of the contact probe are arranged along a diagonal line of the rectangular
opening and the contact probe main body and the contact probe branch portion are
respectively distributed to two sides of the rectangular opening opposed to the
diagonal line; and wherein the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring patterns
are respectively connected to the substrate side wiring patterns at the two sides
of the rectangular opening.
According to the abovedescribed probe device, the front end portions of
the contact probe are arranged along the diagonal line of the rectangular opening.
Therefore, an object of measurement such as an IC, etc. having electrodes which
are particularly concentrated on one side can be arranged along the diagonal line.
Therefore, the front end portions are correspondingly brought into contact with
the one side of the electrodes. Then, the contact probe main body and the contact
probe branch portion are distributed to left and right at the two sides of the
rectangular opening and the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring patterns
are separately connected to the substrate side wiring patterns at the two sides.
Therefore, the wiring patterns concentrated on the one side of the electrodes of
an IC, etc. can be distributed to left and right by which a number of wirings can
be divided and arranged to two sides without concentrating on one side of the rectangular opening.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the seventh aspect, wherein the substrate side wiring patterns
are respectively formed on a front face and a back face of the wiring substrate;
wherein the contact probe main body and the contact probe branch portion are respectively
distributed to the front face and the back face of the wiring substrate by folding
a portion of either one thereof; and wherein the main wiring patterns and the branch
wiring patterns are respectively connected to the substrate side wiring patterns
at the two sides of the rectangular opening.
According to the above-described probe device, by folding, etc. the contact
probe main body and the contact probe branch portion which are of a film-like shape
and formed integrally with each other, are distributed to the front surface and
the back face of the wiring substrate. Therefore, the main wiring patterns and
the branch wiring patterns can be to separately connected to the substrate side
wiring patterns on two faces of the substrate. In this way, connection is facilitated
by a doubled arrangement space of the substrate side wiring patterns without concentrating
the wirings on one face of the wiring substrate.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the first aspect, the contact probe further including a contact
probe main body including the wiring patterns disposed as a plurality main wiring
patterns; and at least one of branch wiring plate connected to the contact probe
main body by attaching a portion of the branch wiring plate to the contact probe
main body, and including a plurality of branch wiring patterns; wherein the branch
wiring patterns are each connected to portions of the plurality of main wiring patterns.
The above-described probe device includes the contact probe main body where the
main wiring patterns are formed and the branch wiring plate connected to the contact
probe main body. The branch wiring patterns connected to the main wiring patterns
are formed at the branch wiring plate. Therefore, portions of the main wiring patterns
are distributed to the branch wiring patterns by which the branch wiring patterns
can be connected to locations other than those of the main wiring patterns. In
other words, even if electrodes are concentrated on one side of a semiconductor
chip, etc., the main wiring patterns connected to the one side of the electrodes,
are branched and divided by the branch wiring patterns and are connected to other locations.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a probe device of the tenth aspect, further including a wiring substrate having
a plurality of substrate side wiring patterns respectively connected to middle
portions or rear end portions of the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring
patterns; and supporting members for supporting the respective front end portions
of the main wiring patterns; wherein the substrate side wiring patterns are respectively
formed on a front face and a back face of the wiring substrate; wherein the contact
probe main body and the branch wiring plate are respectively distributed to the
front face and the back face of the wiring substrate; and wherein the main wiring
patterns and the branch wiring patterns are respectively connected to the substrate
side wiring patterns at the two sides of the rectangular opening.
According to the above-described probe device, the substrate side wiring
patterns respectively connected to the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring
patterns in the contact probe according to the tenth aspect of the present invention,
are formed on the wiring substrate. Accordingly, the main wiring patterns are divided
by the branch wiring patterns by which the substrate side wiring patterns connected
thereto are also divided and are formed at separate locations, the arrangement
space is wide and is set with a higher degree of freedom. Particularly, according
to the above-described probe device, the contact probe main body and the branch
wiring plate are distributed to the surface and the back face of the wiring substrate
and the main wiring patterns and the branch wiring patterns can separately be connected
to the substrate side wiring patterns at two faces of the surface and the back
face of the wiring substrate. In this way, connection is facilitated by the doubled
arrangement space of the substrate side wiring patterns without concentrating the
wirings on one face of the wiring substrate.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a contact probe including a first contact probe including a first film, and a plurality
of first wiring patterns formed on the first film, each first wiring pattern having
a front end portion projecting from the first film so as to form contact pins;
and a second contact probe connected to the first contact probe including a second
film, and a plurality of second wiring patterns formed on the second film; wherein
the plurality of second wiring patterns are connected to the plurality of first
wiring patterns, and the second contact probe is formed separately from the first
contact probe.
According to the above-described contact probe, the first contact probe
and the second contact probe are formed by separate steps and thereafter, they
are connected to each other such that the wiring patterns are connected.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the contact probe of the twelfth aspect, wherein the plurality of first wiring
patterns are densely formed, the plurality of second wiring patterns are densely
formed at a vicinity of the connection to the plurality of first wiring patterns,
and the plurality of second wiring patterns are coarsely formed at a position remote
from the vicinity of the of the connection to the plurality of first wiring patterns.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the contact probe of the twelfth aspect, wherein the plurality of first wiring
patterns are formed densely at front end portions thereof and are coarsely formed
at rear end portions thereof, and the plurality of second wiring patterns are coarsely
formed and connected to the first wiring patterns at the rear end portions thereof.
According to the above-described contact probe, the first contact probe
and the second contact probe are connected to each other where the wiring patterns
of both of probes coarsely formed.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the contact probe of the twelfth aspect, wherein an area of the first contact probe
is configured to be smaller than an area of the second contact probe.
According to the above-described contact probe, the occupied area of the
first contact probe where the wiring patterns are formed densely, is made smaller.
Accordingly, an amount of yield at that portion is increased by decreasing the
area where the densely formed expensive wiring patterns are present. Accordingly,
fabrication cost of the contact probe formed by connecting the first contact probe
and the second contact probe can be reduced.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the contact probe of the twelfth aspect, further including an anisotropic conductive
tape connecting the first contact probe and the second contact probe such that
a face of the first contact probe where the plurality of first wiring patterns
are formed is opposed to a face of the second contact probe where the plurality
of second wiring patterns are formed.
According to the above-described contact probe, the first wiring pattern
and the second wiring pattern are connected to each other by the anisotropic conductive
tape. Therefore, the degree of allowance with respect to positional shift between
the both wiring patterns is increased and positional matching is facilitated.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the first aspect, further including a plurality of the contact
probes arranged such that axial lines of the contact pins are substantially vertical
to a contact face of an object of measurement, and the plurality of contact probes
are parallelly disposed so as to provide spaces between respective faces of the
films of the plurality of contact probes.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of seventeenth aspect, wherein a direction of bending of the contact
pins of the plurality of the contact probes when a buckling load is applied is
configured to be substantially constant.
According to the above-described probe device, when the contact pin is
bent by receiving a buckling load in the overdriving operation, the direction of
bending stays substantially constant. Therefore, contiguous ones of the contact
pins are not erroneously brought into contact with each other.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the eighteenth aspect, wherein a position of buckling points
in axial line directions of the contact pins of the plurality of the contact probes
is configured to be substantially constant.
According to the above-described probe device, when the contact pin is
bent, the position of a buckling point of the contact pin stays substantially constant.
Therefore, contiguous ones of the contact pins are not erroneously brought into
contact with each other.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided
the probe device of the eighteenth aspect, further including a metal film disposed
on a back side the contact pins of the plurality of the contact probes at a specified
position in an axial line direction, and which is subjected to a half-etching treatment.
According to the above-described probe device, the half-etching treatment
is performed at a predetermined position of the metal film by a predetermined amount.
In this way, the direction of bending and the position of bending the contact pin
can be made constant. Furthermore, compared to the probe which is not subjected
to the half-etching treatment, the contact probe of the present invention is liable
to be bent by a smaller buckling load. Therefore, contact of a total of long and
short pins with respect to the terminals can be ensured. In this case, a distortion
caused in the contact pin in the overdriving operation, is shifted to the location
of the half-etching treatment and occurrence of buckling (bending) at locations
other than the portions can be prevented. Furthermore, if the contact pin per se
is subjected to the half-etching treatment, the strength is weakened and the contact
pin may be broken, however, there is no concern in the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages
thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference
to the following detailed descriptions when considered in connection with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view magnifying essential portions and showing a first
embodiment of a contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3(
a) through 3(
h) are sectional views of
essential portions showing a method of fabricating the contact probe of the first
embodiment according to the present;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a modified example of the first embodiment
of the contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a magnified schematic view showing a second embodiment of a contact
probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a probe device (chip carrier) according
to the second embodiment of the contact probe of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an outlook of the probe device (chip carrier)
in the second embodiment of the contact probe according to the present invention
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along a line B-B magnifying essential portions
in FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of essential portions showing a third embodiment
of a contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a plane view showing the third embodiment of the contact probe according
to the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along a line C-C of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a probe device
integrated with the third embodiment of the contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of essential portions showing an example of a
probe device integrated with the third embodiment of the contact probe according
to the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along a line E-E of FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a contact probe in a fourth embodiment
of a probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along a line F-F of FIG. 16;
FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view showing a contact probe pinching body
in the fourth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing the fourth embodiment of the probe device
according to the present invention;
FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing the contact probe pinching body in the
fourth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 21 is a sectional view taken along a line X-X of FIG. 19;
FIG. 22 is a side view showing a conventional drawback of a contact probe with
respect to a fifth embodiment of a probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 23 is a side view showing the conventional drawback of a probe device with
respect to the fifth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 24 is a side view showing a contact probe integrated to the contact probe
pinching body in the fifth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 25 is a view in direction D of FIG. 16 with respect to a sixth embodiment
of a contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 26 is a side view showing the sixth embodiment of the contact probe according
to the present invention;
FIG. 27 is a side view showing a contact probe integrated to a contact probe
pinching body in a seventh embodiment of a probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 28 is a side view showing a contact probe in an eighth embodiment of a
probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 29 is a side view showing the contact probe integrated to a contact probe
pinching body in the eighth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 30 is a side view showing a contact probe in a ninth embodiment of a contact
probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 31 is a side view showing the contact probe integrated to a contact probe
pinching body in the ninth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 32 is a side view showing a contact probe in a tenth embodiment of a probe
device according to the present invention;
FIG. 33 is a side view showing the contact probe integrated to a contact probe
pinching body in the tenth embodiment of the probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 34 is a graph showing a relationship between a Mn (manganese) concentration
and a hardness at a front end portion of a contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 35 is a side view magnifying a contact pin in an eleventh embodiment of
a contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 36 is a perspective view of essential portions showing the eleventh embodiment
of the contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 37 is a sectional view showing the eleventh embodiment of the contact probe
according to the present invention;
FIG. 38 is a sectional view of a probe device integrated with the eleventh embodiment
of the contact probe according to the present invention;
FIG. 39 is a perspective view showing a contact probe in a twelfth embodiment
of a probe device according to the present invention;
FIG. 40 is a sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 39;
FIG. 41 is a side view showing a conventional drawback of a contact probe with
respect
