JP5510916B2 - Semiconductor manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic cleaning technique for automatically cleaning a test contact used in an electrical characteristic inspection step of a semiconductor manufacturing process, and more particularly to a test contact for improving cleaning performance, a cleaning method thereof, and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is.

  In the semiconductor manufacturing process, in the pre-process, a large number of semiconductor components are collectively created on a Si wafer. However, in the post-process, a plurality of process processes such as electrical characteristic inspection, characteristic classification, marking, and appearance inspection are performed for each semiconductor component after being separated into individual pieces.

  For example, in a test handler that performs an electrical property inspection, semiconductor components are selected and held one by one from among a large number of semiconductor components accommodated in a tray and conveyed to test contacts. At this time, a suction nozzle using negative air pressure is generally used as the semiconductor component holding means.

  Then, while maintaining the holding by the suction nozzle, the semiconductor component is positioned and mounted on the test contact, and a predetermined electrical property test (voltage, current, resistance, frequency, etc.) is performed on the semiconductor component. After completion of the inspection, the suction nozzle holds the semiconductor component, removes it from the test contact, and conveys it to a predetermined tray or other process processing unit.

  Also, as a means for transporting semiconductor components, a turntable is known in which a plurality of suction nozzles are suspended from the circumference. In such a turntable, the suction nozzle is arranged to be movable up and down. Furthermore, what is called an intermittent conveyance mechanism is employ | adopted as the conveyance means which has a turntable and a suction nozzle. The intermittent conveyance mechanism is a mechanism that repeats a step of rotating the turntable according to a predetermined process order and a step of stopping the turntable from the start to the end of the processing of semiconductor components in each process processing unit.

  That is, after the suction nozzle sucks the semiconductor component and the suction nozzle rises as it is, the turntable starts rotating. When the suction nozzle reaches above the predetermined process processing unit, the turntable stops, and the suction nozzle descends toward the process processing unit and delivers the semiconductor component to the process processing unit.

  In the process processing unit, the suction nozzle holds the lowered position while sucking the semiconductor component. While the predetermined processing is performed in the process processing unit, the turntable is in a stopped state. After the process in the process processing unit is completed, the suction nozzle is raised and holds the raised position. Subsequently, the turntable rotates again, and the turntable stops when the suction nozzle reaches above the next process processing unit.

  By combining the turntable that performs intermittent conveyance as described above and the test handler, a plurality of process processing units can be arranged along the circumference of the turntable. Therefore, the entire semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be made compact, and a plurality of process processes can be performed simultaneously. As a result, the processing speed and expandability can be improved.

  By the way, in the above-described process processing, unlike the appearance inspection or the like in which the semiconductor component is inspected in a non-contact manner, the electrical characteristic inspection needs to actually contact the semiconductor component with the test contact. For this reason, if inspection is continued, solder residue or the like on the semiconductor component side may adhere to the surface of the test contact.

  Further, when the semiconductor component is brought into contact with the test contact, the insulating film is broken by strongly pressing the semiconductor component against the contact tip from above (for example, Patent Document 1). This is because the oxide insulating film covering the electrode part of the semiconductor component is broken at the contact tip to expose the conductive part. In such a test contact, there is a high possibility that an insulating film adheres to the contact tip.

  If deposits such as solder residue or a part of the insulating film are present on the surface of the test contact, there arises a problem that it becomes difficult for the semiconductor component to contact the test contact. Therefore, in order to ensure the reliability of the electrical property inspection, it is indispensable to periodically remove the deposits by performing a test contact cleaning operation.

  Conventionally, the cleaning operation of the test contact has been performed by a worker who manually removes deposits from the surface of the test contact by brush, air blow or negative pressure suction. However, the manual cleaning work requires a long work time, and an operator is required for each cleaning work, which hinders unattended automation of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

  Therefore, as in Patent Document 2, a technique for conveying a cleaning member such as a cleaning chip to a test contact using a suction nozzle that holds a semiconductor component has been proposed. This technique will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the suction nozzle 6 provided in the suction holding unit 5 can suck the cleaning member 4. The suction holding unit 5 carries the cleaning member 4 to the upper side of the test contact 11 having a cantilever type probe with the cleaning nozzle 4 being sucked by the suction nozzle 6, and lowers the cleaning member 4 together with the suction nozzle 6.

  Thereby, the lower surface of the cleaning member 4 is brought into contact with the probe tip of the test contact 11. Then, the probe tip of the test contact 11 can be cleaned by pressing the cleaning member 4 against the test contact 11 using the pressing force from the suction nozzle 6.

  According to the conventional technique as described above, the cleaning member 4 is conveyed by the suction nozzle 6 and the test contact 11 is cleaned, so that manual cleaning can be omitted and the cleaning time can be shortened. In addition, since the operator who performs the cleaning work is not required, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be operated unattended for a long time, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

JP 2008-39650 A JP 2006-153673 A

  However, the following problems have been pointed out in the above prior art. That is, in the technique described in Patent Document 2, although the cleaning operation is automated, the cleaning member 4 is transferred to the test contact 1 instead of the semiconductor component and is held by the suction nozzle 6 while being held by the suction nozzle 6. Just push.

  The pressing force applied to the test contact 11 by the suction nozzle 6 at this time is the same as in the case of the electrical characteristic inspection, and the cleaning member 4 does not rub or wipe off the surface of the test contact 11. For this reason, the deposits on the surface of the test contact 11 cannot be completely removed, and there is a possibility that a portion that is not sufficiently cleaned remains.

  Thus, in order to reliably remove the deposits on the surface of the test contact 11, Patent Document 2 discloses that the cleaning member 4 is made of an adhesive material. Once this happens, the adhesive strength is lost. Therefore, the quality of the cleaning operation is lower than when the operator manually rubs the surface of the test contact 11 with the brush.

  For this reason, there is a possibility that deposits that may affect the electrical property inspection may remain attached to the test contact 11 side, which has been a cause for concern when continuing the electrical property inspection of semiconductor components. . Moreover, in recent years when the electrode width has become narrower with the miniaturization of semiconductor components, the test contact 11 has also been refined. Such a precise test contact 11 is liable to cause a contact failure even if the deposit is very small.

  That is, the cleanliness of the test contact 11 is a factor that greatly influences the inspection performance of the test contact 11, and no matter how precisely the test contact 11 is made, its performance is sufficiently exhibited. For this, it is important to reliably and completely remove deposits on the surface of the test contact 11. Under such circumstances, it has been strongly demanded to improve the quality of the cleaning operation for the test contact 11.

  Further, from the viewpoint of increasing the cleanliness of the test contacts 11, cleaning work is frequently performed. For this reason, the usage amount of the cleaning member 4 that wipes off the deposits on the test contact 11 tends to increase. Since it is unlikely that the test contact 1 is wiped with the cleaning member 4 that may have adhered matter, the cleaning member is usually disposable after one use. Even if the cleaning member 4 is inexpensive per piece, an increase in the amount of use is reflected in the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor as a whole, and an improvement in economy has been awaited.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above situation, and the object is to automatically perform a high-quality cleaning operation with a simple configuration and maintain excellent performance for a long period of time. Then, it is providing the test contact which aimed at the improvement of reliability and economical efficiency, the cleaning method, and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is arranged on a transport path for transporting a semiconductor component, and includes a plurality of processing mechanisms for performing a predetermined process on the semiconductor component, and a plurality of processing mechanisms. A test contact that contacts the semiconductor component and inspects its electrical characteristics; a holding unit that holds the semiconductor component; and the semiconductor component held by the holding unit is transported to the processing mechanism. Conveying means, a cleaning member disposed adjacent to the test contact, for cleaning the surface of the test contact, a supply tray in which a plurality of the cleaning members are stored at a predetermined interval , and the cleaning member in the supply tray and and a cleaning member moving means for moving toward a position facing the said holding means, said conveying means, said A holding means is positioned on the cleaning member, the holding means holds the cleaning member, and the conveying means conveys the holding means holding the cleaning member onto the test contact so that the test contact The cleaning member is brought into contact, and when the cleaning member comes into contact with the test contact, the transport unit is configured to finely move, and the transport unit includes at least one use of the cleaning member and the holding unit. The conveyance distance of the holding means that holds the cleaning member as a holding target is adjusted so that the positional relationship differs from the previous time.

  In the above invention, the conveying means conveys the cleaning member onto the test contact and brings it into contact with the holding means holding the cleaning member. At this time, when the conveying means is finely moved, the cleaning member is moved, whereby the surface of the test contact can be rubbed. For this reason, even if a deposit such as a solder residue or a part of the insulating film exists on the surface of the test contact, the deposit can be scraped off by the cleaning member.

  Therefore, the cleaning member that has come into contact with the test contact can reliably clean the deposit that has been easily peeled off by rubbing. At this time, even if the movement of the cleaning member is slight, the effect of removing the deposit by rubbing is remarkable. Therefore, the level of cleanliness is significantly improved compared to the conventional example in which the cleaning member is simply pressed.

  Further, since the fine movement to the cleaning member by the conveying means is given to the cleaning member after contacting the test contact, even if the adhered material is completely peeled off from the test contact surface, the cleaning member covers the test contact surface. Yes. For this reason, compared with the case where the deposit is rubbed off with a brush or the like, the cleaning member catches the deposit, and the deposit does not scatter around. Therefore, there is no concern of reducing the cleanliness of the semiconductor manufacturing environment.

In the invention as described above , the cleaning member moving means gradually moves the cleaning member in the supply tray toward the position facing the holding means, so that the work efficiency of the cleaning work is further improved.

  As described above, according to the present invention, after the cleaning member comes into contact with the test contact, the cleaning member is moved by fine movement of the conveying means and the test contact is rubbed to automatically perform the high quality cleaning operation. Further, by shifting the position of the cleaning member with respect to the test contact for each cleaning operation, excellent performance can be maintained for a long time, and test reliability and economy can be improved.

The side view which shows the whole structure of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in typical embodiment of this invention. The top view of FIG. The perspective view of the principal part in this embodiment. The side view of the principal part in this embodiment. The front view of the cleaning member vicinity in this embodiment. The top view of the cleaning member and suction nozzle in this embodiment. The front view of the cleaning member vicinity in this embodiment. The front view of the conventional test contact.

  BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present embodiment) will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is an improvement on a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that automatically transports a cleaning member to a test contact side by using a suction nozzle that holds a semiconductor component.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a representative embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views and side views of main parts in the present embodiment. 5 and 7 are front views of the cleaning member and the test contact 11 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of the cleaning member and the suction nozzle in the present embodiment.

(1) Configuration [Overall configuration]
First, the overall configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 is provided with a turntable 3 as a conveying means for the semiconductor component D.

  The turntable 3 is configured to rotate while repeating an intermittent conveyance cycle that advances and stops by the direct drive motor 2. Around the turntable 3, a supply mechanism 19 for supplying the semiconductor component D sent from a conveying means such as a parts feeder onto the turntable 3 is installed.

  Further, around the turntable 3, a plurality of process processing units for performing predetermined process processing on the semiconductor component D are arranged at almost equal intervals (see FIG. 2). One of these process processing units is a test contact 11 that contacts the semiconductor component D and inspects its electrical characteristics.

  The test contact 11 of this embodiment is shown in FIG. The test contact 11 is a type having a cantilever type probe as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, but may be a type having a pogo pin type probe.

  As another process processing unit in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 2, on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 3 when viewed from the test contact 11 (left side in FIG. 2 when viewed from the test contact 11). A polarity discriminating unit 12 and a left / right reversing unit 13 are installed.

  Further, on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the turntable 3 (the right side in FIG. 2 when viewed from the test contact 11), as a process processing unit, a marking unit 14, an appearance inspection unit 15, a sorting unit 16, a taping unit 17, A defective product removal unit 18 is arranged.

  Further, at the circumferentially equidistant position of the turntable 3, suction holding for transferring and receiving the semiconductor component D between the turntable 3, the test contact 11, each process processing unit 12 to 18 and the supply mechanism 19. A unit 5 is provided. The suction holding unit 5 is a unit in which a suction nozzle 6 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 5) that holds the semiconductor component D by suction is accommodated, and a plurality of suction holding units 5 are arranged on the circumference of the turntable 3.

  The suction nozzle 6 is installed below the suction holding unit 5 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The suction nozzle 6 moves up and down between the ascending position conveyed by the turntable 3 and the descending positions of the test contact 11 and each of the process units 12 to 18 in accordance with the timing at which the turntable 3 rotates intermittently. It is configured as follows.

  That is, while the turntable 3 is in progress, the suction nozzle 6 is transported while maintaining the raised position, and when the turntable 3 stops, the suction nozzle 6 starts to descend from the raised position. . Further, when the suction nozzle 6 is in the lowered position and each process is being performed by the test contact 11 and each of the process processing units 12 to 18, and when the suction nozzle 6 is performing an ascending operation from the lowered position. The turntable 3 continues to be stopped. Then, after the suction nozzle 6 returns to the raised position, the turntable 3 performs a traveling operation.

[Characteristic configuration of this embodiment]
A feature of the present embodiment is that when the cleaning member 4 comes into contact with the test contact 11, the turntable 3 repeats forward rotation (CW) and reverse rotation (CWW) at a low speed within a slight rotation range. In the point. The fine movement pattern when the turntable 3 repeats normal rotation and reverse rotation can be freely set, and the rotation amount and rotation speed of the turntable 3 can be appropriately selected.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of cleaning members 4 can be stored at an arbitrary interval adjacent to the upstream side of the test contact 11 (the left side of the test contact 11 in FIG. 2). A supply tray 7 is arranged. The supply tray 7 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of sliders 8 for holding the cleaning member 4 are installed inside the supply tray 7. These sliders 8 are moving means for moving the cleaning member 4 in the supply tray 7 to a position facing the suction nozzle 6.

  The pair of sliders 8 is configured to be movable in the direction of the center of the turntable 3 (in the direction of arrow a in FIGS. 3 and 4) by one width dimension of the cleaning member 4 at a preset timing. . When the turntable 3 stops and the suction nozzle 6 descends, if the suction nozzle 6 descends after the cleaning member 4 and the suction nozzle 6 on the slider 8 face each other, the suction nozzle 6 sucks and holds the cleaning member 4. .

  When the suction nozzle 6 rises and the turntable 3 operates, the cleaning member 4 and the test contact 11 face each other. When the suction nozzle 6 descends at this point, the lower surface of the cleaning member 4 sucked and held by the suction nozzle 6 Is in contact with the probe tip of the test contact 11 (see FIG. 5). The suction holding point of the suction nozzle 6 with respect to the cleaning member 4 can be selected as appropriate depending on the amount of rotation of the turntable 3. This point will be described in detail in the cleaning method portion of this embodiment.

  By the way, the cleaning member 4 which concerns on this embodiment is comprised from the rectangular parallelepiped nonwoven fabric. On the lower surface side of the cleaning member 4, a sandpaper having a roughness that does not damage the adhesive member or the test contact 11 is provided.

(2) Cleaning method of the test contact 11 In the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, the cleaning operation of the test contact 11 is performed as follows. That is, the cleaning member 4 in the supply tray 7 gradually moves toward the center of the turntable 3 (in the direction of arrow a in FIGS. 3 and 4) toward the lower side of the suction nozzle 6 by the movement operation of the slider 8. I will do it.

  At this time, the cleaning operation by the cleaning member 4 is not performed while the cleaning member 4 does not reach the end of the supply tray 7. The cleaning operation timing for the test contact 11 is set such that the cleaning operation is performed after the test contact 11 is inspected several times.

  When the cleaning member 4 reaches the end of the supply tray 7, the cleaning member 4 faces the suction nozzle 6. At this time, the suction nozzle 6 starts to descend, and sucks and holds the cleaning member 4 stored in the supply tray 7 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  Then, the suction nozzle 6 moves up to the lifted position while holding the cleaning member 4. Subsequently, the turntable 3 rotates and conveys the cleaning member 4 to above the test contact 11. The suction nozzle 6 is lowered to the lowered position while holding the cleaning member 4, so that the lower surface of the cleaning member 4 comes into contact with the probe tip of the test contact 11.

  At this time, the turntable 3 repeats forward rotation (CW) and reverse rotation (CWW) at a low speed within a slight rotation range. Such repetitive movement of the turntable 3 is transmitted to the cleaning member 4 via the suction nozzle 6 of the suction holding unit 5, and the cleaning member 4 moves gently to rub the probe tip of the test contact 11.

  Therefore, even if deposits such as solder residue or part of the insulating film are present on the surface of the test contact 11, the cleaning member 4 can surely scrape these deposits. In addition, deposits such as solder residue and part of the insulating film on the surface of the test contact 11 are usually very small. Therefore, the deposits can be effectively peeled off only by rubbing with the cleaning member 4.

  The cleaning method for the test contact 11 in this embodiment is characterized by the following points. That is, the cleaning member 4 is not disposable once, but is returned to the slider 8 of the supply tray 7 again after the completion of the cleaning operation and continuously used a plurality of times. At this time, when the cleaning member 4 is transported to the test contact 11, the cleaning member 4 is characterized in that the portion of the surface of the cleaning member 4 that contacts the test contact 11 is shifted every time the cleaning operation is performed.

  Specifically, by adjusting the amount of rotation of the turntable 3, the suction holding point of the suction nozzle 6 with respect to the cleaning member 4 is shifted in the longitudinal direction. For example, in FIG. 6, the suction nozzle 6 is shifted to the right in the drawing. Due to such a displacement of the suction holding point of the suction nozzle 6, the cleaning point that is the contact portion of the cleaning member 4 with the test contact 11 is configured to be different from the previous time (see the front view of FIG. 7).

(3) Operational Effects The operational effects of the present embodiment as described above are as follows. That is, in the present embodiment, the cleaning member 4 that contacts the test contact 11 operates to rub the surface of the test contact 11 in synchronization with the fine movement of the turntable 3, thereby reliably cleaning the surface of the test contact 11. can do. For this reason, the deposits on the surface of the test contact 11 are not completely removed and the cleaning is not sufficient, and the quality of the cleaning operation is remarkably improved, which can contribute to the improvement of inspection reliability.

  In addition, since the fine movement operation of the turntable 3 starts after the cleaning member 4 comes into contact with the test contact 11, even if the deposits are peeled off from the surface of the test contact 11 due to the fine movement, the cleaning member 4 moves to the test contact 11. The surface is covered. Therefore, the deposit is not scattered around. Therefore, the cleanliness of the semiconductor manufacturing environment does not decrease, and semiconductor manufacturing can be continued stably.

  Furthermore, in the cleaning method of the test contact 11 in the present embodiment, when the cleaning member 4 is transported to the test contact 11, the portion in contact with the test contact 11 on the surface of the cleaning member 4 is shifted each time the cleaning operation is performed. Can do.

  For this reason, even if deposits on the test contact 11 side adhere to the surface of the cleaning member 4 in accordance with the cleaning operation of the test contact 11, the unused portion of the cleaning member 4 can always be brought into contact with the test contact 11. Is possible.

  Therefore, the cleaning member 4 can keep its cleaning power and can be used multiple times. For example, if the number of times the cleaning member 4 is used is set to 3, the cost for the cleaning member 4 becomes 1/3, which can contribute to a significant cost reduction.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the cleaning member 4 accommodated in the supply tray 7 is moved to below the suction nozzle 6 by the movement of the slider 8, but the movement timing of the cleaning member 4 and the turntable 3 By matching the operation timing of intermittent conveyance, the cleaning operation of the test contact 11 can be performed while performing a predetermined process in another process processing unit.

  Thereby, work efficiency becomes high and it can acquire the outstanding productivity. Further, since the cleaning member 4 housed in the supply tray 7 is gradually moved toward the position facing the suction holding unit 5, the working efficiency of the cleaning work is further improved.

(4) Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the operation time and operation pattern of the fine movement operation of the turntable 3 are appropriately selected within a range that does not affect the semiconductor components. Is possible. Further, the number of continuous uses of the cleaning member 4 can be freely set as long as the cleaning force of the cleaning member 4 is maintained.

  The driving source of the suction holding unit 5 can be changed as appropriate, and may be driven by any known driving means such as a linear motor, a rotary motor, a solenoid coil, or a cylinder. Furthermore, any known driving force transmission mechanism such as a gear, a lever, a cam, a belt, and a ball screw may be combined.

  Furthermore, the configuration, material, shape, and the like of each member are also free. For example, the cleaning member 4 may have flexibility in the contact direction. According to such a cleaning member 4, when contacting the test contact 11, the outer edge portion of the cleaning member 4 can strongly rub the peripheral edge portion of the test contact 11, and high cleaning performance can be exhibited.

  Further, since the cleaning member 4 is flexible in the contact direction with respect to the test contact 11, the cleaning member 4 is sufficiently bent even if the edge of the outside 4 of the cleaning member rubs the peripheral edge of the test contact 11 strongly. As a result, the test contact is not damaged and excellent safety can be ensured. Furthermore, the shape of the cleaning member 4 is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and can be freely selected such as a circular shape or a U-shape.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 2 ... Direct drive motor 3 ... Turntable 4 ... Cleaning member 5 ... Adsorption holding unit 6 ... Adsorption nozzle 7 ... Supply tray 8 ... Slider 11 ... Test contact 12 ... Polarity discrimination unit 13 ... Left-right inversion unit 14 ... Marking unit 15 ... Appearance inspection unit 16 ... Sort unit 17 ... Taping unit 18 ... Defective product removal unit 19 ... Supply mechanism 20 ... Electrode D ... Semiconductor component

Claims (1)

A plurality of processing mechanisms arranged on a transport path for transporting the semiconductor component and performing a predetermined process on the semiconductor component;
One of the plurality of processing mechanisms, a test contact that contacts the semiconductor component and inspects its electrical characteristics;
Holding means for holding the semiconductor component;
Conveying means for conveying the semiconductor component held by the holding means to the processing mechanism;
A cleaning member disposed adjacent to the test contact for cleaning the surface of the test contact;
A supply tray in which a plurality of the cleaning members are stored at a predetermined interval;
Cleaning member moving means for moving the cleaning member in the supply tray toward a position facing the holding means ,
The conveying means positions the holding means on the cleaning member; the holding means holds the cleaning member;
The conveying means conveys the holding means holding the cleaning member onto the test contact, brings the cleaning member into contact with the test contact, and when the cleaning member comes into contact with the test contact, the conveying means Configured to fine-tune,
The conveying means adjusts the conveying distance of the holding means for holding the cleaning member so that the positional relationship between the cleaning member and the holding means used at least once differs from the previous one. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Images