U.S. patent application number 12/237698 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-24 for probe and probe card for integrated circuit devices using the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to STAR TECHNOLOGIES INC.. Invention is credited to CHOON LEONG LOU.
Application Number | 20090315578 12/237698 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41430581 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090315578 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LOU; CHOON LEONG |
December 24, 2009 |
PROBE AND PROBE CARD FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICES USING THE
SAME
Abstract
A vertical probe comprises a linear body, a tip portion
connected to one side of the linear body, and at least one slot
positioned on the linear body. In particular, the vertical probe
includes a depressed structure having a plurality of slots
positioned on the linear body in parallel and on one side of the
linear body. The present application also provides a probe card for
integrated circuit devices comprising an upper guiding plate having
a plurality of fastening holes, a bottom guiding plate having a
plurality of guiding holes and a plurality of vertical probes
positioned in the guiding holes. The vertical probe includes a
linear body positioned in the guiding holes, a tip portion
connected to one side of the linear body and at least one slot
positioned on the linear body.
Inventors: |
LOU; CHOON LEONG; (HSINCHU
COUNTY, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WPAT, PC;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ATTORNEYS
2030 MAIN STREET, SUITE 1300
IRVINE
CA
92614
US
|
Assignee: |
STAR TECHNOLOGIES INC.
HSINCHU COUNTY
TW
|
Family ID: |
41430581 |
Appl. No.: |
12/237698 |
Filed: |
September 25, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
324/762.02 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01R 1/0675 20130101;
G01R 1/06733 20130101; G01R 1/07357 20130101; G01R 1/07314
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
324/754 |
International
Class: |
G01R 1/067 20060101
G01R001/067; G01R 31/02 20060101 G01R031/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 18, 2008 |
TW |
097122644 |
Claims
1. A vertical probe, comprising: a linear body; a tip portion
connected to one side of the linear body; and at least one slot
positioned on the linear body.
2. The vertical probe of claim 1, wherein the slot is perpendicular
to the surface of the linear body.
3. The vertical probe of claim 1, comprising a plurality of
slots.
4. The vertical probe of claim 3, wherein the slots are positioned
on the linear body in parallel.
5. The vertical probe of claim 3, wherein the slots are positioned
on one side of the linear body.
6. The vertical probe of claim 1, wherein the linear body is
cylindrical.
7. The vertical probe of claim 6, wherein the slot is
pie-shaped.
8. The vertical probe of claim 7, wherein an included angle between
the two edges of the pie-shaped slot is between 90 and 180
degrees.
9. The vertical probe of claim 1, wherein the slot includes an open
portion and a depressed portion connected to the open portion.
10. The vertical probe of claim 9, wherein the open portion and the
depressed portion connect at an interface having a smaller width
than the open portion and the depressed portion.
11. A probe card for integrated circuit devices, comprising: an
upper guiding plate having a plurality of fastening holes; a bottom
guiding plate having a plurality of guiding holes; and a plurality
of vertical probes including: a linear body positioned in the
guiding holes; a tip portion connected to one side of the linear
body; and at least one slot positioned on the linear body.
12. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
wherein the slot is perpendicular to the surface of the linear
body.
13. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
comprising a plurality of slots.
14. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 13,
wherein the slots are positioned on the linear body in
parallel.
15. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 13,
wherein the slots are positioned on one side of the linear
body.
16. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
wherein the linear body is cylindrical.
17. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 16,
wherein the slot pie-shaped.
18. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 17,
wherein an included angle between the two edges of the pie-shaped
slot is between 90 and 180 degrees.
19. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
wherein the slot includes an open portion and a depressed portion
connected to the open portion.
20. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 19,
wherein the open portion and the depressed portion connect at an
interface having a smaller width than the open portion and the
depressed portion.
21. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
wherein the slot of the vertical probes face the same
direction.
22. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
wherein the guiding holes are positioned below the fastening
holes.
23. The probe card for integrated circuit devices of claim 11,
wherein the upper guiding plate is a circuit board.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] (A) Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a vertical probe and a
probe card for integrated circuit devices using the same, and more
particularly, to a vertical probe having a depressed structure
providing vertical displacement for relieving the stress generated
as the vertical probe contacts the device under test and a probe
card for integrated circuit devices using the same.
[0003] (B) Description of the Related Art
[0004] Generally, it is necessary to test the electrical
characteristics of integrated circuit devices on the wafer level to
check whether the integrated circuit device satisfies the product
specification. Integrated circuit devices with electrical
characteristic satisfying the specification will be selected for
the subsequent packaging process, and the other devices will be
discarded to avoid additional packaging cost. Another electrical
property test will be performed on the integrated circuit device
after the packaging process is completed to screen out the below
standard devices to increase the product yield.
[0005] There are two major types of probes according to the prior
art, i.e., the cantilever probe and the vertical probe. The
cantilever probe provides appropriate vertical displacement when
the probe tip contacts an integrated circuit device under test via
a cantilever contact structure designed to prevent the integrated
circuit device under test from being exposed to excessive probe
pressure applied by the probe tip. However, the cantilever contact
structure occupies a larger planar space in a matrix array probing,
which constrains the cantilever probe from being arranged in a fine
pitch manner corresponding to an integrated circuit device with
high-density of pins, therefore it cannot be applied to the testing
of the integrated circuit devices with high-density of pins.
[0006] The vertical probe offers the vertical displacement required
by the probe tip to contact the integrated circuit device under
test using the deformation of the probe body itself, and can be
arranged in a fine pitch manner corresponding to the integrated
circuit devices under test with high-density of pin. However, if
the deformation of the probe body is so large that adjacent probes
may contact each other, this may cause short circuits or
collisions.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,559 discloses a cantilever probe
assembly for checking the electronic properties of integrated
circuit devices. The cantilever probe is used to contact the pad of
the device under test to build a path for propagating the test
signal. However, the cantilever probe needs a space to receive the
lateral cantilever, which limits the application of the cantilever
probe to checking the electronic properties of integrated circuit
devices with high-density pads.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,787 discloses a vertical probe assembly
for checking the electronic properties of integrated circuit
devices. The vertical probe assembly includes a buckling beam, an
upper plate and a bottom plate. The vertical probe is used to
contact the pad of the device under test to build a path for
propagating the test signal, and bend itself to relieve the stress
generated as the probe contacts the device under test. The upper
plate and the bottom plate have holes to hold the buckling beam,
and the hole of the upper plate deviates from the hole of the
bottom plate, i.e., it is not positioned in a mirror image manner.
In addition, frequent bending of the vertical probe is likely to
generate metal fatigue and the lifetime of the vertical probe is
thereby shortened.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,843 discloses a vertical probe assembly
for checking the electronic properties of integrated circuit
devices. The vertical probe assembly includes a bend beam, an upper
plate and a bottom plate. The vertical probe has an S-shaped bend
portion configured to relieve the stress generated as the probe
contacts the device under test. In addition, the upper plate and
the bottom plate have holes to hold the buckling beam, and the
holes of the upper plate and the bottom plate are positioned in a
mirror image manner, without deviation each other.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,626 discloses a probe contact system
capable of adjusting distances between tips of the contactors and
contact targets with a simple and low cost mechanism. The probe
contact system uses a POGO pin to relieve the stress generated as
the probe contacts the device under test. The POGO pin has a spring
to relieve the stress so as to prevent the POGO pin from
over-bending and generating metal fatigue.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,710 discloses a modular probe card
assembly comprising a silicon substrate with probes modularly
assembled on a main board. The silicon substrate has probes
fabricated by the micro-electron-mechanical technique, which can
fabricate the probe at very fine size and pitch. Consequently, the
modular probe card assembly can be applied to integrated circuit
devices with high-density pads
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] One aspect of the present invention provides a vertical
probe and a probe card for integrated circuit devices using the
same, the vertical probe having a depressed structure configured to
provide vertical displacement to relieve the stress generated as
the probe contacts the device under test.
[0013] A vertical probe according to this aspect of the present
invention comprises a linear body, a tip portion connected to one
side of the linear body, and at least one slot positioned on the
linear body. In particular, the vertical probe includes a depressed
structure having a plurality of slots positioned on the linear body
in parallel and on one side of the linear body.
[0014] Another aspect of the present invention provides a probe
card for integrated circuit devices comprising an upper guiding
plate having a plurality of fastening holes, a bottom guiding plate
having a plurality of guiding holes and a plurality of vertical
probes positioned in the guiding holes. The vertical probe includes
a linear body positioned in the guiding holes, a tip portion
connected to one side of the linear body and at least one slot
positioned in the linear body.
[0015] The conventional cantilever probe cannot be applied to
integrated circuit devices with high-density pads since it requires
a lateral space to receive the lateral cantilever. In contrast, the
vertical probe of the present application does not need the lateral
space, can provide variable contact force and can be applied to the
integrated circuit devices with high-density pads of very small
pitch. In addition, the conventional vertical probe uses the
deformation of the probe body itself to provide the vertical
displacement for relieving the stress generated as the probe
contacts the device under test, but the adjacent probes may contact
each other and cause short circuits or collisions if the
deformation of the probe body is too large or there is minor
misplacement of the probe body. In contrast, the vertical probe of
the present application uses the slots to relieve the stress and
the slots of the vertical probes can bend to the same side to
prevent the vertical probes from contacting each other and causing
short circuits or collisions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The objectives and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent upon reading the following description and upon
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a vertical
probe according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a vertical
probe according to another embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates a deformed view of the vertical probe due
to vertical displacement of the probe tip according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates a probe card for integrated circuit
devices according to one embodiment of the present invention;
and
[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates a probe card with plurality of bent
probes due to vertical displacement as the embodiment contacts the
integrated circuit devices build in the silicon wafer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a vertical
probe 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The
vertical probe 10 comprises a linear body 12, a tip portion 14
connected to one side of the linear body 12, and a plurality of
slots 16 positioned on the linear body 12. Preferably, the linear
body 12 is cylindrical, and the slots 16 are fan-shaped. In
particular, the fan-shaped slots 16 are perpendicular to the
surface of the linear body 12 and positioned on the linear body 12
in parallel such that the space of the fan-shaped slots 16 can
accumulate to provide vertical displacement for relieving the
stress generated as the vertical probe 10 contacts the device under
test (not shown in the drawings). Preferably, the included angle
between the two edges of the fan-shaped slots 16 is between 90 and
180 degrees, and the fan-shaped slots 16 are positioned on one side
of the linear body 12 such that the vertical probe 10 can bend to
the side to relieve the stress to one side of the probe body.
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a deformed
vertical probe 10' according to one embodiment of the present
invention. The probe body 12 is shown to have bent and the slots 16
are showed to have reduced spacing due to the compression of the
probe body 12 towards the slot direction. In particular, the
pressure of the tip portion 14 on a contact pad can be decreased by
increasing the numbers of the slots 16 with the same displacement
distance. On the contrary, by reducing the number of the slots 16,
the pressure on of the probe tip 14 on the contact pad will be
increased.
[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates a three-dimensional view of a vertical
probe 20 according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Compared with the vertical probe 10 having horizontal slots 16 in
FIG. 1, the vertical probe 20 comprises several slots 26 including
an open portion 22 and a depressed portion 24 connected to the open
portion 22. In particular, the open portion 22 and the depressed
portion 24 connect at an interface (corner portion) having a
smaller width than the open portion 22 and the depressed portion
24. When the vertical probe 20 bends to relieve the stress as the
tip portion 14 contacts the device under test, the corner portion
will contact the bottom surface of the slots 26 to form a current
path to reduce the resistance of the vertical probe 20.
[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates a probe card 100 for integrated circuit
devices according to one embodiment of the present invention. The
probe card 100 comprises an upper guiding plate 110 having a
plurality of fastening holes 112, a bottom guiding plate 120 having
a plurality of guiding holes 122 and a plurality of vertical probes
10 positioned in the guiding holes 122. The upper guiding plate 110
can be a print circuit board. Since the vertical probe 10 is
linear, the guiding holes 122 can be positioned substantially right
below the fastening holes 112 without deviation. Preferably, the
slots 16 of the vertical probes 10 face the same direction as shown
on the right side of FIG. 3, such that the vertical probes 10 bend
to the same side to relieve the stress without contacting each
other and causing short circuits or collisions as the tip portion
14 contact the pad 132 of the integrated circuit device 130 under
test.
[0026] One problem with the conventional vertical probe arises as
the number of the probe increases the bottom guide plate will
sustain increasing probe force from the bend probe. For example, in
the case of the probe card having five thousand probes, a force of
1 gram exerted by each probe will result in a force of five
kilogram exerted on the bottom guide plate. In contrast, the high
probe force on the bottom guide plate 120 is eliminated as the
probe body 12 of the vertical probe 10 does not need to exert any
pressure on the bottom guide plate 120 as in conventional vertical
probe card. This enables the planarity of the bottom guide plate
120 within high tolerance and with minimal deformation
[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates a probe card 100' for integrated circuit
devices according to another embodiment of the present invention.
The probe card 100' has a plurality of bent probes 10 in contact
with integrated circuits devices 130. The bent probe body 12 showed
minimal horizontal displacement and therefore reducing the risk of
contacting one another during electrical tests.
[0028] The conventional cantilever probe cannot be applied to the
integrated circuit device with high-density pads since it needs a
lateral space to receive the lateral cantilever. In contrast, the
vertical probes 10, 20 of the present application does not need the
lateral space, and can be applied to the integrated circuit device
with high-density pads.
[0029] In addition, the conventional vertical probe uses the
deformation of the probe body itself to provide the vertical
displacement for relieving the stress generated as the probe
contacts the device under test, but the adjacent probes may contact
each other and cause short circuits or collisions if the
deformation of the probe body is too large. In contrast, the
vertical probes 10, 20 of the present application use the slots 16,
26 to relieve the stress and the slots 16, 26 of the vertical
probes 10, 20 can bend to the same side to prevent the vertical
probes 10, 20 from contacting each other and causing short circuits
or collisions.
[0030] The above-described embodiments of the present invention are
intended to be illustrative only. Numerous alternative embodiments
may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from
the scope of the following claims.
* * * * *