The present application claims priority to Taiwan patent application Serial No. 111101571 filed on Jan. 13, 2022 the entire content of which is incorporated by reference to this application.
The present invention pertains to a chip carrier, more specifically to a chip carrier that can be switched to carry a chip under test or to carry a standard chip.
After a chip is made, a series of tests are often required to ensure the quality of the production. Since different test items need to be performed in different stations, the chip also needs to be transported between the stations. For example, the chip is generally picked up by a suction nozzle. After the suction nozzle moves to a specific position of the next station, the chip is then released. However, person having ordinary skill in the art can understand that when more test items are required, moving the chips one by one will make the entire testing process very time-consuming. Especially when the size of the chip becomes smaller and smaller, repeatedly picking up and releasing the chip will increase the chance of damaging it.
In addition, assuming that the chip needs to undergo electrical testing, it will first be placed in a test position of a station, and then the electrode of the chip can be contacted by a probe for providing test signals. Besides, a special jig with a standard chip needs to be used during calibration, but the special jig may not be compatible with the original test position where the chip was placed, makes the calibration process more complicated. Therefore, the industry needs a new chip carrier that can improve efficiency in transporting chips and reduce contacting with the chips directly. In addition, the industry also needs a chip carrier that can quickly apply the standard chip to improve its versatility.
The present invention provides a chip carrier which can reduce the repeated suction and release of the chip, thereby reducing the chance of the chip being damaged. In addition, the chip carrier can also be switched to carry a chip under test or to carry a standard chip so as to provide commonality of the chip carrier in multiple situations.
The present invention provides a chip carrier that selectively carries a chip under test or a standard chip. The chip carrier comprises a body and a load board. The body defines a test area located on an upper surface of the body, and a first chip position is defined in the test area. The load board is detachably located in the test area, and a second chip position is defined in the load board. A standard chip is disposed within the second chip position. When the load board is located in the test area, the load board covers the first chip position and the chip under test is not disposed within the first chip position. When the chip under test is disposed within the first chip position, the load board is not located in the test area.
In some embodiments, the load board defines a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other. The second chip position may be located on the first surface. When the load board is located in the test area, the second surface can contact the first chip position. Herein, a first electrode pad may also be provided on the first surface. The first electrode pad is connected to a protective conductor. The protective conductor can shield the standard chip in a vertical direction, and the standard chip is a light emitting chip in side-emission configuration. In addition, a conductive block may be disposed within the load board. The conductive block is exposed at the second chip position on the first surface and also exposed on the second surface. Furthermore, the protective conductor may be composed of a protective cantilever and an elastic block. The protective cantilever can shield the standard chip in a vertical direction, and the elastic block is located between the protective cantilever and the first surface and can absorb stress applied to the protective cantilever..
In some embodiments, a second electrode pad may be provided on the first surface. The second electrode pad is disposed within the second chip position and connected to the conductive block. The conductive block is disposed within the load board and exposed on the second surface. In addition, an extended electrode pad may also be provided on the first surface. The protective conductor is electrically connected to the first electrode pad and the extended electrode pad.
In some embodiments, the test area can be recessed into the upper surface, the load board is placed in the test area, and the body is made of conductive material. In addition, the load board may have a temperature control unit for controlling an ambient temperature around the second chip position. Furthermore, the body may have an identification pattern for identifying the chip carrier.
In summary, the chip carrier provided by the present invention has a detachable load board that can carry a standard chip. When the load board is located in the body, the combination of the body and the load board can be regarded as a standard part. When the load board is not located in the body, the body can carry a chip under test which can reduce the repeated suction and release of the chip, thereby reducing the chance of the chip being damaged.
The features, targetions, and functions of the present invention are further disclosed below. However, it is only a few of the possible embodiments of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto; that is, the equivalent changes and modifications done in accordance with the claims of the present invention will remain the subject of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it should be considered as further enablement of the invention.
Please also refer to
Assuming that the load board 12 has not yet been placed in the test area 100 of the body 10, it can be seen from
In practice, the body 10 can be made of conductive material, and the electrodes of the chip under test are electrically connected to the body 10. In this embodiment, the described chip under test can be a light emitting chip in side-emission configuration, and the chip under test can, at least, emit light toward the inclined surface 10c of the body 10. In one example, the two electrodes of the chip under test can be located on the top and bottom of the chip under test respectively. The electrode (e.g., cathode) on the bottom of the chip under test is electrically connected to a test equipment via the body 10, while the electrode (e.g., anode) on the top of the chip under test can be electrically connected to a probe of the test equipment. Therefore, even when the load board 12 of the chip carrier 1 is not placed in the body 10, electrical tests can still be performed directly on the chip under test disposed on the body 10 by the test equipment. For example, assuming that the test equipment is calibrated and can drive the chip under test to check its light-emitting characteristics. At this time, the chip under test can be directly placed in the first chip position 102 of the body 10 and driven by said test equipment to emit light. That is to say, without assembling load board 12 of chip carrier 1, the body 10 can independently carry the chip under test and can be used to perform tests.
On the other hand, if the test equipment needs to be calibrated, such as under development or awaiting calibration. Engineers usually need to use a standard chip (e.g. a golden sample) to adjust and calibrate the test equipment. At this time, this embodiment will place the load board 12 on the body 10 so that the body 10 of the chip carrier 1 and the load board 12 can be combined. Specifically, the load board 12 can be defined with a first surface 12a and a second surface 12b on opposite sides. The first surface 12a of the load board 12 can define a second chip position 120 (the area enclosed by the dashed line). Although only one second chip position 120 is indicated in
When the body 10 and the load board 12 are combined, that is, when the load board 12 is located in the test area 100, the back side (the second surface 12b) of the load board 12 directly contacts the test area 100. In one example, the second chip position 120 in the first surface 12a is also roughly located at the center of the load board 12, and the second chip position 120 can roughly overlap, in the vertical direction, with the first chip position 102. Here, the thickness of the load board 12 can be approximately equal to the depth of the test area 100 recessed into the upper surface 10a so that after the load board 12 is placed in the test area 100, there is basically no difference between the load board 12 and the surrounding upper surface 10a. In practice, the load board 12 can be detachably combined with the test area 100 of the body 10. This embodiment does not limit how to combine the load board 12 with the body 10. For example, the load board 12 can be locked, snapped, or glued in the test area 100, or simply just placed in the test area 100.
Similar to the chip under test, the standard chip GS can also be a light emitting chip in side-emission configuration, and the two electrodes of the standard chip GS are also located on the top and bottom. A conductive block 126 can be disposed within the load board 12. The conductive block 126 is located below the second chip position 120, and exposed on both the first surface 12a and the second surface 12b. In one example, the conductive block 126 can be composed of one or more conductive pillars embedded in the load board 12 and penetrated through the load board 12 to expose on both the first surface 12a and the second surface 12b. This embodiment does not limit the shape of the conductive pillar. For example, it can be a circular or rectangular pillar. At this time, the electrode (e.g., cathode) on the lower side of the standard chip GS is electrically connected to the body 10 via the conductive block 126 and then electrically connected to the test equipment via the body 10. Unlike the electrode on the top of the chip under test that may directly contact the probe of the test equipment, it is necessary to avoid direct contact between the probe and the electrode on the top of the standard chip GS. The reason is that if the electrode on the top (e.g., anode) of the standard chip GS frequently contacts the probe, it is likely to be worn or damaged by the probe, that reduces the accuracy of the standard chip GS. In practice, the electrode on the top of the standard chip GS can be connected to a first electrode pad 122 by wire bonding and then connected to a protective conductor 124 located above the standard chip GS via the first electrode pad 122.
As shown in
In another example, another function of the protective conductor 124 is to allow direct contact with the probe. Considering that the probe of the test equipment is originally designed to contact the electrode on the top of the chip under test vertically, in order not to change the original operation of the probe of the test equipment, the protective conductor 124 in this embodiment can be contacted by the probe of the test equipment vertically. In practice, assuming that the horizontal position of the probe has been aligned with the first chip position 102 (prepare to contact the chip under test), it is only necessary to move the probe vertically and combine the load board 12 with the body 10 if the calibration process needs to be performed. Since the second chip position 120 roughly overlaps with the first chip position 102 vertically, when the probe descends, it should contact, firstly, the protective conductor 124 that shields the standard chip GS in the vertical direction. Person having ordinary skill in the art can understand that since it is easy for the probe to move vertically, the protective conductor 124 slightly higher than the standard chip GS will not affect the operation of the probe and make it easy for the probe to contact protective conductor 124 downward. Moreover, when the probe contacts the protective conductor 124, it can also be electrically connected to the electrode on the top of the standard chip GS via the protective conductor 124 and the first electrode pad 122. Therefore, when the chip carrier 1 has the load board 12 disposed on the body 10, the test equipment can regard the chip carrier 1 as the standard part and perform adjustments or calibrations accordingly.
In another example, one or more extended electrode pads 128 can be provided on the first surface 12a of the load board 12. Although two extended electrode pads 128 are shown in
On the other hand, body 10 can have one or more identification patterns, which are not limited to text, patterns, or barcodes. For example, this embodiment shows an identification pattern 104 and an identification pattern 106. The identification pattern 104 can be a two-dimensional barcode, while the identification pattern 106 can be text. However, regardless of the type of identification patterns, person having ordinary skill in the art should understand that the identification pattern should be used to identify the chip carrier 1. For example, the identification pattern can be used to indicate whether the chip carrier 1 carries the chip under test or the standard chip GS, or to indicate the specifications and models of the chip under test or the standard chip GS.
In addition, the load board 12 of the chip carrier 1 can also integrate other functional units. Please refer to
In addition, a conductive block 226 can also be disposed within the load board 22. The conductive block 226 is located below the second chip position 220 and exposed on the first surface 22a and the second surface 22b. At this time, the electrode, on the bottom, of the standard chip GS is electrically connected to the body 20 via the conductive block 226, and then electrically connected to the test equipment via the body 20. The electrode on the top of the standard chip GS can be connected to the first electrode pad 222 via wire bonding, and then connected to the protective conductor 224 located above the standard chip GS. One or more extended electrode pads 228 can also be provided on the first surface 22a of the load board 22. The two extended electrode pads 228 shown in the figures can be electrically connected to the electrodes on the same surface of the standard chip GS, or can be electrically connected to the electrodes on different surfaces of the standard chip GS. On the other hand, the body 20 can also have one or more identification patterns. The identification pattern is not limited to text, patterns, or barcodes. For example, an identification pattern 204 and an identification pattern 206 are marked in this embodiment. The details of the above components are generally the same as those in the previous embodiment and are not described here.
Unlike the previous embodiment, a temperature control unit 229 is provided on the first surface 22b of the load board 22. The temperature control unit 229 is used to control the temperature of the load board 22, especially to control an ambient temperature around the second chip position 222. Since the load board 22 with the standard chip GS is used as a standard part, especially when the standard chip GS needs to be controlled in a stable operating environment, the temperature control unit 229 is required to maintain the ambient temperature around the second chip position 222 with the standard chip GS. In practice, the temperature control unit 229 can be a temperature control chip, and the location of the temperature control unit 229 can be as close as possible to the standard chip GS. In the example of
Furthermore, unlike the previous embodiment that the electrode (e.g., cathode) on the bottom of the standard chip GS is directly provided on the conductive block 226 of the load board 22a. The electrode on the bottom of the standard chip GS may also be provided on an electrode pad. Please also refer to
Different from the first embodiment shown in
Different from the first embodiment shown in
On the other hand,
In one example, the protective conductor can also be an asymmetric and inverted U-shaped structure, and there can be multiple protective conductors on the load board. Please also refer to
Unlike the first embodiment illustrated in
In one example, one end of the protective cantilever 424a is directly disposed within the first surface 42a, and the elastic block 424b supports the other end of the protective cantilever 424a. Since the elastic block 424b is made of a material having elasticity, when the probe contacts the protective cantilever 424a from above, the stress applied to the protective cantilever 424a by the probe can be absorbed by the elastic block 424b, thereby more effectively avoiding damage to the protective cantilever 424a caused by stress from the probe. The position of the elastic block 424b is not limited in this embodiment, and the elastic block 424b should be able to absorb at least a portion of the stress applied to the protective cantilever 424a by the probe as long as the protective conductor 424 is composed of the protective cantilever 424a and the elastic block 424b. In addition, an extended electrode pad may not be provided on the first surface 42a of the load board 42 of this embodiment. As described above, electrodes (e.g., cathodes) on multiple lower surfaces of the standard chips GS can be electrically connected to a common negative terminal via a conductive block 426. Since the body 40 is made of a conductive material, the probe can electrically connect to electrodes on the bottom of the standard chips GS by contacting the body 40 without necessarily requiring an extended electrode pad. In an example, another probe can contact a corresponding protective conductor 424 to drive standard chips GS.
In summary, the chip carrier provided by the present invention has a detachable load board that can carry a standard chip. When the load board is located in the body, the combination of the body and the load board can be regarded as a standard part. When the load board is not located in the body, the body can carry a chip under test which can reduce the repeated suction and release of the chip, thereby reducing the chance of the chip being damaged.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
111101571 | Jan 2022 | TW | national |