Patent Application
20230360874
This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 111117021, filed on May 5, 2022, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a probe card device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a probe card device with a circuit protection assembly.
In general, a semiconductor element, for example a die or a wafer, is moved into a test platform during a Chip Probe (CP) testing stage. Next, probes of the probe card located above the test platform can be controlled to descend for contacting the semiconductor element so as to perform electrical inspection on the semiconductor element.
However, when the electrical inspection is performed on the semiconductor element by the probe card, a small number of probes of the probe card may cause needle burning or needle melting phenomenon due to fault currents so as to cause these specific probes being failure, and unable to continuously perform the corresponding electrical inspection, which not only increases the failure rate and maintenance cost, but also increases the inspection time of semiconductor elements.
It is noted that the above-mentioned technology obviously still has inconvenience and defects, and needs to be further improved. Therefore, how to develop a solution to improve the foregoing deficiencies and inconvenience is an important issue that relevant persons engaged in the industry are currently unable to delay.
One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a probe card device and a circuit protection assembly thereof to solve the aforementioned problems of the prior art.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a probe card device is provided, and the probe card device includes a wiring board, a probe head and a circuit protection assembly. The wiring board is provided with a plurality of first contacts. The probe head includes a probe holder and a plurality of first conductive probes arranged on the probe holder, respectively. The circuit protection assembly includes an insulation plate, a plurality of first through holes and a plurality of self-resetting fusing elements. The insulation plate is sandwiched between the wiring board and the probe head. The first through holes are respectively formed on the insulation plate, and arranged on the insulation plate in an array form. The self-resetting fusing elements are respectively disposed within the first through holes. Each of the self-resetting fusing elements is electrically connected to one of the first contacts and one of the first conductive probes for reversibly breaking down electric currents from the wiring board to the one of the first conductive probes.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a circuit protection assembly of a probe card device is provided, and the circuit protection assembly is suitable to be sandwiched between a wiring board and a probe head of the probe card device, and the circuit protection assembly includes an insulation plate, a plurality of first through holes and a plurality of self-resetting fusing elements. The first through holes are respectively formed on the insulation plate, and arranged on the insulation plate. The self-resetting fusing elements are respectively buried within the first through holes for reversibly breaking down electric currents from the wiring board to one conductive probe, and the self-resetting fusing elements collectively form a pattern array on the insulation plate.
Thus, through the construction of the embodiments above, the present disclosure is able to avoid the needle burning or needle melting phenomenon so as to reduce the possibilities of specific probe failure and improve the continuous electrical inspection.
The above description is merely used for illustrating the problems to be resolved, the technical methods for resolving the problems and their efficacies, etc. The specific details of the present disclosure will be explained in the embodiments below and related drawings.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. According to the embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure.
Reference is now made to
In this way, when the fault currents transmitted from the wiring board 100 to one of the self-resetting fusing elements 240 of the circuit protection assembly 200, the corresponding self-resetting fusing element 240 instantly cuts off the fault currents from the wiring board 100 to the circuit protection assembly 200 for protecting the first conductive probes 400 from being needle burned or needle melted so as to reduce the possibilities of specific probe failure and improve the continuous electrical inspection.
In the embodiment, the probe card device 10 further includes a connected board (e.g., space transforming layer) 800. The connected board 800 is fixedly connected to one side of the probe head 300, and located between the circuit protection assembly 200 and the probe head 300. The connected board 800 includes a plurality of first conductive pads 810, a plurality of second conductive pads 820 and a plurality of first conductive routes 830. The first conductive pads 810 are respectively arranged on one surface of the connected board 800 facing away from the probe head 300, and each of the first conductive pads 810 is connected to one of the self-resetting fusing elements 240. The second conductive pads 820 are opposite to the first conductive pads 810, and are arranged on the other surface of the connected board 800 facing towards the probe head 300, and each of the second conductive pads 820 is connected to one of the first conductive probes 400. The first conductive routes 830 are separably arranged in the connected board 800. Each of the first conductive routes 830 is electrically connected to one of the first conductive pads 810 and one of the second conductive pads 820. A gap G1 between any two neighboring ones of the first conductive pads 810 is greater than a gap G2 between any two neighboring ones of the second conductive pads 820. For example, the probe card device 10 is a vertical probe card, the insulation plate 210 is a ceramic substrate with strong mechanical properties and low warpage, and these first conductive probes 400 respectively are cobra probe.
Thus, when the fault currents heat one of the self-resetting fusing elements 240 to rise the temperature thereof to a critical value, the corresponding self-resetting fusing element 240 is switched from the power-on state into a power-off state, so as to instantly cut off the electric currents transmitted from the wiring board 100 to the circuit protection assembly 200. More specifically, in this embodiment, the critical value is between 150° C. and 200° C.
More specifically, as shown in
Specifically, each of the resettable fuse portions 241 is polymeric positive temperature coefficient (PPTC) body. PPTC body is made of a mixture of semi-crystalline polymers and conductive particles to maintain low resistance at ambient temperatures. In this way, when the peak current exceeds the critical value, the internal crystal melts and gets structurally changed, causing the resistance to rise to million ohms suddenly, thereby breaking down the conduction path of the resettable fuse portion. On the contrary, when the PPTC body is cooled and the temperature of the PPTC body returns to the ambient temperature, the PPTC body is recrystallized again, thereby allowing the conductive particles to open the conductive path again.
It is noted, compared with disposable fuse consumable material, the resettable fuse portions 241 of this embodiment can be reused for a long time, and the normal working resistance of the resettable fuse portions 241 can be either as low as 10 milliohms, and either reach mega-Ohms when it withstands peak current to avoid probe damage. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, the resettable fuse portions 241 may also be ceramics positive temperature coefficient (CPTC) body, respectively.
Reference is now made to
The first conductive probes 400 are used to contact with the power or ground leads of the DUT (not shown), and the second conductive probes 500 are used to contact with the signal leads of the DUT (not shown). The circuit protection assembly 201 further includes a plurality of second through holes 230 and a plurality of conductive metal elements 250. The second through holes 230 are respectively formed on the insulation plate 210, and surround the first through holes 220. The conductive metal elements 250 are respectively buried within the second through holes 230. Each of the conductive metal elements 250 is electrically connected to one of the second contacts 130 and one of the second conductive probes 500. For example, one end of each of the conductive metal elements 250 is soldered to one of the second contacts 130 through a solder ball B3, and the other end thereof is soldered to one of the second conductive probes 500 through a solder ball B4. More specifically, the corresponding conductive metal element 250 is connected to the second conductive probes 500 through the corresponding solder ball B4 and the connected board 800.
Furthermore, the connected board 800 further includes a plurality of third conductive pads 840, a plurality of fourth conductive pads 850 and a plurality of second conductive routes 860. The third conductive pads 840 are arranged on the surface of the connected board 800 facing away from the probe head 300, and collectively surround the first conductive pads 810. Each of the third conductive pads 840 is connected to one of the conductive metal elements 250 through a solder ball B4. The fourth conductive pads 850 are oppositely disposed on the third conductive pads 840, arranged on the other surface of the connected board 800 facing towards the probe head 300, and surround the third conductive pads 840. Each of the fourth conductive pads 850 is connected to one of the second conductive probes 500. The second conductive routes 860 are separably arranged in the connected board 800. Each of the second conductive routes 860 is electrically connected to one of the third conductive pads 840 and one of the fourth conductive pads 850. The gap G3 between any two neighboring ones of the third conductive pads 840 is greater than the gap G4 between any two neighboring ones of the fourth conductive pads 850.
The insulation plate 210 of the circuit protection assembly 201 is divided into a central area C and a surrounding area S surrounding the central area C. The above-mentioned first through holes 220 and the self-resetting fusing elements 240 are completely located in the central area C, and these self-resetting fusing elements 240 are respectively a power channel or a ground channel for transmitting the above-mentioned power or ground signals. The above-mentioned second through holes 230 and the conductive metal element 250 are completely located in the surrounding area S, and these conductive metal elements 250 are respectively signal channels for transmitting the above-mentioned information signals.
Also, the probe holder 310 includes an upper guide plate 311, a lower guide plate 312, a base body 313, a plurality of first position openings 314 and a plurality of second position openings 315. The upper guide plate 311 is connected to the circuit protection assembly 201. The lower guide plate 312 is opposite to the upper guide plate 311. The base body 313 is sandwiched between the upper guide plate 311 and the lower guide plate 312. The first position openings 314 are respectively arranged on the base body 313 in the aforementioned array for fixedly holding the first conductive probes 400, respectively. The second position openings 315 are respectively arranged on the base body 313 and surround the first position openings 314 for fixedly holding the second conductive probes 500, respectively.
It should be understood that the number of the self-resetting fusing elements 240 in each figure is only demonstration. For example, the number of the self-resetting fusing elements 240 can also be as much as thousands, or even tens of thousands. However, the disclosure is not limited to thereto.
Thus, through the construction of the embodiments above, the present disclosure is able to avoid the needle burning or needle melting phenomenon so as to reduce the possibilities of specific probe failure and improve the continuous electrical inspection.
Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 111117021 | May 2022 | TW | national |
