This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2008-0080179 filed on Aug. 14, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe card, and more particularly, to a probe card including a plurality of cantilever probe pins.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a semiconductor test apparatus includes a tester, a performance board, a probe card, a chuck, and a prober to test electrical properties of chips on a wafer. The probe card of the semiconductor test apparatus receives a signal generated at the tester through the performance board, delivers the signal to pads of the chips in the wafer, and delivers a signal outputted from the pads of the chips to the tester through the performance board.
Generally, the probe card includes a probe pin to contact an electrode pad in a chip. As the sizes of the chips fabricated on a wafer are minimized in recent years, the size of the probe pin and an interval between the probe pins are progressively reduced. The probe pins are manufactured as much as the number of the electrode pads in the chip. If many probe pins are required, there is a limitation in manufacturing a plurality of probe pins in a given region.
An aspect of the present invention provides a probe card capable of reducing an arrangement space of a probe pin, by unifying a first section of a probe body connected to a ceramic substrate and by mutually-separately arranging a second section of the probe body connected to a probe tip.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a probe card including: a ceramic substrate including a signal line; and a plurality of probe pins formed on the ceramic substrate, and including probe bodies having one end connected to the signal line and probe tips formed at other end of the probe body, the probe body being divided into a first section adjacent to the signal line and second sections adjacent the probe tips, the first section being united by an insulating support, the second section being divergently arranged to position the probe tips at different measurement regions, respectively.
The insulating support may be formed extending to the second section of the probe body.
The insulating support may include a parylene material.
The second sections of the probe bodes may be bent in different directions at a boundary between the first section and the second sections.
The second sections of the probe bodies may have different lengths.
The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The probe card as described in
Referring to
Each of probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a is divided into a first section A adjacent to a signal line (not shown) of the ceramic substrate 100 and a second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 adjacent to each of probe tips 210b, 220b, 230b, 240b and 250b. In this case, each of probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a in the first section A is united by an insulating support 400. That is, the insulating support 400 is formed between probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a in the first section to electrically insulate the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a, and simultaneously fix the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a within the first section A. Accordingly, the first section A may have a plate shape. The insulating support 400 may include a parylene material. Also, the insulating support may be formed extending to the second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 of each of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a.
The second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 of each of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a are divergently arranged so that each of the probe tips 210b, 220b, 230b, 240b and 250b is located at a different measurement region. More concretely, the second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 of each of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a have a different length from each other, and are bent in a different direction on the basis of a boundary between the first section A and the second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5. Accordingly, the second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 of each of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a may be extended to circumferential region except the first section A of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a. By using this feature, the second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 of each of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a may cover distant measurement regions as well as close measurement regions. Accordingly, the measurable region by the plurality of probe pins 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 may be magnified.
In the plurality of probe pins 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 as described in
As described above, the first section A of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a is unified, and the second section B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5 of each of the probe bodies 210a, 220a, 230a, 240a and 250a are divergently arranged. As a result, the measurable regions by the plurality of probe pins 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 can be magnified. Also, the arrangement space by the plurality of probe pins 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 can be reduced.
As described in
The first and second patterns P1 and P2 as described in
The plurality of patterns may have a different length from the first and second patterns P1 and P2. Also, the plurality of patterns may have a bent pattern of a different angle from each other.
As described in
On the other hand, as described in
As described in
As described in
As described in
By the etching process, the probe tip 230b may be exposed to the outside to electrically contact the measurement regions.
Referring to
According to the embodiment of the present invention, the first section of the probe body connected to the ceramic substrate is unified. Also, the second section of the probe body connected to the probe tip is mutually-separately arranged. According, more probe pins can be formed in a given region because the arrangement space for the plurality of probe pins is reduced.
Also, the measurement region by the plurality of probe pins can be expanded by forming parts of the probe body connected to the probe tip with a different length and bending the parts into a different direction.
While the present invention has been shown and described in connection with the exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2008-0080179 | Aug 2008 | KR | national |