Claims
- 1. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system for establishing electrical connection with contact targets, comprising:
a contact substrate having a large number of contactors mounted on a surface thereof; a probe card for establishing electrical communication between the contactors and a test head of a semiconductor test system; connection means for fixedly connecting the contact substrate with the probe card; a probe card ring mounted on a frame of the probe contact system for mounting the probe card on an inner area thereof; and a plurality of shims provided between the probe card and the probe card ring at three or more locations wherein a number of shims at each of the locations is adjusted so that distances between tips of the contactors and surfaces of the contact targets become identical to one another.
- 2. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a conductive elastomer provided between the contact substrate and the probe card.
- 3. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a gap sensor for measuring a distance between the contact substrate and a semiconductor wafer to be tested or a reference plate (target substrate).
- 4. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 3, wherein the gap sensor determines the distance between the contact substrate and the target substrate by measuring capacitance between the gap sensor and an opposing electrode.
- 5. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 3, wherein the gap sensor is provided either on the upper surface of the target substrate or the bottom surface of the contact substrate.
- 6. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 3, wherein the reference plate is made of a ceramic or alumina substrate having electrodes at positions opposite to the gap sensor.
- 7. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 1, wherein the three locations for inserting the shims between the probe card and the probe card ring correspond to vertexes of a regular triangle.
- 8. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 2, further comprising a support frame provided between the contact substrate and the conductive elastomer for supporting the contact substrate wherein the connection means is extended between the probe card and the support frame.
- 9. A planarity adjustment mechanism for a probe contact system as defined in claim 2, wherein the conductive elastomer is comprised of a silicon rubber sheet and metal filaments running in a vertical direction so as to establish communication only in the vertical direction.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/583,837, filed May 31, 2000.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09583837 |
May 2000 |
US |
Child |
09883789 |
Jun 2001 |
US |