Sawing tile corners on probe card substrates

• US 20070290705A1
• Filed: 06/16/2006
• Published: 12/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FormFactor Incorporated
• Original Assignee: FormFactor Incorporated
• Inventors: Eldridge, Benjamin N., Henson, Roy J., Hobbs, Eric D., Mathews, Peter B., Shinde, Makarand S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,692,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/754.07
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 1/07342 the body of the probe being at an angle other than perpendicular to test object, e.g. probe card

Abstract

A composite substrate for testing semiconductor devices is formed by selecting a plurality of substantially identical individual substrates, cutting a corner from at least some of the individual substrates in accordance with their position in a final array configuration, and then assembling the individual substrates into the final array configuration. The final array configuration of substrates with corners cut or sawed away conforms more closely to the surface area of a wafer being tested, and can easily fit within space limits of a test environment.

Claims

1. A probe card assembly for testing semiconductor devices comprising a composite substrate formed from individual substrates, wherein at least a portion of the individual substrates have at least one corner removed.

2. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the peripheral size and shape of the individual substrates is substantially identical before the corners of the portion of substrates are removed.

3. The prove card of claim 1, wherein the portion of substrates with corners removed each have five sides formed using a four-sided substrates by cutting away one corner.

4. The probe card of claim 1, further comprising:

a support fixture for holding the substrates, wherein the portion of substrates having corners removed are placed around the periphery of the individual substrates as arranged in an array in the support fixture.

5. The probe card of claim 1, further comprising:

a support structure for holding the individual substrates in an array configuration.

6. The probe card of claim 5, wherein the portion of substrates having corners removed are provided in the array configuration to enable a periphery of the substrates in the array configuration to fit into a predetermined area.

7. The probe card of claim 6, wherein the predetermined area is a surface area of a wafer containing the semiconductor devices for testing.

8. The probe card of claim 6, further comprising:

a prober for holding the support structure, the prober having an opening through which the individual substrates pass, wherein if the portion of substrates did not have a corner removed, the probe card would not pass through the opening of the prober.

9. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the individual substrates support compliant spring probe contacts.

10. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the individual substrates support probe contacts comprising lithographically formed compliant contacts.

11. A probe card for testing a single integrated circuit (IC) semiconductor device, comprising a substrate supporting probe contacts, wherein the peripheral boundary size an shape of the substrate substantially matches the peripheral boundary of the single IC semiconductor device.

12. A method of forming a composite substrate for use in testing semiconductor devices comprising:

selecting a plurality of individual substrates to assemble into a final configuration to form the composite substrate;

removing a portion from at least one of the individual substrates; and

assembling the plurality of individual substrates into the final configuration.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a peripheral size and shape of the individual substrates before the step of removing a portion is substantially identical.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising attaching probes to the individual substrates.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the individual substrates have compliant spring probe contacts for electrically contacting semiconductor devices during the process of testing semiconductor devices.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of assembling comprises:

attaching the individual substrates to a support structure of a probe card.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of removing the portion enables the individual substrates to fit within a predetermined area in the final configuration.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the predetermined area is a surface area of a wafer containing the semiconductor devices.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of removing the portion comprises cutting by following an indicator provided on at least one of the individual substrates.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of removing the portion comprises sawing along a saw mark on at least one of the individual substrates.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

testing the performance of the individual substrates in the final configuration; and

replacing a given one of the individual substrates with a substitute substrate should test results show the given substrate is faulty.

22. A method for manufacturing a probe card comprising:

forming a substrate for the probe card with compliant probe contacts attached; and

cutting away a portion of the substrate.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of cutting away the portion comprises cutting by following an indicator provided on the substrate.

24. A method of identifying a probe card comprising:

providing markings in areas of a substrate forming the probe card corresponding at least two of the corners of the probe card;

cutting away one of the corners of the substrate; and

identifying the substrate with the markings corresponding to the area of the substrate cut away.