Apparatus for testing semicondctor wafer

• US 5,532,610 A
• Filed: 08/25/1994
• Issued: 07/02/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Hishii, Toshiyasu, Tsujide, Tohru, Nakaizumi, Kazuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Karlsen, Ernest F.
• Application Number:
  US08/295,030
• Time in Patent Office: 677 Days
• Field of Search: 324/754, 324/158.1, 324/757, 324/760
• US Class Current: 324/750.05
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 1/07307 with individual probe elements, e.g. needles, cantilever beams or bump contacts, fixed in relation to each other, e.g. bed of nails fixture or probe card

Abstract

The apparatus for collectively burning-in or testing a plurality of semiconductor chips disposed on a wafer without dicing the chips into individuals, the apparatus including a testing substrate, an active circuit disposed on the testing substrate for activating chips disposed on the wafer to be tested, a plurality of pads disposed on the testing substrate and positioned so that the pads are disposed in alignment with bonding pads of the chips disposed on the wafer when the testing substrate is overlaid on the wafer, and an anisotropic conductive layer disposed on the pads.

Claims

1. An apparatus for testing or burning-in a plurality of semiconductor chips disposed on a wafer, said apparatus comprising:

a testing substrate;

an active circuit disposed on said testing substrate for activating chips disposed on a wafer to be tested;

a plurality of pads disposed on said testing substrate and positioned so that said pads are disposed in alignment with bonding pads of said chips disposed on said wafer when said testing substrate is engaged to said wafer;

an anisotropic conductive layer disposed on said pads; and

means electrically connected to said testing substrate for testing said wafer, and including a circuit integrated on said testing substrate for rapidly testing a plurality of chips formed on said wafer at the same time and a memory integrated on said testing substrate for storing the results of the test.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a flexible print substrate, wherein said means for testing said wafer further includes a tester head electrically connected to said testing substrate through said flexible print substrate.

3. An apparatus in accordance with claim, 1, wherein said testing substrate is made of material having a thermal expansion coefficient not more than 13×

10^-6 per degree.

4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 3, wherein said material is silicon.

5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said active circuit includes a circuit for supplying an electrical load to said chips disposed on said wafer, a circuit for controlling an electrical load to be supplied to said chips disposed on said wafer, and a circuit for selecting a chip among said chips disposed on said wafer.

6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a glass substrate, wherein said testing substrate has said glass substrate secured to a bottom surface thereof.

7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said testing substrate is provided with a plurality of apertures serving as alignment marks for aligning said wafer with said testing substrate.

8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein each of said apertures has a quadrangular pyramid shaped (111) plane formed by anisotropic-etching a silicon wafer having a (100) plane.

9. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said active circuit includes means for receiving an external signal to thereby activate a chip identified with said external signal among chips disposed on said wafer.

10. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further comprising means for compressively securing said wafer to said testing substrate.

11. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further comprising means for providing thermal stress with said wafer.

12. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a bath for containing therein said apparatus to maintain said apparatus at a constant temperature.