Probe card electrically connectable with a semiconductor wafer

• US 8,149,008 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2008
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NHK Spring Company Limited
• Original Assignee: NHK Spring Company Limited
• Inventors: Yamada, Yoshio, Nakayama, Hiroshi, Inuma, Tsuyoshi, Akao, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Koval, Melissa
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TRUNG Q
• Application Number:
  US12/452,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20100219852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 324/754.01
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 1/06722 Spring-loaded
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 1/07371 using an intermediate card or back card with apertures through which the probes pass
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2891 related to sensing or controlling of force, position, temperature G01R31/2874 takes precedence; sensing of force G01L; sensing of position G01B, G01D; sensing of temperature G01K; controlling in general G05

Abstract

A probe card includes a probe head that holds a plurality of probes; a flat wiring board that has a wiring pattern corresponding to a circuit structure; an interposer that is stacked on the wiring board and relays wirings of the wiring board; a space transformer that is placed between the interposer and the probe head, transforms a space between the wirings relayed by the interposer, and leads the transformed wirings out to a surface facing the probe head; and a plurality of post members that are formed in a substantially columnar shape with a height larger than a sum of a thickness of the wiring board and a thickness of the interposer, and embedded to pierce through the wiring board and the interposer in a thickness direction such that one of end surfaces of each post member comes into contact with the space transformer.

Claims

1. A probe card that electrically connects, using a plurality of probes, a semiconductor wafer and a circuit structure for generating a signal to be output to the semiconductor wafer, each probe is made of a conductive material and is extensible and compressible by elastic force along a longitudinal direction thereof, the probe card comprising:

a probe head that holds the plurality of probes;

a wiring board that has a wiring pattern corresponding to the circuit structure;

a flat interposer that is stacked on the wiring board and relays wirings of the wiring board;

a flat space transformer that is placed between the interposer and the probe head, transforms a space between the wirings relayed by the interposer, and leads the transformed wirings out to a surface facing the probe head;

a plurality of post members that are formed in a substantially columnar shape with a height larger than a sum of a thickness of the wiring board and a thickness of the interposer, and embedded to pierce through the wiring board and the interposer in a thickness direction such that one of end surfaces of each post member comes into contact with the space transformer,

wherein the interposer comprises

a plurality of connection terminals, each of which is made of a conductive material and is extensible and compressible by elastic force along a longitudinal direction thereof; and

a housing member that is made of a flat insulating material and includes a plurality of through holes to individually house the connection terminals, and

both ends of each of the connection terminals in the longitudinal direction are exposed from the housing member.

2. The probe card according to claim 1, wherein the interposer and the space transformer are fixedly attached to each other.

3. The probe card according to claim 1, further comprising

a reinforcing member that is attached to the wiring board and reinforces the wiring board, wherein

the plurality of post members are fixedly attached to the reinforcing member.