Probe tile for probing semiconductor wafer
AssigneeCeladon Systems, Inc.
InventorBryan J. Root
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tile used to hold one or more probes for testing a semiconductor wafer. The tile has one or more sites for inserting one or more probes to test the semiconductor wafer. Each site has one or more holes. Each hole is coupled with a slot forming an angle. A probe is inserted into the tile from a top of the tile through the hole and seated on the slot. The probe has a probe tip. The probe tip is in contact with the semiconductor wafer at one end of the slot at a bottom of the tile. The probe tip is aligned with X and Y coordinates of a bond pad on the semiconductor wafer.
Claims16
In a semiconductor wafer testing system where at least one probe used to test a semiconductor wafer, a tile is used to hold the at least one probe for making contact with the semiconductor wafer, the tile comprising:
- at least one site for inserting the at least one probe to test the semiconductor wafer, each site having at least one hole, each hole coupled with a slot forming an angle, wherein the probe is inserted into the tile through the hole and seated on the slot, the probe having a probe tip in contact with the semiconductor wafer at one end of the slot at a bottom of the tile, wherein the probe tip is aligned with X and Y coordinates of a bond pad on the semiconductor wafer;
- and
- wherein the probe has a kink to spring the probe against a wall of the hole in the tile to hold the probe in place.
In a semiconductor wafer testing system where one or more probes are used to test a semiconductor wafer and where a tile, having a longitudinal hole coupled with a transverse slot forming an angle, is used to hold the one or more probes for making contact with the semiconductor wafer, the probe comprising:
- a probe tip;
- a cantilever coupled with the probe tip;
- and
- a vertical shank coupled with the cantelever, the vertical shank forming the angle with the cantilever to align the probe tip with X and Y coordinates of a bond pad on the semiconductor wafer, wherein the vertical shank and the cantilever of the probe are inserted into the tile through the longitudinal hole and the transverse slot, and wherein the vertical shank has a kink to retain the probe in the tile.
In a test system where at least one probe used to test a substrate, a method, comprising:
- mounting a tile on a printed circuit board (PCB), wherein:
- the tile comprises at least one site for inserting at least one probe to test the semiconductor wafer, each site having at least one hole, each hole coupled with a slot forming an angle, and
- the probe comprises a probe tip, a vertical shank a cantilever coupled with the probe tip, wherein the probe is inserted into the tile through the hole and seated on the slot, the vertical shank forming the angle with the cantilever, the angle aligning the probe tip with X and Y coordinates of a bond pad on the semiconductor wafer, and wherein the vertical shank has a kink to spring against a wall of the hole in the tile to hold the probe in place;
- and
- attaching the probe to the PCB using a spring contact, wherein the probe is removed from the tile by releasing the spring contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.