US 6,617,870 B1Granted

Semiconductor probe station

AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

InventorsJong-hoon Lee, Yu-kwang Shin, Young-nam Ko, Jae-gyu Kim

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Abstract

A semiconductor probe station including a cooling system and method thereof is provided. The probe station is used for Electrical Die Sorting (EDS) of semiconductor device. The probe station cooling system includes an air source for supplying pressurized air, an air supplier having a plurality of nozzles, and an air supply line coupled at a first end to the air source and at a second end to the air supplier for transferring the pressurized air from the air source to the air supplier. The plurality of air openings are provided on one end of each of the plurality of nozzles. The plurality of nozzles are aligned along a first direction. The air supplier includes a first and a second end nozzles having an angled air exit such that the pressurized air is centrally directed.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method for cooling a semiconductor probe station, the probe station comprising a frame having a top, bottom, front, and back sides, a cooling system mounted on the back side of the frame, a vacuum system mounted on the frame, a probe chuck mounted on the top side of the frame, and a forcer mounted on the top side of the frame, the probe chuck being mechanically coupled to a driving source capable of moving the probe chuck in a z-axis and being mechanically coupled to the forcer, the forcer being capable of moving the probe chuck in an x- and y-axis, the method comprising:

moving the forcer close to the cooling system;
moving the probe chuck along a z-axis;
directing air from the cooling system to the probe chuck;
and
cooperatively operating the vacuum and cooling systems drawing the directed air through the probe chuck to thereby cool the probe chuck for a predetermined time.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.