Abstract:
A wafer test head and ATE for testing semiconductor wafers. The wafer test head having a plurality of sides that can each be used to test a different semiconductor wafer. The architecture of the wafer test head enables electrical connections to probe card located on two different sides of the wafer test head. Multiple silicon wafers can be tested for proper functionality at the same time or in an interleaved fashion via a single multi-sided wafer test head. The internal architecture of an exemplary wafer test head allows printed circuit cards to be able to electrically connected to multiple wafer test locations on a single wafer test head.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Description of Related Art 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to the field of automated test equipment (ATE). More specifically, the present invention relates to wafer test equipment having wafer test heads that probe and test the various circuits found on a manufactured wafer. 
         [0002]    Traditional ATE equipment tests only a portion of an integrated circuit wafer at a time. Such ATE used to test wafers is fairly large, and has a wafer test head of about a meter by a meter by about one-half a meter in dimensional size. An ATE wafer test head even with its large size and electronics contained therein can only test part of a one wafer at a time. 
         [0003]    In the arena of microelectronics, a wafer is a thin slice of semiconducting material, such as silicon crystal, upon which microcircuits are constructed by doping, etching, and the deposition of various materials. Wafers are thus of key importance to the fabrication of semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits. 
         [0004]    Wafers are generally round in shape and are made in various sizes ranging from about 24 mm to about 300 mm in diameter. They have a thickness in the order of about 0.5 mm. A multitude of separate integrated circuits can be manufactured on a single wafer. The integrated circuits on a wafer require detailed testing to make sure each circuit is functional. During mass production of integrated circuits, it is least expensive to test all the integrated circuits on a wafer prior to dicing the wafer into its individual integrated circuits. Large automated testing devices are required to test a single wafer. Traditional automated test equipment (ATE) operates on a single wafer at a time and tests only a part of the wafer at a time. The increasing quantity requirements and cost pressures placed on the manufacturing of integrated circuits at high volumes requires additional advanced ATEs. Purchasing additional ATEs creates additional test sites on the manufacturing floor and aides the handling of high product throughput, but also increases costs and requires additional manufacturing facility space. 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts a prior art wafer test head architecture  10 . The wiring within the wafer test head is not depicted for clarity purposes. The wafer test head  10  has a back side  12  and a front side  14 . A casing  16  substantially encloses the wafer test head. A wiring hole  18  is located in the back side  12  of the wafer test head. The wiring hole  18  is used to allow cabling and wiring to enter and exit the test head for connection to the circuitry within. The front side of the test head  14  has a panel, which is not shown in  FIG. 1  so that the interior architecture of the test head  10  can be seen. 
         [0006]    A back plane  20  is positioned substantially parallel to the back side  12  of the test head  10 . The back plane  20  includes a plurality of connectors (not specifically shown) that receive a plurality of printed circuit cards (PCBs) or other cartridges  22 . The PCBs  22  include circuitry that is used for testing a wafer. Each PCB  22  has a connector  24  that is used to connect wiring to circuitry on the front side  14  of the wafer test head  10 . The front side  14  of the wafer test head  10  may include a wafer probe card (not specifically shown in this Figure). The wafer is clamped to a chuck in the wafer prober and is pushed against the probe card. Probes on the wafer test card (probe card) can be used to help test various circuits and functions on the wafer. 
         [0007]    In the prior wafer test head architecture  10 , only a single probe card can be connected to the wafer test head  10 . Thus, only a single wafer can be tested at a time. 
         [0008]      FIG. 2  depicts a portion of the architecture within the traditional prior art wafer test head architecture  10 . The back plane  20  has a plurality of connectors  24  on one of its surfaces. Connected to the connectors  24  are PCBs  22  that incorporate circuitry used for testing a wafer while it is electrically and physically connected to the wafer test head  10 . On one edge  26  of each PCB  22  are electrical connections (indicated by arrows  28 ) that are used to connect to the wafer probe card on the front side  14  of the wafer test head  10 . The architecture of the prior art&#39;s wafer test head  10  limits a wafer test head to testing a single wafer on one side of the wafer test head. 
         [0009]    What is needed is a wafer test head that has an architecture allowing multiple wafers to be tested on a single wafer test head either simultaneously or in an interleaved fashion so that the testing of wafers can be performed in a more streamlined fashion, so that device under test (DUT) throughput is optimized, and so that each wafer test station&#39;s usefulness is further maximized. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a wafer test head architecture that enables testing of multiple wafers on a single test head. The wafers may be tested simultaneously or in an interleaved fashion. A resulting test head enables a more efficient and streamlined manufacturing and test facility for integrated circuits without increasing the number pieces of ATE or required floor space in the manufacturing facility. 
         [0011]    One embodiment of an exemplary multisided wafer test head includes a front and a back panel. Each panel provides electrical connections for testing a first and a second wafer respectfully. Between the front and the back panel are printed circuit boards (PCBs) containing circuitry for testing wafers. Each PCB is positioned to have a first connector near the front panel and a second connector near the back panel. Each PCB can be electrically connected to both the front panel and the back panel in order to test wafers. At least one backplane is positioned to electrically connect to each of the PCBs between said first connector and said second connector. All the PCBs may be substantially identical although some of the PCBs may have specialized circuitry different from the other ones of the PCBs. The specialized circuitry may be for testing predetermined aspects of the circuitry on a wafer under test. The PCBs are used in the wafer test head to test wafers placed on both the front and back panel of the wafer test head. 
         [0012]    Other embodiments of the exemplary wafer test head that can test multiple wafers provide a method of testing multiple wafers at the same time or in an interleaved fashion. The method comprises electrically probing a first wafer at a first wafer test location on a wafer test head. Then testing a plurality of circuits on the first wafer for proper functionality. Meanwhile, probing a second wafer at a second location on the wafer test head. And, testing a plurality of circuits on the second wafer for proper functionality. Hence, during the connection of the second wafer (also called index time) the other wafer is being tested (i.e., the index time is hidden and throughput improves significantly). The same PCBs inside the wafer test head are used to test the both the plurality of circuits on the first wafer and the plurality of circuits on the second wafer. 
         [0013]    Many of these features and advantages, as well as others, will become more apparent from the description below with reference to the following drawings. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    The disclosed invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show important sample embodiments of the invention and which are incorporated in the specification hereof by reference, wherein: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  depicts a prior art wafer test head architecture drawing; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  depicts a prior art wafer test head back plane and print circuit board configuration; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  depicts an exemplary wafer test head architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  depicts a back plane and PCB architecture for an exemplary wafer test head; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  depicts an exemplary a wafer Automated Test Equipment (ATE) that incorporates an exemplary wafer test head in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  depicts an exemplary embodiment and method of using an exemplary wafer test head to test a plurality of wafers; 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  depicts another exemplary embodiment and method of using a wafer test head to test a plurality of wafers; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 8A-8D  depict various wafer test head architecture configurations in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    The numerous innovative teachings of the present invention will be described with particular reference to exemplary embodiments. However, it should be understood that these embodiments provide only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification do not necessarily delimit any of the various claimed inventions. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features, but not to others. 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary wafer test head architecture  300  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary wafer test head architecture has an enclosure  306 . The enclosure substantially encloses the architecture inside. The enclosure  306  has both a back side  302  and a front side  304 . A front panel, which is on the front side  304 , and a back panel which, is on the back side  302  are not shown in this figure in order to decrease the clutter in  FIG. 3 . Inside the enclosure  306 , there are a plurality of PCBs  308 . Each of the PCBs  308  have an electrical connection or connector area on a first end of each PCB. Each of the PCBs  308  also have another electrical connection or connector at a second end of the PCB  308 . The first end of the PCB  308  is in close proximity to the front side  304  and the second end of the PCB  308  is in close proximity to the back side  302  of the wafer test head  300 . 
         [0025]    In the depicted embodiment of the invention in  FIG. 3 , the first end has a connector  310  thereon while the second end has another connector  312  thereon. The connector on the first end  310  allows electrical connections between the PCBs  308  and a front panel on the front side  304  of the wafer test head architecture  300 . The connector  312  on the second side of the PCB  308  allows for electrical connections to the test panel on the back side  302  of the wafer test head  300 . 
         [0026]    Each of the PCBs  308  electrically connect to a back plane  314 a,  314 b,  314 c, and  314 d. The back plane  314   a - d  is shown in this embodiment to be substantially perpendicular to the front or back side of the wafer test head  300 . This exemplary architecture allows each of the PCBs  308  to electrically connect to a wafer probe card positioned on the front side  304  of the wafer test head as well as to a wafer probe card on the back side  302  of the wafer test head via connectors  310  and  312 , respectively. Other embodiments of the invention may not require a backplane to be substantially perpendicular with either the front or back side of a wafer test head. 
         [0027]    Each of the exemplary PCBs  308  comprise circuitry used to aid the testing of one or more wafers. The PCBs  308  also each have a connection or connector  316  that is located between the first end connector  310  and the second end connector  312 . This connector  316 , which is between the first end and second end connectors, is used in some embodiments of the invention to electrically connect the PCB to a back plane  314   a - d . It is understood that in some embodiments of the invention the PCBs  308  may all be substantially identical PCB cards, but it is also understood that such PCB cards used for testing a wafer may include some specialized PCB cards for testing special functions of circuitry found on a wafer undergoing test. Circuitry in the PCB cards may be designed to aid the testing digital circuitry, analog circuitry, timing, temperature, data rates, error, functions, ringing, memory, capacity, data integrity, calculation integrity, signal integrity, and other test functions normally performed on integrated circuits found on wafers undergoing tests. 
         [0028]    Still referring to  FIG. 3 , the back planes  314   a - d  are considered to be vertically mounted from the bottom (back panel) to the top (front panel) of the wafer test head  300 . The back planes  314   a - d  further may divide the interior of the wafer test head into quadrants or sections wherein a plurality of the PCBs are connected to the back planes. Exemplary embodiments of the invention allow the PCBs  308  to have electrical wire or electrical connection access at both ends of the PCBs, which are positioned near to the front side and back side of the exemplary wafer test head  300 . Thus, a probe card can be installed on both sides of the exemplary test head and increase the number of wafers that can be tested on the test head from one to two wafers. Thus exemplary test heads potentially doubles the capacity of a prior art wafer test head and more than doubles the efficiency of the wafer testing process (explained below). 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a back plane  314  is shown with four PCBs  308  connected thereon via a back plane connector  316 . The PCBs  308  each have a first end connector  310  and a second end connector  312  on distal or opposite ends of the PCB. These connectors allow electrical connections or electrical access to both sides of the PCB and connections to both the front side  304  and back side  302  of the wafer test head  300 . The PCBs  308  may all be substantially identical to each other, but may also be substantially different in order to test various different electronic aspects of the wafers under test. 
         [0030]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , an exemplary automated wafer testing device  500  is depicted. The exemplary wafer testing device  500  includes a main chassis  502  and a dual sided wafer test head  504 . The dual sided wafer test head  504  is supported by at least one support arm  506 , which moveably supports the wafer test head  504 . The exemplary wafer test head  504  can be rotated from about 180° to about 360° in order to position the head for a user to place wafers on the front side  508  or the back side  510  of the exemplary wafer test head  504 . 
         [0031]    A first wafer probe card  512  is placed on top of a wafer (not specifically shown) on the front panel  508  to aid in testing of the wafer. A second wafer probe card  514  is positioned on the back side or panel of the wafer test head  504  to aid testing of a second wafer. 
         [0032]    In high volume wafer testing, an extensive list of possible failures in the circuitry of the wafer are identified. Every node or place where such a failure, fault, or error can be detected in the manufactured integrated circuits on the wafer may be probed and tested in a manner that would determine whether or not a fault exists in the circuitry. There may be transition faults, timing faults or specific attributes of portions of each circuit to make sure that the entire circuit is working properly. Such tests may be considered both functional tests and/or structural tests. Test heads, in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, attempt to test for every imaginable failure mode via extensive testing of the circuits on the wafer. 
         [0033]    The main chassis  502  is electrically connected to the wafer test head  504  via cabling  516 , which exits the bottom of the main chassis  502  and connects to a side or a corner section of the wafer test head  504 . 
         [0034]    A wafer to be tested is placed in contact with the wafer probe card either manually or by a wafer handler machine or device. It is envisioned that exemplary embodiments of the invention on an assembly line will use wafer handlers to place wafers to be tested on a wafer test head and to remove the wafers from the wafer test heads when testing of the wafer is completed. Still referring to  FIG. 5 , a first wafer may be placed on the front panel  508  of the wafer test head  504  and placed in contact with the wafer probe card  512 . The first wafer may be held in place on the test head  504  using various means including, but not limited to, as a clamp, a chuck, a prober, a cassette, alignment pins or notches. Testing of the first wafer may then be initiated. While the first wafer is being tested, the wafer test head may be rotated as shown by the arrows  518  such that the back side of the wafer test head is facing up. The second wafer may be placed on the back side of the wafer test head and the wafer probe card  514  would be placed in contact therewith. 
         [0035]    While the first wafer is being tested on the first side of the wafer test head  508 , the second wafer may also be tested on the back side  510  of the wafer test head  504 . The wafers may be tested simultaneously or the first wafer may be tested while the second wafer is being loaded (i.e. during the second wafer&#39;s index time). After the first wafer is tested, then the second wafer can immediately be tested while the first wafer is removed and a new wafer is put in on the first side  508  its place (i.e. during the first and third wafer&#39;s index time). As such, the testing of wafers can be done in an interleaved fashion on the same piece of expensive test equipment  502 . Interleaving wafer testing on the same ATE  502  will greatly improve throughput of testing wafers and decrease costs and necessary floor space. 
         [0036]    In other embodiments, the wafer may be contained within a wafer cassette. A wafer cassette is a known item in the industry although such items are still evolving with technology. A wafer cassette may be a wafer holder that a wafer is placed into so that the wafer can be easily transported between testing devices, burning-in devices as well as perhaps other types of test stations in the manufacturing cycle. It is understood that the front side of the wafer test head  504 , as well as the back side of the wafer test head, may incorporate a means for inserting or attaching the wafer cassette therein or thereon. Such a means may incorporate a slot, clips, a receptacle, grooves, optics or alignment bumps to aid a cassette&#39;s proper electrical connection and alignment with a test head. By utilizing a cassette in the test process, the wafer can be more easily aligned or clipped to the probe card. Moreover, the probe card may be incorporated into the wafer cassette. The use of a wafer cassette may also aid in the automation of testing wafers by allowing the wafers to be easily transported and installed and uninstalled in various types of test equipment throughout on the manufacturing line. 
         [0037]    The use of a cassette with the wafer in lieu of a probe card requires a lesser number of contacts with the wafer under test as compared to the number of contacts required with a probe card. The use of a cassette in probing the wafer under test is a much less expensive technique for probing the wafers. As the engineers who design integrated circuitry, which ultimately is created on the wafers, incorporate Design for Test (DFT), Built-In Self Tests (BIST), and Built-In Self Repair (BISR) circuitry and other techniques into their designs, the use of cartridges or cassettes for holding and moving wafers under test about on a manufacturing floor becomes more economically and technically feasible for testing wafers in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. Another design technique called Design for Wafer Test (DFWT) may further decrease the number of test pads that are required for probing on each wafer further enabling additional embodiments of the invention. The use of the DFT, BIST, BISR, and DFWT techniques, when designing integrated circuits, will help to reduce the required number of connections in terms of physical connections, in terms of required resolution, and in terms of the signal frequencies required for testing the various circuits on each wafer. 
         [0038]      FIG. 6  depicts another exemplary embodiment of the invention and provides a method for using an exemplary test head  600  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 6 , an exemplary wafer test head  600  is positioned between two wafer probe cards. A first wafer probe card  602  is depicted on the left of the exemplary test head  600 . A second wafer probe card  604  is depicted on the right of the test head  600 . A wafer handler  606  has the ability to move the wafers toward and away from the wafer test head as depicted by the arrows in the  FIG. 6 . Alternatively, the wafer test head may move toward and away from each of the wafers  608 ,  610 . 
         [0039]    A first wafer  608  and a second wafer  610  can be placed and positioned, via the wafer handler mechanism  606  on to the first wafer probe card  602  and the second wafer probe card  604 , respectively. The wafers  608  and  610  may or may not be within a wafer cassette. The wafer handler  606  will then move the wafers toward the wafer probe cards and the test head thereby positioning the first wafer  608  and the second wafer  610  in a proper position for the test head and the respective wafer probe cards. Testing could then be performed using both sides of the wafer test head either alternately or simultaneously to test the first wafer  608  and the second wafer  610 . 
         [0040]    In an alternative exemplary method for the testing a plurality of wafers, the first wafer  608  may be placed via a wafer handler  606  on the first wafer probe card  602  and the wafer test head  600 . The wafer handler  606  may then position the first wafer  608  correctly on the first wafer probe card  602  and the test head  600 . Testing of the first wafer may then commence. In the meantime, a second wafer  610  may then be placed and prepared for positioning and placement on the second wafer probe card  604  and wafer test head  600 . The second wafer may then be positioned and placed on the wafer probe card  604  and the wafer test head  600 . At this time, the second wafer  610  may have the testing of its circuitry commence thereupon or the test head may interleave testing of the first wafer  608  and the second wafer  610 . In either case, testing of the wafers is streamlined by the dual sided wafer test head  600  and index time is substantially eliminated. 
         [0041]      FIG. 7  depicts a wafer handler  700  that provides a first wafer  702  to a first side of a wafer test head  704 . The handler transports and moves the first wafer  702  into position for the test head  704  to attach the first wafer  702  to its first side  703 . A first wafer probe card  706  probes the first wafer  702  and the test head  704  can begin testing of the various integrated circuits on the first wafer  702 . 
         [0042]    The wafer handler may then move away from the wafer test head to retrieve another wafer for testing. While the wafer handler is retrieving the second wafer, the wafer test head  704  may rotate about 180° on a shaft  708  or other rotational means that uses gears, pulleys, stepper motors, or other mechanical mechanisms to rotate the test head  704  180°. The wafer handler  700  then provides a second wafer  710  and positions the second wafer on the second side  712  of the wafer test head  704 . The second wafer may be included within a wafer cassette or be combined with a probe card  714  when it is being attached to the second side  712  of the wafer test head  704 . 
         [0043]    While the second wafer  710  is being positioned and attached to the wafer test head, the first wafer  702  is being tested using the PCBs within the test head  704  in conjunction with a main chassis that is electrically connected via electrical cables or otherwise to the test head  704 . The main chassis may be somewhat similar to the chassis  502  of  FIG. 5 . 
         [0044]    When testing of the first wafer  702  is completed, the wafer test head may rotate another 180° either in the same direction or the opposite direction that it rotated previously, and allow the wafer handler  700  to remove the first wafer from the first side  703  of the wafer test head  704 . In the meantime, the second wafer  710  is tested on the test head  704 . 
         [0045]    In embodiments of the invention, testing of the wafers can be substantially continuous and in an interleaved fashion such that a first wafer is tested while a second wafer is being attached (indexed) to the machine. While the second wafer is being tested and the first wafer has completed its testing cycle, the first wafer will be removed from the wafer test head and a third wafer will then be attached to the wafer test head in its stead. 
         [0046]    Wafer cassettes or cartridges can be used to hold the wafers in order to take advantage of a decreased amount of required wafer placement and positioning accuracy for aligning the wafers with the many probe sites on the probe card. 
         [0047]    Referring now to  FIG. 8A-D , additional configurations of an exemplary wafer test head architecture are provided. The views of the test head are from the front side looking into the test head. It can be seen that in all the configurations, the PCBs are positioned to have a first end near the front panel of the exemplary wafer test head and a second end near the back panel of the exemplary wafer test head thereby enabling direct and relatively short distances for electrical connections of the same PCB card to both the front and the back of the wafer test head as discussed above. In  FIG. 8A , the exemplary wafer test head  800  has four back planes  802  that provide electrical connections to a plurality of PCBs  804 . Each of the PCBs  804  have a connector or electrical connection  806  that is near the front side of the wafer test head  800  as well as a connector or electrical connection area on another portion of each PCB, which is near the back side of the wafer test head (not specifically shown). Each of the PCBs extend from its back plane  802  toward the interior of the wafer test head  800 . 
         [0048]    In  FIG. 8B , the back plane configuration is similar to that of  FIG. 4 , but the PCBs are in a slanted quadrant configuration in order to allow for an increased size of the PCB in the limited quadrant space. 
         [0049]      FIG. 8C  depicts two back planes  810  in a parallel configuration. The PCBs extend from their associated back plane toward the other backplane in an interleaved, almost zipper-like fashion. In  FIG. 8D , the back plane is organized into a PCB cage or compartment  816  where the PCBs  812  are inserted into slots in the cage  816  and thereby connected to the back plane  818 . This configuration may aid in servicing the PCBs within a wafer test head because the cages  816  could be easily removed as a whole from the interior of the wafer test head chassis. 
         [0050]    Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a multi-sided test head where multiple wafers can be tested for a variety of quality control purposes and circuit integrity reasons on the same test head. By using a multi-sided test head, mass production and testing of mass produced integrated circuits is more streamlined and the test equipment will take less space in the manufacturing facility thereby decreasing overall costs of manufacturing integrated circuits. 
         [0051]    As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a wide range of applications. Accordingly, the scope of patented subject matter should not be limited to any of the specific exemplary teachings discussed, but is instead defined by the following claims.