Patent Publication Number: US-2022221490-A1

Title: Test probe module

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of priority to China Patent Application No. 202120051967.8, filed on Jan. 8, 2021 in People&#39;s Republic of China. The entire content of the above identified application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     Some references, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, may be cited and discussed in the description of this disclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the disclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference was individually incorporated by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates to a probe card detection device, and more particularly to a test probe module. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure provides a test probe module for an electrical characteristics testing or an aging testing of semiconductor integrated circuits, which involves a probe testing of semiconductor integrated circuit wafers at different temperatures. 
     When testing the wafers with precision instruments such as probe card devices, effects of ambient conditions such as humidity, pressure and temperature, need to be considered. For example, in consideration of different temperature conditions (high temperature, low temperature and room temperature), conventionally different probe cards are correspondingly used for each temperature condition, which results in an increase of testing cost. 
     However, a position of a probe needle shifts due to a thermal expansion of structural components of the conventional probe card devices. Particularly, the probe card is generally made of an epoxy glass substrate. Since a coefficient of thermal expansion of the epoxy glass substrate is different from that of the wafer, the position of the probe needle shifts when the temperature is increased even though an alignment has been performed at room temperature. 
     Therefore, how to overcome the above-mentioned inadequacy through improving the structural design has become one of the important issues to be solved in the field. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present disclosure provides a test probe module that includes a circuit substrate, an interposer and a probe assembly. The interposer is coupled to the circuit substrate, and includes a plurality of through holes. The probe assembly is coupled to the interposer. The probe assembly includes a plurality of probes. A first terminal of each of the probes passes through a corresponding through hole and is electrically connected to the circuit substrate. A second terminal of each of the probes is exposed on a lower surface of the interposer to contact a test object. The interposer has the same material properties as the test object. An outer diameter of the first terminal of the probe is greater than an outer diameter of the second terminal of the probe. A quantity of the plurality of through holes is equal to a quantity of the plurality of probes. 
     In certain embodiments, the probe assembly includes a cantilever probe. 
     In certain embodiments, the probe assembly includes a vertical probe. 
     In certain embodiments, the material property includes a hardness, a ductility, an electrical conductivity or a coefficient of thermal expansion. 
     In certain embodiments, the interposer is made of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, zinc oxide, gallium nitride or gallium arsenide. 
     Therefore, one of the beneficial effects of the present disclosure is that, in the test probe module provided by the present disclosure, the interposer has the same thermal expansion effect as the test object, so as to improve an alignment precision of the probe to the test object by virtue of “the interposer having the same material properties as the test object”. 
     These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The described embodiments may be better understood by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a test probe module according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a test probe module according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     The present disclosure is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Like numbers in the drawings indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”. Titles or subtitles can be used herein for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The terms used herein generally have their ordinary meanings in the art. In the case of conflict, the present document, including any definitions given herein, will prevail. The same thing can be expressed in more than one way. Alternative language and synonyms can be used for any term(s) discussed herein, and no special significance is to be placed upon whether a term is elaborated or discussed herein. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms is illustrative only, and in no way limits the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given herein. Numbering terms such as “first”, “second” or “third” can be used to describe various components, signals or the like, which are for distinguishing one component/signal from another one only, and are not intended to, nor should be construed to impose any substantive limitations on the components, signals or the like. 
     First Embodiment 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of the present disclosure provides a test probe module Z 1  that includes a circuit substrate  1 , an interposer  2  and a probe assembly  3 . The interposer  2  is coupled to the circuit substrate  1 , and includes a plurality of through holes  20 . The probe assembly  3  is coupled to the interposer  2 . The probe assembly  3  includes a plurality of probes  31 . A first terminal  311  of each of the probes  31  passes through a corresponding through hole  20  and is electrically connected to the circuit substrate  1 . A second terminal  312  of each of the probes  31  is in contact with a test object  4 . The interposer  2  has the same material properties as the test object  4 . The material property includes, but not limited to, a hardness, a ductility, an electrical conductivity or a coefficient of thermal expansion. 
     Specifically speaking, the test probe module Z 1  in the present embodiment is a probe card detection device including a cantilever probe. The interposer  2  is made of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, zinc oxide, gallium nitride or gallium arsenide. For example, if the test object  4  is a wafer to be tested and is made of a silicon nitride substrate, the interposer  2  can be made of the same silicon nitride substrate as the wafer to be tested. Since the plurality of probes  31  of the probe assembly  3  are directly implanted on the interposer  2 , which has the same material properties as the wafer to be tested, the wafer to be tested has the same thermal expansion effect as the interposer  2 . Accordingly, a shift of a position to be tested on a surface of the wafer to be tested due to a thermal expansion is the same as a shift of the plurality of probes  31  due to the thermal expansion, thereby improving an alignment precision of the test probe module Z 1  to the test object  4 . However, the present disclosure in not limited to the example described above. 
     Second Embodiment 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a second embodiment of the present disclosure provides a test probe module Z 2  that includes a circuit substrate  1 , an interposer  2  and a probe assembly  3 . The circuit substrate  1  is a printed circuit board. The interposer  2  is coupled to the circuit substrate  1 , and includes a plurality of through holes  20 . The probe assembly  3  is coupled to the interposer  2 . The probe assembly  3  includes a plurality of probes  31 . A first terminal  311  of each of the probes  31  passes through a corresponding through hole  20  and is electrically connected to the circuit substrate  1 . A second terminal  312  of each of the probes  31  is in contact with a test object  4 . The interposer  2  has the same material properties as the test object  4 . The material property includes, but not limited to, a hardness, a ductility, an electrical conductivity or a coefficient of thermal expansion. An outer diameter of the first terminal  311  of the probe  31  is greater than an outer diameter of the second terminal  312  of the probe  31 . A quantity of the plurality of through holes  20  is equal to a quantity of the plurality of probes  31 . 
     Specifically speaking, the test probe module Z 2  in the present embodiment is a probe card detection device including a vertical probe. The interposer  2  is made of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, zinc oxide, gallium nitride or gallium arsenide. For example, if the test object  4  is a wafer to be tested and is made of a silicon nitride substrate, the interposer  2  can be made of the same silicon nitride substrate as the wafer to be tested. Since the plurality of probes  31  of the probe assembly  3  are directly implanted on the interposer  2 , which has the same material properties as the wafer to be tested, the wafer to be tested has the same thermal expansion effect as the interposer  2 . Accordingly, a shift of a position to be tested on a surface of the wafer to be tested due to a thermal expansion is the same as a shift of the plurality of probes  31  due to the thermal expansion, thereby improving an alignment precision of the test probe module Z 2  to the test object  4 . However, the present disclosure in not limited to the example described above. 
     Beneficial Effects of the Embodiments 
     In conclusion, one of the beneficial effects of the present disclosure is that, in the test probe module provided by the present disclosure, the interposer  2  has the same thermal expansion effect as the test object  4 , so as to improve the alignment precision of the probe  31  to the test object  4  by virtue of “the interposer  2  having the same material properties as the test object  4 ”. 
     Furthermore, the test probe module provided by the present disclosure can be applied to the cantilever probe as well as the vertical probe, that is, the present disclosure is not limited to configurations of the probe. 
     The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. 
     The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.