Texas Instruments Corporation

Richard W Arnold

Lester L Wilson

James A Forster

Reynaldo M Rincon

Weldon Beardain

Jerry J Broz

Daniel W Prevedel

Mahmood A Siddiqui

Donald E Riley

Lloyd W Darnell

An apparatus for testing a semiconductor die and the method wherein there is provided a package having a cavity therein with a plurality of terminals in the package disposed at the periphery of the cavity. A semiconductor die to be tested and having a plurality of bond pads thereon is disposed in the cavity and an interconnecting layer having electrically conductive paths thereon is also disposed in the cavity, each of the paths having first and second spaced apart regions thereon, the first region of each path being aligned with and contacting a bond pad. An interconnection is provided between the second spaced apart region of each of the paths and one of the plurality of terminals. The second spaced apart region of each of the paths is preferably a bump aligned with and contacting one of the plurality of terminals. A compliant layer is preferably disposed over the interconnecting layer and provides a force causing engagement of at least the first spaced apart regions and the bond pads. The first region is preferably a compliant bump probe tip having a first predetermined height above the layer and includes a standoff on the layer having a second predetermined height above the layer less than the first height.

Known good die using existing process infrastructure

A method of forming a membrane for use in conjunction with a semiconductor carrier and the membrane which includes an electrically insulating substrate and an interconnect pattern formed on the substrate. A stud is coupled to the interconnect pattern over the substrate by forming a gold ball, preferably by gold ball bonding techniques, and coating a portion of the gold ball with a compliant material, preferably an epoxy resin. The coating is filled with a material having sufficient hardness to be capable of penetrating the oxide film on the contact pads of semiconductor devices. The flakes are preferably silver or silver-based.

Stud-cone bump for probe tips used in known good die carriers

A probe card assemblage for simultaneously testing one or more integrated circuit chips including an interposer having on one surface a plurality of protruding contact elements for electrically contacting one or more chips of a wafer positioned atop a layer of compliant material, and arrayed in a pattern corresponding to a chip pads, a series of conductive vias through the electrically insulating interposer which connect the chip contact elements with an arrangement of leads terminating in a universal arrangement of connectors on the second surface, and a probe card with connectors mating to those on the interposer. The connectors on the interposer is secured are secured to those on the probe card, thereby providing a vertical probe assemblage which makes use of ultrasonic energy to minimize scrub or over travel. The universal probe card is specific to a tester configuration and common to a family of circuits to be tested.

Multiple-chip probe and universal tester contact assemblage

A probe card apparatus comprising a rigid substrate having thermal expansion characteristics near that of silicon, laminated with a flex film having laser patterned leads and contact pads, and contact elements comprising noble metals protruding from two major surfaces, the first mirroring the closely spaced chip pads, and the second aligned to the more generously spaced probe card pads, providing an accurate and reproducible, low cost, rapidly fabricated probe contact device, capable of contacting very high density bond pads in either area array or perimeter locations, of being electrically optimized, and readily maintained.

High density, area array probe card apparatus

A high density probe card contact apparatus including a support block fitted into an opening in a probe card, and holding a plurality of fine tipped needles extending inward and below an opening in the center of the block. The needle tips are a noble metal integrally connected with a less costly conductive metal which forms the more widely spaced fingers of the needles, and which terminate in contacts to the probe card. Laser etching defines the fine needle pattern in a thin sheet of the two-metal composition which is secured to a polymeric film. The contact apparatus is assembled by positioning one or more sections of the polymer with needles on the support film.

High density probe card apparatus and method of manufacture

Method of testing a semiconductor chip

A probe card having reliable &ldquo;micro probe&rdquo; contacts which include a base and an angled probe tip fabricated as a single unit from a thin sheet of a conductive metal having high tensile and yield strength, and coated with a noble metal. The micro probes are secured into precisely dimensioned, and positioned locations on the card, and are electrically connected to traces on the card. Design of the micro probes includes not only the base and probe tip, but also locking features, a stand-off to prevent over compression, and a necked down stem feature for release from the support strap used in transporting and plating during the manufacturing processes.

Probe card with contact apparatus and method of manufacture

A test structure that is readily and inexpensively configurable to interface with dies having different bond pad configurations is achieved by providing a blank test membrane having a conductive coating or a matrix of conductive lines formed thereon. Once a die bond pad configuration is known, the test membrane can be configured for the die bond pads by using a laser under software control to define connection pads correlating to the die bond pads and also to define interconnecting conductive traces from the connecting pads to contact pads that can be connected to test equipment. In one embodiment, the laser operates to ablate a continuous conductive coating, so as to form conductive pads and traces. In another embodiment, the laser is used to cut various lines in a matrix of conductive lines, so as to define conductive paths from the bond pads to the contact pads for connection to the test equipment.

Semiconductor test structure having a laser defined current carrying structure

A package for a semiconductor die having a header with a cavity. The cavity includes a floor, sidewalls and a plurality of vertically spaced apart rows along the cavity sidewalls, each row including a plurality of spaced apart bond fingers. An electrically insulating membrane, preferably silicon, is disposed over the floor of the cavity, the membrane including a plurality of bumps, a plurality of peripherally located membrane bond pads and an interconnect from each of the bumps to a membrane bond pad. Bond wires are connected between the membrane bond pads and the bond fingers on the plurality of rows. A semiconductor die is provided having a plurality of bond pads, each bond pad contacting one of the bumps on the membrane. The header includes a plurality of alternating layers of electrically conducting material and electrically insulating material, the bond fingers on the header each being coupled to one of the layers of electrically conducting material. Each layer of electrically conducting material can include a plurality of spaced apart interconnect lines, each line coupled to one of the bond fingers. The package can include an electrical conductor interconnecting the electrically conducting material on spaced apart layers of the header.

Digital signal processor/known good die packaging using rerouted existing package for test and burn-in carriers

A method of transferring a semiconductor die from a wafer containing a plurality of semiconductor dice. There is provided a semiconductor wafer having a top side and an opposing bottom side and a plurality of dice formed therein, each die containing a portion of the top side and the opposing bottom side. The wafer is removably secured to a support and the wafer is operated upon to form individual dice on the support. The support is preferably a flexible film. A tool is disposed between the support and the bottom side of a the die by creating a vacuum between the tool and the bottom side to cause adherence of the die to the tool and the die is removed from the support with the tool and placed in a die carrier with the top side facing the carrier and the vacuum is then released. The film, when flexible, is stretched to separate the dice from each other and create streets between adjacent dice so that the tool can be disposed under the die from the street. The tool preferably includes an inclined surface with a port exiting at the surface extending through and out of the tool, the vacuum being created at the port and the inclined surface contacting the bottom side of the die. Prior to operation with the tool, a lifting member can impinge against the die bottom through the support to separate a portion of the die from the support, the tool entering beneath the die at the portion of the die removed from the support. The carrier preferably includes a carrier base having a plurality of vacuum ports and an air transmissive lint-free layer over the vacuum ports with the top side of the die abutting the lint-free layer, the die being disposed over one of the vacuum ports.

Soft handling process tooling for low and medium volume known good die product

An apparatus for use in a removable tab procedure whereby tabs (7) are affixed to the pads (3) by initially having the bonding surface as flat as possible so that bonding pressures from pad to pad are relatively uniform. Bonding is preformed with the pressure applied to the pads being such that the tabs can later be easily removed without damage to the die pads, yet sufficiently strong so that the tabs do not come loose during burn in and testing. A bond strength pull between about 5 and about 40 grams per pad is appropriate for this purpose. The tabs are removed by placing the tested die (1) and attached tabs in a fixture (11) and providing a tool (31) dimensioned and moved along a path (13, 15, 17, 19) whereby each of the tabs is serially removed with the pressure applied to each tab to provide removal being preferably no greater than 40 grams. In this manner, since only one tab is removed at a time, there is no requirement that the extraction tool provide a great force to the die, thus minimizing the possibility of a greater than acceptable force being applied to any one tab for removal.

Tool and fixture for the removal of tab leads bonded to semiconductor

A removable tab process whereby tabs (7) are affixed to the pads (3) by initially having the bonding surface as flat as possible so that bonding pressures from pad to pad are relatively uniform. Bonding is performed with the pressure applied to the pads being such that the tabs can later be easily removed without damage to the die pads, yet sufficiently strong so that the tabs do not come loose during burn in and testing. A bond strength pull between about 5 and about 40 grams per pad is appropriate for this purpose. The tabs are removed by placing the tested die (1) and attached tabs in a fixture (11) and providing a tool (31) dimensioned and moved along a path (13, 15, 17, 19) whereby each of the tabs is serially removed with the pressure applied to each tab to provide removal being preferably no greater than 40 grams. In this manner, since only one tab is removed at a time, there is no requirement that the extraction tool provide a great force to the die, thus minimizing the possibility of a greater than acceptable force being applied to any one tab for removal.

Growing community of inventors

McKinney, TX, United States of America

Richard W Arnold