Tokyo Electron Limited

Tomoya Endo

Hiroshi Yamada

Jun Fujihara

Kentaro Konishi

Takanori Hyakudomi

Xingjun Jiang

Yutaka Akaike

Kazumi Yamagata

Hiroaki Hayashi

Tetsuya Kagami

Kenichi Narikawa

Hiroaki Sakamoto

Shin Uchida

Hiroki Shikagawa

Katsuaki Sugiyama

Shinya Koizumi

Rika Ozawa

Yukinori Murata

An inspection apparatus includes: a plurality of inspection devices configured to respectively inspect electronic devices of inspection objects on a plurality of chuck tops; a measurement device configured to measure height positions of a plurality of points on a surface of each of the plurality of chuck tops, which are respectively disposed to correspond to the plurality of inspection devices, or to measure distances in a height direction from a measurement reference point to the plurality of points; a calculation device configured to calculate adjustment amounts in the height direction at the plurality of points of each chuck top, based on the height positions of the plurality of points or the distances in the height direction from the measurement reference point to the plurality of points; and an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust, for each chuck top, an angle of the respective chuck top based on the adjustment amounts.

Inspection apparatus and method of adjusting position of chuck top

A testing system includes: an inspection module including a plurality of levels of inspection chambers in each of which a tester part having a tester configured to perform an electrical inspection of an inspection object and a probe card is accommodated; an aligner module configured to align the inspection object with the tester part; an alignment area in which the aligner module is accommodated; and a loader part configured to load the inspection object into the alignment area and unload the inspection object out of the aligner module, wherein the inspection module is located adjacent to the alignment area.

Testing system

A testing apparatus includes a first coordinates obtaining unit, a second coordinates obtaining unit, and a controller that performs determining card gravity center coordinates of a probe card held at a pogo frame opposite to an alignment stage, determining reference coordinates in a target coordinate system of a reference target at predetermined coordinates, determining alignment coordinates when the first coordinates obtaining unit is aligned with the second coordinates obtaining unit, determining wafer gravity center coordinates of a wafer, and calculating contact coordinates by using the determined card gravity center coordinates, the determined alignment coordinates, and the determined wafer gravity center coordinates. The controller further performs determining actual contact coordinates at the calculated contact coordinates, calculating reference contact coordinates based on the determined reference coordinates, and correcting a position of the alignment stage based on a positional difference between the determined actual contact coordinates and the calculated reference contact coordinates.

Testing apparatus and method of controlling testing apparatus

A method for controlling a test apparatus, the test apparatus including a test unit in which testers are arranged in columns and rows, each tester configured to test a substrate; aligners each configured to cause the substrate to be contacted with respect to a given tester from among the testers, at least one aligner provided in each row; and a controller configured to control the aligners. The method includes constraining, by the controller, operation of at least a second aligner, while alignment is performed through a first aligner from among the aligners.

Method for controlling test apparatus and test apparatus

An inspection system configured to inspect a device within a substrate is provided. The inspection system includes an inspection module, an alignment module, a supporting device and a fixing device. The inspection module has multiple testers and multiple inspection chambers. The multiple testers are allowed to be accommodated in the multiple inspection chambers, respectively. The alignment module has an aligner. The aligner is placed in an alignment space. The aligner is configured to adjust a position of the substrate to be inspected with respect to one tester of the multiple testers, which is accommodated in the alignment space. The supporting device is configured to support the tester accommodated in the alignment space from below. The fixing device is configured to fix the tester accommodated in the alignment space in cooperation with the supporting device.

Inspection system

A method of controlling a placement apparatus including a stage, a support table, a rotary drive mechanism rotating the stage including a first motion conversion mechanism configured to convert a rotary motion of a drive motor into a linear motion of a moving body and a second motion conversion mechanism configured to convert a linear motion of the moving body into a rotary motion of the stage, and a controller. The method includes a first correction step of calculating a first correction value of a drive angle of the stage for a linear movement amount of the moving body, a second correction step of obtaining a second correction value based on an error for each predetermined pitch, and a drive step of rotationally driving the stage based on the first and second correction values obtained in the first correction step and the second correction step.

Placement apparatus control method, placement apparatus, and inspection apparatus

An inspection apparatus configured to inspect a target object includes an inspector configured to perform an inspection of an electrical characteristic upon the target object; a gas flow source provided within the inspector and configured to generate a gas flow which cools an inside of the inspector; a position adjuster configured to place the target object thereon and perform a position adjustment between the placed target object and the inspector; a housing which accommodates the inspector and the position adjuster in a same space; and a circulation device configured to circulate a gas by the gas flow source between the inside of the inspector and a region where the position adjuster is located within the space, the circulation device including a cooler configured to cool the gas being circulated and a foreign substance remover configured to remove a foreign substance from the gas being circulated.

Inspection apparatus and cleaning method of inspection apparatus

An aligning mechanism according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a mounting table on which a substrate is placed; a holding section configured to hold the mounting table from below; lifting pins configured to raise or lower the mounting table with respect to the holding section; and an aligner configured to support the holding section from below, and to change a position of the holding section relative to the lifting pins. In the holding section and the aligner, through-holes are formed such that the lifting pins can penetrate the through-holes.

Aligning mechanism and aligning method

In a substrate transportation method, a first movement process is provided for moving a camera to a position above a predetermined region where a peripheral edge of a substrate is supposed to be located in a state where the substrate is lifted by pins protruding beyond a mounting table while a transfer mechanism that has received an instruction for starting an unloading of the substrate mounted on the mounting table is moving to the mounting table. Further, a first image capturing process is provided for controlling the camera moved in the first movement process to capture an image of the predetermined region, and a first detection process is provided for detecting a positional displacement and/or a tilting of the substrate lifted by the pins based on the image captured by the camera in the first image capturing process.

Substrate transportation method

A drive unit of a stage device includes a boxy body having a rectangular shape in a plan view, a base, a pair of X-axis linear motors, and a pair of Y-axis linear motors. An X-axis stator is disposed on each of two mutually opposing X-axis-direction side walls of the boxy body, wherein magnetic attractions that draw respective X-axis rotors toward the X-axis stator side (Y-axis direction) cancel out each other between the pair of X-axis linear motors. A Y-axis stator is disposed on the inside of each of two mutually opposing Y-axis wall members, wherein magnetic attractions that draw respective Y-axis rotors toward the Y-axis stator side (X-axis direction) cancel out each other between the pair of Y-axis linear motors.

Stage device and probe device

In an interface apparatus, when a load is applied to a base member and a connector part is pushed onto an external connector, a spring contracts so that an interval between the base member and a holder is reduced. An inclined surface of a coupling member is separated from an inclined surface of the holder so that fixing of the holder by the coupling member is released and the coupling member can move freely inside a hollow section. As a result, the holder and the connector part can move freely in X-Y directions relative to the base member, and a terminal of a connector can be finely adjusted in the X-Y direction, thus being precisely aligned with the external connector.

Interface apparatus, interface unit, probe apparatus, and connection method

A probe apparatus includes a movable mounting table for supporting an object to be tested; a probe card disposed above the mounting table and having a plurality of probes to come into contact with electrodes of the object; a support body for supporting the probe card; and a control unit for controlling the mounting table. Electrical characteristics of the object are tested based on a signal from a tester by bringing the object and the probes into electrical contact with each other by overdriving the mounting table in a state where a test head is electrically connected with the probe card by a predetermined load. Further, one or more distance measuring devices for measuring a current overdriving amount of the mounting table are provided at one or more locations of the test head or the probe card.

Probe apparatus and method for correcting contact position by adjusting overdriving amount

A transfer mechanism for a target object includes at least two insulating wire materials disposed spaced from each other to transverse a mounting table, at least two pairs of supporting bodies horizontally disposed at outsides of the mounting table, for stretching said at least two wire materials in parallel with a mounting surface of the mounting table, and at least two grooves formed on the mounting surface of the mounting table to respectively receive therein said at least two wire materials by said at least two pairs of supporting bodies. The transfer mechanism further includes a first elevation driving mechanism for vertically moving said wire materials between said grooves and above of the mounting surface through said pairs of supporting bodies, wherein the target object is transferred between a carrying mechanism and the mounting table through said at least two wire materials.

Transfer mechanism for target object to be inspected

A probe apparatus includes a holding frame holding a test head through a biasing unit biasing the test head. An annular member is rotatably mounted in an opening of a ceiling plate of a main body. Cam followers are rotatably provided circumferentially on the annular member. An intermediate connecting member is provided in a lower surface of the test head, for bringing the test head into electrical contact with an upper surface of the probe card. Protrusions for guiding the cam followers are provided corresponding thereto at an outer periphery of the intermediate connecting member, upper surfaces of the protrusions being inclined. The cam followers are moved relatively upward along the respective inclined surfaces of the protrusions by rotating the annular member so that the intermediate connecting member is pushed downward against a biasing force of the biasing unit to bring the test head into press-contact with the probe card.

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Nirasaki, Japan

Tomoya Endo