1June 2000

Probe Card On-line Cleaning

Gene HumphreyInternational Test Solutions, Inc.

Livermore, CA 94550SWTW 2000

2June 2000

Contributors

• John Reynolds Motorola APRDL

• Bill Fulton Wentworth Laboratories

• Monte Laskosky Gel-Pak

• Sadafumi Tamakoshi Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.

• J. D. Ross FormFactor, Inc.

3June 2000

Off-line Cleaning

• Abrasive or Destructive cleaning• Alcohol, Air, Q-Tips, Lapping Film

• Debris Removal and Collection• Increased Handling and Damage• Downtime/Reduced Throughput

4June 2000

On-Line Cleaning

• Remove Loose Debris• Remove Embedded or Bonded Debris• Tip conditioning/Reshaping• Minimize handling and damage• Increase Throughput• Stable and Accurate Test Results

5June 2000

Industry Needs

• Cost Effective On-Line Cleaning• Effectiveness of Abrasive Cleaning• Characteristic of Non Abrasive Cleaning• Non-Abrasive Debris Collection• Wide Temperature Applications –40°C to

150°C• Easy to Use Products• Environmentally Safe Products

6June 2000

Product Families

• FormFactor Cleaning Wafer - 1997• Probe Clean – Non-Abrasive Debris Collection

– Recommended for all Probe Types• Probe Scrub – Light Scrub

– Reduces CRES for flat tip• Probe Polish – Removes and Collects

Embedded or Bonded Debris– Reduces CRES for flat, radius, round tips and Cobra

7June 2000

Probe Clean

• Basic Material for all Products• Non-Abrasive Highly Crossed Linked Polymer

– Collects Debris– Reduces CRES by Removing Loose Debris– Extends Probe Card Life– Leaves No Residue on Probes or in Prober– -50°C to 200°C Operating Temperature

• Use with all Probe Materials and Tips

8June 2000

Before Probe Clean

Contact 5000 times(Mag: 1500�

Pictures Courtesy TSK

9June 2000

After Probe Clean

After Cleaning (Mag: 1500�

Pictures Courtesy TSK

10June 2000

Probe Clean Results

Motorola APRDL

27 SEP 99

0.00

1.00

2.003.00

4.005.00

6.007.00

8.009.00

10.0011.00

12.0013.00

14.0015.00

16.0017.00

18.0019.00

20.0021.00

22.00

CRE

S O

HMS

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

RANDOM FLAT Re W PROBES

PROBE CLEAN TEST RESULTS

Before Ohms

After Ohms

11June 2000

PROBE CLEAN vs SANDPAPER

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

WAFER LOT NUMBER (25 WAFERS PER LOT)

YIEL

D

PROBE CLEANSANDPAPER

Probe Clean Yield Improvement

12June 2000

Need for Aggressive Cleaning

Contact 5000 times

Contamination

Clean Probe Before Test

Pictures Courtesy TSK

13June 2000

Need for Aggressive Cleaning

Cleaning 100 times Probe CleanCleaning 50Times Probe Clean

Pictures Courtesy TSK

14June 2000

Debris Collection

Picture Courtesy TSK

15June 2000

Probe Scrub

• Light Abrasion• Traps Debris

– Reduces CRES for flat tip – Environmentally Safe

• Use with Flat Tip Probes

16June 2000

Probe Scrub

17June 2000

Probe Scrub Results

SV PROBE

API ANALYZER

20 OCT 99

PROBE SCRUB TEST RESULTS

0.000

1.000

2.000

3.000

4.000

5.000

6.000

7.000

8.000

9.000

10.000

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49

RANDOM PROBE MEASUREMENTS

CRE

S O

HMS

Before

After

18June 2000

Probe Polish

• Reduces CRES by Lightly Polishing Probes• Use with Flat, Rounded, Radius, Sharp Tip or

Cobra Probes• Removes Loose, Embedded and Bonded Debris• Environmentally Safe

– Collects Heavy Metal Residue– Traps Debris for Disposal

19June 2000

Probe Polish

20June 2000

Probe Polish Results

CUSTOMER DATA

21June 2000

Complete Cleaning Solution

• Several Cleaning Options• Several Backing Materials

– Polyester– Silicon Wafer– Ceramic

• Installs on Prober Abrasion Plate• All Wafer Sizes for Prober Cleaning Trays

22June 2000

On-line Cleaning Benefits

• Increases Revenue– Increases Yield

• Proven on Production Floors– Cuts Cycle Time – Increases Throughput

• Reduces Off-Line Cleaning – Cost Effective

• Cleaning is In-Line• Less Abrasive Cleaning Required• Extends Probe Card Life