For example, electrical characteristics of an electronic circuit such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), an LSI (Large Scale Integration) or the like formed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a “wafer”) are inspected by, e.g., a probe device including a probe card and a mounting table for holding the wafer. In general, the probe card includes: a multiple number of probes that come into contact with a multiple number of electrode pads of the electronic circuit on the wafer; a supporting plate for supporting at the bottom thereof the probes; and a circuit board installed above a top surface of the supporting plate, for transmitting an inspection signal to each of the probes. The wafer on the mounting table is raised to bring the probes into contact with the electrode pads of the wafer. In that state, the signal is transmitted from the circuit board to each of the probes to inspect the electronic circuit on the wafer.
In order to appropriately inspect the electrical characteristics of the electronic circuit, the probes need to be brought into contact with the electrode pads with a contact load. For the purpose, there has been conventionally suggested a probe card (see, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-155128) including elastic elements (probes) having contactors that come into contact with electrode pads, a supporting body (supporting plate) for fixing and supporting the probes, a spring and an actuator formed at the top surface of the supporting plate, or the like. By the operation of the actuator or the spring, the contact load between the probes and the electrode pads can be maintained at a predetermined level during inspection. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-155128