The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a probe head for an inspection apparatus of semiconductor devices represented by an LSI, and more particularly to a preferred manufacturing method for forming probes with high accuracy in forming multipins at high density and a semiconductor LSI inspection apparatus using the same.
As a probe head which comes in contact with electrode pads of a semiconductor LSI so as to transmit an electric signal to an inspection apparatus, a conventional apparatus has such a structure that probes prepared beforehand are inserted individually into through holes provided in a probe head structural body in order to form test probes for instance. Further, a probe tip is required to be sharpened in order to improve electrical contact characteristic, and, after the probe is attached fixedly to the probe head structural body, a flat surface is obtained by cutting and polishing and the tip is formed by electron discharge method in a semi-spherical form or a conical form. Besides, an apparatus disclosed in JP-A-61-80067 may be mentioned as a related apparatus of this type.
In the prior art described above, no consideration has been given in point of forming probes into multipins at high density, and there have been technical problems to be solved in points of assembly performance of the probes and forming probe tips with high accuracy. To be more precise, since probes are inserted individually into a probe head structural body having through-holes for assembly in the prior art, highly accurate insertion assembly technique is required for forming probes at high density and into multipins, thus setting a certain limit. Furthermore, it is required to make positions in a height direction and in a transverse direction uniform with high accuracy in a certain area (one chip portion) for securing contact resistance characteristic between pins and pads in a state of no spring performance for the inserted probe tips, particularly in case of tips in contact with electrode pads (solder bumps) of a semiconductor wafer. Further, probe tips are formed by electron discharge method in a prior art, but no consideration is given particularly to the necessity of forming positions of tips with high accuracy.