Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A wafer prober for contacting probe needles of a probe card to bonding pads of a chip formed on a wafer, for allowing examination of characteristics of the chip, is disclosed. The wafer prober includes a wafer holder for holding a wafer and moving the same in X and Y directions. By the wafer holder, the wafer can be moved from an alignment information detecting station whereat alignment information can be detected by use of a TV camera, to an examining station whereat the probe needles of the probe card are used for the examination. The position of the wafer in a Z direction at the time when the alignment information is detected by the TV camera, can be made substantially coincident with the position of the wafer in the Z direction at the time when the probe needles contact the bonding pads. By this, an error caused by the movement of the wafer holder in the Z direction does not affect against the alignment accuracy of the wafer in the X and Y directions, such that the probe needles can correctly contact the bonding pads.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim