R 6100

A wafer prober is test and measurement equipment that brings electrical probes into contact with structures on a semiconductor wafer. A wafer prober is commonly used to position a wafer under a microscope, align probe tips to pads or nodes, and support electrical characterization before the wafer is separated into individual die.

A wafer prober generally works by holding a wafer on a chuck while motorized stages move the wafer relative to fixed probes or move probes relative to the wafer. A wafer prober generally uses optical viewing, fine stage motion, and controlled touchdown to place probe tips onto pads, buses, or exposed circuit nodes. A thermal chuck generally controls wafer temperature during measurement so device behavior can be checked under defined thermal conditions.

A wafer prober typically sits in the electrical characterization and analysis flow rather than in a deposition, lithography, etch, or cleaning step. A wafer prober is commonly used after wafer fabrication when engineers need direct electrical access to test structures or circuit nodes, and before singulation when access at wafer level remains convenient.

Wafer probers are commonly used for device characterization, debug, fault isolation, and electrical verification on structures that can be contacted directly with probe needles. Wafer probers are also used wherever engineers need repeatable placement, optical access, and stable contact during bench style wafer level measurements.