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A probe apparatus for measuring electrical characteristics of chips arranged on a wafer comprises a probe card having probe needles and a rotary chuck for supporting the wafer. The chuck is supported on an XY stage. A stationary alignment bridge is provided with a stationary camera and a capacitance

A probe apparatus for measuring electrical characteristics of chips arranged on a wafer comprises a probe card having probe needles and a rotary chuck for supporting the wafer. The chuck is supported on an XY stage. A stationary alignment bridge is provided with a stationary camera and a capacitance sensor. The stage is provided with a movable camera. A transparent plate on which a target is formed is attached to the chuck. The target and its peripheral portion are formed of transparent thin films. The target is used for positioning and focusing of the cameras. The thin films are used for height detection by use of the capacitance sensor.

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1. A probe apparatus for testing electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of chips arranged on a substrate to be examined, said probe apparatus comprising: a probe card having a plurality of probe needles for contact with one of the chips on the substrate; signal exchange means for exch

1. A probe apparatus for testing electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of chips arranged on a substrate to be examined, said probe apparatus comprising: a probe card having a plurality of probe needles for contact with one of the chips on the substrate; signal exchange means for exchanging electric signals between the signal exchange means and one of the chips via the probe needles; a chuck, arranged to face the probe card, for supporting the substrate; a support member for supporting the chuck, the support member being movable in horizontal X-Y coordinates along with the chuck; first detection means for optically detecting a position of the chips, the first detection means being arranged within a range where the chuck can be moved horizontally and to face each of the chips; second detection means for optically detecting a position of the probe needles, the second detection means being supported by and movable in the X-Y coordinates along with the support member, and arranged to face one of the probe needles; a capacitance sensor for detecting vertical positions of the chips; a transparent plate removable disposed between the first and second detection means; a target formed on the transparent plate, the target being used for horizontally aligning the first and second detection means; a first thin film electrically conductive and transparent, and formed on the transparent plate, a major surface of the first thin film, which surface is on the capacitance sensor side, being used for calculating a vertical distance between a specific portion of each of the chips and a specific portion of the probe needles; and a processor for controlling operations of the first and second detection means, the capacitance sensor, the chuck and the support member, and for calculating a relative position of said specific portion of each of the chips in relation to said specific portion of the probe needles. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said target is formed of an electrically conductive, and transparent second thin film. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the surfaces of said first and second thin films are substantially on a level with each other. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said second thin film is formed of indium tin oxide or chromium. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said first thin film is formed of indium tin oxide. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first detection means comprises a first fixed-focus camera facing vertically downward and relatively fixed in relation to the probe card. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second detection means comprises a second fixed-focus camera which faces vertically upward and is supported by said support member while being allowed to move vertically. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chuck is vertically movable relative to the probe card. 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the chuck is supported by and vertically movable relative to the support member. 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a light emitting element supported by the support member for lighting up the probe needles. 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chuck is supported by the support member while allowed to be rotatable in a horizontal plane, and wherein the transparent plate is supported by the chuck, movable along with the second detection means by the support member, and removably disposed above the second detection means by rotation of the chuck. 12. An alignment method for a probe apparatus for testing electrical characteristics of each of a plurality of chips arranged on a substrate to be examined, said probe apparatus comprising: a probe card having a plurality of probe needles for contact with one of the chips on the substrate; signal exchange means for exchanging electric signals between the signal exchange means and one of the chips via the probe needles; a chuck, arranged to face the probe card, for supporting the substrate; a support member for supporting the chuck, the support member being movable in horizontal X-Y coordinates along with the chuck; first detection means for optically detecting a position of the chips, the first detection means being arranged within a range where the chuck can be moved horizontally and to face each of the chips; second detection means for optically detecting a position of the probe needles, the second detection means being supported by and movable in the X-Y coordinates along with the support member, and arranged to face one of the probe needles; a capacitance sensor for detecting vertical positions of the chips; a transparent plate removable disposed between the first and second detection means; a target formed on the transparent plate, the target being used for horizontally aligning the first and second detection means; a first thin film electrically conductive and transparent, and formed on the transparent plate, a major surface of the first thin film, which surface is on the capacitance sensor side, being used for calculating a vertical distance between a specific portion of each of the chips and a specific portion of the probe needles; and a processor for controlling operations of the first and second detection means, the capacitance sensor, the chuck and the support member, and for calculating a relative position of said specific portion of each of the chips in relation to said specific portion of the probe needles, said method comprising, in a process of horizontal positioning between the chips and the probe needles, the steps of: horizontally aligning and bringing into focus the first and second detection means by using the target and the major surface of the first thin film, and regarding a horizontal position of the support member in the X-Y coordinates at this time as a reference horizontal position (X0, Y0); making a specific portion of one of the chips, which is to be first examined, face the first detection means by horizontally moving the support member, and regarding a horizontal position of the support member in the X-Y coordinates at this time as a first horizontal position (X1, Y1); making the second detection means face a specific portion of the probe needles, which corresponds to said specific portion of the chip to be first examined, by horizontally moving the support member and regarding a horizontal position of the support member in the X-Y coordinates at this time as a second horizontal position (X2, Y2); and horizontally moving the support member from the second horizontal position towards the probe needles by Dx=abs (X1-X0), Dy=abs (Y1-Y0), which are calculated on the basis of the reference and first horizontal positions, said method comprising, in a process of vertical positioning between the chips and the probe needles, the steps of: bringing into focus the second detection means by using the major surface of the first thin film, and regarding a vertical distance of the major surface of the first thin film from a reference horizontal plane at this time as a first vertical distance (h0+FD); maintaining vertical positions of the major surface of the first thin film and the chuck in the state wherein the first vertical distance is obtained, detecting a vertical distance of the major surface of the first thin film from the capacitance sensor by using the capacitance sensor, and regarding this detected vertical distance of the major surface of the first thin film as a second vertical distance (Z0); maintaining the vertical position of the chuck in the state wherein the first vertical distance is obtained, detecting a vertical distance of said specific portion of the chip to be first examined from the capacitance sensor by using the capacitance sensor, and regarding this detected vertical distance of said specific portion as a chip vertical distance (Z1); maintaining the vertical position of the chuck in the state wherein the first vertical distance is obtained, detecting a vertical distance of said specific portion of the probe needles from the reference horizontal plane by using the second detecting means, and regarding this detected vertical distance of said specific portion of the probe needles as a needle vertical distance (h2+FD); and vertically moving the probe needles and the chuck relative to each other, from the state wherein the first vertical distance is obtained, by (h2-h0)-abs (Z1-Z0)+α (wherein α is a positive value obtained from an optimal contact pressure of the probe needles on the chip to be first examined), which is calculated on the basis of the first, second, chip, and needle vertical distances. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the relative vertical movement between the probe needles and the chuck is performed by moving only the chuck. 14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the chuck is supported by the support member while allowed to be rotatable in a horizontal plane, and wherein the transparent plate is supported by the chuck, movable along with the second detection means by the support member, and removably disposed above the second detection means by rotation of the chuck. 15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of detecting a height of the chips on the substrate by the capacitance sensor, wherein a difference (δh) in height between the chip to be first examined and each of the other chips is used as a correction value for examining the respective chips. 16. The method according to claim 12, wherein said (X0, Y0) and (h0+FD) are detected in the same step. 17. The method according to claim 12, wherein said (X2, Y2) and (h2+FD) are detected in the same step. 18. The method according to claim 15, wherein said (Z1) and the height of the chips on the substrate are detected in consecutive steps. 19. The method according to claim 12, wherein said target is formed of an electrically conductive, transparent second thin film. 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the surfaces of said first and second thin films are substantially on a level with each other. 21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said second thin film is formed of indium tin oxide or chromium. 22. The method according to claim 21, wherein said first thin film is formed of indium tin oxide. 23. The method according to claim 12, wherein said first detection means comprises a first fixed-focus camera facing vertically downward and relatively fixed in relation to the probe card. 24. The method according to claim 12, wherein said second detection means comprises a second fixed-focus camera which faces vertically upward and is supported by said support member while being allowed to move vertically. 25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising the step of lighting up the probe needles by using a light emitting element when the needle vertical distance is detected.