Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080204724 | Method Of Apparatus For Detecting Particles On A Specimen - A method and apparatus of detecting a defect by inspecting a specimen in which a surface of a specimen on which plural patterns are formed is illuminated with an elongated shape light flux from one of plural directions which are different in elevation angle by switching an optical path of the light flux emitted from an illuminating light source in accordance with a kind of defect to be detected. Plural optical images of the specimen illuminated by the elongated shape light flux are captured with plural image sensors installed in different elevation angle directions by changing an enlarging magnification in accordance with a density of the pattern formed on the sample in an area irradiated with the illuminating elongated shape light flux. A defect on the specimen is detected by processing the images captured by the plural image sensors. | 08-28-2008 |
20080246964 | Method and Its Apparatus for Inspecting Particles or Defects of a Semiconductor Device - Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are analyzed. Since the inspection apparatus outputs a large number of detected particles/defects, an immense time is required for analyzing the detected particles/defects, resulting in a delay in taking countermeasures to a failure in the manufacturing processes. In the present invention, an apparatus for optically inspecting particles or defects relates a particle or defect size to a cause of failure in an inspection result. A data processing circuit points out a cause of failure from the statistics on the inspection result, and displays information on the inspection result. A failure analysis is conducted by setting a threshold for identifying a failure in each of regions on a semiconductor device or the like to statistically evaluate detected particles. | 10-09-2008 |
20080278717 | CONTAMINATION-INSPECTING APPARATUS AND DETECTION CIRCUIT - The detection part has: a subtraction module for calculating correction data from data of detection systems when a reference-voltage generation module applies a reference voltage to the detection systems; a data-holding module for holding the correction data; an addition module for making a correction of detection data; a comparison module for comparing the detection data with switching data; and a selector for switching data of the detection systems including data subjected to the correction according to the output of the comparison module. | 11-13-2008 |
20090009753 | INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION DEVICE - An inspection method and an inspection device, or apparatus each capable of conducting composition analysis of a defect detected by elastic or stokes scattered light, an inspection surface or defect on the surface of the inspection surface, or a defect on the surface of the inspection object and its internal composition. A surface inspection method for optically detecting elastic or stokes scattering or inelastic or anti-stokes scattered light from inside the surface of the inspection object, for detecting existence of defects of the inspection object and features of the defects, for detecting positions of the detected defects on the surface of the inspection object, classifying and analyzing the detected defects in accordance with their features on the basis of the positions of the defects and the features of the defects or the classification result of the defects. | 01-08-2009 |
20090122305 | DETECTION CIRCUIT AND FOREIGN MATTER INSPECTION APPARATUS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER - In a foreign matter inspection apparatus for a semiconductor wafer, a PMT which detects reflection light, an amplifier which amplifies a signal detected by the PMT and in which response characteristics of amplification are controlled by a control signal, an A/D converter which converts the signal amplified by the amplifier into a predetermined code and outputs the code, a control circuit which generates a control signal based on information of the semiconductor wafer having a correlation with the reflection light, and a data processing circuit which detects a foreign matter on the semiconductor wafer based on the code output from the A/D converter are provided. | 05-14-2009 |
20090140180 | INSPECTION APPARATUS AND INSPECTION METHOD - Reflected light caused by the state of the surface of a wafer, a foreign material or a defect is superimposed on a haze frequency component caused by the type and thickness of a film or a surface irregularity. It has therefore been difficult to accurately measure the haze frequency component by use of a fixed threshold value. In order to detect a haze frequency component caused by a haze present on the surface of an object to be inspected, light propagating from the object to be inspected is detected and converted into an electric signal. The electric signal is sampled at a predetermined sampling time interval and converted into digital data. A frequency component caused by a foreign material, a defect or the like is separated from the digital data to ensure that a haze frequency component is selected. The haze frequency component is caused by a stain attached to the surface of the wafer, hazy tarnish, a surface irregularity or the like. | 06-04-2009 |
20090323054 | METHOD FOR INSPECTING DEFECT AND APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING DEFECT - The present invention is an apparatus for inspecting foreign particles/defects, comprises an illumination optical system, a detection optical system, a shielding unit which is provided in said detection optical system to selectively shield diffracted light pattern coming from circuit pattern existing on an inspection object and an arithmetic processing system, wherein said shielding unit comprises a micro-mirror array device or a reflected type liquid crystal, or a transmission type liquid crystal, or an object which is transferred a shielding pattern to an optical transparent substrate, or a substrate or a film which is etched so as to leave shielding patterns, or an optical transparent substrate which can be changed in transmission by heating, sudden cold, or light illumination, or change of electric field or magnetic field, or a shielding plate of cylindrical shape or plate shape. | 12-31-2009 |
20100002227 | INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION APPARATUS - The present invention provides an inspection apparatus and inspection method. The inspection apparatus includes a stage mechanism for supporting an object under inspection. A spatial filter is provided in the detection optical system to inspect the object. A printer is used to print the results of the spatial filter. The spatial filter can be provided in the form of a Fourier transformed image. | 01-07-2010 |
20100225907 | SURFACE INSPECTION WITH VARIABLE DIGITAL FILTERING - A semiconductor wafer, which is an inspection object, is stuck by vacuum on a chuck and this chuck is mounted on an inspection object movement stage consisting of a rotational stage and a translational stage, located on a Z-stage. The rotational stage provides a rotational movement and the translational stage provides a translational movement. And when a foreign particle or a defect on an inspection object surface is detected, the parameter of digital filtering is dynamically changed during inspection, and the foreign particle or the defect is differentiated using the result after removing a low frequency fluctuation component to be a noise component. | 09-09-2010 |
20100271626 | INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION DEVICE - An inspection method and an inspection device, or apparatus each capable of conducting composition analysis of a defect detected by elastic or stokes scattered light, an inspection surface or defect on the surface of the inspection surface, or a defect on the surface of the inspection object and its internal composition. A surface inspection method for optically detecting elastic or stokes scattering or inelastic or anti-stokes scattered light from inside the surface of the inspection object, for detecting existence of defects of the inspection object and features of the defects, for detecting positions of the detected defects on the surface of the inspection object, classifying and analyzing the detected defects in accordance with their features on the basis of the positions of the defects and the features of the defects or the classification result of the defects. | 10-28-2010 |
20110032515 | METHOD OF APPARATUS FOR DETECTING PARTICLES ON A SPECIMEN - A method and apparatus of detecting a defect by inspecting a specimen in which a surface of a specimen on which plural patterns are formed is illuminated with an elongated shape light flux from one of plural directions which are different in elevation angle by switching an optical path of the light flux emitted from an illuminating light source in accordance with a kind of defect to be detected. Plural optical images of the specimen illuminated by the elongated shape light flux are captured with plural image sensors installed in different elevation angle directions by changing an enlarging magnification in accordance with a density of the pattern formed on the sample in an area irradiated with the illuminating elongated shape light flux. A defect on the specimen is detected by processing the images captured by the plural image sensors. | 02-10-2011 |
20110153114 | Mini Environment Apparatus, Inspection Apparatus, Manufacturing Apparatus and Cleaning Method of Space - An outer dust collecting filter covers a casing an intake port and an outer fan flows air from an external environment into the casing via the outer dust collecting filter. A clean chamber has an intake port within the casing, an inner dust collecting filter for covering the intake port, and an inner fan for flowing the air within the casing. A control unit controls fan rotating speeds so that a measured pressure within the casing becomes higher at a set value than a measured pressure in the external environment, and a measured pressure within the clean chamber becomes higher at a set value than the measured pressure within the casing. | 06-23-2011 |
20110228258 | METHOD OF APPARATUS FOR DETECTING PARTICLES ON A SPECIMEN - A method and apparatus of detecting a defect by inspecting a specimen in which a surface of a specimen on which plural patterns are formed is illuminated with an elongated shape light flux from one of plural directions which are different in elevation angle by switching an optical path of the light flux emitted from an illuminating light source in accordance with a kind of defect to be detected. Plural optical images of the specimen illuminated by the elongated shape light flux are captured with plural image sensors installed in different elevation angle directions by changing an enlarging magnification in accordance with a density of the pattern formed on the sample in an area irradiated with the illuminating elongated shape light flux. A defect on the specimen is detected by processing the images captured by the plural image sensors. | 09-22-2011 |
20110276299 | REFERENCE WAFER FOR CALIBRATION OF DARK-FIELD INSPECTION APPARATUS,METHOD OF MANUFACTURING REFERENCE WAFER FOR CALIBRATION OF DARK-FIELD INSPECTION APPARATUS, METHOD OF CALIBRATING DARK-FIELD INSPECTION APPARATUS, DARK-FIELD INSPECTION APPARATUS, AND A WAFER INSPECTION METHOD - A technology capable of ensuring measurement results of a dark-field inspection apparatus up to a microscopic area is provided. A dark-field inspection apparatus is calibrated using a bulk wafer as a reference wafer, the bulk wafer having microroughness of an irregular asperity pattern accurately formed on a surface, and the microroughness of the surface having an ensured microroughness degree. The microroughness can be more accurately formed by a chemical treatment with a chemical solution. This microroughness is measured by using an AFM, and an expected haze value is obtained based on the measured value. Then, haze of the surface of the reference wafer is measured by the dark-field inspection apparatus to be inspected to obtain an actually-measured haze value, and a difference between the expected haze value and the actually-measured haze value is obtained. Based on this difference, a haze measurement parameter of the dark-field inspection apparatus is adjusted so that the actually-measured haze value and the expected haze value match each other. | 11-10-2011 |
20110299088 | EXAMINATION METHOD AND EXAMINATION DEVICE - A change in surface state can be dealt with by setting threshold values different for respective regions of an object to be examined in accordance with a magnitude of noises, thereby improving a detection sensitivity. | 12-08-2011 |
20120062890 | Method and Its Apparatus for Inspecting Particles or Defects of a Semiconductor Device - Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are analyzed. Since the inspection apparatus outputs a large number of detected particles/defects, an immense time is required for analyzing the detected particles/defects, resulting in a delay in taking countermeasures to a failure in the manufacturing processes. In the present invention, an apparatus for optically inspecting particles or defects relates a particle or defect size to a cause of failure in an inspection result. A data processing circuit points out a cause of failure from the statistics on the inspection result, and displays information on the inspection result. A failure analysis is conducted by setting a threshold for identifying a failure in each of regions on a semiconductor device or the like to statistically evaluate detected particles. | 03-15-2012 |
20120133929 | INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION APPARATUS - The present invention provides an inspection apparatus and inspection method. The inspection apparatus includes a stage mechanism for supporting an object under inspection. A spatial filter is provided in the detection optical system to inspect the object. A printer is used to print the results of the spatial filter. The spatial filter can be provided in the form of a Fourier transformed image. | 05-31-2012 |
20120147363 | SURFACE-DEFECT INSPECTION DEVICE - There is provided a surface-defect inspection device that forms artificial defects on a standard sample. Defects are judged by a foreign material/defect decision mechanism and data about the defects is supplied to a data processing and controlling portion. The data processing and controlling portion calculates the amounts of coordinate deviations between the artificial defects on the standard sample and the detected defects, checks the sensitivity (instrumental sensitivity (luminance, brightness, or the like)), and proceeds to execution of hardware corrections. If the coordinate deviation is less than a certain value, software corrections are carried out. In the case of the software corrections, coordinate corrections are made for the whole standard sample. The amounts of coordinate deviations are computed and checked. If the amounts of coordinate deviations are outside a tolerance, coordinate corrections are made for each region obtained by dividing the standard sample. | 06-14-2012 |
20120154797 | INSPECTION APPARATUS AND INSPECTION METHOD - Reflected light caused by the state of the surface of a wafer, a foreign material, or a defect is superimposed on a haze frequency component caused by the type and thickness of a film or a surface irregularity. In order to detect a haze frequency component caused by a haze present on the surface of an object to be inspected, light propagating from the object to be inspected is detected and converted into an electric signal. The electric signal is sampled at a predetermined sampling time interval and converted into digital data. A frequency component caused by a foreign material, a defect or the like is separated from the digital data to ensure that a haze frequency component is selected. The haze frequency component is caused by a stain attached to the surface of the wafer, hazy tarnish, a surface irregularity or the like. | 06-21-2012 |
20130010281 | INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION DEVICE - An inspection method and an inspection device, or apparatus each capable of conducting composition analysis of a defect detected by elastic or stokes scattered light, an inspection surface or defect on the surface of the inspection surface, or a defect on the surface of the inspection object and its internal composition. A surface inspection method for optically detecting elastic or stokes scattering or inelastic or anti-stokes scattered light from inside the surface of the inspection object, for detecting existence of defects of the inspection object and features of the defects, for detecting positions of the detected defects on the surface of the inspection object, classifying and analyzing the detected defects in accordance with their features on the basis of the positions of the defects and the features of the defects or the classification result of the defects. | 01-10-2013 |
20130010290 | SURFACE INSPECTION DEVICE AND SURFACE INSPECTION METHOD - There are provided a surface inspection device and a surface inspection method which can inspect a surface of a test object with uniform detection sensitivity. A surface inspection device includes a test object moving stage, a lighting device, an inspection coordinate detection device, a light detector, an A/D converter, and a foreign object/defect determination unit. The lighting device is configured to change a dimension of a light spot in a circumferential direction based on a position of the light spot in a radial direction obtained by the inspection coordinate detection device. The density of irradiation light intensity of the light spot is made constant while the light spot is being moved for scanning between an outer peripheral portion and a central portion on the test object. | 01-10-2013 |
20130161490 | PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT, DEFECT INSPECTING APPARATUS, AND DEFECT INSPECTING METHOD - Provided are a photoelectric conversion element, wherein the processing speed can be increased and resolution can be changed without increasing cost, and a defect inspecting apparatus and a defect inspecting method using the photoelectric conversion element. A photoelectric conversion element having a plurality of sensor pixels has a multiplexer and a plurality of horizontal transfer registers. Sensor pixels are divided into a plurality of blocks such that the sensor pixels correspond to each of the horizontal transfer registers. The photoelectric conversion element is configured such that charges of the blocks are read by means of the multiplexer via respective corresponding horizontal transfer registers, and are outputted via the multiplexer. | 06-27-2013 |
20130258093 | Inspection Tool and Image Pickup Device - An inspection tool that can acquire large image data at a high speed while suppressing an increase in the size of a circuit, and an image pickup device that is used for the inspection tool, are provided. Image pickup devices that are used for the inspection tool each include: a plurality of photoelectronic devices of a photoelectron output type; a plurality of sample-and-hold circuits, each circuit being connected to corresponding one of the photoelectronic devices; an analog multiplexer connected to the plurality of sample-and-hold circuits; an analog-to-digital converting circuit connected to the analog multiplexer; and a package that stores the photoelectronic devices, the sample-and-hold circuits, the analog multiplexer and the analog-to-digital converting circuit. | 10-03-2013 |
20130271754 | INSPECTION APPARATUS - This invention implements reduction in the amount of background-scattered light from a semiconductor wafer surface and highly sensitive inspection, without increasing the number of detectors. A surface inspection apparatus that detects defects on the surface of an object (semiconductor wafer surface) to be inspected, by irradiating the surface of the object with a beam of light such as laser light and detecting the light reflected or scattered from the surface; wherein a widely apertured lens with an optical Fourier transform function is disposed between the object to be inspected and a detector, a filter variable in position as well in aperture diameter is provided on a Fourier transform plane, and background-scattered light from the semiconductor wafer surface is effectively blocked, whereby only a signal from a defect such as a foreign substance is detected. | 10-17-2013 |
20130278926 | Measuring Apparatus - Surface states have traditionally been measured with apparatuses such as an atomic force microscope (AFM), and these measurements have been high in resolution but low in speed. In conventional apparatuses for inspecting the foreign matter sticking to a wafer surface, and for inspecting defects present on the wafer surface, the inspection has had a tendency to be restricted in a region of the highest noise level arising from the roughness of the surface, the surface state, and/or crystal orientations, and thereby to reduce detection sensitivity in a region of lower noise levels. In these conventional techniques, signal processing of the light scattered from the object to be inspected has been based only upon the intensity of the light. | 10-24-2013 |
20130286191 | INSPECTION APPARATUS - In a defect inspecting apparatus, the strength of a fatal defect signal decreases due to miniaturization. Thus, in order to assure a high SN ratio, it is necessary to reduce noises caused by scattered light from a wafer. Roughness of a pattern edge and surface roughness which serve as a scattered-light source are spread over the entire wafer. The present invention has discovered the fact that reduction of an illuminated area is a technique effective for decreasing noises. That is to say, the present invention has discovered the fact that creation of an illuminated area having a spot shape and reduction of the dimension of a spot beam are effective. A plurality of temporally and spatially divided spot beams are radiated to the wafer serving as a sample. | 10-31-2013 |
20130286385 | INSPECTION APPARATUS - To increase the speed of inspection, an inspection apparatus may conduct an inspection by irradiating a wafer surface with a thin light beam and acquiring an image of an irradiated region with a photodetector. However, it is not easy to have the photodetector properly form the image of the irradiated region. This problem is not solved by prior art technologies. | 10-31-2013 |
20130286387 | DEFECT INSPECTION METHOD AND DEFECT INSPECTION DEVICE - When the intensity of scattering light from a defect on a sample becomes very low according to the diameter of the defect, the dark noise from a sensor device itself accounts which a large proportion of the detected signal outputted from the sensor and thus it is difficult to detect minute defects. Furthermore, since a laser light source is pulsed into oscillation, pulse components from the laser light source are superimposed on the detected signal outputted from the sensor, and therefore it is difficult to detect defects with high accuracy. The present invention is a defect inspection device having irradiation means which producing pulsed operation and irradiating a surface of a sample with a laser beam, detection means which detecting scattering light generated at the surface of the sample in response to the irradiation provided by the irradiation means, and a processing portion which generating a delay signal based on the laser beam emitted by the irradiation means and processing the scattering light detected by the detection means using the delay signal. | 10-31-2013 |
20130314700 | SURFACE-DEFECT INSPECTION DEVICE - A data processing and controlling portion calculates the amounts of coordinate deviations between artificial defects on a standard sample and detected defects, checks the sensitivity (instrumental sensitivity (luminance, brightness, or the like)), and proceeds to execution of hardware corrections. If the coordinate deviation is less than a certain value, software corrections are carried out. In the case of the software corrections, coordinate corrections are made for the whole standard sample. The amounts of coordinate deviations are computed and checked. If the amounts of coordinate deviations are outside a tolerance, coordinate corrections are made for each region obtained by dividing the standard sample. | 11-28-2013 |
20130321798 | DEFECT INSPECTION METHOD, LOW LIGHT DETECTING METHOD AND LOW LIGHT DETECTOR - A defect inspection method includes an illumination light adjustment step of adjusting light emitted from a light source, an illumination intensity distribution control step of forming light flux obtained in the illumination light adjustment step into desired illumination intensity distribution, a sample scanning step of displacing a sample in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the illumination intensity distribution, a scattered light detection step of counting the number of photons of scattered light emitted from plural small areas in an area irradiated with illumination light to produce plural scattered light detection signals corresponding to the plural small areas, a defect judgment step of processing the plural scattered light detection signals to judge presence of a defect, a defect dimension judgment step of judging dimensions of the defect in each place in which the defect is judged to be present and a display step of displaying a position on sample surface and the dimensions of the defect in each place in which the defect is judged to be present. | 12-05-2013 |