Wafer inspection apparatus and wafer inspection method
AssigneeSumitomo Chemical Company, Limited
InventorHajime Fujikura
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wafer inspection apparatus including a light emitter configured to emit light onto a to-be-inspected surface of a wafer, an imaging unit configured to obtain an image formed by the light emitted from the light emitter and reflected by the to-be-inspected surface, a moving unit configured to move a to-be-inspected position on the to-be-inspected surface by controlling a position of one of the wafer and the light emitter, and an inspecting unit configured to inspect the to-be-inspected surface by detecting a scatter image formed by the light that is emitted from the light emitter and scattered by a defect of the to-be-inspected surface, where the scatter image is formed outside an outline of the image formed by the light emitted from the light emitter.
Claims10
A wafer inspection apparatus comprising:
- a light emitter configured to emit light onto a to-be-inspected surface of a wafer;
- an imaging unit configured to obtain a captured image, in which (i) an outline of an image formed by the light emitted from the light emitter and specularly reflected by the to-be-inspected surface and (ii) a region outside the outline are included;
- a moving unit configured to move a to-be-inspected position on the to-be-inspected surface by controlling a position of one of the wafer and the light emitter;
- and
- a processor configured to inspect the to-be-inspected surface by detecting, from the captured image, a scatter image formed by the light that is emitted from the light emitter and scattered by a defect of the to-be-inspected surface, the scatter image being formed in the region outside the outline, wherein the processor detects the scatter image that is formed within a predetermined distance from the outline.
A wafer inspection method comprising:
- causing a light emitter to emit light onto a to-be-inspected surface of a wafer and causing an imaging unit to obtain a captured image, in which (i) an outline of an image formed by the light emitted from the light emitter and specularly reflected by the to-be-inspected surface and (ii) a region outside the outline are included;
- moving a to-be-inspected position on the to-be-inspected surface by controlling a position of one of the wafer and the light emitter;
- and
- inspecting the to-be-inspected surface by detecting, from the captured image, a scatter image formed by the light that is emitted from the light emitter and scattered by a defect of the to-be-inspected surface, the scatter image being formed in the region outside the outline, wherein
- the obtaining of the image and the moving are repeatedly performed until the entire to-be-inspected surface is inspected, and the inspecting detects the scatter image that is formed within a predetermined distance from the outline.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.