Defect observation apparatus

A defect observation apparatus, comprising:

• a storage device configured to store defect information about a plurality of defects detected by an external inspection apparatus;
• a first imaging unit configured to capture an image of a defect among the plurality of defects using a first imaging condition and a second imaging condition, the first imaging condition being related to wide field-of-view imaging and the second imaging condition being related to narrow field-of-view imaging;
• a control unit comprising a processor configured to correct positional information on the defect using the image captured with the first imaging unit;
• and
• a second imaging unit configured to capture an image of the defect on the basis of the corrected positional information,
• wherein:
• the control unit processor is configured to
• set one of the first imaging condition or the second imaging condition for each of the plurality of defects,
• capture an image of a first-defect that is set to the first imaging condition, using the first imaging unit,
• create a correction formula on the basis of a distance and a direction of the defect information on the first-defect and relative distance and direction positional information on the first-defect detected with the first imaging unit,
• correct positional information on a second-defect that is set to the second imaging condition, using the correction formula,
• capture an image of the second-defect using the first imaging unit on the basis of the corrected positional information on the second-defect, and
• when the image captured with the first imaging unit contains a plurality of defects,
• extract, from the defect information, a plurality of candidate defects that are possibly contained in the captured image,
• capture a plurality of images, using said first imaging unit under said second imaging condition, each of said plurality of images being a different field of view and containing a different set of said candidate defects, and
• positively identify a defect ID of each of said first-defect from among a plurality of candidate defects in the plurality of captured images on the basis of a relative relationship between each of one or more of said candidate defects and a relative coordinate relationship between corresponding ones of said plurality of defects contained in each captured image based on said positional information of said first-defect.