Foreign substance inspecting method and apparatus, and exposure apparatus using this inspecting apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsHideki Ina, Koichi Sentoku, Takahiro Matsumoto
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Abstract
A foreign substance inspecting apparatus (12) for inspecting a foreign substance attaching to a wafer (2) includes an irradiation unit (14) for irradiating a periphery of the wafer with light in a direction substantially tangent to an outer circumference of the wafer while rotating the wafer, and a detection unit (18) for detecting presence/absence of a foreign substance with a predetermined height or more on the basis of the irradiating light. The foreign substance inspecting apparatus (12) detects a foreign substance that enters between a mask and wafer to fracture the mask, thereby preventing fracture of the mask.
Claims15
A foreign substance inspecting method wherein a height of a foreign substance attaching to a periphery of a wafer is detected, thereby detecting presence/absence of a foreign substance with not less than a predetermined height.
A foreign substance inspecting method wherein said method is applied to an exposure apparatus that exposes a mask and wafer separated from each other at a predetermined distance, thereby detecting a height of a foreign substance attaching to the wafer.
A foreign substance inspecting method wherein said method is applied to an exposure apparatus that exposes a mask and wafer separated from each other at a predetermined distance, thereby detecting a size and height of a foreign substance attaching to the wafer.
A foreign substance inspecting apparatus for inspecting a foreign substance attaching to a wafer comprising:
- an irradiation unit for irradiating a periphery of the wafer with light in a direction substantially tangent to an outer circumference of the wafer while rotating the wafer, and
- a detection unit for detecting presence/absence of a foreign substance with not less than a predetermined height on the basis of the irradiating light.
An exposure apparatus for exposing a mask and a wafer separated from each other at a predetermined distance comprising a foreign substance inspecting apparatus for inspecting a foreign substance attaching to a wafer having an irradiation unit for irradiating a periphery of the wafer with light in a direction substantially tangent to an outer circumference of the wafer while rotating the wafer, and a detection unit for detecting presence/absence of a foreign substance with not less than a predetermined height on the basis of the irradiating light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.