Defect inspection apparatus, defect inspection method and method of inspecting hole pattern
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorsMari Sugihara, Takeo Oomori, Kazuhiko Fukazawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A defect inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected comprises an illumination optical system for illuminating the substrate, a receiving optical system for receiving diffracted light from the substrate and a polarizing element provided in either one of the illumination optical system or the receiving optical system.
Claims28
A defect inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising:
- an illumination optical system for illuminating said substrate;
- a receiving optical system for receiving diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- a polarizing element provided in either one of said illumination optical system or said receiving optical system.
A defect inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising:
- an illumination optical system for illuminating said substrate;
- a receiving optical system for receiving diffracted light from said substrate;
- a first polarizing element provided in said illumination optical system;
- and
- a second polarizing element provided in said receiving optical system.
A method of inspecting a surface defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with linearly polarized illumination light;
- picking up an image of said substrate formed by diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a surface defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with illumination light;
- picking up an image of said substrate formed by certain linearly polarized light included in diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a surface defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with linearly polarized illumination light;
- picking up an image of said substrate formed by certain linearly polarized light included in diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a surface defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with linearly polarized illumination light;
- picking up an image of said substrate utilizing light remaining after certain linearly polarized light included in diffracted light from said substrate has been removed;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A defect inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising:
- an illumination optical system for illuminating said substrate with linearly polarized illumination light having P-polarized light;
- an image pickup means for picking up an image of said substrate formed by diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- an image processing apparatus for performing image processing based on an output from said image pickup means to detect a defect of said substrate.
A defect inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising:
- an illumination optical system for illuminating said substrate;
- a receiving optical system for receiving P-polarized light in diffracted light from said substrate;
- an image pickup means for picking up an image of said substrate formed by diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- an image processing apparatus for performing image processing based on an output from said image pickup means to detect a defect of said substrate.
A defect inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising:
- an illumination optical system for illuminating said substrate with linear polarized illumination light having P-polarized light;
- a receiving optical system for receiving S-polarized light in diffracted light from said substrate;
- an image pickup means for picking up an image of said substrate formed by diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- an image processing apparatus for performing image processing based on an output from said image pickup means to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a surface defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with linearly polarized illumination light having P-polarized light;
- picking up an image of said substrate formed by diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a surface defect of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with illumination light;
- picking up an image of said substrate formed by P-polarized light included in diffracted light from said substrate;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a hole pattern formed on a surface of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with S-polarized light such that an intersection between a plane of polarization of said S-polarized light and the surface of said substrate becomes parallel or perpendicular to a pattern formed on a layer different from a layer on which said hole pattern is formed;
- picking up an image of said substrate utilizing light remaining after S-polarized light included in diffracted light from said substrate has been removed;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
A method of inspecting a hole pattern formed on a surface of a substrate as an object to be inspected, comprising the steps of:
- illuminating said substrate with P-polarized light such that an intersection between a plane of polarization of said P-polarized light and the surface of said substrate becomes parallel or perpendicular to a pattern formed on a layer different from a layer on which said hole pattern is formed;
- picking up an image of said substrate utilizing light remaining after P-polarized light included in diffracted light from said substrate has been removed;
- and
- processing the picked up image to detect a defect of said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.