Method and apparatus for observing defects

A defect observing method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining positional information of a defect on a sample detected by optical inspection with another inspecting apparatus, information on conditions of the optical inspection with said other inspecting apparatus, and information on the result of inspection;
• placing the sample on a table to observe the defect detected with the other inspecting apparatus with a SEM;
• setting detection conditions to optically detect the defect on the sample placed on the table based on the obtained information on the conditions of the optical inspection with the other inspecting apparatus and information on the result of inspection;
• detecting the defect extracted from the defects on the sample placed on the table based on the set optical detection condition, and obtaining the positional information of the extracted defect on the table;
• correcting the positional information of the defect detected by inspection with the other inspecting apparatus based on the obtained positional information of the extracted defect on the table;
• and
• observing the defect on the sample placed on the table with the SEM using the corrected positional information of the defect.

A defect observing apparatus comprising:

• table means movable while holding a sample;
• SEM means for observing the sample placed on the table means;
• optical microscope means for detecting a defect on the sample placed on the table means;
• defect information storage means for storing positional information of the defect on the sample detected by optical inspection with another inspecting apparatus, information on the optical inspection with the other inspecting apparatus, and inspection result information;
• and
• control means for controlling the table, the SEM and the optical microscope,
• wherein the control means sets optical inspection conditions detected by optically inspecting the defect on the sample with the other inspecting apparatus stored in the defect information storage means and detection condition to detect the detected defect with the optical microscope means based on the inspection result information,
• detects the defect detected with the other inspecting apparatus on the sample placed on the table means using the optical microscope means under the set detection condition by controlling the optical microscope means, and obtains the positional information of the defect on the table means,
• corrects the positional information of the defect detected with the other inspecting apparatus stored in the defect information storage means based on the obtained positional information of the defect on the table means, and
• controls the table means based on the corrected positional information, performs image sensing on the defect detected with the other inspecting apparatus using the SEM means, and obtains the defect image.