Cutting line measuring apparatus

An apparatus for measuring a cutting line of a semiconductor wafer, comprising:

• means for generating an image signal of a cutting line of a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of semiconductor chips separated by gaps, the cutting line having a first end and a second end;
• conversion means for converting the image signal of the cutting line into binary image data;
• first contour measuring means for measuring a contour of the cutting line on the basis of the binary image data, the first contour measuring means including first contour tracing means for tracing the contour of the cutting line from the first end to the second end of the cutting line and outputting first contour tracing data corresponding to the contour of the cutting line;
• second contour measuring means for measuring the contour of the cutting line on the basis of the binary image data, the second contour measuring means including second contour tracing means for tracing the contour of the cutting line from the second end to the first end of the cutting line and outputting second contour tracing data corresponding to the contour of the cutting line;
• and
• judging means for judging an abnormality in the contour measurement of the cutting line by comparing the first contour tracing data to the second contour tracing data.

A cutting line measuring method, comprising the steps of:

• generating an image signal of a cutting line having a first end and a second end;
• converting the image signal of the cutting line into binary image data;
• measuring the contour of the cutting line on the basis of the binary image data by tracing the contour of the cutting line from the first end to the second end of the cutting line and obtaining first contour tracing data corresponding to the contour of the cutting line;
• measuring the contour of the cutting line on the basis of the binary image data by tracing the contour of the cutting line from the second end to the first end of the cutting line and obtaining second contour tracing data corresponding to the contour of the cutting line;
• and
• detecting whether or not there is an abnormality in the contour measurement of the cutting line by comparing the first contour tracing data to the second contour tracing data.