Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hitachi High-tech Corporation

Nittan Company Limited

Hisashi Hatano

Takahiro Jingu

Toshifumi Honda

Minori Noguchi

Akira Hamamatsu

Hiroyuki Nakano

Sachio Uto

Yoshimasa Ohshima

Taketo Ueno

Yukihisa Mohara

Seiji Otani

Takahiro Togashi

Takahiro Urano

Mamoru Kobayashi

Hironori Sakurai

Hidetoshi Nishiyama

Yuta Urano

Masaaki Ito

Hiroyuki Yamashita

Kazuo Takahashi

Koichi Nagoya

Nobuaki Hirose

A defect class that can identify true information or false information regarding a defect of an inspection target is received, it is determined whether or not the number of true information and the number of false information are insufficient to set a defect extraction parameter of a predetermined region, a feature amount of the defect is extracted in a region other than the predetermined region when it is determined that the number of true information and the number of false information are insufficient, the feature amounts are totalized by adding the feature amount of the defect extracted in a region other than the predetermined region to the feature amount of the defect extracted in the predetermined region, and the totalized feature amount of the defect is displayed for adjustment of the defect extraction parameters.

Defect inspection device and defect inspection method

The present invention aims at providing a defect inspection technique capable of setting parameters used for detecting a defect with a less burden to a user. A defect inspection device according to the present invention receives multiple reference values input by the user and calculates a defect extraction condition so as to optimize an evaluation value calculated with the use of the reference values, the number of actual reports, and the number of false reports.

Flaw inspection device and flaw inspection method

The present invention aims at providing a defect inspection technique capable of setting parameters used for detecting a defect with a less burden to a user. A defect inspection device according to the present invention receives multiple reference values input by the user and calculates a defect extraction condition so as to optimize an evaluation value calculated with the use of the reference values, the number of actual reports, and the number of false reports (refer to FIG.).

A defect inspection device is provided with an illumination optical system that irradiates light or an electron beam onto a sample, a detector that detects a signal obtained from the sample through the irradiation of the light or electron beam, a defect detection unit that detects a defect candidate on the sample through the comparison of a signal output by the detector and a prescribed threshold, and a display unit that displays a setting screen for setting the threshold. The setting screen is a two-dimensional distribution map that represents the distribution of the defect candidates in a three dimensional feature space having three features as the axes thereof and includes the axes of the three features and the threshold, which is represented in one dimension.

Defect inspection device, display device, and defect classification device

When a size of a block on a wafer is equal to or smaller than an optical resolution of imaging optics, room for improvement in a signal-to-noise ratio has not been sufficiently considered in a conventional technique. One feature of the defect determination of the present invention is to include a filter processing for setting a predetermined partial area serving as a predetermined matrix for a first difference image, scanning the first difference image in the partial area, and outputting a second difference image, and a first threshold processing using a first threshold value for the second difference image. As a result, highly sensitive defect detection can be achieved.

Inspection apparatus

In defect scanning carried out in a process of manufacturing a semiconductor or the like, a light detection optical system comprising a plurality of photosensors is used for detecting scattered light reflected from a sample. The photosensors used for detecting the quantity of weak background scattered light include a photon counting type photosensor having few pixels whereas the photosensors used for detecting the quantity of strong background scattered light include a photon counting type photosensor having many pixels or an analog photosensor. In addition, nonlinearity caused by the use of the photon counting type photosensor as nonlinearity of detection strength of defect scattered light is corrected in order to correct a detection signal of the defect scattered light.

Defect inspection method and device for same

In related art, consideration is not given to that a spatial distribution of scattered light changes in various direction such as forward/backward/sideways according to a difference in micro roughness. Particularly, although a step-terrace structure appearing on an epitaxial growth wafer produces anisotropy in the scattered light distribution, consideration is not given to this point in the related art. The invention includes a process in which light is illuminated to a sample surface, plural detection optical systems mutually different in directions of optical axes detect a spatial distribution of scattered light, and a spatial frequency spectrum of the sample surface is calculated.

Surface shape measuring apparatus

Provided is a pattern defect inspecting apparatus wherein inspection performance is stabilized. The defect inspecting apparatus, which has a plurality of configuration units and inspects defects on the surface of a sample, is provided with a means for monitoring time-dependent changes and failures of some of or all of the configuration units, and a means for notifying the user of the results of the monitoring. Furthermore, a unit which can perform correction is provided with a correcting means, and also a means for replacing a failure component with a spare component which has been prepared in the device.

Apparatus and method for inspecting pattern defect

This invention implements reduction in the amount of background-scattered light from a semiconductor wafer surface and highly sensitive inspection, without increasing the number of detectors. A surface inspection apparatus that detects defects on the surface of an object (semiconductor wafer surface) to be inspected, by irradiating the surface of the object with a beam of light such as laser light and detecting the light reflected or scattered from the surface; wherein a widely apertured lens with an optical Fourier transform function is disposed between the object to be inspected and a detector, a filter variable in position as well in aperture diameter is provided on a Fourier transform plane, and background-scattered light from the semiconductor wafer surface is effectively blocked, whereby only a signal from a defect such as a foreign substance is detected.

A method and apparatus of detecting a defect by inspecting a specimen in which a surface of a specimen on which plural patterns are formed is illuminated with an elongated shape light flux from one of plural directions which are different in elevation angle by switching an optical path of the light flux emitted from an illuminating light source in accordance with a kind of defect to be detected. Plural optical images of the specimen illuminated by the elongated shape light flux are captured with plural image sensors installed in different elevation angle directions by changing an enlarging magnification in accordance with a density of the pattern formed on the sample in an area irradiated with the illuminating elongated shape light flux. A defect on the specimen is detected by processing the images captured by the plural image sensors.

Method of apparatus for detecting particles on a specimen

An apparatus for inspecting a pattern to detect a small pattern defect has an illuminating light source, as illuminating optical system having a plurality of illuminating portions for switching an optical path of illuminating light flux to a surface of board constituting the inspected object from a plurality of directions different from each other, a detecting optical system having a variable magnification using an object lens for condensing reflected diffracted light from the illuminated board, a focusing optical system having a variable magnification capable of focusing an optical image by converged reflected diffracted light with a desired focusing magnification and an optical detector for detecting the optical image focused by the focusing optical system to convert it into an image signal, an A/D converter for converting the image signal into a digital image signal, and an image signal processor for processing the digital image signal to detect the defect.

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Tokyo, Japan

Hisashi Hatano