Tokyo Denki University

Kenji Gomi

Yasushi Niitsu

Kensuke Ichinose

A semiconductor examination apparatus includes an energy source device that supplies a semiconductor substrate having a pn junction with excitation energy that causes luminescence in the semiconductor substrate, an image capturing device that captures a first luminescence image of the semiconductor substrate supplied with first excitation energy and a second luminescence image of the semiconductor substrate supplied with second excitation energy that is different in magnitude from the first excitation energy, a luminescence image processing device that calculates the difference in luminescence intensity between the first luminescence image and the second luminescence image at positions on the semiconductor substrate and generates intensity difference image data, and a detecting device that detects a crack position of a crack occurring in the semiconductor substrate on the basis of determination values based on the magnitude of the difference on the intensity difference image data.

Semiconductor test instrument and the method to test semiconductor

The present invention is a birefringence measuring device that requires only three types of light intensity information and can measure birefringence characteristics of an object with a relatively inexpensive device configuration. One embodiment comprises a light source for emitting a light flux having a specific polarization state towards the object to be measured, an optical system for extracting each of light fluxes in predetermined three polarization direction; and, from the light flux having passed the object to be measured, a detector for detecting a light amount of each of the light fluxes in the predetermined three polarization directions extracted by the optical system, and a processor for calculating a size and an azimuth of the birefringence of the object to be measured. The processor may calculate the birefringence size and azimuth by assigning each of the light amounts of the light fluxes detected by the detector to a predetermined function expression.

Birefringence measuring device and birefringence measuring method

The stress of a sample semiconductor wafer is detected with high accuracy in the form of an absolute value without rotating the sample or the entire optical system. A laser light R is subjected to photoelastic modulation in a PEMto generate a birefringence phase difference and then it is passed through first and second quarter wavelength plates and passes through a semiconductor wafer D having residual stress. When it is passed through a test piece, the direction of the stress of the test piece is detected when the angle between the laser light R and a linear polarization light is 0 and 90 degrees. The transmitted electric signal is delivered to an analog/digital converter, and the signal is inputted to a signal processor thus generating transmission signal data. The signal processor reads out the stored reference signal data and the transmission signal data and calculates a reference birefringence phase difference and the absolute values of the birefringence phase difference.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kenji Gomi