Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Ya Hsun Hsueh

Jiun-Rong Pai

Hsu-Shui Liu

Shou-Wen Kuo

Sheng-Hsiang Chuang

Chien-Ko Liao

Chien-Fa Lee

Wu-An Weng

Chia-Han Lin

Gary Tsai

Becky Liao

Ethan Yu

Ming-Chi Tsai

Surendra Kumar Soni

Kuo-Yi Liu

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a processing tool. The tool includes a housing enclosing a processing chamber, and an input/output port configured to pass a wafer through the housing into and out of the processing chamber. A back-side macro-inspection system is arranged within the processing chamber and is configured to image a back side of the wafer. A front-side macro-inspection system is arranged within the processing chamber and is configured to image a front side of the wafer according to a first image resolution. A front-side micro-inspection system is arranged within the processing chamber and is configured to image the front side of the wafer according to a second image resolution which is higher than the first image resolution.

Automated inspection tool

A system and method for inline detection of defects on a semiconductor wafer surface during a semiconductor device manufacturing process is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method includes: automatically transporting the wafer from a first processing station to an inspection station; scanning a wafer surface using a camera in the inspection station; generating at least one image of the wafer surface; analyzing the at least one image to detect defects on the wafer surface based on a set of predetermined criteria; if the wafer is determined to be defective, automatically transporting the wafer from the inspection station to a stocker; and if the wafer is determined to be not defective, automatically transporting the wafer to a second processing station for further processing in accordance with the semiconductor device manufacturing process.

Automatic in-line inspection system

Growing community of inventors

Yunlin County, Taiwan

Ya Hsun Hsueh