Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hitachi Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd.

Hitachi High-tech Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd.

Hitachi High-electronics Corporation

Yoshimasa Ooshima

Minori Noguchi

Hidetoshi Nishiyama

Akira Hamamatsu

Tetsuya Watanabe

Takahiro Jingu

Kenji Watanabe

Shunji Maeda

Masahiro Watanabe

Makoto Ono

Yuji Takagi

Hirohito Okuda

Conventionally, a particle/defect inspection apparatus outputs a total number of detected particles/defects as the result of detection. For taking countermeasures to failures in manufacturing processes, the particles/defects detected by the inspection apparatus are analyzed. Since the inspection apparatus outputs a large number of detected particles/defects, an immense time is required for analyzing the detected particles/defects, resulting in a delay in taking countermeasures to a failure in the manufacturing processes. In the present invention, an apparatus for optically inspecting particles or defects relates a particle or defect size to a cause of failure in an inspection result. A data processing circuit points out a cause of failure from the statistics on the inspection result, and displays information on the inspection result. A failure analysis is conducted by setting a threshold for identifying a failure in each of regions on a semiconductor device or the like to statistically evaluate detected particles.

Method and its apparatus for inspecting particles or defects of a semiconductor device

A defect-inspecting apparatus including an arrangement to convert detected light into a first signal corresponding to light illuminated by a high-angle illumination optical system and/or a second signal corresponding to light illuminated by a low-angle illumination optical system; and a classification unit which utilizes the first and second signal and classifies defects on the object to be inspected, wherein a defect size is estimated by changing a correction coefficient of the defect size on a basis of a concave-convex level (b/a), where the concave-convex level (b/a) of a defect is indicated by a ratio of a size b of a first direction of the defect to a size a of a second direction of the defect, where the second direction is lateral to the first direction.

Apparatus and method for inspecting defects

A defect-inspecting apparatus including an arrangement to convert detected light into a first signal corresponding to light illuminated by a high-angle illumination optical system and/or a second signal corresponding to light illuminated by a low-angle illumination optical system; and a classification unit which utilizes the first and second signal and classifies defects on the object to be inspected, wherein a defect size is estimated by changing a correction coefficient of the defect size on a basis of a concave-convex level (b/a), where the concavo-convex level (b/a) of a defect is indicated by a ratio of a size b of a first direction of the defect to a size a of a second direction of the defect, where the second direction is lateral to the first direction.

For the purpose of reducing a false report and shortening inspection time, an area to be inspected is locally inspected under optimum inspection conditions. In order to avoid the number of detected defects from increasing explosively, and thereby to facilitate control of a critical defect, general-purpose layout data, which is used for producing a mask of a semiconductor wafer, is accumulated in a design information server. With reference to the layout data, an area to be inspected, which is inspected by a pattern inspecting apparatus, is divided into partial inspection areas including a cell portion and a non-cell portion. Inspection parameters are set for each of the partial inspection areas. In addition, the defect reviewing apparatusobtains an inspection result of the pattern inspecting apparatus. When obtaining a defect image, the defect reviewing apparatusidentifies a position, where the defect occurred, from among a cell portion, a non-cell portion, a pattern dense portion, and the like according to layout data. Moreover, the defect reviewing apparatussets inspection parameters, such as pickup magnification of this defect, in response to a result of the identification to set a control criterion of criticality.

Method and system for inspecting electronic circuit pattern

The present invention is characterized by the following: incident illumination and oblique illumination are performed on a scratch and a foreign material, which have been made on a surface of a polished or a ground insulating layer, with substantially the same luminous flux; and on the basis of a correlation such as a ratio of intensity of scattered light generated by the shallow scratch and the foreign material between the incident illumination and the oblique illumination, the shallow scratch is discriminated from the foreign material.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Yoshimasa Ooshima