The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 15, 2000
Filed:
Nov. 02, 1998
Akihiko Sekine, Tokyo, JP;
Yoichiro Iwa, Tokyo, JP;
Hiroaki Soma, Tokyo, JP;
Naoto Miki, Tokyo, JP;
Hisashi Isozaki, Tokyo, JP;
Hisakazu Yoshino, Tokyo, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A wafer surface inspection apparatus comprises a light source, an optical system for focusing the light beams from the light source onto the wafer surface, a scanning means for scanning the focused point over a predetermined range on the wafer surface, a photo detector including an photoelectric converter for sensing scattered light from the focused point, and a signal detector for detecting signals from the photo detector, in which the light source is a light source for emitting two different wavelengths, the optical system is adapted to focus the light beams of the two wavelengths on one and the same point on the wafer surface, and the photo detector is adapted to sense the two wavelengths separately, and further comprises a discriminating portion for discriminating between a foreign matter or a scratch on the wafer surface and a recess in a spot form existing on the wafer surface by utilizing outputs from the signal detector.