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:
Jun. 25, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 28, 1999
Minori Noguchi, Yokohama, JP;
Yoshimasa Ohshima, Yokohama, JP;
Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Fujisawa, JP;
Shunichi Matsumoto, Yokohama, JP;
Yukio Kembo, Shakujii-machi, JP;
Ryouji Matsunaga, Chigasaki, JP;
Keiji Sakai, Tokyo, JP;
Takanori Ninomiya, Hiratsuka, JP;
Tetsuya Watanabe, Honjo, JP;
Hisato Nakamura, Kamisato-machi, JP;
Takahiro Jingu, Takasaki, JP;
Yoshio Morishige, Honjo, JP;
Shuichi Chikamatsu, Kounosu, JP;
Other;
Abstract
The present invention provides a defect inspecting apparatus and a defect inspection method for inspecting an object of inspection for a defect such as a foreign particle existing on the object wherein, by using a high-efficiency illumination optical system for radiating an illumination beam to the object of inspection from a direction to reduce the intensity of a scattered light generated by a pattern on the object of inspection, it is possible to decrease the intensity of the scattered light from the pattern which causes a variation of a signal and, in addition, by using a means for setting a detection threshold value based on a variation of a signal computed for each area in a chip on the object of inspection, the detection threshold value can be made small and, thus, the sensitivity as well as the throughput can be raised.