Method and apparatus for inspecting a photoresist material by inducing and detecting fluorescence of the photoresist material
US5987160A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 2, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 2, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N21/9501
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus for inspecting a substrate having a surface on which a photoresist material has been deposited. The apparatus preferably includes a device for transporting substrates through an illumination beam such that the edges of the substrates are sequentially irradiated by the beam without requiring that each substrate be individually manipulated. The illumination beam is generated and projected onto the substrates by equipment configured to produce a beam having a size, wavelength, and intensity sufficient to cause the photoresist material to fluoresce with an intensity that can be detected without magnification. Inspection can be performed manually or automated through optical equipment that can detect flaws in the photoresist based on knowledge of the patterned image desired for the photoresist.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.