Patent · US Active

Method and apparatus for inspecting a surface of a substrate

US8547545B2 · kind B2 · utility

20Cited by
5References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 16, 2011
Grant dateOct 1, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 14, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N2021/8874
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for inspecting a surface of a substrate. The apparatus includes: a rotatable stage on which a substrate to be inspected is placed; an inspection optical system having an illumination light source for emitting light to a substrate placed on the stage and a detector for detecting light from the substrate which is irradiated with the light from the illumination light source; an A/D converter for amplifying and A/D converting signals output from the detector in the inspection optical system; and a defect detector for detecting defects in a surface of the substrate by processing signals output from the detector and converted by the A/D converter and classifying the defected defects. The defect detector extracts micro defects in the surface of the substrate by processing the signals output from the detector, and detects linear defects existing discretely in a linear region.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.