Surface inspection apparatus and surface inspection method
US8687182B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 17, 2012 |
| Grant date | Apr 1, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 17, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L2924/0002
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A surface inspection apparatus and a surface inspection method aim to securely deal with finer repetition pitch without shortening the wavelength of illumination light. To this end, the apparatus includes a unit illuminating repetitive pattern(s) formed on the substrate surface to be inspected with linearly polarized light, a unit setting to an oblique angle an angle between the direction of an intersecting line of a vibration plane of the linearly polarized light on the substrate surface and the repetition direction of repetitive pattern(s), a unit extracting a polarized light component perpendicular to the vibration plane of the linearly polarized light, from light having been emitted from the repetitive pattern(s) in a specular direction, and a unit detecting a defect of the repetitive pattern(s) according to the light intensity of the polarized light component.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.