PHOTOMASK INSPECTION METHOD, SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE INSPECTION METHOD, AND PATTERN INSPECTION APPARATUS
First Claim
1. A photomask inspection method inspecting a plurality of photomasks used to manufacture the same semiconductor device, each of the photomasks including a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, the method comprising:
- inspecting one of the photomasks to detect a defect; and
determining whether or not the detected defect includes a redundancy defect positioned in one of the unit regions replaceable with another of the unit regions to remedy the one of the photomasks,one of the unit regions not being inspected when inspecting one of the photomasks in the case where the one of the unit regions includes a coordinate of the redundancy defect detected in another of the photomasks inspected previously.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of photomasks used to manufacture the same semiconductor device, each of the photomasks having a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, are inspected to detect a defect. It is determined whether or not the detected defect has a redundancy defect positioned in a unit region replaceable with another unit region to remedy the photomask. Then, when inspecting the second or subsequent photomask, a unit region including the coordinate of a redundancy defect detected in another photomask inspected previously is set to be a non-inspection region, and the non-inspection region is not inspected.
16 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A photomask inspection method inspecting a plurality of photomasks used to manufacture the same semiconductor device, each of the photomasks including a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, the method comprising:
-
inspecting one of the photomasks to detect a defect; and determining whether or not the detected defect includes a redundancy defect positioned in one of the unit regions replaceable with another of the unit regions to remedy the one of the photomasks, one of the unit regions not being inspected when inspecting one of the photomasks in the case where the one of the unit regions includes a coordinate of the redundancy defect detected in another of the photomasks inspected previously. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A photomask inspection method inspecting a plurality of photomasks used to manufacture the same semiconductor device, each of the photomasks including a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, the method comprising:
-
inspecting one of the photomasks to detect a defect; determining whether or not the detected defect includes a redundancy defect positioned in one of the unit regions replaceable with another of the unit regions to remedy the one of the photomasks; and outputting information regarding the detected defect, information not being output for a defect detected in one of the photomasks in the case where the defect has a coordinate in one of the unit regions including a coordinate of the redundancy defect detected in another of the photomasks inspected previously. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
-
8. A semiconductor device inspection method inspecting an intermediate structural body of each of a plurality of manufacturing stages for a semiconductor device including a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, the method comprising:
-
inspecting the intermediate structural body to detect a defect; and determining whether or not the detected defect includes a redundancy defect positioned in one of the unit regions replaceable with another of the unit regions to remedy the semiconductor device, one of the unit regions not being inspected when inspecting the intermediate structural body of one manufacturing stage in the case where the one of the unit regions includes a coordinate of the redundancy defect detected in the intermediate structural body of a previous manufacturing stage. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A semiconductor device inspection method inspecting an intermediate structural body of each of a plurality of manufacturing stages for a semiconductor device including a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, the method comprising:
-
inspecting the intermediate structural body to detect a defect; determining whether or not the detected defect includes a redundancy defect positioned in one of the unit regions replaceable with another of the unit regions to remedy the semiconductor device; and outputting information regarding the detected defect, information not being output for a defect detected in the intermediate structural body of one manufacturing stage in the case where the defect has a coordinate in one of the unit regions including a coordinate of the redundancy defect detected in the intermediate structural body of a previous manufacturing stage. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
-
-
15. A pattern inspection apparatus inspecting a pattern of an inspection object including a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, the apparatus comprising:
-
a redundancy map storage unit storing a redundancy map indicating a disposition of the unit regions of the inspection object; an image capture unit acquiring an optical image of the inspection object; a defect determination unit comparing the optical image to a reference image to detect a defect, determining whether or not a detected defect includes a redundancy defect positioned in one of the unit regions replaceable with another of the unit regions to remedy the inspection object, writing a coordinate of the redundancy defect to the redundancy map storage unit, and outputting information regarding the detected defect; and a control unit identifying, from the unit regions indicated by the redundancy map, one of the unit regions including a coordinate of the detected redundancy defect and controlling at least one of the image capture unit and the defect determination unit based on the identification result. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification