DEFECT INSPECTION METHOD AND DEVICE THEREOF
First Claim
1. A defect inspection device that inspects a pattern formed on a sample, comprising:
- table means that holds the sample thereon and is capable of continuously moving in at least one direction;
image acquiring means that images the sample held on the table means and acquires an image of the pattern formed on the sample;
pattern arrangement information extracting means that extracts arrangement information of the pattern from the image of the pattern that has been acquired by the image acquiring means;
reference image generating means that generates a reference image from the arrangement information of the pattern and the image of the pattern, the arrangement information being extracted by the pattern arrangement information extracting means, the image of the pattern being acquired by the image acquiring means; and
defect candidate extracting means that compares the reference image generated by the reference image generating means with the image of the pattern that has been acquired by the image acquiring means thereby extracting a defect candidate of the pattern.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a defect inspection device that can highly accurately distinguish between true defects and noise/nuisance defects by means of integrating inspection results from different lighting conditions or detection conditions. Further disclosed is a method thereof. The defect inspection device—which is provided with: a lighting optical system that illuminates an inspected object under predetermined optical conditions; and a detection optical system that detects scattered light from the inspected object under predetermined detection conditions, and acquires image data—is characterized by being provided with: a defect candidate detection arbitrary unit that detects defect candidates from a plurality of image data acquired by the aforementioned detection optical system under differing optical conditions or image data acquisition conditions; and a post-inspection processing unit that integrates information about defect candidates detected from said plurality of image data, and differentiates defects from noise.
16 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A defect inspection device that inspects a pattern formed on a sample, comprising:
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table means that holds the sample thereon and is capable of continuously moving in at least one direction; image acquiring means that images the sample held on the table means and acquires an image of the pattern formed on the sample; pattern arrangement information extracting means that extracts arrangement information of the pattern from the image of the pattern that has been acquired by the image acquiring means; reference image generating means that generates a reference image from the arrangement information of the pattern and the image of the pattern, the arrangement information being extracted by the pattern arrangement information extracting means, the image of the pattern being acquired by the image acquiring means; and defect candidate extracting means that compares the reference image generated by the reference image generating means with the image of the pattern that has been acquired by the image acquiring means thereby extracting a defect candidate of the pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A defect inspection device that inspects patterns that have been repetitively formed on a sample and originally need to have the same shape, comprising:
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table means that holds the sample thereon and is capable of continuously moving in at least one direction; image acquiring means that images the sample held on the table means and sequentially acquires images of the patterns that have been repetitively formed on the sample and originally need to have the same shape; standard image generating means that generates a standard image from the images of the patterns that have been sequentially acquired by the image acquiring means that have been repetitively formed and originally need to have the same shape; pattern arrangement information extracting means that extracts, from the standard image generated by the standard image generating means, arrangement information of the patterns that originally need to have the same shape; reference image generating means that generates a reference image using the arrangement information of the patterns extracted by the pattern arrangement information extracting means, and an image of a pattern to be inspected among the images of the patterns sequentially acquired by the image acquiring means that originally need to have the same shape, or the standard image generated by the standard image generating means; and defect candidate extracting means that compares the reference image generated by the reference image generating means with the image of the pattern to be inspected among the images of the patterns sequentially acquired by the image acquiring means that originally need to have the same shape thereby extracting a defect candidate of the pattern to be inspected. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A defect inspection method for inspecting a pattern formed on a sample, comprising the steps of:
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imaging the sample while continuously moving the sample in a direction, and acquiring images of the patterns formed on the sample; extracting arrangement information of the pattern from the acquired images of the patterns; generating a reference image from an image to be inspected among the acquired images of the patterns using the extracted arrangement information of the pattern; and comparing the generated reference image with the image to be inspected thereby extracting a defect candidate of the pattern. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A defect inspection method for inspecting patterns that have been repetitively formed on a sample and originally need to have the same shape, comprising the steps of:
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imaging the sample while continuously moving the sample in a direction, and sequentially acquiring images of the patterns that have been repetitively formed on the sample and originally need to have the same shape; generating a standard image from a plurality of images of the patterns that have been sequentially acquired in the step of imaging, said patterns are repetitively formed on the sample and originally need to have the same shape; extracting, from the generated standard image, arrangement information of the patterns that originally need to have the same shape; generating a reference image using the extracted arrangement information of the patterns, and an image of a pattern to be inspected among the images of the patterns that have been sequentially acquired that originally need to have the same shape, or the generated standard image; and comparing the generated reference image with the image of the pattern to be inspected thereby extracting a defect candidate of the pattern to be inspected. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification