Method and apparatus for particle inspection
First Claim
1. A method of foreign particles inspection comprising:
- illuminating an inspection surface of an inspected object with a beam, which is one of an s-polarized light and a p-polarized light relative to the inspection surface of the inspection object, in such a manner that an optical axis of the beam intersects the inspection surface at an angle of not less than 1° and
less than 5°
; and
detecting, as an indication of foreign particles, a component of reflected and scattered light which occurs from the beam and which is the other of the s-polarized light and the p-polarized light, wherein said detecting is about a detection optical axis which makes an acute angle with the inspection surface and which makes a differential angle of 30°
or less with the optical axis of the beam.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for foreign particles inspection includes illuminating an inspection surface of an inspection object with a beam which is, one of s-polarized and p-polarized relative to the inspection surface of the inspection object. The illumination utilizes an optical axis which is generally parallel to the inspection surface or which intersects the inspection surface at an angle that is greater than or equal to 1° and less than 5°. Reflected and scattered light is detected utilizing an optical axis which makes an acute angle with the inspection surface and which makes a differential angle of 30° or less with the optical axis of the illumination beam. The detection of foreign particles is accomplished by detecting the component of the reflected and scattered light which is the other of s-polarized and p-polarized relative to the inspection surface.
85 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of foreign particles inspection comprising:
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illuminating an inspection surface of an inspected object with a beam, which is one of an s-polarized light and a p-polarized light relative to the inspection surface of the inspection object, in such a manner that an optical axis of the beam intersects the inspection surface at an angle of not less than 1° and
less than 5°
; anddetecting, as an indication of foreign particles, a component of reflected and scattered light which occurs from the beam and which is the other of the s-polarized light and the p-polarized light, wherein said detecting is about a detection optical axis which makes an acute angle with the inspection surface and which makes a differential angle of 30°
or less with the optical axis of the beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A foreign particles inspecting apparatus comprising:
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an illumination device arranged so as to define an optical axis substantially parallel to an inspection surface of an inspection object, for supplying a beam of light toward the inspection surface of the inspection object wherein the beam is one of s-polarized and ppolarized relative to the inspection surface; a detection device having a detection optical axis which makes an acute angle with the inspection surface of the inspection object and which makes a differential angle of 30°
or less with the optical axis of the illumination device, such that said detection device can detect a light component in reflected and scattered light produced by the illumination device, which is the other of s-polarized and p-polarized relative to the inspection surface, and performs photoelectric conversion of the light component; anda signal processing unit for determining foreign particles based on a signal from the photoelectric conversion from the detection device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of foreign particles inspection comprising:
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producing parallel beams by passing laser beams from a laser light source through a collimator lens; passing only one of s-polarized light and p-polarized light from the parallel beams through a polarizer; directing the light passed by the polarizer through a cylindrical lens so as to illuminate a line-form region on an inspection surface of an inspection object, on an incident plane, at an incident angle that is greater than or equal to 1° and
less than 5°
with respect to the inspection object;wherein the light on the incident plane is reflected by a pattern on the inspection surface of the inspection object or is scattered by foreign particles on the inspection surface of the inspection object; receiving, about a detection optical axis which makes an acute angle with the inspection surface, the reflected and scattered light by an objective lens; transmitting, through an analyzer, only the other of s-polarized light and p-polarized light from the light received by the objective lens; focusing the light from the analyzer by an image forming lens onto a line sensor; photoelectrically converting the focused light into a detection signal by the line sensor; and detecting the foreign particles based on the detection signal. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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Specification