Apparatus and method for fabricating flat workpieces
First Claim
1. An inspection system for use in inspecting flat panel displays comprising:
- an optical array including a staring array optical sensor for viewing a flat panel display substrate; and
an illumination subsystem sequentially providing dark field and bright field illumination of said flat panel display substrate when said optical array views at least a part of said flat panel display substrate.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for manufacture and inspection of flat articles, such as flat planel display substrates, that are manufactured in a contamination-sensitive environment. In particular, a manufacturing step such as applying coatings to the article is performed in a self-contained micro-environment, typically characterized by an airborn particulate concentration which is substantially lower than its surroundings. Automated inspection apparatus is provided inside the self-contained micro-environment of the fabrication equipment to inspect the article after completion of the fabrication step and before transfer of the article to other fabrication equipment. The inspection apparatus includes an illumination subsystem illuminating the article with various configurations of dark field and bright field illumination, a staring array sensor capturing images of the article under various illumination configurations and a computer that analyzes the images to automatically detect defects.
68 Citations
100 Claims
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1. An inspection system for use in inspecting flat panel displays comprising:
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an optical array including a staring array optical sensor for viewing a flat panel display substrate; and
an illumination subsystem sequentially providing dark field and bright field illumination of said flat panel display substrate when said optical array views at least a part of said flat panel display substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. Apparatus for optically inspecting a substantially planar surface of an article, comprising:
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an inspection region;
an illuminator configuration to selectably illuminate a substantially planar surface of an article located in the inspection region with one of at least two predetermined configurations of illumination, a first configuration of illumination providing dark field illumination and a second configuration of illumination providing bright field illumination;
an image acquisition sub-system comprising at least one camera having a two dimensional field of view for acquiring images of generally the entire surface of the article when illuminated by at least one of said predetermined configurations of illumination; and
an image analysis subsystem for computer analysis of the images and detecting anomalies in the surface as a function of variations in reflected intensities of illumination. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. Apparatus for coating an article having a substantially planar surface, comprising:
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a coating generator operative to generate a coating on a surface of the article;
an illuminator configured to selectably illuminate said surface bearing said coating with one of at least two predetermined configurations of illumination, a first configuration of illumination providing dark field illumination and a second configuration of illumination providing bright field illumination;
an image acquisition sub-system comprising at least one sensor having a two dimensional field of view for acquiring images of generally the entire surface of the article for each combination of illumination; and
an image analysis subsystem for analyzing the images and detecting anomalies in the surface on the basis of variations in reflected intensities of illumination.
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27. A method for inspecting flat panel displays comprising:
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viewing a flat panel display substrate using an optical array, including a staring array camera; and
sequentially illuminating said flat panel display substrate with dark field and bright field illumination when said optical array views said flat panel display substrate, to obtain darkfield and brightfield images for substantially the entire flat panel display substrate. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100)
receiving an output from said staring array camera; and
detecting process defects including at least one of;
uneven deposition of coatings, uneven removal of coatings, rinse residues, chemical residues, incomplete exposure of a photo-resist deposited on the substrate, scratches, lines, and particles embedded in the substrate.
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31. A method according to claim 27 and wherein said viewing step comprises viewing substantially all of a surface of said substrate.
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32. A method according to claim 27 and wherein said viewing step comprises acquiring at least one image of said substrate for each of a plurality of different illuminations.
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33. A method according to claim 30 and wherein said detecting step comprises identifying said defects by computer analysis of a plurality of images of said substrate taken under differing illumination.
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34. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing an enclosure containing a first plurality of illuminators mounted on one wall thereof and a second plurality of illuminators mounted on a second wall thereof.
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35. A method according to claim 34 and wherein said providing step also comprises providing a third illuminator mounted on a third wall of said enclosure.
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36. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing a diffuser associated with said illumination subsystem.
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37. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing an adjustable mounting assembly for selectably determining at least one of relative inclination, spatial separation and axial orientation of at least two of said optical array, said illumination subsystem and said substrate.
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69. A method according to claim 27 and wherein said dark field and said bright field illumination are diffuse.
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70. A method according to claim 27 and wherein said dark field and said bright field illumination are focussed.
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71. A method according to claim 70 and wherein said flat panel display substrate has a surface that includes a periodic spatial feature, and said dark field and said bright field illumination are diffracted by said spatial feature.
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72. A method according to claim 28 and wherein the optical array, illumination subsystem and stage are configured and arranged to selectively enable viewing the flat panel display substrate such that a non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction impinges on the staring array camera.
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73. A method according to claim 72 and wherein a multiplicity of the non-zero'"'"'th orders of diffraction impinge on said staring array camera.
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74. A method according to claim 72 and wherein the optical array, the illumination subsystem and the stage are configured and arranged to additionally enable selectively viewing the flat panel display substrate such that a zero'"'"'th order of diffraction impinges on the staring array camera.
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75. A method according to claim 72 and wherein the optical array the illumination subsystem and the stage are configured and arranged to additionally enable selective viewing of the flat panel display substrate such that substantially no orders of diffraction impinge on the staring array camera.
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76. A method according to claim 75 and wherein the optical array and the illumination subsystem are configured and arranged to sequentially view the flat panel display substrate and wherein in one view a selected non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction impinges on the optical array, and in other each sequential views at least one of the following impinges on the optical array:
- a zero'"'"'th order of diffraction, an additional selected non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction, no order of diffraction, the same non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction of a different region of the article.
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77. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing a light source and a reflector operative to provide concentrated light from the light source to at least part of said flat panel display substrate.
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78. A method according to claim 77 wherein said reflector has two points of focus, and wherein a projector is situated at a first of points of focus, and the second point of focus is situated away from the flat panel display substrate.
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79. A method according to claim 78 and wherein the reflector is a section of an ellipsoid.
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80. A method according to claim 78 and wherein the reflector is flat and is operatively associated with a lens.
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81. A method according to claim 80 and wherein the lens is a fresnel lens attached to the reflector.
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82. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing a light source and a lens operative to provide concentrated light from the light source to at least part of said flat panel display substrate.
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83. A method according to claim 82 wherein the projector is situated at a first focus of the lens, and a second focus of the lens is situated away from the flat panel display substrate.
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84. A method according to claim 28 and wherein said dark field and said bright field illumination are diffuse.
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85. A method according to claim 28 and wherein said dark field and said bright field illumination are focussed.
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86. A method according to claim 85 and wherein said surface includes a periodic spatial feature operative to diffract light impinging thereon.
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87. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing a spatially positionable stage to support the article, wherein the stage spatially positions the article at various angles relative to the illumination subsystem.
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88. A method according to claim 87 and wherein the optical array, illumination subsystem and stage are configured and arranged to selectively enable viewing the surface such that a non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction impinges on the staring array camera.
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89. A method according to claim 88 and wherein a multiplicity of non-zero'"'"'th orders of diffraction of substantially the same order impinge on the staring array camera.
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90. A method according to claim 88 and wherein the optical array, the illumination subsystem and the stage are configured and arranged to additionally enable selectively viewing of the surface such that a zero'"'"'th order of diffraction impinges on the staring array camera.
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91. A method according to claim 88 and wherein the optical array the illumination subsystem and the stage are configured and arranged to additionally enable selectively viewing the object such that substantially no orders of diffraction impinge on the staring array camera.
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92. A method according to claim 91 and wherein the optical array, the illumination subsystem and the stage are configured and arranged to sequentially view the object and wherein in one view a selected non-zero order of diffraction impinges on the optical array, and in other sequential views at least one of the following impinges on the optical array:
- a zero'"'"'th order of diffraction, an additional non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction, the same non-zero'"'"'th order of diffraction of a different region of the surface of the article, and no order of diffraction.
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93. A method according to claim 27 and wherein said optical array views only a part of a surface of said substrate.
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94. A method according to any of claim 27 and also comprising providing a light source and a reflector operative to provide concentrated light from the light source to at least part of said surface.
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95. A method according to claim 94 wherein said reflector has two points of focus, and wherein a projector is situated at a first focus, and a second focus is situated not on the surface.
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96. A method according to claim 95 and wherein the reflector is a section of an ellipsoid.
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97. A method according to claim 96 and wherein the reflector is flat and is operatively associated with a lens.
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98. A method according to claim 97 and wherein the lens is a fresnel lens attached to the reflector.
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99. A method according to claim 27 and also comprising providing a light source and a lens operative to provide concentrated light from the light source to at least part of said flat panel display substrate.
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100. A method according to claim 99 providing a projector which is situated at a first focus of the lens, and a second focus of the lens is situated not on the flat panel display substrate.
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38. A method for inspecting objects comprising:
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a) viewing a first location on an object using an optical array comprising a staring array sensor;
b) sequentially illuminating said first location with dark field and bright field illumination when said optical array views said object; and
c) repeating operations (a) and (b) to obtain images illuminated by said dark field and bright field illumination for additional locations together comprising substantially the entire object. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
receiving outputs from said optical array; and
detecting process defects including at least one of;
uneven deposition of coatings, uneven removal of coatings, rinse residues, chemical residues, incomplete exposure of a photo-resist deposited on the substrate, scratches, lines, and particles embedded in the substrate.
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41. A method according to claim 38 and wherein said viewing comprises viewing substantially all of a surface of said object.
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42. A method according to claim 38 and wherein said viewing comprises acquiring at least one image of said object for each of a plurality of different illuminations.
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43. A method according to claim 40 and wherein said detecting comprises identifying said defects by computer analysis of a plurality of images of said object taken under differing illumination.
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44. A method according to claim 38 and also comprising providing an enclosure containing a first plurality of illuminators mounted on one wall thereof and a second plurality of illuminators mounted on a second wall thereof.
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45. A method according to claim 44 and wherein said providing step also comprises providing a third illuminator mounted on a third wall of said enclosure.
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46. A method according to claim 38 and also comprising providing a diffuser associated with said illumination subsystem.
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47. A method according to claim 38 and also comprising providing an adjustable mounting assembly for selectably determining at least one of relative inclination, spatial separation and axial orientation of at least two of said optical array, said illumination subsystem and said object.
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48. A method for optically inspecting the surface of an article having a substantially planar surface, comprising:
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a) defining an inspection region;
b) sequentially illuminating a surface of an article located in the inspection region with at least two predetermined configurations of illumination, a first configuration of illumination providing dark field illumination and a second configuration of illumination providing bright field illumination;
c) acquiring images of the surface of the article when illuminated by at least one predetermined configuration of illumination using at least one staring array camera;
d) moving said article or said camera so that a next part of said surface is located in said inspection region and repeating operations (b) &
(c) until images of substantially all of said surface are acquired; and
e) analyzing the images and detecting anomalies in the surface as a function of variations in reflected intensities of illumination. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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51. A method for coating an article having a substantially planar surface, comprising:
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generating a coating on a surface of the article;
sequentially illuminating said surface bearing said coating with at least two predetermined configurations of illumination, a first configuration of illumination providing dark field illumination and a second configuration of illumination providing bright field illumination;
acquiring images of the surface of the article for each combination of illumination using at least one staring array sensor; and
analyzing the images and detecting anomalies in the surface on the basis of variations in reflected intensities of illumination.
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52. A method for inspecting the surface of an article, comprising the steps of:
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placing the article in an inspection region defined by a stage;
illuminating a portion of the surface of the article with at least one configuration of dark field illumination;
acquiring at least one image illuminated under said at least one configuration of dark field illumination, said at least one image covering substantially the entire surface;
illuminating the surface with at least one configuration of at least substantially bright field illumination;
acquiring at least one image, said at least one image covering substantially the entire surface, illuminated under said at least one configuration of at least substantially bright field illumination; and
analyzing the images by computer to determine non uniformities in reflected intensities. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A method for coating the surface of an article with a film, comprising:
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depositing a film coating on at least part of a surface of the article;
placing the article in an inspection region;
illuminating a portion of the coated surface of the article with at least one configuration of dark field illumination;
acquiring an image of the surface illuminated by the at least one configuration of dark field illumination;
illuminating the surface with at least one configuration of substantially bright field illumination;
acquiring an image of the entire surface illuminate by the least one configuration of substantially bright field illumination; and
analyzing each image by computer to determine non uniformities in reflected intensities.
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Specification