Patent ID: 6411377
Filing Date: 2002-06-25
Classification: B82Y,G01N,G01R,H01J,H01L

Abstract:
A defect inspecting apparatus comprising:a stage used for mounting a substrate serving as an object of inspection and having circuit patterns created thereon and used for moving said substrate; an illumination optical system for radiating an illumination slit-shaped beam from a light source to said substrate in a direction inclined at a predetermined gradient relative to the direction of a line normal to said inspected substrate with its longitudinal direction oriented almost perpendicularly to a direction of a movement of said stage, and has an optical element having a shape of at least a portion of a conical surface for shaping said radiated illumination beam; a detection optical system for receiving a scattered light reflected by a defect such as a foreign particle existing on said substrate illuminated by said illumination optical system and converting said received light into a detection signal by using an image sensor; and an image-signal processing unit for extracting a signal indicating a defect such as a foreign particle on the basis of said detection signal output by said image sensor employed in said detection optical system.