Patent ID: 7760348
Filing Date: 2010-07-20
Classification: G03F

Abstract:
1. A particle inspection apparatus comprising: an irradiation unit configured to apply a light beam onto each of front and back surfaces of an object to be inspected; a first detection unit configured to detect scattering light from the front surface; a second detection unit configured to detect scattering light from the back surface; a calculation unit configured to conduct a particle inspection on the front and back surfaces on the basis of outputs from the first detection unit and the second detection unit; and a control unit configured to control the irradiation unit, the first detection unit, the second detection unit, and the calculation unit, wherein the irradiation unit selectively applies the light beam onto the front surface or the back surface, wherein the control unit causes the irradiation unit to simultaneously apply the light beam onto the front and back surfaces, causes the irradiation unit to selectively apply the light beam onto the front surface or the back surface, and causes the calculation unit to conduct the particle inspection on the inspection surface on which the light beam is selectively applied, on the basis of outputs made by the detection unit corresponding to simultaneous application and selective application of the light beam, and wherein the calculation unit calculates and stores a difference between the output corresponding to the simultaneous application and the output corresponding to the selective application of the light beam, causes the irradiation unit to perform simultaneous application of the light beam without performing selective application of the light beam during a subsequent inspection of the object, and performs a particle inspection by subtracting the difference from an output from at least one of the detection units corresponding to the simultaneous application.