Patent ID: 6064477
Filing Date: 2000-05-16
Classification: G01N,G03F

Abstract:
An inspecting apparatus for inspecting a specimen having, at least a transparent or translucent substrate, a circuit pattern formed on the front surface of the substrate, and for detecting defects, such as foreign particles adhering to the front surface of the specimen, said inspecting apparatus comprising:an inspection stage unit having a stage for supporting the specimen thereon for movement in directions along at least an X-axis and a Y-axis, and a stage driving system for driving the stage for movement;an illuminating system which illuminates the substrate provided with the circuit pattern in a front illumination mode with light of a first wavelength and in a back illumination mode with light of a second wavelength, wherein the first wavelength is greater than the second wavelength and greater than the size of a smallest defect to be detected among the defects to be detected;a detection optical system gathering scattered light and diffracted light which have been scattered and diffracted, respectively, by the specimen, separating the gathered light by direction of illumination, and forming images of gathered light on detectors; anda signal processing system having a signal processing unit which processes data concerning defects on the specimen on the basis of output signals of the detectors and displays information of the processed data concerning defects.