Patent ID: 7037735
Filing Date: 2006-05-02
Classification: B82Y,G01N,G01R,H01J,H01L

Abstract:
1. A defect inspecting apparatus comprising: a stage used for mounting a substrate serving as an object of inspection and having circuit patterns created thereon, said stage enabling movement of said substrate; an illumination optical system for radiating an illumination beam to said substrate; a detection optical system for receiving scattered light reflected from said substrate illuminated by said illumination optical system and for converting said received light into detection image signals by using an image sensor; and an image-signal processing unit including a variation computation unit which computes a variation of said detection image signals at corresponding locations including corresponding adjacent locations between areas where circuit patterns with substantially identical shapes are naturally repeated on said inspected substrate, a criterion setting unit which sets a criterion on the basis of said variation computed by said variation computation unit, and a signal extracting unit which extracts a signal indicating a defect such as a foreign particle whether said detection image signal is exceeded by said criterion set by said criterion setting unit.