Abstract:
Provided are an apparatus and a method of detecting a foreign material capable of detecting only a foreign material on a surface of a substrate except for a foreign material on a lower surface of the substrate in a manufacturing process of a transparent substrate passing light therethrough, such as a glass substrate used in a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a plasma display panel (PDP), a sapphire wafer used in some of semiconductors, or the like, and in a pattern forming process in a manufacturing process of the FPD and the semiconductor using the transparent substrate.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0052442, filed Apr. 30, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of detecting a foreign material capable of detecting only a foreign material on a upper surface of a substrate except for a foreign material on a lower surface of the substrate in a manufacturing process of a transparent substrate passing light therethrough, such as a glass substrate used in a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a plasma display panel (PDP), etc., a sapphire wafer used in some of semiconductors, or the like, and in a pattern forming process in a manufacturing process of the FPD and the semiconductor using the transparent substrate. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Foreign materials may be generated due to several reasons in a manufacturing process of a transparent substrate having a thin thickness, a packaging process, a pattern forming process using the transparent substrate, and the like. In the case in which the foreign materials generated in these process environments are attached onto an upper surface of the substrate, they hinder fine patterns for pixels from being formed on the upper surface in the subsequent process to allow circuit patterns for forming the pixels not to be formed at corresponding positions, thereby causing defective pixels and decreasing a process yield. Therefore, a process of inspecting the foreign materials on the upper surface of the substrate should be performed during or after the manufacturing process. 
         [0004]    A lower surface of the substrate contacts a transporting means in order to transport the substrate in a manufacturing process of a flat panel display (FPD) and a semiconductor. Therefore, much more foreign materials may be attached onto the lower surface of the substrate than onto the upper surface of the substrate. Since fine materials having sizes smaller than those of pixels among the foreign materials on the lower surface of the substrate do not have an influence on characteristics of the pixels, the fine foreign materials on the lower surface of the substrate are permitted. Therefore, only the foreign materials on the upper surface of the substrate have been strictly inspected in the manufacturing process of the transparent substrate and the manufacturing process of the FPD and the semiconductor using the transparent substrate. 
         [0005]    In the manufacturing process of the FPD and the semiconductor, in order to inspect the foreign materials, a vision inspection method using an image obtained by irradiating light and imaging reflected light by a camera among non-contact inspection methods that do not damage the surface of the substrate has been mainly used. In the case of using the transparent substrate, the light arrives at the lower surface of the transparent substrate, such that reflected light on the foreign materials on the lower surface is also transferred. Therefore, the foreign materials on the lower surface are imaged, thereby making it possible to make an excessive badness decision and have an influence on a manufacturing yield. Therefore, a method of inspecting only the foreign material on the upper surface without being affected by the foreign materials on the lower surface has been required. 
         [0006]    A schematic view of an apparatus  10  of detecting a foreign material according to the related art is shown in  FIG. 1 . Existing methods of detecting a foreign material T 1  on an upper surface of a transparent substrate  14  will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 . There is a method of obliquely irradiating light L having a width enough to be irradiated to both of upper and lower surfaces of the transparent substrate to allow reflected light R to be imaged on foreign materials T 1  and T 2  on the upper and lower surfaces of the transparent substrate  14 , setting a focus of a single imaging device for detection on the upper surface of the transparent substrate  14  and allowing a depth of an imaging lens to be smaller than a thickness of the transparent substrate to allow the foreign material T 1  on the upper surface to be clearly viewed and allow the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface to be obscurely viewed, thereby separating the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface using a contrast difference between the foreign material T 1  on the upper surface and the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface. Since a contrast difference enough to distinguish an image of the foreign material T 1  on the upper surface and an image of the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface from each other should be present in order to apply this method, an imaging magnification should be raised or a thickness of the transparent substrate  14  should be thick. In the case of using a high imaging magnification, an inspection visual field is decreased, such that an inspection time becomes excessively long. In addition, in the case of inspecting a thin substrate, a contrast difference is not present, such that it may not be used. 
         [0007]    A schematic view of an apparatus  20  of detecting a foreign material according to another exemplary embodiment of the related art is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown, the apparatus  20  of detecting a foreign material uses a method of irradiating inclined light L, particularly, a light source having a very narrow width to make light irradiating positions on upper and lower surfaces of a transparent substrate  24  different from each other and then disposing visual fields of a camera  21  for imaging the upper surface and a camera  22  for imaging the lower surface at different positions to distinguish a foreign material T 1  on the upper surface and a foreign material T 2  on the lower surface from each other. In the case of this method, since the visual fields of the respective cameras  21  and  22  are different from each other, cameras having a lower magnification may be used, such that an inspection time may be decreased. However, also in this method, in the case of a thin substrate, since a distance between light irradiating positions becomes narrow, in the case in which the substrate vertically vibrates by a mechanism for transporting the transparent substrate  24 , or the like, the light irradiating positions are horizontally changed, such that an image of the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface is captured by the camera  21  for imaging the upper surface. Therefore, this method may also not be applied. 
         [0008]    Therefore, a method of removing or significantly decreasing reflected light on the foreign material on the lower surface by allowing inspection light not to arrive at the lower surface has also been used. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1993-196579 has disclosed an apparatus of inspecting a foreign material on a glass substrate used in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel, and more particularly, an apparatus of inspecting only a foreign material on a surface using light having a wavelength at which it is not transmitted through the glass substrate or light having a wavelength at which it has a low transmittance. This technology has an advantage that only the foreign material on the surface of the glass substrate is detected, but has a disadvantage that an expensive laser generating apparatus such as an Excimer laser, a CO2 laser, or the like, is required. 
       RELATED ART DOCUMENT 
     Patent Document 
       [0009]    Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-196579 published on Aug. 6, 1993 
       SUMMARY 
       [0010]    An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light capable of distinguishing a foreign material on a surface of the transparent substrate and a foreign material on a lower surface of the transparent substrate from each other and detecting them by detecting a difference between P-polarized light and S-polarized light scattered on the foreign material on the surface of the transparent substrate and P-polarized light and S-polarized light transmitted through the transparent substrate and then scattered on the foreign material on the lower surface of the transparent substrate in consideration of the fact that transmittances of P-polarized light and S-polarized light are different from each other. 
         [0011]    Particularly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light capable of increasing detection accuracy by irradiating a light source at an incident angle at in which a difference between transmittances of P-polarized light and S-polarized light varied depending on an incident angle of the light source is large. 
         [0012]    In one general aspect, an apparatus of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light includes: a light source part irradiating light to the transparent substrate; a first detecting part detecting P-polarized light in scattered light of foreign materials attached onto the transparent substrate by the irradiated light; a second detecting part detecting S-polarized light in the scattered light of the foreign materials attached onto the transparent substrate by the irradiated light; and a controlling part comparing a brightness of the P-polarized light detected by the first detecting part and a brightness of the S-polarized light detected by the second detecting part with each other to distinguish the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the transparent substrate and a foreign material attached onto a lower surface of the transparent substrate from each other. 
         [0013]    An incident angle of the light irradiated to the transparent substrate may be 65 to 80 degrees. 
         [0014]    The first detecting part may include a P-polarized light plate so as to detect only the P-polarized light, and the second detecting part may include an S-polarized light plate so as to detect only the S-polarized light. 
         [0015]    The apparatus of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light may further include a polarized light beam splitter (PBS) splitting the scattered light into the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light and irradiating the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light to a P-polarized light detector and a S-polarized light detector, respectively. 
         [0016]    The light source part may include a non-polarized light source irradiating non-polarized light to the transparent substrate. 
         [0017]    The light source part may include: a linearly polarized light source irradiating linearly polarized light to the transparent substrate; and a wavelength plate adjusting a polarized light angle of the linearly polarized light. 
         [0018]    In another general aspect, a method of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light includes: irradiating light having a predetermined incident angle to the transparent substrate; detecting P-polarized light in scattered light of foreign materials attached onto the transparent substrate by the irradiated light; detecting S-polarized light in the scattered light of the foreign materials attached onto the transparent substrate by the irradiated light; comparing a brightness of the P-polarized light and a brightness of the S-polarized light with each other to distinguish the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the transparent substrate and a foreign material attached onto a lower surface of the transparent substrate from each other; and removing the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the transparent substrate. 
         [0019]    In the case in which the brightness of the P-polarized light and the brightness of the S-polarized light are the same as each other, it may be judged that the foreign material is the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the transparent substrate, and in the case in which the brightness of the S-polarized light is darker than that of the P-polarized light, it may be judged that the foreign material is the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the transparent substrate. 
         [0020]    The method of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light may further include correcting a P-polarized light detector detecting the P-polarized light and an S-polarized light detector detecting the S-polarized light so that the brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered on the upper surface of the transparent substrate become the same as each other. 
         [0021]    An incident angle of the light irradiated to the transparent substrate may be 65 to 80 degrees. 
         [0022]    Since the apparatus and the method of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light according to the present invention having the configuration as described above observe a wide visual field region to detect foreign materials unlike an apparatus of limiting a visual field to a narrow region to distinguish foreign materials, irradiated light or the foreign material does not escape from a visual field of the detecting apparatus even though vibrations occur at the time of transferring a substrate, thereby making it possible to accurately detect the foreign material. 
         [0023]    In addition, since accurate alignment between a light source and a camera is not required, apparatuses, a cost, and a time required for the alignment at the time of installing the light source and the camera may be saved, and misalignment due to a change in an inclination during using the apparatus does not need to be corrected. 
         [0024]    Further, since separate cameras are used in order to detect foreign materials on upper and lower surfaces to set focuses on the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, the apparatus of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light may be used regardless of a thickness of the substrate, and since a visual field of the camera may be widened, an inspection time may be decreased. 
         [0025]    Furthermore, since a general visible ray source or a cheap visible ray band laser may be used instead of an expensive special laser, the apparatus may be configured at a lower cost. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0027]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an apparatus of detecting a foreign material according to the related art. 
           [0028]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an apparatus of detecting a foreign material according to another exemplary embodiment of the related art. 
           [0029]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a detecting apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0030]      FIG. 4  is a graph showing transmittances of P-polarized light and S-polarized light depending on an incident angle of light. 
           [0031]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing P-polarized light and S-polarized light scattered on a foreign material on an upper surface of a substrate. 
           [0032]      FIG. 6  is a schematic view showing P-polarized light and S-polarized light scattered on a foreign material on a lower surface of a substrate. 
           [0033]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view at the time of detecting the foreign material on the upper surface using the detecting apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0034]      FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b  are photographed images of foreign materials detected through a P-polarized light detector and an S-polarized light detector at the time of detecting the foreign material on the upper surface. 
           [0035]      FIG. 9  is a schematic view at the time of detecting the foreign material on the lower surface using the detecting apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0036]      FIGS. 10   a  and  10   b  are photographed images of foreign materials detected through a P-polarized light detector and an S-polarized light detector at the time of detecting the foreign material on the lower surface. 
       
    
    
       [0037]      
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 [Detailed Description of Main Elements] 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 1000: Detecting apparatus 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 100: Light source par 
                 110: Light source 
               
               
                   
                 120: Wavelength plate 
                 130: Reflecting plate 
               
               
                   
                 200: First detecting part 
                 210: P-polarized light detector 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 220: P-polarized light plate 
               
               
                   
                 300: Second detecting part 
               
               
                   
                 310: S-polarized light detector 
               
               
                   
                 320: S-polarized light plate 
               
               
                   
                 500: Stage 
               
               
                   
                 S: Substrate 
               
               
                   
                 P1, P2: Scattered P-polarized light 
               
               
                   
                 S1, S2: Scattered S-polarized light 
               
               
                   
                 T1: Foreign material on upper surface 
               
               
                   
                 T2: Foreign material on lower surface 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0038]    Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0039]    A schematic view of an apparatus  1000  of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as a ‘detecting apparatus’) is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown, the detecting apparatus  1000  is configured to include a light source part  100 , a first detecting part  200 , a second detecting part  300 , and a stage  500 . 
         [0040]    The light source part  100 , which is a component for irradiating light to a substrate S, is configured to include a non-polarized light source irradiating non-polarized light to the substrate. In another exemplary embodiment, the light source part  100  includes a linearly polarized light source  110  irradiating linearly polarized light such as laser in order to irradiate a strong incident light amount as shown in  FIG. 3 . In the case in which the light source part  100  includes the linearly polarized light source  110 , it further includes a wavelength plate  120  adjusting a polarized light angle of the linearly polarized light. A reflecting plate  130  is further included so that the light irradiated from the light source part  100  is irradiated to the substrate S at a predetermined incident angle. 
         [0041]    The stage  500  is configured in order to support or transfer the substrate S for detecting a foreign material. 
         [0042]    The first detecting part  200  is configured in order to detect scattered light of the light irradiated to the substrate S. Here, the first detecting part  200  is configured to detect P-polarized light in the scattered light. Therefore, the first detecting part  200  may be configured to include a P-polarized light detector  210  and a P-polarized light plate  220 . 
         [0043]    The second detecting part  300  is configured in order to detect scattered light of the light irradiated to the substrate S. Here, the second detecting part  300  is configured to detect S-polarized light in the scattered light. Therefore, the second detecting part  300  may be configured to include an S-polarized light detector  310  and an S-polarized light plate  320 . 
         [0044]    Although not shown in  FIG. 3 , in a detecting apparatus  1000  according to another exemplary embodiment, a polarized light beam splitter (PBS) splitting the scattered light into P-polarized light and S-polarized light and irradiating the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light to the P-polarized light detector  210  and the S-polarized light detector  310 , respectively, may be configured, and the P-polarized light plate  220  and the S-polarized light plate  320  may be omitted. 
         [0045]    When the light is irradiated in a state in which a foreign material is not present on the substrate S, the light passes through the substrate S as it is, such that the scattered light is not generated, and is not detected by the first and second detecting parts  200  and  300  having the configuration as described above, and it is judged by a controlling part judging detection signals of the first and second detecting parts  200  and  300  that the foreign material is not present on the substrate S. 
         [0046]    On the other hand, when the light is irradiated in a state in which the foreign material is attached onto an upper surface or a lower surface of the substrate S, the scattered light is generated on the foreign material by the irradiated light and is detected by the first or second detecting part  200  or  300 , and it is judged by the controlling part judging the detection signals of the first and second detecting parts  200  and  300  that the foreign material has been detected on the substrate S. 
         [0047]    Here, the detecting apparatus  1000  according to the present invention is characterized in that a foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the substrate S and a foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the substrate S are accurately distinguished from each other using P-polarized light and S-polarized light of the scattered light and only the foreign material attached onto the upper surface is clearly detected. Next, a detailed configuration for implementing the above-configuration will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0048]    First, the P-polarized light means linearly polarized light in which a vibration direction of an electrical vector of light incident to a sample surface is included in an incident surface, and the S-polarized light means linearly polarized light in which a vibration direction of an electrical vector of light incident to the sample surface is perpendicular to the incident surface. Transmittances of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light depending on an incident angle at which the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light are incident to the sample surface are different from each other and are shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0049]    (See Optics (4th Edition) Eq4.42˜4.45, Eq 4.61˜4.64, Eugene Hecht, Addison Wesley) 
         [0050]    A graph showing transmittances of P-polarized light and S-polarized light depending on an incident angle of light is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown, it may be appreciated that a difference between the transmittances of P-polarized light and S-polarized light is large at an incident angle of 65 to 80 degrees and is the largest at an incident angle of 73 degrees. 
         [0051]    The present invention has been configured in order to distinguish the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the substrate S and the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the substrate S from each other by comparing brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered on the foreign material with each other in consideration of the characteristics of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light as described above. 
         [0052]    A schematic view of P-polarized light P 1  (the left side of  FIG. 5 ) scattered in a state in which it is not transmitted through the substrate S and S-polarized light S 1  (the right side of  FIG. 5 ) scattered in a state in which it is not transmitted through the substrate S is shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0053]    As shown, when it is assumed that a brightness of light incident at a predetermined incident angle θ is 100, in the case in which the incident angle θ is 73 degrees, a brightness of the scattered P-polarized light P 1  also becomes 100. In addition, when it is assumed that a brightness of light incident at a predetermined incident angle θ is 100, in the case in which the incident angle θ is 73 degrees, a brightness of the scattered S-polarized light S 1  also becomes 100. 
         [0054]    As shown, when it is assumed that a brightness of light incident at a predetermined incident angle θ is 100, in the case in which the incident angle θ is 73 degrees, a brightness of the P-polarized light P 2  scattered in the state in which it is transmitted through the substrate S becomes 83. In addition, when it is assumed that a brightness of light incident at a predetermined incident angle θ is 100, in the case in which the incident angle θ is 73 degrees, a brightness of the S-polarized light S 2  scattered in the state in which it is transmitted through the substrate S becomes 39. 
         [0055]    That is, the brightnesses of the P-polarized light P 1  and the S-polarized light S 1  scattered on the upper surface of the substrate S are the same as each other, and the brightnesses of the P-polarized light P 2  and the S-polarized light S 2  transmitted through the substrate S and scattered on the lower surface of the substrate S are different from each other. (The brightness of the S-polarized light S 2  is two times or more darker than that of the P-polarized light P 2 ) 
         [0056]    Therefore, since the brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered on the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the substrate S are the same as each other and the brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered on the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the substrate S are different from each other, the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the substrate S and the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the substrate S may be accurately distinguished from each other using the above-mentioned difference. 
         [0057]    A schematic view at the time of detecting the foreign material T 1  on the upper surface using the detecting apparatus  1000  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 7 , and photographed images of foreign materials detected through the first and second detecting parts  200  and  300  at the time of detecting the foreign material T 1  on the upper surface are shown in  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b.    
         [0058]    As shown, since the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered through the foreign material T 1  on the upper surface of the substrate S do not have a light loss due to transmission, the brightness of the P-polarized light detected by the first detecting part  200  and the brightness of the S-polarized light detected by the second detecting part  300  are the same as each other, and a photographed image ( FIG. 8   a ) of the P-polarized light of the first detecting part  200  and a photographed image (FIG.  8   b ) of the S-polarized light of the second detecting part  300  are also displayed by bright colors, respectively. 
         [0059]    A schematic view at the time of detecting the foreign material on the lower surface using the detecting apparatus  1000  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 9 , and photographed images of foreign materials detected through the first and second detecting parts  200  and  300  at the time of detecting the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface are shown in  FIGS. 10   a  and  10   b.    
         [0060]    On the other hand, the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered through the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface of the substrate S are scattered in the state in which they are transmitted through the substrate S, such that light losses occur. Therefore, the brightness of the P-polarized light detected by the first detecting part  200  and the brightness of the S-polarized light detected by the second detecting part  300  are different from each other due to a difference between the light losses, and a photographed image ( FIG. 10   a ) of the P-polarized light of the first detecting part  200  and a photographed image ( FIG. 10   b ) of the S-polarized light of the second detecting part  300  are displayed by dark colors, respectively. 
         [0061]    Additionally, the detecting apparatus  1000  according to the present invention may limit an incident angle at which the light is incident to the substrate S to 65 to 80 degrees, more preferably, 73 degrees in order to maximize a difference between the brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered through the foreign material T 2  on the lower surface of the substrate S. 
         [0062]    Next, a method of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface using the apparatus  1000  of detecting a foreign material on an upper surface of a transparent substrate using polarized light according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0063]    First, a step of irradiating light having a predetermined incident angle to the substrate S is performed. The incident angle may be 65 to 80 degrees as described above, more preferably, 73 degrees. The light may be non-polarized light or be linearly polarized light in order to increase strength of a light amount. In the case in which the light is the linearly polarized light, a step of adjusting a polarized light angle of the linearly polarized light may be further performed. 
         [0064]    Next, a step of correcting a P-polarized light detector detecting the P-polarized light and an S-polarized light detector detecting the S-polarized light is performed. In detail, a step of correcting the P-polarized light detector and the S-polarized light detector so that the brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light scattered on the upper surface of the substrate become the same as each other is performed. This is to compensate for a fine difference between the brightnesses of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light that may occur due to the incident angle of the light and a distance difference between the P-polarized light detector and the S-polarized light detector and the foreign material. 
         [0065]    Next, a step of detecting each of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light in the scattered light in the case in which the light irradiated to the substrate S is scattered by the foreign material attached onto the substrate S, such that the scattered light is generated, is performed. In order to detect each of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light, a P-polarized light plate may be installed in any one of a pair of light detectors, and an S-polarized light plate may be installed in the other of pair of light detectors. In another exemplary embodiment, the scattered light may be split into the P-polarized light and S-polarized light by a polarized light beam splitter, and the P-polarized light and S-polarized light may be irradiated to the pair of light detectors, respectively. 
         [0066]    Next, a step of comparing the brightness of the P-polarized light and the brightness of the S-polarized light with each other to distinguish the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the substrate S and the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the substrate S from each other is performed. 
         [0067]    In detail, in the case in which the brightness of the P-polarized light and the brightness of the S-polarized light are the same as each other, it is judged that the foreign material is the foreign material attached onto the upper surface of the substrate S, and in the case in which the brightness of the S-polarized light is darker than that of the P-polarized light, it is judged that the foreign material is the foreign material attached onto the lower surface of the substrate S. 
         [0068]    The present invention should not be construed to being limited to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiment. The present invention may be applied to various fields and may be variously modified by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention claimed in the claims. Therefore, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that these alterations and modifications fall in the scope of the present invention.