Patent ID: 7223973

Claim:
A substrate inspection method, comprising: a. conveying a substrate processed in a processing step with a processing apparatus into a mini-environmental space for an atmosphere control provided in a mini-environmental device; b. cleaning an air and blowing the clean air downward in laminar flow to control the atmosphere within the mini-environmental space; c. positioning the substrate in the mini-environmental space; d. taking the substrate from the mini-environmental space to a loading chamber; e. controlling an atmosphere in the loading chamber to be a vacuum condition; f. carrying the substrate from the loading chamber into an inspection chamber; g. maintaining a vacuum in said inspection chamber; h. isolating said inspection chamber from a vibration; i. positioning the substrate on a stage in the inspection chamber; j. selecting an evaluation parameter according to a kind of said processing apparatus; k. determining inspection regions of the substrate so that an inspection time required per a lot of the substrate is equal to a processing time spent for said processing step required per a lot of the substrate; l. irradiating said inspection regions of the substrate with a primary electron beam; m. detecting secondary electrons emitted from said substrate; n. forming a secondary electron image in an image processing system based on said secondary electrons; o. detecting a defective location on said substrate based on said secondary electron image; p. indicating and/or storing the detected defective location on said substrate; and q. taking said substrate having been completely inspected out of said inspection chamber.