Patent ID: 7297945

Claim:
A defective product inspection apparatus for measuring an electric characteristic of a specimen through a contact between a probe and the specimen, comprising, a specimen table for holding the specimen thereon, a probe holder for holding the probe thereon, a first measuring device for measuring a positional relationship between the probe and the specimen, a second measuring device for measuring the positional relationship between the probe and the specimen, a base table holding thereon the specimen table and the probe holder in such a manner that the specimen table and the probe holder are movable with respect to each other on the base table to adjust the positional relationship between the probe and the specimen on the base table so that a contact area of the probe and a desired area of the specimen are capable of being brought into contact with each other, the base table being movable between a first position for measurement of the positional relationship between the probe and the specimen by the first measuring device and a second position for measurement of the positional relationship between the probe and the specimen by the second measuring device, and a specimen chamber configured to be kept in vacuumed condition and containing therein the first and second positions in such a manner that the probe and the specimen are kept in a vacuum environment in the specimen chamber while the positional relationship between the probe and the specimen is measured at the first position by the first measuring device, the positional relationship between the probe and the specimen is measured at the second position by the second measuring device, and the base table is moved between the first position and the second position, wherein the first measuring device comprises at least one of an optical microscope and a CCD camera.