Patent ID: 7408175

Claim:
A defect inspection method for inspecting a defect in a substrate by radiating an electron beam onto the substrate in an inspection chamber having a vacuum atmosphere therein and detecting secondary electrons emitted from the substrate, the method comprising: positioning the substrate in a first loading chamber; filling said first loading chamber with inert gas after the first loading chamber is sealingly closed; evacuating said inert gas from the first loading chamber to be brought into a vacuum atmosphere after filling of the inert gas; opening a first shutter after said vacuum atmosphere is obtained in the first loading chamber, and conveying the substrate through the opened first shutter into a second loading chamber; evacuating gas from said second loading chamber to be brought into a level of vacuum atmosphere higher than that of the first loading chamber after the second loading chamber is sealingly closed; opening a second shutter when a level of vacuum atmosphere in the second loading chamber is substantially equal to that of said inspection chamber, and conveying the substrate through the opened second shutter into the inspection chamber; and radiating an electron beam from an electron source made of LaB 6 onto the substrate after the second shutter is closed.