Patent ID: 8502141

Claim:
An inspection apparatus for inspecting a wafer through imaging, the inspection apparatus comprising: an electron optical system configured to radiate an electron beam on a certain area of a wafer corresponding to an inspection region of the wafer, the electron optical system including a time delay integration (TDI) sensor, an image processor, a controller, and a wafer stage configured to move the wafer at a set speed, the TDI sensor being configured to detect an image of the wafer upon radiation of the electron beam on the certain area of the wafer and transmit the image as image signals to the image processor, the image processor being configured to receive the image signals, perform an inspection of the inspection region based on the image signals, and output a result of the inspection, the controller being configured to control operations of the electron beam, the TDI sensor, the image processor, and the wafer stage according to a set of conditions; and a display device coupled to the electron optical system and configured to display an indication of the result of the inspection output by the image processor, and wherein the controller is configured to implement a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a graph element displayed via the display device, the graph element displaying a respective relationship among values of S and D for each of a plurality of values of P on a graph with respect to a specified value of L by assuming D and S as coordinates axes, where each of value of S defines an area of the wafer to be inspected per unit time, each value of D defines a width in a moving direction of the wafer that corresponds to a unit pixel of the image, each value of P defines an image signal acquisition frequency for image signal acquisition cycles, and each value of L defines a length in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the wafer for which image data is obtained in each image signal acquisition cycle in a range of an inspection image in the region on which the electron beam is radiated, such that a formula S=D×L×P is satisfied for the respective relationships displayed on the graph, wherein the GUI includes a pointer element displayed on the display screen and accessible by a user such that the user can move the pointer within the graph and select a position on the graph, wherein the graph element is implemented to display the values of D and S for each position of the pointer within the graph according to the specified value of L; wherein the controller is configured to control the electron optical system according to the values of D and S for the position on the graph selected by the user, and wherein the controller is configured to disregard the values for S, L, D, and P that are selected upon the pointer being positioned on the graph when at least one of the values is out of a range in which the apparatus is configured to operate.