Patent Document ID: 9082585
Application ID: 13143345
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A scanning electron microscope (SEM)-aided defect-reviewing apparatus comprising: a memory that stores position information on a defect detected in a chip among plural chips formed on a sample, during inspection with an external inspection apparatus; a SEM installing a stage on which the sample is mounted and the SEM acquires an image of the sample mounted on the stage by irradiating a surface of the sample with an electron beam that has converged, and scanning over the surface of the sample; a processor that processes the image acquired by the SEM; and a central processor unit (CPU) that controls the SEM and the processor, wherein: the CPU controls the SEM to move the stage to acquire a low-magnification reference image of a chip neighboring to the chip in which the defect is detected with the external inspection apparatus, and then move the stage to acquire a low-magnification defect image of the chip in which the defect, which is detected by the external inspection apparatus, is existing, by using the defect position information stored by the memory; the processor compares the low-magnification reference image with the low-magnification defect image to extract the defect, and acquires position information on the defect; the CPU further controls the SEM for imaging a high-magnification defect imaging region including the defect on the sample detected with the external inspection apparatus, to acquire a high-magnification defect image; the processor acquires an adjacent reference imaging region from the low-magnification reference image having the same in-chip coordinate as that of the high-magnification defect imaging region, and extracts a neighboring high-magnification reference imagining region having a pattern with similarity to that of the adjacent reference imagine region; the CPU further controls the SEM for imaging the neighboring high-magnification reference imaging region, and in case that there is no neighboring high-magnification reference imaging region having a patter with similarity to that of the adjacent reference imaging region, the CPU controls the SEM to move the stage to a position for taking the low-magnification reference image of the neighboring chip and acquires a high-magnification reference image from the adjacent reference imaging region; and the processor further compares the acquired high-magnification defect image and the image of the neighboring high-magnification reference imaging region or the high-magnification reference image acquired from the adjacent reference imaging region, and extracts a high-magnification defect image.