JP2001099788A - Automatic macro-appearance inspecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic macro-appearance inspecting device capable of performing macro appearance inspection of a wafer precisely in a short time, and can be manufactured at a low cost. SOLUTION: This inspecting device comprises a stage 12 for mounting a wafer 13, a plurality of image detecting units U11, U12,..., U44 arranged so as to cover the entire area of the wafer 13 and facing the stage 12. Each of the image detecting unit Uij (i=1-4, j=1-4) has a viewing angle corresponding to a section of the wafer 13 facing the detecting unit Uij and outputs a signal for displaying an image of the section. A processing means 2 performs appearance determination for each of the sections of the wafer 13 in parallel based on the image signal outputted from each of the image detecting unit Uij.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for automatically performing a macro appearance inspection of a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After a photolithography step or an etching step in a semiconductor manufacturing process, the pattern state of a wafer, for example, whether there is color unevenness or scratches, is relatively large in the wafer. A macro appearance inspection for inspecting while viewing the area is performed. According to the macro appearance inspection, the defective product detection rate can be increased and the inspection time can be reduced as compared with the micro inspection in which the details of the pattern are inspected using a metal microscope.

In general, a macro appearance inspection of a wafer is visually performed by an operator. However, variations in inspection standards due to the skill and physical condition of the operator, and a decrease in throughput due to a shortage of operators pose problems. ing. Further, since the operator handles the wafer, there is a problem that the wafer is contaminated and the yield is reduced.

[0004] Therefore, as an apparatus for automatically performing a macro appearance inspection, an apparatus for simultaneously observing the whole area of a wafer with one area sensor or a part of the wafer with a single area sensor for scanning the surface of the wafer. There has been proposed an apparatus for inspecting the entire wafer. However, in the former, there is a problem that the inspection accuracy is lowered because the resolution is low. In addition, since a large image data size is processed collectively, the amount of image processing increases, and the inspection time is long. In the latter, the inspection accuracy is improved because the resolution is increased, but the inspection time is long because the scanning time is required.

Further, a line sensor (having a plurality of solid-state image sensors arranged in one direction) is used to view a region extending in one direction in the wafer, and scan the wafer surface in a direction perpendicular to the direction. There is also proposed an apparatus for inspecting the whole area of a wafer. However, also in this case, since the scanning time is required, there is a problem that the inspection time is long. In addition, since a mechanism for moving the XY stage on which the wafer is mounted with high accuracy is required, the apparatus becomes expensive.

[0006] These problems become more serious when the diameter of the wafer is as large as 300 mm.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus which can perform a macro appearance inspection of a wafer with high accuracy and in a short time and can be configured at a low cost.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus according to the present invention comprises a stage on which a wafer is mounted, and a stage opposed to the stage so as to cover the entire area of the wafer. A plurality of image detection units arranged side by side, wherein each of the image detection units outputs a signal representing an image of the area in the field of view of the area of the wafer facing the detection unit. And processing means for executing, in parallel, appearance determination for each area of the wafer based on the image signals output by the image detection units.

In the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus of the present invention,
When a wafer is placed on the stage, each image detection unit outputs a signal representing an image of the area of the wafer facing the detection unit. Then, the processing means executes the appearance determination for each section of the wafer in parallel based on the image signals output by the respective image detection units.

As described above, the plurality of image detection units each output a signal representing an image of an area of the wafer opposed to the detection unit. Therefore, compared with the case where the entire area of the wafer is simultaneously observed by one area sensor. , Resolution is increased, and inspection accuracy is increased.

Further, since the image data size of each area is smaller than the image data size of the entire wafer,
By the processing means executing the appearance determination for each area of the wafer in parallel, the inspection time is shortened as compared with the case where one area sensor simultaneously observes the entire wafer. In addition, since a plurality of image detection units arranged side by side so as to cover the entire area of the wafer can simultaneously obtain an image of the entire area of the wafer, there is no need to perform scanning. Therefore, the inspection time is reduced as compared with the case where scanning is performed.

Also, since there is no need to perform scanning, there is no need to provide a mechanism for moving the stage on which the wafer is mounted with high accuracy, and the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus is simple and inexpensive.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the stage is rotatable around a central axis perpendicular to a wafer mounting surface of the stage, and is based on an output signal of the image detection unit. Wafer orientation adjusting means for detecting an orientation flat or a v-notch indicating the orientation of the wafer and rotating the stage around the central axis so as to align the orientation of the wafer with the arrangement direction of the image detection unit. It is characterized by having.

If the orientation of the wafer is random with respect to the arrangement direction of the image detection units when the wafer is carried on the stage, the direction of the pattern formed on the surface of the wafer is also random. Macro appearance inspection is not easy. It should be noted here that, in general, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, patterns formed on a wafer surface are repeatedly arranged in a fixed direction orthogonal to each other with reference to an orientation flat (orientation flat) or a v-notch in a peripheral portion of the wafer. Is a point. In this automatic macro visual inspection apparatus, the wafer direction adjusting means detects an orientation flat or a v-notch indicating the orientation of the wafer, and
The stage is rotated around the central axis perpendicular to the wafer mounting surface (θ direction) so that the orientation of the wafer is aligned with the arrangement direction of the image detection units. Therefore, the arrangement direction of the image detection units can correspond to the arrangement direction of the wafer pattern. In such a case, the macro appearance inspection becomes easy. Moreover, since the wafer direction adjusting means performs such wafer direction adjustment based on the output signal of the image detection unit, it is not necessary to separately provide a special mechanism for detecting the orientation of the wafer. Therefore, this automatic macro appearance inspection device is configured more simply and inexpensively.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus is provided based on an output signal of the image detection unit.
A wafer position recognizing means for obtaining a position of the wafer on the wafer mounting surface;

In this automatic macro visual inspection apparatus, the wafer position recognizing means detects the position (X) of the wafer on the wafer mounting surface based on the output signal of the image detection unit.
(Y coordinate). Accordingly, the processing means determines the appearance of each area of the wafer by taking into account the amount of displacement of the wafer (the amount of displacement in the XY directions) in the direction along the wafer mounting surface with respect to the arrangement of the image detection units. You can do it. In this case, it is not necessary to align the arrangement of the image detection units and the wafer with respect to the direction (XY directions) along the wafer mounting surface. Therefore, the direction along the wafer mounting surface (XY
It is not necessary to separately provide a mechanism or the like for aligning the wafer in the direction (i.e., direction), and this automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus is configured more simply and inexpensively.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processing means creates a shot image serving as a common reference in each area of the wafer based on output signals of a plurality of image detection units, The shot image is compared with the image in each area output by each image detection unit.

In this automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus, the processing means creates a shot image as a common reference in each area of the wafer based on output signals of a plurality of image detection units. As the shot image, for example, an image of a rectangular area (chip area) corresponding to one chip is adopted. The processing means compares the shot image with the image in each area output by each image detection unit. In such a case, color unevenness that changes relatively gently across a plurality of chip areas is easily detected. Therefore, the detection accuracy is further improved.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a schematic configuration of an automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus 1 according to one embodiment. The automatic macro visual inspection apparatus 1 includes a stage 1 on which a wafer 13 is placed.
2 and an array 4 of image detection units facing the stage 12.

On the surface of the wafer 13 to be inspected, as shown in FIG. 5A, a pattern repeatedly arranged in a certain direction orthogonal to each other with respect to the orientation flat or v-notch 22 at the periphery of the wafer. It shall be formed. Each rectangular area 31 in FIG. 5A represents an area (chip area) corresponding to one chip.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the stage 12
It is made of a disk-shaped member having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the wafer 13. The upper surface of the stage 12 is a wafer mounting surface, and is arranged horizontally. On the lower surface of the stage 12, a rotating shaft 8 that extends vertically downward through the center of the stage 12 is attached. The stage 12 is rotatable around a central axis by rotating the rotating shaft 8 by a stage driving mechanism 9 (see FIG. 3).

An array 4 of image detection units is used in this example.
Is 4 rows × 4 at regular intervals so as to cover the entire area of the wafer 13.
A plurality of image detection units U arranged in a row₁₁, U₁₂,
…, U₄₄Consists of Each image detection unit U_ij(I
= 1 to 4 and j = 1 to 4), as shown in FIG.
Areas in the wafer 13 where the detection units face each other
Area A_ijIn the field of view, the area A_ijSignal representing the image of
Is output. In this example, each image detection
Unit U_ijArea A served by_ijIs one to several
It is a square area including the gap area 31. like this
And the image detection unit U₁₁, U₁₂, ..., U₄₄4 rows x 4
Each image detection unit U is arranged in a row._ijArea divided
A_ijImage is detected, so one area
Compared to detecting the image of the whole area of the wafer with the
To increase the resolution four times (n times if n rows x n columns).
And the inspection accuracy can be improved. Also,
A plurality of images arranged side by side so as to cover the entire area of C13
Detection unit U₁₁, U₁₂, ..., U ₄₄By whole wafer
No scanning need be performed because the image of (1) is obtained. But
As a result, the inspection time can be reduced as compared with the case where scanning is performed.
You.

[0024] Each image detection unit image signals U _ij is output in FIG. 1, is input to the controller 2 as a processing unit. As will be described in detail later, the controller 2 executes the appearance determination for each area A _ij of the wafer 13 in parallel based on the image signal output by each image detection unit U _ij ,
The result of the determination is displayed on the display unit 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 2 includes a detected image memory MS _ij and a reference image memory MR _ij provided corresponding to each image detecting unit U _ij , a detected image memory MS _ij and a reference image memory MR A comparison unit CM _ij is provided corresponding to each pair of _ij and compares the images stored therein, and a determination unit 41 that determines the quality of the appearance based on the comparison result of each comparison unit CM _ij. ing. Further, a plurality of image detection unit U _11, U _12, ..., the reference image creation unit that creates a reference shot image as a common reference in each region A _ij of the wafer 13 (image) based on the output signal of the U ₄₄ 42 and their image detection units U ₁₁ , U
_12, ..., and a wafer direction control unit 43 for adjusting the direction of the wafer 13 based on the output signal of U _44, a control unit 40 for controlling the automatic macro inspection system 1 overall operation. The wafer direction control unit 43 functions not only as a wafer direction adjusting unit together with the stage driving mechanism 9 but also as a wafer position recognizing unit for obtaining the position (XY coordinates) of the wafer 13 on the wafer mounting surface.

The procedure of the macro appearance inspection by the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. It is assumed that the positional relationship between the center of the stage 12 and each image detection unit _Uij has been measured in advance based on the captured image.

I) First, as shown in FIG. 2A, a wafer 13 is transferred from a wafer cassette by a wafer transfer robot or the like (not shown) and placed on the stage 12. At this point, the position (XY) of the wafer 13 on the wafer mounting surface
(Coordinates) are considered to be within a certain range, but the direction of the wafer 13 may be in any direction on the wafer mounting surface, and the appearance inspection is not easy as it is. Then, based on the output signal of the image detection unit facing the peripheral area of the wafer 13, the wafer direction controller 43 sets the orientation flat or v
The notch 22 is detected (S1 in FIG. 4). Subsequently, the wafer direction control unit 43 performs image detection units U ₁₁ , U ₁₂ ,
..., to match the orientation of the wafer 13 with respect to the arrangement direction of the U _44, it is rotated around the central axis stage 12 controls the stage driving mechanism (theta direction). Then, the orientation flat or the v-notch 22 is set at an angular position of 0 degree, 90 degrees, 180 degrees or 270 degrees (270 degrees in the example shown in FIG.
Is moved to the angular position) of the time, so that visual inspection is facilitated, image detection unit U _11, U _12, ..., to correspond to the arrangement direction of the pattern of the array direction of the wafer 13 of the U ₄₄ (S2) . At the same time, the XY coordinates of the center of the wafer after the movement by rotation are obtained.

More specifically, the wafer direction control unit 43 first determines the wafer edge 1 shown in FIG. 2A based on the output signal of the image detection unit facing the peripheral area of the wafer 13.
3a, 13b, 13c and 13d are detected. Then, the XY coordinates of the center 21 of the wafer are determined using the XY coordinates of the center O of the stage 12 as a reference (0, 0). That is, the X coordinate of the left end 13a of the wafer is X ₁ , and the X coordinate of the right end 13b of the wafer is X.
Assuming that the coordinate is X ₂ , the Y coordinate of the lower end 13 c of the wafer is Y ₁ , and the Y coordinate of the upper end 13 d of the wafer is Y ₂ ,
XY coordinates (X ₃ , Y ₃ ) are obtained as follows: X ₃ = (X ₁ + X ₂ ) / 2 Y ₃ = (Y ₁ + Y ₂ ) / 2 (1) At this time, the detected orientation flat or v
Assuming that the XY coordinates of the notch (center) 22 are (X ₄ , Y ₄ ), the XY components of the vector 23 from the wafer center 21 to the orientation flat or the v notch 22 are (X ₄ −X ₃ , Y ₄ −Y ₃ ).
It is represented by

After the movement by rotation for facilitating the visual inspection (FIG. 2B), the X of the vector 23 'from the wafer center 21' to the orientation flat or the notch 22 'is obtained.
Let the Y component be (X ₅ , Y ₅ ). Assuming that the angles formed by the vector 23 before rotation and the vector 23 'after rotation with the unit vector (1, 0) are θ ₄ and θ ₅ , respectively, these θ ₄ and θ ₅
Is represented by the following equations (2) and (3).

Θ ₄ = arctan (Y ₄ −Y ₃ ) / (X ₄ −X ₃ ) (2) However, when X ₄ −X ₃ = 0 and (Y ₄ −Y ₃ )> 0, θ ₄ is satisfied.
= 90 degrees, when X ₄ −X ₃ = 0 and (Y ₄ −Y ₃ ) <0, θ ₄ = 270 degrees.

Θ ₅ = arctan (Y ₅ / X ₅ ) (3) However, when X ₅ = 0 and Y ₅ > 0, θ ₅ = 90 degrees and X ₅ =
When 0 and Y ₅ <0, θ ₅ = 270 degrees.

Therefore, from the equations (2) and (3), the angle θ _{6 at} which the stage 12 should be rotated around the central axis is obtained as follows: θ ₆ = θ ₅ −θ ₄ (4)

The XY coordinates (X ₆ , Y ₆ ) of the rotated wafer center 21 ′ are obtained as follows: X ₆ = cos θ ₆ −sin θ ₆ Y ₆ = sin θ ₆ + cos θ ₆ (5)

Ii) Next, in the area A _ij which each image detecting unit U _{ij covers} in the field of view, the images of the chips are compared with each other, and the local color existing in the scratches on the wafer 13 or a part of the chips is compared. The presence or absence of unevenness is inspected (S3 in FIG. 4).

Specifically, each detected image memory MS _ij is
Upon receiving the image signal output from the corresponding image detection unit U _ij , the image of the area A _ij facing the detection unit U _ij in the wafer 13 is stored. Then, the determination unit 41 receives the image data for each image stored in each detected image memory MS _ij , processes the image data in parallel, and determines a predetermined determination criterion (determines an allowable size and number of flaws). Pass / Fail is determined based on (S4). If it is determined at this stage that the appearance of the wafer 13 is defective "NG", the result of the determination is displayed on the display unit 3 (S10), and the appearance inspection ends.

Iii) On the other hand, if the judgment section 41 judges that the appearance of the wafer 13 is good at this stage, it is determined (S)
4) In order to determine the presence or absence of color unevenness that changes comparatively gently across a plurality of chip areas 31, the reference image creation unit 42 uses all the image detection units U ₁₁ and U _11
12, ..., and combining the output signal of U _44, to create a common reference becomes a reference shot images within each zone A _ij of the wafer 13 (shown schematically by reference numeral 32 in FIG. 5 (b)) (S
5). In this example, as the reference shot image 32,
An image of one chip area 31 is created. At this time, in order to accurately create the reference shot image 32, the magnification between the image detection units is strictly adjusted.

Iv) Subsequently, the reference image creating section 42
Each image detection unit U being measured_ijXY coordinates and c
The XY coordinates of the wafer center 21 'obtained by the EHA direction control unit 43
Mark (X₆, Y₆), Depending on the relative position
Copy all or part of the jet image 32 as appropriate
And each image detection unit U_ijVirtual image to be reflected in the field of view
IR_ij(See FIG. 5D).
6). Put simply, this virtual image IR_ijIs
Reference shot image according to pattern arrangement on wafer 13
Pages 32 are arranged and arranged on a virtual plane, and the array is
Each image detection unit U _ijDivided according to the division
It is assumed that Then, FIG.
As shown in FIG._ijAnd
Corresponding reference image memory MR_ijAnd store it.

The process of creating these virtual images IR _ij and distributing them to the reference image memory MR _ij is performed in each reference image memory M
It can be executed in parallel for each R _ij .

[0039] v) Then, the virtual image IR _ij for each comparison unit CM _ij are stored respectively in the reference image memory MR _ij (Figure 5
(D), and the corresponding detected image memory MS
_The actually detected image IS _ij stored in _ij (FIG. 5)
(E) is compared (S7). This makes it possible to easily detect the presence or absence of color unevenness that changes relatively gently across the plurality of chip regions 31. This comparison process can be executed in parallel for each comparison unit CM _ij .

At this stage, only the presence or absence of color unevenness is detected, and a pseudo defect at an edge portion caused by an error in the magnification setting between image detection units is not detected.

Vi) Thereafter, the judgment unit 41 determines whether each of the comparison units CM
_{Based on} the comparison result of _ij , based on a predetermined criterion (determining allowable hue difference, shading difference, etc.)
The determination unit 41 determines the quality (S8 in FIG. 4). At this stage, when it is determined that the appearance of the wafer 13 is defective “NG”, the determination result “NG” is displayed on the display unit 3 (S
10) End the appearance inspection. On the other hand, if the determination unit 41 determines that the appearance of the wafer 13 is good at this stage, the result of the determination is displayed on the display unit 3 (S9), and the appearance inspection ends.

As described above, the image of the entire wafer is divided into 4 rows × 4
The image detection units U ₁₁ , U ₁₂ ,
..., parallel to the uptake divided by U _44, image detection unit U _11, U _12, ..., the number corresponding to U ₄₄ (4 × 4 = 16
), The comparison processing is performed in parallel by the comparison units CM ₁₁ , CM ₁₂ ,..., CM ₄₄ , so that the processing speed can be reduced as compared with the case where the image data of the entire wafer detected by one area sensor is directly processed. 16 times (when the number of comparison units is n × n, n ²
Times), and the inspection time can be shortened accordingly.

Further, in the automatic macro visual inspection apparatus 1, the images of the entire wafer are divided and taken in parallel by the image detection units U ₁₁ , U ₁₂ ,..., U ₄₄ arranged in 4 rows × 4 columns. It is not necessary to perform scanning, and it is not necessary to provide a mechanism for moving the stage 12 with high accuracy. Moreover, since the wafer direction controller 43 adjusts the wafer direction based on the output signal of the image detection unit,
There is no need to separately provide a special mechanism or the like for detecting the orientation of the wafer 13. Further, the wafer direction control unit 43
Since the XY coordinates of the center of the wafer after the movement by rotation are obtained based on the output signal of the image detection unit, there is no need to separately provide a mechanism or the like for aligning the wafer 13 in the XY directions. After all, as a mechanism for moving the wafer 13, only the stage driving mechanism 9 for rotating the stage 12 around the central axis may be provided. Therefore, the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus 1 can be configured simply and inexpensively.

There is a concern that the price may increase due to the provision of a plurality of image detection units. This problem can be solved by using an image detection unit having a limited function, which is easy to produce. As a result, the price can be reduced to a fraction of that of a device that processes a plurality of line sensors in parallel or a device that uses a high-resolution line sensor.

[0045]

As is clear from the above, in the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of image detection units each output a signal representing an image of an area of the wafer facing the detection unit. Compared with the case where the entire area of the wafer is simultaneously observed with one area sensor, the resolution can be increased and the inspection accuracy can be increased.

Further, since the image data size for each area is smaller than the image data size for the entire wafer,
Since the processing means executes the appearance determination for each area of the wafer in parallel, the inspection time can be reduced as compared with a case where the entire area of the wafer is simultaneously observed by one area sensor. In addition, since a plurality of image detection units arranged side by side so as to cover the entire area of the wafer can simultaneously obtain an image of the entire area of the wafer, there is no need to perform scanning. Therefore, the inspection time can be reduced as compared with the case where scanning is performed.

Further, since there is no need to perform scanning, there is no need to provide a mechanism for moving the stage on which the wafer is mounted with high accuracy. Therefore, this automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus can be configured simply and inexpensively.

In one embodiment of the automatic macro visual inspection apparatus, the wafer direction adjusting means detects an orientation flat or a v-notch indicating the orientation of the wafer and adjusts the orientation of the wafer to the arrangement direction of the image detection units. In addition, since the stage is rotated around the central axis (θ direction) perpendicular to the wafer mounting surface, the arrangement direction of the image detection units can correspond to the arrangement direction of the wafer pattern.
Macro appearance inspection can be easily performed. Moreover, the wafer direction adjusting means performs such adjustment of the wafer direction.
Since the detection is performed based on the output signal of the image detection unit, it is not necessary to separately provide a special mechanism for detecting the orientation of the wafer. Therefore, this automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus can be configured more simply and at lower cost.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wafer position recognizing means determines the position (XY coordinates) of the wafer on the wafer mounting surface based on the output signal of the image detection unit. Ask. Therefore, the processing means determines the appearance of each area of the wafer by determining the amount of displacement of the wafer in the direction along the wafer mounting surface with respect to the arrangement of the image detection units (the amount of displacement in the XY directions).
Can be performed in consideration of In this case, it is not necessary to align the arrangement of the image detection units and the wafer with respect to the direction (XY directions) along the wafer mounting surface. Therefore, there is no need to separately provide a mechanism or the like for aligning the wafer in the direction (XY directions) along the wafer mounting surface, and the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus is configured more simply and at lower cost.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processing means creates a shot image serving as a common reference in each area of the wafer based on output signals of a plurality of image detection units. Since this shot image is compared with the image in each area output by each image detection unit, it is possible to easily detect color unevenness that changes relatively gently across a plurality of chip areas, further improving the detection accuracy. Can be enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration of an automatic macro visual inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a wafer at the time of being transferred onto a stage and a wafer after being moved by rotation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a block configuration of the automatic macro visual inspection device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow of macro appearance inspection by the automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram exemplifying a synthesized reference shot image, a virtual image IR _ij stored in a reference image memory, and an actually detected image IS _ij stored in a detected image memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Controller 3 display unit 12 the stage 13 wafer _{U 11, U 12, ...,} U 44 image detection unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2G051 AA51 AB02 AB20 CA03 CA04 CA07 DA08 EA11 EA14 EA19 EB09 FA01 4M106 AA01 AA10 CA38 CA55 DB04 DB21 DJ06 DJ07 DJ17 DJ18 DJ20 DJ24 DJ32

Claims (4)

[Claims] A stage on which a wafer is mounted; and a plurality of image detection units arranged side by side to face the stage so as to cover the entire area of the wafer. A signal representing an image of the area is output in view of the area in the wafer that the detection unit faces, and based on the image signal output by each of the image detection units, An automatic macro visual inspection device comprising processing means for executing a visual determination for each area in parallel. 2. The automatic macro visual inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the stage is rotatable around a central axis perpendicular to a wafer mounting surface of the stage. Based on the signal, an orientation flat or v-notch representing the orientation of the wafer is detected, and the stage is rotated around the central axis so that the orientation of the wafer is aligned with the arrangement direction of the image detection unit. An automatic macro visual inspection device comprising a direction adjusting means. 3. The automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a wafer position recognizing means for obtaining a position of the wafer on the wafer mounting surface based on an output signal of the image detection unit is provided. An automatic macro visual inspection device, comprising: 4. The automatic macro appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a common macro image in each area of the wafer based on output signals of a plurality of image detection units. An automatic macro visual inspection apparatus, which creates a reference shot image and compares the shot image with the image in each area output by each image detection unit.