JP2008064595A - Substrate inspecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently detect flaws on the surface, back and edge part of a substrate. <P>SOLUTION: This substrate inspection device 1 has a feed part 3 for feeding a wafer W being the substrate and an inspection part 4 for inspecting the wafer W. The inspection part 4 is constituted so that a wafer holding part 31 for holding the wafer W and a back inspection part 30 for inspecting the back of the wafer W are mounted on an inspection stage 25 and freely moved uniaxially. A surface inspection part 81 for inspecting the surface of the wafer W is installed on the uniaxial leading end side. Further, the inspection part 4 has an alignment part 41 for positioning the wafer W held to the wafer holding part 31 and an edge part inspection part 42 for inspecting the edge face of the wafer W, and alignment and the inspection of the edge face can be performed at the same time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate inspection apparatus capable of inspecting the front surface, back surface, and end of a substrate.

When manufacturing a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate of a flat panel display, or the like, a resist is patterned on the film by a photolithography process, and then an etching process is performed to create wirings and electrodes. Here, when a resist is applied on the film by a photolithography process, unevenness of the film or adhesion of dust causes defects such as defective line width in the pattern after the etching process. It is known to perform an etching process after confirming the presence or absence of film unevenness by conducting a surface appearance inspection.
Further, when the resist wraps around the back surface of the substrate in the resist coating process, the back surface of the substrate may be raised by the resist. In this way, when the resist is attached to the back surface of the substrate or when dust is attached to the back surface of the substrate, defocusing occurs on the resist surface side when the resist is exposed, which may cause pattern defects. It is easy to become. For this reason, in recent manufacturing processes, not only the front surface of the substrate but also the back surface is inspected (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In this type of manufacturing process, the process is repeated while the substrate is transported between a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses. However, if a mechanical impact occurs during the transport process, the edge of the substrate may be chipped or scratched. Sometimes. Such a defect causes the defect to expand or break when a mechanical pressure is applied during conveyance or stress is applied by heat treatment during the process. Furthermore, if the debris when the substrate is damaged adheres to the normal substrate, it causes a defect in the normal substrate. For this reason, some conventional substrate inspection apparatuses irradiate a laser beam on an end surface of a substrate and detect chipped or scratched defects at the end of the substrate from the reflected light (see, for example, Patent Document 2). .
International Publication Number WO2003 / 027652 JP 2002-181717 A

However, the substrate inspection apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 can inspect defects on the front and back surfaces of the substrate, but cannot inspect defects on the edge of the substrate. In the substrate inspection apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is possible to inspect defects at the edge of the substrate, but it is difficult to inspect defects formed in a film such as a resist. In particular, when the resist removal at the edge of the substrate is incomplete, the resist may cause dust. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect the state where the resist is removed, but this is disclosed in Patent Document 2. Such an inspection in the state of a thin film is difficult in the apparatus configuration. Therefore, when a configuration in which these substrate inspection apparatuses are combined is considered, there is a problem that the apparatus configuration becomes large and the inspection time becomes long.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a main object thereof is to enable efficient detection of defects on the front surface, back surface, and end portions of a substrate.

  This invention which solves the above-mentioned subject has a conveyance part which conveys a substrate, and an inspection part which inspects a board, and holds a substrate conveyed by the conveyance part from the lower part in the inspection part A substrate holding unit, a front surface inspection unit that acquires a front surface image of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, a back surface inspection unit that acquires a back surface image of the substrate, and an edge inspection unit that acquires an image of the end surface of the substrate; The back surface inspection unit is arranged to acquire a back surface image until the substrate is placed on the substrate holding unit from the transport unit. .

  According to the present invention, the inspection unit for the front surface, the back surface, and the edge is provided in the inspection unit, and in particular, the back surface inspection unit can perform the back surface inspection on the substrate between the transport unit and the substrate holding unit. Since it becomes possible to perform in the flow of defects, defects can be detected efficiently. Moreover, since it can test | inspect with respect to a board | substrate different in a surface inspection part and a back surface inspection part, the efficiency of a test | inspection can be improved.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, overlapping explanation is omitted.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate inspection apparatus 1 is an apparatus that inspects a wafer W as a substrate, and inspects a transfer unit 3 on which a wafer cassette 2 is mounted and a wafer W transferred by the transfer unit 3. It has an inspection unit 4 and is controlled by a control device 5.
The transfer unit 3 includes a transfer base 10 on which the wafer cassette 2 is mounted on one end (the back side of the substrate inspection apparatus 1), and an articulated transfer robot 11 is provided on the transfer base 10. A robot hand 11A that holds one wafer W from below is provided at the tip of the transfer robot 11. The robot hand 11A is provided with a plurality of suction holes for sucking and holding the wafer W. In the wafer cassette 2, a plurality of wafers W are accommodated at a predetermined pitch in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inspection unit 4 has a base connected to the other end of the transfer unit 3 opposite to the wafer cassette 2 (the front side on which the operator of the substrate inspection apparatus 1 operates). Part 21. The base portion 21 extends in a substantially straight line in one axial direction from one end portion on the transport portion 3 side toward the other end portion on the front side of the substrate inspection apparatus 1, and the other end portion displays a test result or the like. And a display unit 22 and an operation unit 23 for receiving an operation by the inspector. An inspection stage 25 that transports the wafer W in the longitudinal direction (uniaxial direction) of the base portion 21 is provided on the upper portion of the base portion 21 so as to be movable along a pair of rails 26. On the inspection stage 25, a back surface inspection unit 30 is mounted on one end side, and a wafer holding unit 31 (substrate holding unit) is provided on the other end side.

  The back surface inspection unit 30 is disposed between the wafer holding unit 31 and the transport unit 3 in the moving direction of the wafer W, and illuminates 30A that illuminates the back surface of the wafer W when the wafer W is disposed above, It has an imaging unit 30B that receives light reflected by the back surface of the wafer W and acquires an image of the back surface. The illumination unit 30A uses, for example, line illumination having a biaxial direction perpendicular to the uniaxial direction as a longitudinal direction. As the imaging unit 30B, for example, a line sensor camera in which a CCD camera is arranged in a biaxial direction orthogonal to the uniaxial direction is used. The illumination unit 30A and the imaging unit 30B are supported by the inspection stage 25 via an angle adjustment mechanism (not shown) so that regular reflection observation and scattered light observation on the back surface of the wafer W can be selected and performed.

  The wafer holding unit 31 has a rotating shaft 32 that is rotatably supported by the inspection stage 25 extending vertically upward, and a holding plate 33 that supports a central portion of the wafer W from below is fixed to an upper end portion thereof. . The holding plate 33 is provided with a plurality of holes (not shown) for sucking and holding the wafer W, and these holes are connected to a suction device (not shown). The rotating shaft 32 can be rotated by a rotating mechanism 34 provided in the inspection stage 25.

  On the base part 21 of the inspection part 4, when the inspection stage 25 is in the initial position (delivery position) as shown in FIG. Part), the alignment part 41, and the end part inspection part 42 are fixed.

  The wafer mounting table 40 has a configuration in which a pair of lifting stages 52 are moved in the vertical direction by a lifting mechanism 51 fixed to the base portion 21. The lifting mechanism 51 includes a ball screw, a linear guide, a motor, and the like. A linear motor can also be employed. Each of the pair of lifting stages 52 extends vertically upward, and two first support portions 53 are provided at the upper ends of the pair of lifting stages 52 so as to face the first placement surface 53 </ b> A of the other lifting stage 52. Four are extended. Further, a total of four second support portions 55 are provided two below the first support portion 53 by a predetermined length. These second support portions 55 are extended so as to face the second support portions 55 of the elevation stage 52 facing each other.

  The elevating stage 52 is disposed at a position away from the moving range of the wafer W, but the leading ends of the first support portion 53 and the second supporting portion 55 enter the moving range of the wafer W. The upper end surfaces of the respective tip portions are a first placement surface 53A and a second placement surface 55A on which the wafer W can be placed. These mounting surfaces 53A and 55A are inclined downward from the proximal end on the lifting stage 52 side toward the distal end. For this reason, when the wafer W is placed, the wafer W is positioned so that the center of the wafer W coincides with the center of the wafer holder 31. A pusher may be provided to push the end face of the wafer W so that the center of the wafer W coincides with the center of the wafer holder 31.

As shown in FIG. 3, the alignment part 41 has a main body part 61 fixed to the base part 21. The main body 61 has a recess 62 formed on the side so as to avoid the wafer W, and a transmissive optical sensor 63 including an illuminating unit 63A and a light receiving unit 63B is disposed there. Is used to detect the end of the wafer W.
The end inspection part 42 has a main body part 65 fixed to the base part 21. In the main body 65, the first inspection unit 66 </ b> A is provided toward the side surface of the end of the wafer W. Above the first inspection portion 66A, a second inspection portion 66B is provided toward the upper surface of the end portion of the wafer W. A third inspection unit 66C is provided below the first inspection unit 66A toward the lower surface of the end portion of the wafer W. Each of the inspection units 66A to 66C has an illumination unit 67. The light from the illumination unit 67 is folded back to the wafer W side by a half mirror 68 and illuminated through a magnifying lens 69. The half mirror 68 is inclined so as to guide the light reflected by the target portion of the wafer W and the light passing through the objective lens 69 to the imaging unit 70. In addition, in order to make it easy to see a defect, you may add an illumination part as needed to the side of inspection part 66A-66C etc. suitably.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inspection unit 4 is provided with a surface inspection unit 81 at an upper position on the other end side on the movement path of the inspection stage 25.
The surface inspection unit 81 includes an illumination unit 82A that illuminates the surface of the wafer W, and an imaging unit 82B that images the light reflected by the surface of the wafer W. For example, a line sensor camera in which a CCD camera is arranged in a biaxial direction orthogonal to the uniaxial direction is used for the imaging unit 82B, and line illumination having a longitudinal direction in the biaxial direction orthogonal to the uniaxial direction is used for the illumination unit 82A, for example. It has been. The illumination unit 82A and the imaging unit 82B are supported via an angle adjustment mechanism (not shown) so that regular reflection observation and scattered light observation on the surface of the wafer W can be selected and performed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the control device 5 controls the overall control unit 91 that controls the entire device, the transfer control unit 92 that controls the transfer unit 3, the wafer holding unit 31, and the inspection stage 25. A stage control unit 93, an alignment control unit 94 for controlling the alignment unit 41, a mounting table control unit 95 for controlling the wafer mounting table 40, an imaging control unit 96 for controlling the three inspection units 30, 41, 81, The functions are divided into an image processing unit 97 that processes images acquired by the three inspection units 30, 41, and 81, and a recipe storage unit 98 that stores inspection information.

Next, an inspection procedure in the substrate inspection apparatus 1 will be described.
As an initial state, the inspection stage 25 stands by on the transfer unit 3 side, and the wafer mounting table 40 has a first mounting surface 53A and a second mounting surface 55A that are above the wafer holding unit 31. Ascending to the upper stop position.
When the wafer cassette 2 containing a plurality of wafers W is mounted on the transfer unit 3, the transfer robot 11 sucks and holds the first wafer W and carries it out of the wafer cassette 2. The transfer robot 11 transfers the wafer W onto the first mounting surface 53A of the wafer mounting table 40. As shown in FIG. 5, the wafer W is arranged at a position where the center thereof coincides with the rotation center of the wafer holder 31 by the four first mounting surfaces 53 </ b> A that are inclined.

When the transfer robot 11 is retracted from the wafer mounting table 40, the control device 5 lowers the wafer mounting table 40 to the lower stop position. The lower stop position is a position where both the first placement surface 53 </ b> A and the second placement surface 55 </ b> A are lowered from the upper surface of the wafer holding unit 31. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2, the wafer W placed on the first placement surface 53 </ b> A is transferred to the wafer holder 31. The wafer holding unit 31 sucks and holds the wafer W and then makes at least one rotation around the rotation shaft 32. During this time, the alignment unit 41 detects a notch or an orientation flat (hereinafter referred to as a notch or the like) of the rotating wafer W. The position of the notch or the like is used for positioning of the wafer W in the rotation direction. The alignment control unit 94 stores the start position when the wafer W is rotated, the stop position at the end of the rotation, and the positions of the notches and the like.
At the same time, while the wafer W is rotating, the end inspection unit 42 performs imaging of the end of the wafer W for one rotation. The image processing unit 97 processes the image acquired by the end inspection unit 42 and checks whether there is a defect such as a crack or a residual resist film at the end of the wafer W. If there is a defect, the defect is extracted and classified. Further, the position of the defect is obtained from the start position stored in the alignment control unit 94 and the position of the notch or the like. The defect information is transferred to the overall control unit 91.

  When the positioning operation in the alignment unit 41 and the inspection in the end inspection unit 42 are completed, the inspection stage 25 is started to move in the uniaxial direction. The wafer holding unit 31 and the back surface inspection unit 30 that hold the wafer W by suction move together. As shown in FIG. 6, the surface of the wafer W is imaged by the surface inspection unit 81 when the wafer W passes below the surface inspection unit 81. The captured image is transferred to the image processing unit 97 for image processing. If there is dust, film unevenness, defocus, etc. on the surface of the wafer W, these defects are classified and extracted, and the result is sent to the overall control unit 91.

  Here, when the inspection stage 25 starts moving and the moving wafer W and the stopped wafer mounting table 40 do not interfere with each other, the wafer mounting table 40 moves up and stops at the intermediate stop position. The intermediate stop position is a position where the wafer holding unit 31 comes between the second placement surface 55A and the first placement surface 53A in the vertical direction. During this time, the transfer robot 11 takes out the second wafer W from the wafer cassette 2. As shown in FIG. 7, the wafer W is transferred onto the first mounting surface 53A of the wafer mounting table 40 at the intermediate stop position.

  When the imaging in the surface inspection unit 81 is completed, the inspection stage 25 starts to return toward the transport unit 3 side. At this time, when the back surface inspection unit 30 moving together with the inspection stage 25 passes under the second wafer W on the wafer mounting table 40, the back surface of the second wafer W is imaged. The image at this time is transferred to the image processing unit 97. The image processing unit 97 performs image processing, and if dust or resist wrap around on the back surface of the second wafer W, the image processing unit 97 classifies and extracts these as defects, and the result is sent to the overall control unit 91. send.

  When the inspection stage 25 returns to the initial position, the suction holding of the first wafer W is released, and then the wafer mounting table 40 is raised to the upper stop position. At this time, if the alignment unit 41 or the end portion inspection unit 42 interferes with the wafer W, it is retracted to a position where it does not interfere in the direction away from the wafer W. You may provide the moving mechanism of the alignment part 41 or the edge part test | inspection part 42. FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the second placement surface 55 </ b> A is lifted so as to support the outer edge of the first wafer W from below. The first wafer W is transferred from the wafer holding unit 31 to the wafer mounting table 40. The first wafer W is taken out by the transfer robot 11 and stored in a predetermined position of the wafer cassette 2. At this time, when the transfer robot 11 and the first wafer W move to a position where they do not interfere with the wafer mounting table 40, the wafer mounting table 40 is lowered to the lower stop position. As in FIG. 2, the second wafer W is transferred from the first placement surface 53 </ b> A to the wafer holding unit 31. Also for the second wafer W, positioning and end surface inspection are performed while rotating in the same manner, and surface inspection is performed by moving the inspection stage 25. Meanwhile, the third wafer W is placed on the first placement surface 53A of the wafer placement table 40, and the back surface inspection is performed when the inspection stage 25 returns. Thereafter, the required number of wafers W are inspected. As described above, the substrate inspection apparatus 1 performs the transfer of the (N + 1) th wafer W and the back surface inspection before performing the surface inspection of the N (N: integer) wafer W and returning.

  The control device 5 specifies the images of the front surface, the back surface, and the end surface and the position of the defect with reference to the position of the notch or the like, associates the images, and displays them on the display unit 22. Examples of the display form include displaying only an image having a defect, displaying it along with the position of the defect, and displaying an image of the entire wafer W including an image having no defect. It is preferable that the display form can be selected by operating the operation unit 23 by the inspector.

According to this embodiment, since the end face inspection is performed at the same time when the wafer W is positioned in the rotational direction, the inspection time can be shortened. Since the back surface inspection unit 30, the wafer mounting table 40 (and the alignment unit 41 and the end inspection unit 42), and the surface inspection unit 81 are arranged along the conveyance direction of the wafer W, one wafer W is held by the wafer. Since the next wafer W can be transferred and the back surface inspection can be performed while the wafer is being held in the portion 31, the inspection time can be shortened. Since the back surface inspection is performed at a position where the next wafer W is waiting, the apparatus can be miniaturized. When performing back surface inspection, positioning in the rotational direction has not yet been performed, but since the start position and notch position when positioning is performed later are stored, it is associated with the end surface inspection result and the surface inspection result. Is possible.
Since the wafer mounting table 40 can hold two wafers W up and down, the two wafers W can be exchanged on the spot by cooperating with the transfer robot 11 and the inspection stage 25. The inspection time can be shortened compared with the case where the wafers W are transferred one by one. In addition, the device can be downsized by combining it with a lifting mechanism.
Since line sensor cameras are used for the imaging units 30B and 82B of the back surface inspection unit 30 and the front surface inspection unit 81, the configurations of the back surface inspection unit 30 and the surface inspection unit 81 can be easily and miniaturized.

(Second Embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 9, the substrate inspection apparatus 101 includes a transport unit 103 and an inspection unit 104, and a display unit 22 and an operation unit 23 are disposed on the front side. The transfer unit 103 includes an articulated first transfer robot 111 and a second transfer robot 112 that can take out one wafer W from the wafer cassette 2. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the first and second transfer robots 111 and 112 have a robot hand 113 at the tip, and two fixed holding parts 114 and 1 on the lower surface of the robot hand 113. Two movable holding portions 115 are provided downward. The holding unit 115 is arranged on the circumference of an imaginary circle so that the end of the wafer W can be gripped when it is brought close to the two holding units 114. Therefore, when the holding unit 115 is moved and brought into contact with the end of the wafer W, the wafer W can be positioned and held. When the holding unit 115 is moved away from the two holding units 114, the wafer W can be released. The second transfer robot 112 is arranged such that the position of the robot hand 113 is lower than that of the first transfer robot 112.

In the inspection unit 104, a back surface inspection unit 30, a wafer holding unit 31, and a front surface inspection unit 81 are arranged in order from the transport unit 103 side, and the alignment unit 41 is located at the initial position (delivery position) of the wafer holding unit 31. , An end inspection unit 42, an edge cut inspection unit 121, and a foreign matter inspection unit 122 are provided.
The wafer holding unit 31 is mounted on the inspection stage 125 and can move in one axial direction along the rail 26. On the other hand, the back surface inspection part 30 is fixed to the other end side of the base part 21. The installation position of the back surface inspection unit 30 is within the movable range of the first and second transfer robots 111 and 112.
The edge cut inspection unit 121 includes an illumination unit 121A that illuminates the surface of the end portion of the wafer W as an inspection part, and an imaging unit 121B that images the inspection part, and is used to measure the edge cut amount of the wafer W. Is done. A CCD camera arranged in a one-dimensional manner in the radial direction of the wafer W is used for the imaging unit 121B.
The foreign matter inspection unit 122 uses a transmission type sensor that detects whether or not foreign matter is placed on the surface of the wafer W, and the light projecting unit 122A and the light receiving unit 122B are arranged so as to sandwich the wafer W therebetween. The optical axis of the light projecting unit 122 </ b> A is set to pass slightly above the wafer W and on the rotation center of the wafer holding unit 31.

Next, an inspection procedure by the substrate inspection apparatus 101 will be described.
As an initial state, the inspection stage 25 stands by on the transport unit 103 side. When the wafer cassette 2 containing a plurality of wafers W is mounted on the transfer unit 103, the second transfer robot 112 grips and unloads the first wafer W and passes it to the wafer holding unit 31 of the inspection unit 104. . At this time, since the wafer W passes above the back surface inspection unit 30, the back surface inspection unit 30 captures an image of the back surface of the wafer W. The image picked up at this time is transferred to the image processing unit 97, and defects such as dust on the back surface and wraparound of the resist are extracted and classified by image processing. The defect information is transferred to the overall control unit 91.

  When the wafer W is transferred onto the wafer holding unit 31, the holding unit 115 of the robot hand 113 is moved away from the wafer W to release the wafer W from the robot hand 113. The wafer holding unit 31 rotates when the wafer W is sucked and held. At this time, the alignment unit 41 detects a notch or an orientation flat (hereinafter referred to as a notch or the like). The wafer holder 31 rotates the wafer W at least once and stops the wafer W so that the notch and the like are at a predetermined position for surface inspection. Positions such as a rotation start position, a stop position, and a notch during the positioning operation are stored in the alignment control unit 94. Further, simultaneously with the positioning operation in the alignment unit 41, the end inspection unit 42 performs imaging of the end surface of the wafer W for one rotation. The captured image is transferred to the image processing unit 97, and defects such as end face cracks and resist residues are extracted and classified by image processing. The defect information is transferred to the overall control unit 91. Further, simultaneously with these operations, the edge cut inspection unit 121 illuminates the front end portion of the wafer W and performs imaging at four points at regular intervals, for example, every 90 °, with the imaging unit 121B. This image is subjected to image processing in the image processing unit 97, and an edge cut amount and an edge cut deviation amount are calculated. The calculation result is passed to the overall control unit 91.

When the positioning operation and the end face inspection are completed, the inspection stage 25 is moved in one axial direction. When the wafer W passes under the surface inspection unit 81, an image of the surface of the wafer W is acquired. Defects such as surface dust, film unevenness, and defocus are extracted and classified by image processing, and passed to the overall control unit 91. In addition, when the foreign substance has adhered to the surface of the wafer W, since the optical path of the foreign substance inspection part 122 is interrupted | blocked, the whole control part 91 considers that the foreign substance was discovered and does not perform subsequent surface inspection. This prevents dust from interfering with the optical system of the surface inspection unit 81.
When the surface inspection is completed, the inspection stage 25 starts moving in the reverse direction and returns to the other end side. The suction holding of the wafer holding unit 31 is released, the wafer W is held by the three holding units 114 and 115 of the first transfer robot 111, and collected in the wafer cassette 2. During this time, the second transfer robot 112 carries out the second wafer W from the wafer cassette 2 and stands by, so that the first wafer W is taken out from the inspection unit 104 as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the second wafer W is placed on the empty wafer holder 31. At this time, the back surface inspection unit 30 acquires an image of the back surface of the second wafer W.

  Thereafter, the required number of wafers W are inspected. As described above, in this substrate inspection apparatus 101, the second transfer robot 112 is used to transfer the N (N: integer) wafer W to the inspection unit 104, and during the end surface inspection and the surface inspection, the first inspection is performed. N + 1 wafer W is prepared by one transfer robot 111. The wafers W are exchanged by the two transfer robots 111 and 112, and at this time, the back surface inspection of the (N + 1) th wafer W is simultaneously performed.

  The control device 5 specifies the images of the front surface, the back surface, and the end surface and the position of the defect with reference to the position of the notch or the like, associates the images, and displays them on the display unit 22. Examples of the display form include displaying only an image having a defect, displaying it along with the position of the defect, and displaying an image of the entire wafer W including an image having no defect. It is preferable that the table form can be selected by operating the operation unit 23 by the inspector.

In this embodiment, the back surface inspection unit 30, the wafer holding unit 31, and the front surface inspection unit 81 are sequentially arranged in the transport direction of the wafer W, so that the back surface inspection can be performed efficiently. Since the alignment unit 41 and the end inspection unit 42 are arranged at the initial position of the wafer holding unit 31 and the end surface inspection is performed simultaneously with the alignment in the rotation direction, the end surface inspection can be performed efficiently.
Furthermore, not only the defect inspection of the wafer W but also the types and positions of the defects are associated with each other, so that it becomes easy to identify and narrow down the cause of the defect. Since the edge cut inspection is performed at the same time, stable production can be realized without increasing the processing time.
By using the two transfer robots 111 and 112, the back surface inspection unit 30 can be fixed. The increase in weight of the inspection stage 25 can be prevented and the structure can be simplified.
Since the foreign matter inspection unit 122 is provided to detect when a large foreign matter is adhered on the wafer W, interference between the surface inspection unit 81 and the foreign matter can be prevented.

The present invention can be widely applied without being limited to the above-described embodiments.
For example, the edge cut inspection unit 121 and the foreign matter inspection unit 122 may be provided in the substrate inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment.
An aligner may be arranged in the transfer path to position the wafer W. Further, positioning, end face inspection, edge inspection, and foreign matter inspection may be performed in the transport path up to the wafer holding unit 31.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 9, the back surface inspection may be performed between the time when the surface inspection is performed and the time when the wafer cassette 2 is recovered. A back image can be acquired in a state where the front image matches the rotation direction.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 9, the surface inspection unit 81 and the imaging units 30B and 82B of the back surface inspection unit 30 may be area sensor cameras in which CCD cameras are two-dimensionally arranged. When the surface inspection unit having the area sensor camera is disposed above the wafer holding unit 31, it is not necessary to move the wafer holding unit 31, the apparatus configuration can be simplified, and the processing time can be further shortened. When an area sensor camera is used for the back surface inspection unit 30, the transfer robots 111 and 112 are stopped above the back surface inspection unit 30, and the back surface images are taken together.

In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 9, the back surface inspection unit 30 may be mounted on the inspection stage 25 and the wafer W held on one of the transfer robots 111 and 112 may be imaged by the back surface inspection unit 30 that moves together with the inspection stage 25. .
In the second embodiment, instead of performing the back surface inspection before the wafer holding unit 31 holds the wafer W, the back surface inspection is performed when the front surface inspection is completed and returned to the wafer cassette 2 by the first transfer robot 111. May be performed.
The transfer direction of the wafer W in the inspection units 4 and 104 and the transfer direction of the wafer W in the transfer units 3 and 103 are not limited to the same direction, and may be crossing directions such as orthogonal. In the configuration shown in FIG. 9, it is desirable to arrange the back surface inspection unit 30 in the movement path of the transfer robots 111 and 112.
Further, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the back surface inspection unit 30 and the wafer holding unit 31 may be configured to be independently movable. If the back surface inspection unit 30 is configured to be movable in the biaxial direction, and control is performed so that the back surface inspection is performed when the wafer holding unit 31 is located away from the wafer mounting table 40, the degree of freedom in apparatus layout is improved.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the board | substrate inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is A arrow directional view of FIG. It is a figure explaining arrangement | positioning of a wafer holding part, an alignment part, and an edge part test | inspection part. It is a functional block diagram of a control device. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of a board | substrate inspection apparatus, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the procedure which conveys a wafer. It is a figure which has moved the wafer and is inspecting in the surface inspection part. It is a figure which is performing the back surface inspection of the 2nd wafer when the surface inspection is completed and the 1st wafer is returned. It is the figure which raised the wafer mounting base and moved the 1st wafer from the wafer holding part. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of a board | substrate inspection apparatus provided with two conveyance robots. It is the figure which looked at the conveyance robot from the side. It is a top view which shows the state which hold | maintained the wafer with the robot hand of the front-end | tip of a conveyance robot. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of an edge cut test | inspection part. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a foreign material inspection part. It is the figure which is performing the back surface inspection while exchanging a wafer with two conveyance robots.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,101 Substrate inspection apparatus 2 Wafer cassette 3,103 Transfer part 4,104 Inspection part 25 Inspection stage 30 Back surface inspection part 30B, 82B Imaging part 31 Wafer holding part (substrate holding part)
40 Wafer mounting table (substrate mounting table)
41 Alignment unit 42 End inspection unit 53A First placement surface 55A Second placement surface 81 Surface inspection unit 111 First transfer robot 112 Second transfer robot

Claims (8)

A transport unit that transports the substrate and an inspection unit that inspects the substrate;
The inspection unit includes a substrate holding unit that holds the substrate conveyed by the conveyance unit from below, a front surface inspection unit that acquires a surface image of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, and a back surface image of the substrate. A back inspection unit for acquiring and an end inspection unit for acquiring an image of the end surface of the substrate, and the back inspection unit is a back surface until the substrate is placed on the substrate holding unit from the transport unit. A substrate inspection apparatus arranged to acquire an image.   It has an inspection stage for moving the substrate holder from the receiving position for receiving the substrate from the transport device to below the front surface inspection unit, the back surface inspection unit, the alignment unit, and the alignment unit along the substrate transport direction, The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface inspection unit is arranged in order.   The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the back surface inspection unit is mounted on the inspection stage.   The substrate holding unit includes a rotation mechanism that rotates the substrate, and includes an alignment unit that positions the substrate rotated by the substrate holding unit in the rotation direction, and the end inspection unit is the substrate at the alignment unit. The substrate inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an image of an end face of the substrate is simultaneously acquired when performing positioning.   5. The image processing unit according to claim 4, further comprising: an image processing unit that identifies a position in the rotation direction of the substrate in the alignment unit and associates an image of a back surface, an image of an end surface, and an image of the surface of the same substrate based on the position. The board inspection apparatus according to 1.   A first mounting surface and a second mounting surface capable of holding a substrate are arranged vertically at a predetermined interval, and have a substrate mounting table that can be raised and lowered with respect to the substrate holding unit. 2. The back surface inspection unit is disposed so as to perform a back surface inspection on a substrate placed on the substrate mounting table before performing a surface inspection and returning to a delivery position. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 5.   The transfer device includes a first transfer robot and a second transfer robot, and the first transfer robot takes out the substrate from the substrate holding unit, and the second transfer robot separates the substrate holding unit from the substrate transfer unit. 5. The back surface inspection unit is disposed in a path from the substrate to the second transfer robot moving to the substrate holding unit. 6. The board inspection apparatus according to claim 1.   The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the surface inspection unit includes a line sensor camera as an imaging unit, and acquires a surface image of the substrate along with the movement of the inspection stage.

Images