JP2009156573A - Inspection apparatus and inspection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently find a false defect from defect candidates and obtain a threshold value with which the false defect can be eliminated by the smallest number of review times. <P>SOLUTION: Defect candidates are reviewed and selected as a defect or a false defect. By deleting a defect candidate having a characteristic quantity equal to or less than that of the false defect from a map or displaying it in another sign, the false defect can be visually determined. Since the defect candidate having the characteristic quantity equal to or less than that of the selected false defect is deleted from the map or displayed in another sign, the defect candidates unnecessary to set a threshold are not reviewed. The number of defect candidates to be reviewed can be largely reduced as compared with that in the conventional technique. Further, by repeating the above work, the threshold is automatically calculated, and an inspection result map with the threshold is displayed, so that a re-inspection is unnecessary. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus and an inspection method for detecting foreign matter, scratches, defects, dirt, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as defects) present on the surface of an inspection object such as a semiconductor wafer.

  For example, an inspection device that detects defects in a semiconductor wafer irradiates the surface of the wafer with inspection light such as laser light, and detects the reflected light or scattered light generated on the surface of the wafer, thereby detecting defects present on the surface of the wafer. Is detected.

  In this type of inspection apparatus, when a pattern constituting a chip is formed on the surface of a wafer, an image signal is usually created from the detected intensity of reflected or scattered light, and an inspection area (inspection chip or inspection shot) Is compared with the image signal of the reference area (reference chip or reference shot), and a portion where the difference between the two is equal to or greater than a threshold is determined as a foreign object. As the reference area, an adjacent area (adjacent chip or adjacent shot) of the inspection area or a non-defective area prepared in advance (non-defective chip or non-defective shot) is used.

  The inspection apparatus requires inspection condition data corresponding to the type of wafer and the inspection process, and it takes a lot of time to create the data. Setting the threshold value takes the most time in creating the inspection condition data.

  The threshold value is set as follows. First, an inspection is performed using standard inspection condition data. The detected defect candidate is observed with a microscope to determine whether the defect candidate is a defect or a pseudo defect. Hereinafter, this work is called review. When the number of defect candidates is large, the number of defect candidates to be reviewed and the defect candidate type greatly differ depending on the experience value of the operator. Therefore, if you do not find a threshold that can delete all the pseudo defects from the defect candidates, even if you change the threshold and perform re-inspection, pseudo defects cannot be deleted, and review and re-inspection are repeated several times. End up.

  Patent Document 1 describes a method of inputting a determination result of a defect or a pseudo defect from a defect candidate, displaying the defect and the pseudo defect on a defect feature amount distribution display unit, and calculating a change parameter from the distribution result. Yes.

JP 2004-177139 A

  In order to shorten the threshold setting time, it is a problem to efficiently search for a pseudo defect from defect candidates and to obtain a threshold value at which the pseudo defect can be deleted with as few reviews as possible.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus and an inspection method capable of solving the above-described problems and reducing the inspection condition data creation time.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, when an arbitrary defect candidate is selected from the defect candidate group, the defect candidate group, a defect candidate group having a feature amount equal to or less than the selected defect candidate, Classify into defect candidate groups having feature quantities larger than the selected defect candidate, and calculate a threshold value for determining whether or not there is a defect on the surface of the inspection object based on the classification result One feature is to do this.

  The threshold value may be updated when a defect candidate is selected.

  Further, the threshold value is displayed every time a defect candidate is selected, and each time a defect candidate is selected, the defect candidate group is displayed as a first defect candidate group, a second defect candidate group, or Another feature is that a defect candidate group equal to or smaller than the feature amount of the defect candidate is deleted and displayed.

  According to the present invention, the inspection condition data creation time can be reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Apparatus Configuration FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The inspection apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an illumination unit 10, a detection unit 20, an X scale 30, a Y scale 40, and a processing device 100. Further, an external computing device 200 may be provided. In this embodiment, a case where an optical inspection apparatus using a dark field image is applied to the inspection apparatus of the present invention will be described as an example.

Illumination means 10
The illumination means 10 is a laser device that generates inspection light such as laser light having a predetermined wavelength, for example, and irradiates the surface of the wafer 1 that is an inspection object with the inspection light. For example, the surface of the wafer 1 may be irradiated with inspection light obliquely. A wafer 1 having a chip 2 formed on the surface thereof is mounted on at least an XY stage, and can move at least in the XY direction. As the wafer stage moves in the X and Y directions, the inspection light irradiated from the illumination means 10 scans the surface of the wafer 1.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining scanning of inspection light by the inspection apparatus.

When the wafer stage on which the wafer 1 is mounted moves in the X direction, the inspection light emitted from the illumination means 10 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow S1 on the surface of the chips 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d formed on the wafer 1. One line is scanned. Next, the wafer stage moves in the Y direction. When the wafer stage moves in the X direction in the opposite direction to the scanning of the first line, the inspection light moves on the surfaces of the chips 2d, 2c, 2b, and 2a in the direction indicated by the arrow S2, and the scanning of the second line is performed. Is done. By repeating these operations, the entire surface of the wafer 1 is scanned.

Detection means 20
Returning to FIG. 1, the inspection light applied to the surface of the wafer 1 is scattered by a pattern or a defect on the surface of the wafer 1, thereby generating scattered light from the surface of the wafer 1. The detection means 20 is, for example, a condensing lens, a CCD, or a TDI, receives scattered light generated on the surface of the wafer 1, converts its intensity into an electrical signal, and outputs it as an image signal to the processing apparatus 100.

X scale 30 / Y scale 40
The X scale 30 and the Y scale 40 are made of, for example, a laser scale and detect the position in the X direction and the position in the Y direction of the wafer stage on which the wafer 1 is placed, and output the position information to the processing apparatus 100.

Processing device 100
The processing device 100 includes an A / D converter 110, an image processing device 120, a defect determination device 130, a coordinate management device 140, an inspection result storage device 150, an inspection result display device 160, an input device 170, and a result processing device 180. Yes.

A / D converter 110
The A / D converter 110 converts the analog image signal input from the detection means 20 into a digital image signal and outputs it.

Image processing apparatus 120
The image processing apparatus 120 includes an image comparison circuit 121, a threshold value calculation circuit 122, and a threshold value storage circuit 123.

Image comparison circuit 121
The image comparison circuit 121 includes, for example, a delay circuit and a difference detection circuit, and compares the image signal of the inspection area detected by the detection unit 20 with the image signal of the corresponding pixel in the reference area to detect the difference between the two. Acts as a means. The delay circuit inputs the image signal from the A / D converter 110 and delays it, so that the inspection light irradiation immediately before the inspection area currently irradiated with the inspection light in the scan shown in FIG. The image signal of the completed inspection area is output. The difference detection circuit inputs the image signal of the inspection area currently irradiated with the inspection light from the A / D converter 110 and the image signal from the delay circuit, and detects and outputs the difference between the two. This
The image comparison circuit 121 compares the image signals of the inspection area and the reference area adjacent thereto.
When a defect exists on the surface of the inspection area, scattered light scattered by the defect appears as a difference between image signals of adjacent chips.

Note that the image comparison circuit 121 may include a memory that stores image signal data of a good chip prepared in advance instead of the delay circuit, and may perform comparison with the image signal of the non-defective inspection area.

Threshold calculation circuit 122
The threshold value calculation circuit 122 calculates a threshold value for comparison with the difference between the image signals of the corresponding pixels in the inspection area based on, for example, the statistical value of the image signal of the corresponding pixel in each inspection area. Functions as a calculation means. That is, the image signal of the inspection area from the A / D converter 110 and the image signal of each reference area from the delay circuit are associated with each other for each pixel, and a variation (standard deviation) amount is calculated between the inspection areas. Based on the amount, threshold data used for determining the presence or absence of a defect is calculated.

  The variation amount may be calculated using a labeling process.

Threshold storage circuit 123
The threshold value storage circuit 123 stores the threshold value input from the threshold value calculation circuit 122 in association with the coordinate information of the examination area input from the coordinate management device 140.

Defect determination device 130
The defect determination device 130 includes a determination circuit 131 and coefficient tables 132 and 133.

Coefficient tables 132 and 133
In the coefficient tables 132 and 133, coefficients for changing the threshold value calculated by the threshold value calculation circuit 122 are stored in association with coordinate information on the wafer. The coefficient tables 132 and 133 receive the coordinate information from the coordinate management device 140 and output a coefficient corresponding to the coordinate information to the determination circuit 131. When the coefficients stored in the coefficient tables 132 and 133 are output to the determination circuit 131, they are multiplied by the threshold values of the corresponding coordinates. This
For example, when many identical products are inspected, the threshold value is flexible depending on the location in the inspection area where the defect is likely to occur or the location on the wafer (such as near the edge) and the location where it does not, based on the accumulation of past inspection and analysis data Adjusted to

Determination circuit 131
In the determination circuit 131, the difference signal of the image signal of the corresponding pixel between the inspection area and the reference area from the image comparison circuit 121, the threshold data of the corresponding pixel read from the threshold storage circuit 123, and the coefficient Coefficients for changing threshold values of the corresponding pixels input from the tables 132 and 133 are input.

  The determination circuit 131 multiplies the threshold value input from the image processing apparatus 120 by the coefficient of the corresponding pixel input from the coefficient tables 132 and 133 to create a determination threshold value. Then, the difference signal from the image comparison circuit 121 is compared with the threshold value for determining the corresponding pixel to determine the presence or absence of a defect. Here, when the difference signal is greater than or equal to the determination threshold, it is determined that the pixel is due to scattered light from the defect, and the inspection result is output to the inspection result storage device 150. The determination circuit 131 also outputs threshold information used for determination to the inspection result storage device 150.

Coordinate management device 140
The coordinate management device 140 is based on the position information of the wafer stage (that is, the position information of the wafer 1) input from the X scale 30 and the Y scale 40, and the X coordinate and Y of the position on the wafer 1 where the inspection light is currently irradiated. The coordinates are detected, and the coordinate information is output to the image processing device 120, the defect determination device 130, and the inspection result storage device 150. The coordinate management device 140 also stores arrangement information of each inspection area on the wafer 1. The arrangement information of each inspection area stored in the coordinate management device 140 is output to the image processing device 120 and the coefficient tables 132 and 133 as described above.

Inspection result storage device 150
The inspection result storage device 150 stores the inspection result input from the defect determination device 130 and the coordinate information of the corresponding pixel input from the coordinate management device 140 in association with each other. The inspection result storage device 150 also stores the threshold information input from the defect determination device 130 in association with the inspection result or coordinate information of the corresponding pixel.

Inspection result display device 160
The inspection result display device 160 displays the inspection result information input from the inspection result storage device 150. Also, a defect candidate image when reviewing defect candidates is displayed.

  Note that the inspection result display device 160 corresponds to an example of a display unit.

Input device 170
For example, when reviewing the inspection result, the input device 170 selects a defect candidate from the map of the inspection result display device 160. Alternatively, defect candidate No. is input. Further, a determination result of whether the defect candidate is a defect or a pseudo defect is input.

  Note that the input device 170 corresponds to an example of the input unit.

Result processing device 180
For example, the result processing device 180 deletes the pseudo defect group from the defect candidate group based on the determination result of whether the defect candidate at the input device 170 is a defect or a pseudo defect. Further, a threshold value that does not detect the pseudo defect group is calculated.

  Note that the result processing device 180 corresponds to an example of the processing unit.

External computing device 200
The external computing device 200 reviews defect candidates off-line from the inspection result from the inspection result storage device 150, for example, and creates inspection condition data.

Inspection Condition Data Creation Procedure An inspection condition data creation procedure by the inspection apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for creating inspection condition data.

  First, at 301, a wafer is loaded onto the inspection apparatus.

  Next, in 302, the wafer is inspected with the standard inspection condition data, and in 303, the inspection result is stored in the inspection result storage device 150.

  Individual results detected by the inspection are used as defect candidates.

  The number of designated inspections 304 is repeatedly inspected under substantially the same conditions as the above inspection conditions, and each inspection result is stored in the inspection result storage device 150. The number of inspections may be arbitrarily set.

  In 305, the defect candidate coordinates detected in each inspection are within the specific range, and the same defect candidate is determined, and the recall of each defect candidate is obtained by the following calculation formula. The result is stored in the inspection result storage device 150.

Detection reproducibility (%) = (number of detections / number of inspections) × 100
A defect candidate with a low detection reproducibility has a high possibility of a pseudo defect due to sampling variation and electrical noise due to a stage coordinate error or the like.

  As the condition creation procedure, it is necessary to search for a pseudo defect from the defect candidate group and set a threshold value for not detecting the pseudo defect, and to efficiently search for the pseudo defect is a point for creating the measurement condition in a short time. Become. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently search for a pseudo defect by confirming from the defect candidate group having a low recall rate.

  In 306, the defect candidate group within the range of the specified recall is displayed on the inspection result display device 160.

  Reference numeral 401 denotes a wafer map diagram, which displays a defect candidate group on the map. Reference numeral 402 denotes a review screen that displays defect candidate images (for example, images observed with a microscope). Reference numeral 403 denotes a distribution of defect candidate groups, where the horizontal axis represents the feature amount of the defect candidate group and the vertical axis represents the frequency. Here, the frequency represents the distribution of defect candidate groups.

  The feature amount is an amount that depends on at least the intensity of the scattered light of the defect candidate. For example, the longitudinal component (number of defect candidate detection pixels) of the intensity of the scattered light, the vertical component and the horizontal component of the intensity of the scattered light. (Defect candidate total luminance), defect candidate total luminance / number of defect candidate detection pixels, standard deviation of scattered light intensity (defect candidate detection luminance / statistical threshold), defect candidate coordinates, defect candidate detection recall used.

Returning to FIG. 3, in 307, a review is performed to determine whether the defect candidate is a defect or a pseudo defect.
First, a defect candidate review image is displayed on the review screen 402 by designating a defect candidate on the wafer map diagram 401 by a mouse operation or inputting a defect candidate No. from the keyboard. By selecting a defect candidate having a low recall rate and defect candidate detection brightness / statistic threshold, it becomes possible to efficiently search for a pseudo defect.

  In 308, the user selects a defect or a pseudo defect from the review image of the defect candidate.

  Whether the defect candidate is a defect or a pseudo defect is determined by the user from the defect candidate image, and if there is a defect in the defect candidate image, the defect is assumed to be a defect, and if there is no defect, the defect is assumed to be a pseudo defect.

  When a pseudo defect is selected, a defect candidate group having a feature quantity equal to or less than the pseudo defect selected from all defect candidate groups in 309 is classified, and the classified defect candidate group is treated as a pseudo defect group and deleted from the map. Or display with another symbol. Further, a threshold value is calculated from the feature amount of the pseudo defect group, and the calculated threshold value is displayed. By deleting the defect candidate group treated as the pseudo defect group from the map, the defect candidate group having the feature amount equal to or less than the selected pseudo defect is not reviewed, and the number of reviews can be reduced. Further, by displaying with another symbol, the history treated as a pseudo defect can be visually recognized.

  FIG. 5 is an example in which a defect candidate group having a feature quantity equal to or less than a pseudo defect is deleted from the map, and FIG. 6 is an example in which a defect candidate group having a feature quantity equal to or less than a pseudo defect is displayed on the map with another symbol. It is.

  Similarly, review 307 for defect candidates, selection 308 between defect and pseudo-defect, deletion of defect candidate group below pseudo-defect or display of another symbol 309 are repeated.

  In 310, the presence or absence of pseudo defects in the entire map is confirmed, and the above steps 307, 308, and 309 are repeated until there are almost no pseudo defects.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of the above-described 307, 308, and 309 on a map.

  Reference numeral 701 denotes a map of results of inspection using standard inspection condition data. Reference numeral 702 denotes a map after selecting a pseudo defect on the map 701. Further, the selection of pseudo defects is repeated. Finally, as shown at 703, the pseudo defect is deleted from the map.

  Returning to FIG. 3, in 311, the threshold value calculated from the feature quantity of the pseudo defect is displayed and stored, and the inspection condition data 312 is completed.

  At 313, the wafer is unloaded and the process ends.

  By performing the review as described above, the inspection condition data is tuned. In other words, “review = inspection condition data tuning”.

  The present invention can be widely applied not only to inspection of semiconductor wafers but also to inspection of scratches, defects, dirt, etc. on the surface of various objects. For example, it can be applied to appearance inspection, liquid crystal inspection, and the like.

  As an effect of the present embodiment, the defect candidate is reviewed and selected as a defect or a pseudo defect, and the defect candidate below the feature amount of the pseudo defect is deleted from the map or displayed as another symbol, thereby visually indicating the pseudo defect. It becomes possible to judge. In addition, defect candidates with features below the selected pseudo-defect are deleted from the map or displayed with a different symbol, so there is no need to review defect candidates unnecessary for threshold setting, which is significantly higher than before. The number of defect candidates to be reviewed can be reduced. Further, by repeating the above operation, the threshold value is automatically calculated, and an inspection result map at the threshold value is also displayed.

  From the above, the inspection condition creation time can be reduced.

1 is a schematic view of an inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining scanning of the inspection light of the inspection device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of inspection condition creation of the inspection apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure of the example of a test result display of the inspection device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure of the example of pseudo defect deletion after pseudo defect teaching. It is a figure of the symbol display example according to the pseudo defect after pseudo defect teaching. It is a figure of the example of a map change by pseudo defect teaching.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wafer 10 Illumination means 20 Detection means 100 Processing apparatus 120 Image processing apparatus 121 Image comparison circuit 122 Threshold calculation circuit 123 Threshold storage circuit 130 Defect determination apparatus 131 Determination circuit 132,133 Coefficient table 140 Coordinate management apparatus 150 Inspection result Storage device 160 Inspection result display device 170 Input device 180 Result processing device 200 External computing device

Claims (21)

An irradiation unit that irradiates the inspection object with inspection light; and
A detection unit for detecting the intensity and position of reflected or scattered light generated on or near the surface of the inspection object;
A processing unit for processing information based on the detection result;
Based on the detection result, a display unit that displays a defect candidate group;
An input unit for selecting an arbitrary defect candidate from the defect candidate group displayed on the display unit,
The processor is
When an arbitrary defect candidate is selected from the defect candidate group by the input unit,
Classifying the defect candidate group into a defect candidate group having a feature amount equal to or less than the selected defect candidate and a defect candidate group having a feature amount larger than the selected defect candidate;
An inspection apparatus capable of calculating a threshold value for determining whether or not there is a defect on the surface of the inspection object or in the vicinity of the surface based on the classification result. An irradiation unit that irradiates the wafer or substrate with inspection light; and
A detection unit for detecting the intensity and position of reflected light or scattered light generated on or near the surface of the wafer or the substrate;
A processing unit for processing information based on the detection result;
Based on the detection result, a display unit that displays a defect candidate group;
An input unit for selecting an arbitrary defect candidate from the defect candidate group displayed on the display unit,
The processor is
When an arbitrary defect candidate is selected from the defect candidate group by the input unit,
Classifying the defect candidate group into a defect candidate group having a feature amount equal to or less than the selected defect candidate and a defect candidate group having a feature amount larger than the selected defect candidate;
An inspection apparatus capable of calculating a threshold value for determining whether or not there is a defect on or near the surface of the wafer or the substrate based on the classification result. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The threshold value may be updated in the processing unit when a defect candidate is selected in the input unit. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The threshold value may be displayed on the display unit. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The display unit is an inspection apparatus capable of displaying a graph with the feature amount of the defect candidate group as one axis and the frequency as one axis. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The display unit is an inspection apparatus capable of displaying a review screen. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The processor is
An inspection apparatus capable of determining a defect candidate group having a feature quantity equal to or less than an arbitrary defect candidate as a pseudo defect group and a defect candidate group having a feature quantity larger than the defect candidate as a defect group. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The processor is
An inspection apparatus capable of calculating the threshold value from the feature amount of the pseudo defect group. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Having a control unit for inspecting at least once,
The processor is
Based on the inspection result, determine a defect candidate within a specific coordinate range as the same defect candidate,
Based on the determination result, calculate the detection recall for each defect candidate,
An inspection apparatus capable of displaying, on the display unit, a defect candidate group within an arbitrary range of the detection reproducibility. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An inspection apparatus capable of having a storage unit for storing the threshold value. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The display unit
When the defect candidate group is determined to be a defect group and a pseudo defect group,
The defect group and the pseudo defect group are displayed with different symbols.
Alternatively, an inspection apparatus capable of deleting and displaying pseudo defect groups. A display unit for displaying a defect candidate group on or near the surface of the wafer or substrate;
An input unit for selecting an arbitrary defect candidate from the defect candidate group of the display unit,
Each time a defect candidate is selected in the input unit,
The display unit is capable of displaying a threshold value for determining whether or not there is a defect on the surface of the wafer or the substrate or in the vicinity of the surface. A display unit for displaying a defect candidate group on or near the surface of the wafer or substrate;
An input unit for selecting an arbitrary defect candidate from the defect candidate group,
Each time a defect candidate is selected in the input unit,
The display unit displays the defect candidate group as a defect candidate group given a first symbol and a defect candidate group given a second symbol,
Or the display apparatus which can delete and display the defect candidate group below the feature-value of the said defect candidate. Irradiating the wafer or substrate with inspection light; and
Detecting the intensity and position of reflected or scattered light generated on the surface of the inspection object;
Displaying a defect candidate group based on the detection result;
Selecting an arbitrary defect candidate from the defect candidate group;
When an arbitrary defect candidate is selected from the defect candidate group,
Classifying the defect candidate group into a defect candidate group having a feature amount equal to or less than the selected defect candidate and a defect candidate group having a feature amount larger than the selected defect candidate;
Calculating a threshold for determining whether there is a defect on or near the surface of the wafer or the substrate based on the classification result;
Determining whether there is a defect on or near the surface of the object to be inspected based on the threshold value. The inspection method according to claim 14, wherein
And a step of updating the threshold value when a defect candidate is selected. The inspection method according to claim 14, wherein
The step of classifying the defect candidate group includes:
An inspection method for determining a defect candidate group having a feature quantity equal to or less than an arbitrary defect candidate as a pseudo defect group and a defect candidate group having a feature quantity larger than the defect candidate as a defect group. The inspection method according to claim 14, wherein
The step of calculating the threshold value includes:
An inspection method for calculating the threshold value from the feature amount of the pseudo defect group. The inspection method according to claim 14, wherein
Testing at least once,
Determining defect candidates within a specific coordinate range as the same defect candidates based on the inspection results;
Calculating a detection reproducibility for each defect candidate based on the determination result, and
The step of displaying the defect candidate group includes:
An inspection method for displaying a defect candidate group within an arbitrary detection recall ratio range. The inspection method according to claim 14, wherein
When the defect candidate group is determined to be a defect group and a pseudo defect group,
A step of displaying the defect group and the pseudo defect group as different symbols;
Or a step of deleting and displaying the pseudo defect group. Each time a defect candidate near or near the surface of the wafer or substrate is selected,
A display method for displaying a threshold value for determining whether or not there is a defect. Each time a defect candidate near or near the surface of the wafer or substrate is selected,
Displaying the defect candidate group as a defect candidate group given a first symbol and a defect candidate group given a second symbol;
Or the display method which deletes and displays the defect candidate group below the feature-value of the said defect candidate.

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