JP2009188226A - Visual inspection equipment and visual inspection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a visual inspection equipment and a visual inspection method capable of efficiently inspecting a circumferential portion of a semiconductor wafer. <P>SOLUTION: One or more semiconductor manufacturing devices, which executes each process for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate by applying process to the semiconductor wafer, is configured together with a semiconductor manufacturing system, to inspect appearance of the semiconductor substrate in manufacturing process. The device includes: a means for acquiring wafer holding position information relating to a holding position of the semiconductor wafer at the time when the semiconductor manufacturing device holds the semiconductor wafer, while associating it with a device identifier which identifies the semiconductor manufacturing device; a means for creating an inspection recipe for inspecting the circumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer based on the wafer holding position information acquired in association with the device identifier; a means for storing the created inspection recipe; and a means for imaging the circumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer based on the stored inspection recipe. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an appearance inspection apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a semiconductor substrate, and in particular, in a semiconductor manufacturing system constituted by a plurality of apparatuses via a network, the appearance of the semiconductor substrate is inspected as one component device of the semiconductor manufacturing system. The present invention relates to an appearance inspection apparatus.

  Conventionally, defect inspection is performed as appropriate in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor substrate. This defect inspection is mainly performed for inspection of defects such as scratches on the surface of a semiconductor wafer, adhesion of dust, cracks, dirt, and film unevenness. In particular, if there is a crack or the like in the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer may be cracked due to this, and the presence or absence of a crack or the like in the peripheral portion is detected at an earlier stage of the manufacturing process. It is necessary to take measures such as removing the wafer.

  As a first conventional technique for inspecting such a defect in the peripheral portion, a semiconductor wafer is mounted on a rotating stage, and an elastic body is brought into contact with the peripheral end surface of the semiconductor wafer to regulate the position of the semiconductor wafer. The technique which acquires the image of the perimeter of a peripheral part and implements inspection is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 1).

  In the first prior art, a camera that images the upper surface of the peripheral portion, a camera that captures the side surface, and a camera that images the lower surface are arranged on the same plane in the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer. And when imaging a peripheral part, after specifying the notch position of a semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor wafer is rotated and the image of the peripheral part for one round is taken in from each camera. The image of each camera is processed by the imaging data processing unit, and defect extraction processing is performed except for the notch position.

  In addition, in order to confirm the state of resist removal at the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer, the second conventional technique performs imaging at multiple points equally divided in the circumferential direction instead of continuously imaging the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer. A technique is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2).

In the second conventional technique, for example, imaging is performed six times every 60 ° in the circumferential direction, and analysis is performed on each image. Then, when the measured value of any one image deviates from the threshold value, it is considered that a resist removal failure has occurred.
JP 2003-243465 A JP-T-2004-518293

However, in the first prior art, there is a problem that it takes time to inspect the entire circumference of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer.
Further, the second prior art is aimed at examining whether or not the remaining resist is deviated from the center of the semiconductor wafer when the resist on the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer is removed. It is sufficient to examine the inspection points, but since the defects of the semiconductor wafer do not always appear at equally spaced positions in the circumferential direction, efficiently inspect the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer where there is a high possibility of occurrence of defects. There was a problem that it was not possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an appearance inspection apparatus and an appearance inspection method capable of efficiently inspecting a peripheral portion of a semiconductor wafer.

The present invention employs the following configuration in order to solve the above problems.
That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, the visual inspection apparatus of the present invention constitutes a semiconductor manufacturing system together with one or more semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses that execute each process for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate, An appearance inspection apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a semiconductor substrate. The visual inspection apparatus according to the present invention associates wafer holding position information related to a holding position of the semiconductor wafer when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus holds the semiconductor wafer with an apparatus identifier for specifying the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Wafer holding position information acquisition means acquired by the method, and an inspection recipe for inspecting the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer based on the wafer holding position information acquired in association with the apparatus identifier by the wafer holding position information acquisition means A peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer based on the inspection recipe stored by the inspection recipe storage means, the inspection recipe storage means for storing the inspection recipe created by the inspection recipe creation means, and the inspection recipe stored by the inspection recipe storage means And imaging means for imaging.

  As a result, it is possible to inspect a part of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer, that is, a wafer holding position where a defect easily occurs in the peripheral portion. For example, when the diameter of the semiconductor wafer is 300 mm, the peripheral length of the peripheral portion is about 950 mm. In the conventional appearance inspection apparatus, inspection of such a long region is always performed, but in the appearance inspection apparatus of the present invention, only the wafer holding portion can be inspected.

  According to the present invention, an inspection recipe is created based on wafer holding position information when each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus holds a semiconductor wafer, and the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer is imaged based on the inspection recipe. It is possible to efficiently inspect the peripheral portion of the.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a semiconductor manufacturing system including an appearance inspection apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

  In FIG. 1, an appearance inspection apparatus 1 has a base portion 2 fixed to a frame (not shown) or the like, and an inspection portion 3 is mounted on the base portion 2. The inspection unit 3 includes a wafer holding unit 4 on which a semiconductor wafer W to be inspected is placed, a peripheral imaging unit 5 that is disposed in the vicinity of the wafer holding unit 4 and acquires an image of the peripheral part of the semiconductor wafer W, Have. The wafer holding unit 4 and the peripheral imaging unit 5 (imaging means) are controlled by the apparatus control unit 6. In addition to the peripheral imaging unit 5, a surface inspection unit such as a microscope that can observe the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer W may be provided. Moreover, it is good also as an inspection part which installs a microscope instead of the peripheral imaging part 5, and observes a peripheral part. However, at this time, the observation is only from above the surface.

  The wafer holding unit 4 has an X stage 11 fixed to the base unit 2 and movable in the horizontal direction shown as an X axis in FIG. 1, and a Y axis which is a horizontal direction orthogonal to the X axis on the X stage 11. A movable Y stage 12 is mounted. Further, on the Y stage 12, a Z stage 13 that is movable in the Z-axis direction, which is the height direction orthogonal to the XY direction, is mounted. With these X stage 11, Y stage 12, and Z stage 13, the wafer holding unit 4 can move the semiconductor wafer W in a three-dimensional manner relative to the peripheral imaging unit 5. Further, a rotating unit 14 is provided on the Z stage 13. The rotating unit 14 has a rotating shaft 15 that can rotate around the Z axis. These X stage 11, Y stage 12, Z stage 13 and rotating shaft 15 are driven using a servo motor, a ball screw, and a speed reduction mechanism. A stepping motor or a linear motor can be used as the drive source.

A rotating plate 16 is provided at the upper end of the rotating shaft 15. On the upper surface of the rotating plate 16, an unillustrated adsorption unit that holds the semiconductor wafer W by vacuum adsorption is provided.
The peripheral imaging unit 5 is supported by an arm unit 21 fixed to the base unit 2. The peripheral imaging unit 5 has a substantially C shape having a recess 22 capable of receiving the peripheral part of the semiconductor wafer W in a side view, and a camera (not shown) capable of imaging the peripheral part of the semiconductor wafer W from a plurality of angular directions. Is arranged. The number of cameras can be arbitrarily changed to one, three, five, or the like. When only one camera is used, the imaging position can be changed by supporting the camera movably, or the imaging position can be changed by a movable mirror while the camera is fixed. One or more illumination devices (not shown) that illuminate the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W may be provided. An illuminator enables observation in a bright field, dark field, or both bright and dark fields.

  The apparatus control unit 6 controls driving of the stages 11, 12, 13 and the rotating unit 14 of the wafer holding unit 4, vacuuming control for suction, zoom adjustment of a camera (not shown) of the peripheral imaging unit 5, and focus. Adjustment, light control of a lighting device (not shown), and reception of a camera image signal are performed. For example, it is composed of a motor driver circuit, a driver circuit for controlling opening and closing of a vacuuming valve, and the like. Furthermore, the device control unit 6 is also connected to a computer 41.

  The computer 41 is a general-purpose computer to which an input device such as a mouse 42 and a keyboard 43 and a monitor 44 that displays various settings and an image of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W are connected. The mouse 42, the keyboard 43, and the monitor 44 are interfaces that can be operated by the examiner. The computer 41 includes an input / output (I / O) device 45 to which the device control unit 6, the mouse 42, the keyboard 43, and the monitor 44 are connected, a control unit 46, and a storage device 47 that stores data such as inspection recipes. Have The control unit 46 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and can be functionally divided into an inspection control unit 51 that performs an inspection according to an inspection recipe and a recipe registration unit 52 that registers an inspection recipe in the storage device 47. . The computer 41 may be mounted on the appearance inspection apparatus 1 or may be provided separately from the appearance inspection apparatus 1. The computer 41 and the device control unit 6 may form one control device.

  The computer 41 and the host network host 100 in a factory or the like are connected via a network system (for example, LAN) existing in the city via the I / O device 45 of the computer 41 so that data and information can be exchanged. Yes.

  The appearance inspection apparatus 1 constitutes a semiconductor manufacturing system by connecting to various manufacturing apparatuses such as the apparatus A101, the apparatus B102, the apparatus C103, the apparatus D104, and the apparatus E105. The apparatuses A101, B102, C103, D104, and E105 include a coater, a developer, and a stepper for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate by performing various processing processes such as baking, polishing, and inspection of a circuit on the semiconductor wafer W. These are various semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses, and each manufacturing process to be inspected by the appearance inspection apparatus 1 is performed. That is, the appearance inspection apparatus 1 constitutes a semiconductor manufacturing system together with one or more semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses that execute processes for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate by processing the semiconductor wafer W. Inspect the appearance.

  As a preliminary preparation for inspecting the appearance, the appearance inspection apparatus 1 specifies any one of the apparatus A101 and the like as the wafer holding position information regarding the holding position when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as the apparatus A101 holds the semiconductor wafer W. It is acquired in association with the device identifier for

  Here, the apparatus identifier is a number determined for each manufacturing apparatus, and the wafer holding position information of the manufacturing apparatus corresponding to the number is based on a reference position such as a notch of the substrate or an orientation flat (hereinafter referred to as orientation flat). The held position is input from design data or the like of the holding (gripping) part of the manufacturing apparatus, and is registered in advance in the host network host 100.

  Further, each manufacturing apparatus preferably includes an alignment device that detects the reference position of the wafer and detects the rotation angle of the wafer to make a certain direction. The alignment position of wafers that are always taken out from the cassette can be detected by this alignment device, and the rotation direction can be set to a fixed direction so that the wafer can be stored in the cassette even if the rotation direction of the reference position of the wafer is misaligned. The holding position of the wafer by the holding device in the manufacturing apparatus can be made constant.

  In addition, when a manufacturing apparatus such as a spin coater has a holding unit such as a rotary table that rotates about the center position of the wafer as a rotation axis, it is desirable to provide a rotation angle detection device so that the rotation angle can be managed in addition to the alignment device . In other words, the wafer is stored in the cassette with the reference position always aligned in a certain direction, and after the processing by the manufacturing apparatus, the encoder is installed on the holding unit that rotates so that the reference position is stored in the cassette in the fixed direction. Or a stepping motor that can detect the rotation angle of the rotation drive unit. Thereby, even when there is a rotating holding part, the holding position of the holding part of the wafer can always be made constant.

  The appearance inspection apparatus 1 creates an inspection recipe for inspecting the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W based on the wafer holding position information acquired in association with the apparatus identifier. In order to confirm the inspection recipe completed here, an inspection area designation screen is displayed on the monitor 44, and the inspector performs fine adjustment of the imaging position and imaging direction as necessary. The created inspection recipe is stored in the storage device 47.

Then, the appearance inspection apparatus 1 images the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W based on the inspection recipe stored in the storage device 47.
Next, an appearance inspection method executed by such an appearance inspection apparatus 1 will be described.

  First, when the appearance inspection apparatus 1 performs an appearance inspection, first, a semiconductor wafer W that has been subjected to various processing processes by the apparatus A101, the apparatus B102, the apparatus C103, the apparatus D104, the apparatus E105, and the like is not illustrated. It is conveyed by. The semiconductor wafer W is aligned by an alignment apparatus (not shown) and the notch position is detected, and then the semiconductor wafer W is placed with the center of the semiconductor wafer W aligned with the center of rotation of the rotating plate 16. Then, the apparatus controller 6 causes the suction unit to vacuum-suck the vicinity of the center of the back surface of the semiconductor wafer W.

  The semiconductor wafer W placed after the positioning of the wafer holding unit 4 is executed is inspected at the peripheral edge according to the inspection recipe registered in advance in the storage device 47. The computer 41 reads the inspection recipe selected according to the wafer to be inspected from the storage device 47 and causes the inspection control unit 51 to execute it. Then, the semiconductor wafer W rotates at a predetermined speed, and temporarily stops at the imaging recipe and imaging position set on the inspection recipe, if necessary, on the inspection area designation screen, or the camera moves the predetermined range as a moving image. The still image or moving image of the peripheral portion is sequentially acquired and displayed on the monitor 44. Since the XYZ of the wafer holding unit 4 is adjusted so that the acquired image of the peripheral portion is displayed at substantially the center of the monitor 44, the inspector visually checks the monitor 44 to check for defects such as scratches. Inspect.

  Scratches and defects in the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W occur in various processes such as the apparatus A101, apparatus B102, apparatus C103, apparatus D104, and apparatus E105, which are the pre-processes of the appearance inspection process, and the places where the scratches and defects occur. Is often a holding position where the apparatus A101 or the like grips the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W. Therefore, by inspecting these holding positions, there is a high possibility that scratches and defects will be found.

  On the other hand, the host network host 100 has holding position information indicating a holding position where the apparatus A 101 or the like on the same production line holds the semiconductor wafer W. Therefore, the computer 41 uses the holding position information stored in the host network host 100 to calculate coordinates and angles, and creates an inspection recipe based on the holding position information.

  If there is information such as the coordinates, angle, and length of the holding position with respect to the notch position on the circumference of the semiconductor wafer W, it is possible to reproduce and inspect the holding position of the apparatus A101 etc. by executing coordinate conversion. Become.

  Here, the information stored in the upper network host 100 may be drawing data indicating the holding position with respect to the semiconductor wafer W. That is, it is only necessary that the data shows the relationship between the holding position and the notch position.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a holding position for holding the semiconductor wafer W. As shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, for example, a recess called a notch position of the semiconductor wafer W is taken down, and the center of the semiconductor wafer W is set to (0, 0) coordinates. Here, the right in the X direction is positive, and the upper direction in the Y direction is positive.

  By setting the coordinates of the first holding position 201 as (X1, Y1), the coordinates of the second holding position 202 as (−X2, Y2), and the coordinates of the third holding position 203 as (X3, −Y3). The holding position in the circumferential direction of the semiconductor wafer W is indicated by each coordinate. The notch position may be up, right, or left. Further, it is easier for the inspector to grasp the image when the notch position is determined by which direction the notch is directed in the appearance inspection apparatus 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a holding position for holding the semiconductor wafer W using an angle from the origin.
In FIG. 3, the first holding position 201 (X1, Y1), the second holding position 202 (-X2, Y2), and the third holding position 203 (X3, -Y3) are the center coordinates of the semiconductor wafer W ( It is shown as an angle from (0,0). For example, the first holding position 201 (X1, Y1) is a position obtained by rotating the circumference of the semiconductor wafer W by 130 ° from the notch position with the origin (0, 0) as the center, and by performing coordinate conversion to this position. Can show.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a cross section of the holding position of the semiconductor wafer W. As shown in FIG.
Usually, the shape of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W is defined by the SEMI standard and rounded with a grindstone or the like. Therefore, the holding position of the semiconductor wafer W is different in the cross-sectional direction so that there is a difference in the position in the circumferential direction due to the difference in each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as the apparatus A101, the apparatus B102, the apparatus C103, the apparatus D104, or the apparatus E105. Exists. As shown in FIG. 4, a line is drawn at the center in the thickness direction of the semiconductor wafer W, and this is defined as the 0 ° position. As for the cross-sectional direction of the holding position, + R1 °, −R2 °, etc. exist depending on the difference in each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, depending on the shape of the holding portion.

  Since the holding position in the cross-sectional direction of each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as the apparatus A101 is also stored in the host network host 100, the information is converted so that it can be used by the appearance inspection apparatus 1, and the holding position is inspected. Create an inspection recipe. Thereby, the circumferential direction and cross-sectional direction of the holding position can be inspected.

  Then, an inspection recipe automatically created from the holding position information of each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as the apparatus A101 is performed, and when the presence or absence of a defect can be inspected, the rotation of the semiconductor wafer W is stopped and the suction is released. The semiconductor wafer W is unloaded by the robot.

  According to the first embodiment as described above, using the holding position data held in advance, the holding position where the semiconductor wafer W is held by the holding portion of each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as the apparatus A101 is inspected. It can be done automatically. Therefore, compared with the case where the entire circumference of the peripheral portion is inspected, it is possible to inspect the holding position where a scratch or a defect is likely to occur, so that the inspection time can be greatly shortened and the oversight of the scratch or the defect is reduced. In addition, since the inspection recipe is automatically created, the operation is easy.

The present invention can be widely applied without being limited to the first embodiment described above.
For example, the wafer holding unit 4 is not limited to the configuration of the first embodiment described above, as long as it can move the semiconductor wafer W in three directions XYZ and can rotate the semiconductor wafer W. . Further, instead of moving the semiconductor wafer W to XYZ, the peripheral imaging unit 5 may be mounted on the X stage 11, the Y stage 12, and the Z stage 13 so as to be movable in three directions of XYZ.

Further, a mechanism movable in at least one direction of XYZ may be provided on the wafer holding unit 4 side, and a mechanism movable in the remaining two directions may be provided on the peripheral imaging unit 5 side.
Further, it is not limited to the host network host 100 but may be anywhere as long as the data at the holding position is stored, such as a folder designated by the host network host 100. The holding position data may be supplied to the appearance inspection apparatus 1 using a commercially available memory instead of the network.

In addition, if there is information on coordinates and angles that can indicate the relationship with the notch position, it is also possible to input numerical data directly on the monitor 44 of the appearance inspection apparatus 1.
(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the computer 41 creates an inspection recipe based on the holding position data stored in the host network host 100 and executes the inspection of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W. In the second embodiment, scratch and defect data obtained from the inspection result can be collated.

  After the inspection of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W using the inspection recipe, all flaws and defect data of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W and manufacturing of each semiconductor such as the device A101, the device B102, the device C103, the device D104, or the device E105 The data of the holding position of the apparatus may be collated, or after the inspection by each inspection recipe, the data may be collated with the scratch or defect data obtained by the inspection recipe.

  That is, when the inspector inspects the defect in the peripheral portion based on the captured image of the peripheral portion imaged by the peripheral imaging unit 5, and the defect is detected, the computer 41 is based on the inspection recipe used for the inspection. Then, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that caused the defect is specified from the apparatus identifier corresponding to the wafer holding position information corresponding to the position of the image.

  Further, it is fed back to the higher-level network host 100 as to whether there is a high possibility that scratches or defects have occurred in the holding unit that transports or holds the substrate of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as the apparatus A101. The host network host 100 displays a warning on the monitor 44 and the like so that the inspector can check the corresponding manufacturing apparatus.

  In this way, by detecting scratches and defects in the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer W and immediately applying feedback to the host network host 100, it is possible to improve the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that has generated scratches or defects. Thereby, the yield of the semiconductor wafer W is improved.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings. However, the appearance inspection apparatus to which the present invention is applied can be applied to the above-described embodiments and the like as long as the function is executed. Without limitation, it may be a single device, a system composed of a plurality of devices, an integrated device, or a system that performs processing via a network such as a LAN or WAN. Needless to say.

  That is, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the like, and can take various configurations or shapes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the semiconductor manufacturing system containing the external appearance inspection apparatus to which this invention is applied. 5 is a view showing a holding position for holding a semiconductor wafer W. FIG. It is a figure which shows the holding position holding the semiconductor wafer W using the angle from an origin. 3 is a view showing a cross section of a holding position of a semiconductor wafer W. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Appearance inspection apparatus 2 Base part 3 Inspection part 4 Wafer holding part 5 Edge imaging part 6 Apparatus control part 11 X stage 12 Y stage 13 Z stage 14 Rotating part 15 Rotating shaft 16 Rotating plate 21 Arm part 22 Recessed part 41 Computer 42 Mouse 43 Keyboard 44 Monitor 45 I / O (Input / Output) device 46 Control unit 47 Storage device 51 Inspection control unit 52 Recipe registration unit 100 Host network host 101 Device A (semiconductor manufacturing device)
102 Device B (Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment)
103 Device C (Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment)
104 Device D (Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment)
105 Equipment E (Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment)
201 First holding position 202 Second holding position 203 Third holding position

Claims (8)

A visual inspection apparatus that configures a semiconductor manufacturing system together with one or more semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses that perform each process for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate, and inspects the appearance of the semiconductor substrate in the manufacturing process,
Wafer holding position information acquisition means for acquiring wafer holding position information related to a holding position of the semiconductor wafer when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus holds the semiconductor wafer in association with an apparatus identifier for specifying the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus; ,
An inspection recipe creating means for creating an inspection recipe for inspecting a peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer based on the wafer holding position information acquired in association with the apparatus identifier by the wafer holding position information acquiring means;
Inspection recipe storage means for storing the inspection recipe created by the inspection recipe creation means;
Based on the inspection recipe stored by the inspection recipe storage means, an imaging means for imaging the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer;
An appearance inspection apparatus comprising: further,
A defect detection means for detecting a defect in the peripheral portion based on a captured image of the peripheral portion imaged by the imaging means;
When a defect is detected by the defect detection means, based on the inspection recipe, a defect generation apparatus specifying means for specifying a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that has caused the defect;
The visual inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   3. The wafer holding position information acquiring unit acquires wafer holding position information acquired in association with the apparatus identifier via a network connected to each semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Appearance inspection apparatus as described.   4. The wafer holding position information is stored in association with the apparatus identifier in a network host computer or a network folder that manages the semiconductor manufacturing system. Visual inspection equipment. further,
Feedback means for feeding back, to the network host computer or network folder, defect information relating to the defect detected by the defect detection means and device information relating to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus identified by the defect generating device identifying means;
The visual inspection apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:   6. The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wafer holding position information is determined based on a reference position provided on the semiconductor wafer.   The appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reference position is a notch position or an orientation flat position of the semiconductor wafer. A visual inspection method for configuring a semiconductor manufacturing system together with one or more semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses that execute processes for manufacturing a semiconductor substrate, and inspecting the appearance of the semiconductor substrate in the manufacturing process,
Obtaining wafer holding position information relating to the holding position of the semiconductor wafer when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus holds the semiconductor wafer in association with an apparatus identifier for specifying the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus;
Based on the wafer holding position information acquired in association with the apparatus identifier, create an inspection recipe for inspecting the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer,
Storing the created inspection recipe in a recording medium;
Based on the inspection recipe stored in the recording medium, image the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer,
An appearance inspection method characterized by that.