JP2009283633A - Surface inspection device, and surface inspection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surface inspection device and a surface inspection method, can carry out both surface inspection of a wafer and observation verification of its inspection result. <P>SOLUTION: A surface (inspection object surface) of a wafer 10 mounted on a stage 15 of this surface inspection device is irradiated with illumination light rays 11, 12 to scan the surface of the wafer 10; scattering light from the wafer 10 is detected by a plurality of detectors 5a, 5b arranged so that elevation angles with respect to the surface of the wafer 10 are set different from one another; thus surface inspection is executed; thereafter an image at the detection position of the scattering light on the wafer 10 is obtained by an optical microscope 50 provided for the surface inspection device; and the observation verification of the surface inspection result is carried out by using the image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a surface inspection apparatus and a surface inspection method for inspecting foreign matters, scratches, defects, dirt, and the like on an inspection surface of a sample such as a semiconductor wafer.

  In the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, in order to realize and maintain a high yield, in each manufacturing process, foreign matter, scratches, defects (crystal defects) and dirt on the inspection surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer) Etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as defects) and it is very important to take measures to reduce the defects. Therefore, conventionally, in the manufacturing process of a wafer (semiconductor device), the surface of the wafer is inspected by a surface inspection apparatus.

  As this type of surface inspection device, for example, illumination light such as laser light is irradiated on the wafer surface, and scattered light generated from defects is received by the laser light by a plurality of detectors, and the plurality of detection results are processed. In this case, the presence / absence and position of the defect are detected, and at the same time, the defect is classified into a concave defect (such as a foreign substance) and a convex defect (such as a crystal defect) (see Patent Document 1, etc.).

JP 2006-201179 A

  The inspection result of the wafer surface obtained by the surface inspection apparatus as described above is fed back to the process management to improve quality and yield. On the other hand, process management (process correction) based on erroneous detection results (misdetection, misclassification, etc.) reduces yields due to insufficient (inappropriate) defect countermeasures and decreases in production efficiency due to excessive defect countermeasures. Therefore, careful evaluation of test results is required. For example, the above-described surface inspection apparatus uses a technique for detecting and classifying defects based on the intensity of scattered light detected by a plurality of detectors. Observation verification for observing the shape of the defect is necessary.

  However, when the wafer (inspected object) after surface inspection is observed (observation verification) with equipment such as SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), for example, it is necessary to transport the wafer to the equipment, and calibration of coordinates accompanying equipment change This has hindered the improvement of production efficiency.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a surface inspection apparatus and a surface inspection method capable of performing both surface inspection of a wafer and observation verification of the inspection result.

  The irradiation means for irradiating the surface of the object to be inspected with illumination light, the scanning means for scanning the surface of the object to be inspected with the illumination light from the irradiation means, and the elevation angle with respect to the surface of the object to be inspected are different. A plurality of detection means for detecting scattered light from the object to be inspected, and an optical microscope for acquiring an image of the surface of the object to be inspected based on a detection position of the scattered light on the surface of the object to be inspected. Shall.

  According to the present invention, in the surface inspection apparatus, both the surface inspection of the wafer and the observation verification of the inspection result can be performed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a surface inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the surface inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment has a wafer 10 that is an object to be inspected, a stage 15 that is driven by a driving device (not shown), and illumination light on the surface (surface to be inspected) of the wafer 10. Illuminating optical system 1, detection optical system 5 for detecting scattered light from the surface of wafer 10, arithmetic processing unit 8 for arithmetic processing of signals from detection optical system 5, and image of the surface of wafer 10. The optical microscope 50 to acquire, the stage controller 14 which controls operation | movement of the stage 15, and the whole control part 9 which controls the whole surface inspection apparatus are provided.

  The stage 15 includes a drive device (not shown) that drives the stage 15 in the XY direction (horizontal direction) and the Z direction (vertical direction), and a rotary drive device (not shown) such as a motor that rotates. have. That is, the wafer 10 placed on the stage 15 is driven in the XY direction and the Z direction by the stage 15 being driven in the XY direction and the Z direction and rotated, and is rotated in the circumferential direction. Is done.

  The illumination optical system 1 includes a light source 2 that generates illumination light (Ar laser, nitrogen laser, He—Cd laser, excimer laser, etc.), and reflection mirrors 4 a, 4 b, 4 c that reflect illumination light emitted from the light source 2. And an optical path switching mechanism 3 for driving the reflection mirror 4a and switching the traveling path (optical path) of the illumination light.

  When the reflection mirror 4a is arranged on the optical path of the illumination light (position shown in FIG. 1) by the optical path switching mechanism 3, the illumination light emitted from the light source 2 passes through the reflection mirror 4a and the reflection mirror 4c to the wafer 10. Irradiated substantially perpendicularly to the surface (surface to be inspected). This illumination light is referred to as epi-illumination 12. Further, when the reflection mirror 4a is retracted from the optical path of the illumination light by the optical path switching mechanism 3, the illumination light emitted from the light source 2 is oblique to the surface of the wafer 10 via the reflection mirror 4b (for example, (An angle of 30 ° or less). This illumination light is referred to as oblique illumination 11.

  The detection optical system 5 includes a plurality of detectors 5 a and 5 b that detect scattered light from the surface of the wafer 10. The detector 5a collects the scattered light from the wafer 10 and the photoelectrons that receive the scattered light collected by the condenser lens 6a and output a luminance signal corresponding to the received light amount (luminance). And a multiplier (photomultiplier) 7a. The detector 5b has the same configuration as the detector 5a, and includes a condenser lens 6b and a photomultiplier 7b.

  The detector 5a is disposed in the normal direction on the surface of the wafer 10, and is disposed above the irradiation position of the illumination light on the surface of the wafer 10 (upward in FIG. 1). The detector 5b is arranged in the specular direction of the oblique illumination 11, that is, at a position where the elevation angle is, for example, 30 ° or less with respect to the surface of the wafer 10.

  The arithmetic processing unit 8 includes an A / D converter 16 that converts a luminance signal (analog signal) from the photomultipliers 7 a and 7 b of the detection optical system 5 into a digital signal, and a luminance signal converted by the A / D converter 16. And the like, and defect detection based on the luminance signal stored in the storage unit 17 and comparison calculation of the luminance signal, and based on the comparison result, the type of defect (concave defect, convex defect) And a comparison calculation unit 18 that performs defect determination (detailed later). The storage unit 17 stores in advance a threshold value for determining the presence or absence of a defect. If the amount of received light (brightness) of at least one detector exceeds this threshold value, it is assumed that there is a defect. Do. If the luminance does not exceed the threshold value, the defect determination is not performed. The result of the defect determination is sent to the overall control unit 9 described later.

  The optical microscope 50 includes a lens 51 that collects light (including scattered light) from the surface of the wafer 10, and a CCD that receives the light collected by the lens 51 and acquires a two-dimensional optical image of the surface of the wafer 10. And a camera 52. The optical microscope 50 is arranged so as to capture an observation target position on the surface of the wafer 10 from an oblique direction (an oblique direction) with respect to the wafer 10, and a CCD camera 52 by controlling a lens 51 by a focus adjustment device (not shown). The image is formed on the imaging surface. In addition, the lens 51 may not be a single lens, for example, may be configured to include a plurality of lenses.

  The optical microscope 50 is a dark field microscope that observes scattered light and reflected light generated by applying light (illumination light) to an observation target portion on the wafer 10. The dark field microscope has a feature that, for example, the presence of an object smaller than the wavelength of visible light can be observed with high contrast, and is therefore suitable for observing a minute observation target (such as a defect on the wafer 10). When observing minute crystal defects or the like, the amount of scattered light from the observation target is small, but the light reception time (image integration time) of the CCD camera 52 is increased, and electrons excited by the CCD element of the CCD camera 52 are excited. By increasing the amount, an image can be acquired with high sensitivity. Further, by cooling the CCD camera 52 (CCD element) by a cooling means (not shown), noise (thermal noise) generated in the CCD element can be suppressed, and an image can be acquired with higher sensitivity. .

  An image (image data) acquired by the CCD camera 52 is stored in a storage device 31 (described later) of the overall control unit 9 and displayed on a display device 33 (described later).

  The stage controller 14 controls the operation of a drive device (not shown) and a rotary drive device (not shown) of the stage 15 based on a command from the overall control unit 9, and XY of the stage 15 and the wafer 10. The position in the circumferential direction is controlled while controlling the position in the direction and the Z direction. The illumination light is scanned in a spiral or concentric manner on the surface of the wafer 10 by horizontally driving the wafer 1 while rotating the wafer 1 while irradiating the illumination light onto the surface (surface to be inspected) of the wafer 10.

  When the stage 15 is driven (during driving), a position sensor (not shown) provided on the stage 15 causes the wafer 10 (stage 15) in the XY direction, Z direction, and θ direction (circumferential direction). The coordinate position (coordinate data) is always acquired and sent to the overall control unit 9.

  The overall control unit 9 includes a storage device 31 (hard disk, memory, etc.) that stores the coordinate data from the stage controller 14, the defect determination result from the comparison calculation unit 18, the image data from the optical microscope 50, and the wafer 10. Input device 32 (keyboard, mouse, etc.) for setting parameters used for surface inspection (defect detection and defect determination) and inputting various commands, setting screen for inspection parameters, surface inspection results, images by optical microscope 50, etc. Display device 33 (display or the like). The overall control unit 9 controls the entire surface inspection apparatus, and based on a command (parameter setting, etc.) input by the input device 32, the light source 2, the optical path switching mechanism 3, the stage controller of the illumination optical system 1 14 and each of the constituent devices such as the arithmetic processing unit 8 are controlled.

  The storage device 31 stores the defect determination result in association with the coordinates on the wafer 10. For example, the defect position and its type are displayed on the wafer map displayed on the display device 33.

  The overall control unit 9 is connected to another inspection apparatus (for example, SEM) via the network 34, and the inspection results (the presence / absence of defects, defect positions, defect types, etc.) by the surface inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. ) Can be shared with other inspection devices.

  Here, the defect determination in the present embodiment will be described in detail.

  When there is a defect (foreign matter, scratch, defect (crystal defect), dirt, etc.) in the illumination light irradiation portion of the surface (surface to be inspected) of the wafer 10 placed on the stage 15, scattered light is generated by the defect. The way in which scattered light is generated varies depending on the type of defect.

  For example, when the defect is an adhering foreign matter (convex defect) such as dirt, the scattered light has almost no directivity or directivity in a direction where the elevation angle with respect to the surface of the wafer 10 is low (for example, a direction of 30 ° or less). However, when the defect is a defect (concave defect) whose depth is very shallow compared to the diameter, such as a crystal defect, the scattered light has a directivity of, for example, 30 ° or more with respect to the surface of the wafer 10, and below this The angle (direction) tends to be hardly scattered. Therefore, when the scattered light is detected by the detector 5a provided in a direction with an elevation angle of 30 ° or more with respect to the surface of the wafer 10, it is determined that there is a concave defect (attached foreign matter or the like). When the scattered light is detected by the detector 5b provided in a direction with an elevation angle of 30 ° or less with reference to the above, it is determined that a convex defect (attached foreign matter, crystal defect, etc.) exists. That is, when scattered light is detected by both detectors 5a and 5b, or when scattered light is mainly detected only by the detector 5b, the defect is convex (adhered foreign matter or the like). When the scattered light is detected only by 5a, it is determined that the defect is a concave defect (such as a crystal defect). This determination method is referred to as first defect determination.

  Further, the difference in the generation of scattered light when the illumination light irradiation direction is changed differs depending on the type of defect. For example, when the illumination light applied to the surface of the wafer 10 is the epi-illumination 12, the amount of scattered light does not change significantly due to the convex defect and the concave defect, but when the illumination light is the oblique illumination 11, the convex defect The amount of scattered light due to the concave defect tends to be smaller than the amount of scattered light due to. Therefore, the amount of scattered light detected is compared between the case where the illumination light is the epi-illumination 12 and the case of the oblique illumination 11, and the amount of light in the oblique illumination 11 is smaller than the amount of light in the case of the epi-illumination 12. A concave defect (crystal defect, etc.), the amount of light in the oblique illumination 11 and the amount of light in the epi-illumination 12 are equal, or if the amount of light in the oblique illumination 11 is larger, it is a convex defect (attached foreign matter, etc.) Judge that there is. This determination method is referred to as second defect determination.

  The operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a processing flow of surface inspection in the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, after the wafer 10 is placed on the stage 15 of the surface inspection apparatus, inspection parameters and the like are set by the input device 32 of the overall control unit 9, and an inspection start command is input, the wafer 10. Start surface inspection for.

<Scanning of wafer surface (S100)>
When a command for starting the surface inspection is input, the illumination light is irradiated on the surface of the wafer 10, and the wafer 10 (stage 15) is rotationally driven and linearly driven to scan the surface of the wafer 10 by the illumination light (spiral). (Or concentric).

  The irradiation direction of the illumination light (oblique illumination 11 and epi-illumination 12) is appropriately switched depending on which of the first defect determination and the second defect determination is performed. When performing the first defect determination, the surface of the wafer 10 is irradiated with either the oblique illumination 11 or the epi-illumination 12. When performing the second defect determination, after irradiating the oblique illumination 11 and detecting the scattered light in the subsequent stage (S200), the illumination light is switched to the epi-illumination 12, and the scattered light is detected again (S200). I do. In addition, after the detection of the scattered light by the epi-illumination 12, the detection of the scattered light by the oblique illumination 11 may be performed.

<Detection of scattered light (S200)>
While the surface of the wafer 10 is scanned with illumination light, scattered light from the wafer 10 is detected by the detectors 5a and 5b. The arithmetic processing unit 8 stores the luminance signals from the detectors 5a and 5b in the storage unit 17, and performs defect detection and defect determination based on the luminance signals.

  When the first defect determination is performed, a concave defect (adhered foreign matter or the like) is detected when scattered light is detected by both detectors 5a and 5b, and a convex shape is mainly detected when scattered light is detected only by the detector 5a. (Crystal defects etc.) is determined.

  When the second defect determination is performed, if the light amount in the oblique illumination 11 is smaller than the light amount in the epi-illumination 12, a concave defect (crystal defect or the like), the light amount in the oblique illumination 11 and the epi-illumination If the amount of light in the case of 12 is equal, or the amount of light in the case of the oblique illumination 11 is larger, it is determined that the defect is a convex defect (attached foreign matter or the like).

  The arithmetic processing unit 8 sends the defect determination result to the overall control unit 9. The overall control unit 9 stores the defect determination result from the comparison calculation unit 18 in the storage device 31 and displays the surface inspection result on the display unit 33 based on the defect determination result and the coordinate data from the stage controller 14.

<End of scanning (S300)>
The rotational drive and linear drive of the wafer 10 (stage 15) are stopped, and the scanning of the surface of the wafer 10 with illumination light is finished. The wafer 10 is continuously placed on the stage 15, and the coordinates on the wafer 10 and the calibration information thereof at the time of detection of scattered light (S200) are passed on to the subsequent observation verification (S400) and used as they are.

<Observation verification of inspection results (S400)>
When a defect to be observed and verified is selected by the input device 32 or the like, the stage 15 is driven based on the defect position (coordinate data) stored in the storage device 31 so that the defect position on the wafer 10 is within the visual field range of the optical microscope 50. Moved to. When the movement of the defect position is completed, an image (defect image) of the surface of the wafer 10 is acquired by the optical microscope 50.

  An image of the defect position of the wafer 10 acquired by the optical microscope 50 is displayed on the display device 33. The operator confirms the type of defect based on the image displayed on the display device 33, and verifies whether the type of defect (concave defect, convex defect, etc.) in the surface inspection result is correct (observation verification). The result of the observation verification is fed back to the inspection parameter setting of the surface inspection or the adjustment of each part of the surface inspection apparatus, and the reliability (relevance) of the surface inspection is improved.

  Note that it is difficult to acquire an image of all the defects detected by the surface inspection and perform the observation verification. Therefore, the review target is selected by an appropriate method and efficiently evaluated. Thereby, it is possible to efficiently confirm the validity of the inspection result.

  The effect of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  In recent years, the detection sensitivity of surface inspection devices (optical type) has increased, and the minimum size of the detected defect has been miniaturized, so that the detected defect cannot be easily observed. Such defects need to be observed by transporting the wafer to a facility such as a review SEM, but this requires time for transporting between devices, time for coordinate calibration associated with the device change, etc., which hinders productivity improvement. It was. In order to solve such problems, for example, it is conceivable to perform surface inspection (defect detection) and defect observation by review SEM, but surface inspection (dark field detection) by review SEM is additional and simple. Therefore, the sensitivity as high as that of the optical surface inspection apparatus cannot be obtained. If the wavelength of the light source is shortened or the oscillation output is increased in order to obtain high sensitivity, it becomes a very expensive device, and it becomes difficult to actually use it in the production process. In addition, it is conceivable to use observation means such as SEM for the optical surface inspection apparatus, but since the physical quantities to be acquired are different, matching with the optical surface inspection apparatus is not good.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, since an optical microscope is added to the optical surface inspection apparatus, both the surface inspection of the wafer and the observation verification of the inspection result can be performed only by the surface inspection apparatus. The time for transporting the wafer to a facility such as an SEM for the inspection verification after the inspection or the time for correcting the coordinates accompanying the change of the apparatus is not required, and the production efficiency can be further improved.

  In addition, observation verification of the results of surface inspection (defect detection, defect determination), that is, whether the defect detection result is not noise (false information), and if it is not noise, the defect determination result is correct (convex defect and concave shape) Whether the defect classification is accurate) can be verified, and the process correction of the semiconductor process can be performed more reliably.

  Furthermore, since observation verification (confirmation of the result of surface inspection) can be performed immediately after the surface inspection is completed, feedback to the semiconductor process can be performed quickly, and expansion of product defects in the semiconductor process can be prevented more reliably. .

  In the present embodiment, the number of detectors 5a and 5b has been described by taking the case of two as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. They may be arranged differently.

  FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the arrangement of a plurality of detectors, and FIG. 3A is a view of the arrangement of the detectors as viewed from the normal direction (upward in FIG. 1) with respect to the surface of the wafer 10. FIG. 3B is a view seen from the lateral direction. In FIG. 3, the detector arrangement position 60 a is a position in the incident direction of the epi-illumination 12 (substantially normal to the surface of the wafer 10), and is referred to as a high-angle detection optical system. The arrangement position 60c is a position where the elevation angle is, for example, 30 ° or less with respect to the surface of the wafer 10, and is referred to as a low angle detection optical system. The arrangement position 60b is located in the high angle detection optical system 60a and the low angle detection optical system 60c, and is referred to as a medium angle detection optical system. The high angle detection optical system 60a has one arrangement position, and the medium angle detection optical system 60b and the low angle detection optical system 60c have four arrangement positions, respectively, so as to surround the irradiation light irradiation position on the wafer 10. Has been placed. Detectors having the same configuration as the detectors 5a and 5b are arranged at the arrangement positions of the detection optical systems 60a to 60c, and detection results (luminance signals) from the detectors are sent to the arithmetic processing unit 8.

  Thereby, since the scattered light from the wafer 10 can be detected in a plurality of directions, the sensitivity of defect detection can be improved.

  In addition, by comparing the received light amount (brightness) of the scattered light detected by each detector with the received light amount in different directions, the characteristics of the traveling direction of the scattered light can be grasped, and the types of defects can be further detailed. Can be classified.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the surface inspection of a semiconductor wafer has been described as an example. However, the surface inspection target is a glass substrate or a magnetic disk used for a thin display or the like. The present invention may be applied to surface inspection of a disk substrate to be used.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The present embodiment is an embodiment in which an optical microscope 50A (bright field microscope) is used instead of the optical microscope 50 (dark field microscope) of the first embodiment.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the surface inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the same members as those shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, the illumination optical system 1 of the present embodiment includes a light source 2 that generates illumination light, illumination light emitted from the light source 2, and reflected light (scattered light) from the surface (surface to be inspected) of the wafer 10. Mirrors 4a, 4b, 4d, and 4e, and an optical path switching mechanism 3 that drives the reflecting mirror 4a and switches a traveling path (optical path) of illumination light.

  When the reflection mirror 4a is arranged on the optical path of the illumination light (position shown in FIG. 4) by the optical path switching mechanism 3, the illumination light emitted from the light source 2 passes through the reflection mirror 4a and the reflection mirror 4d to the wafer 10. Irradiated substantially perpendicularly to the surface (surface to be inspected). This illumination light is referred to as epi-illumination 12 as in the first embodiment.

  The reflection mirror 4d reflects the illumination light from the light source 2 toward the wafer 10 and reflects the reflected light (scattered light) from the surface of the wafer 10 toward the reflection mirror 4e.

  The optical microscope 50A includes a lens 51 that collects light (including scattered light) from the surface of the wafer 10, and a CCD that receives the light collected by the lens 51 and acquires a two-dimensional optical image of the surface of the wafer 10. And a camera 52. The optical microscope 50A receives the reflected light (scattered light) from the surface of the wafer 10 via the reflection mirrors 4d and 4e, thereby acquiring a vertical image at the observation target position on the surface of the wafer 10.

  The optical microscope 50 </ b> A is a bright field microscope that observes scattered light and reflected light generated by applying the epi-illumination 12 to the observation target position on the wafer 10 from the irradiation direction of the epi-illumination 12.

  Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  Also in the present embodiment configured as described above, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In addition, since the distance to the surface of the wafer 10 is substantially constant in the field of view, it is possible to easily form an image on the imaging surface of the CCD camera 52 of the optical microscope 50A with respect to the observation target position.

  Furthermore, since an image perpendicular to the surface of the wafer 10 can be acquired, an image with less distortion can be obtained, and the shape of the defect can be confirmed more accurately.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the optical microscope 50 (dark field microscope) that images the observation target position from an oblique direction (oblique) with respect to the wafer 10 and substantially perpendicular to the wafer 10. The case where any one of the optical microscope 50A (bright field microscope) that images from the direction is used has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the optical microscope 50A includes both the optical microscopes 50 and 50A. It is also conceivable to acquire both an image from an oblique direction (dark field image) and an image from a substantially vertical direction (bright field image). In the second embodiment, for example, the reflection mirror 4e is rotated to reflect the reflected light (scattered light) from the observation target position directly to the optical microscope 50A, and an image (oblique) from an oblique direction (oblique). (Bright field image) may be obtained.

It is the figure which showed the whole structure of the surface inspection apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a processing flow of surface inspection. It is a figure which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of a some detector. It is the figure which showed the whole structure of the surface inspection apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Illumination optical system 2 Light source 3 Optical path switching mechanism 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d Reflection mirror 5 Detection optical system 6a, 6b Condensing lens 7a, 7b Photomultiplier tube 8 Arithmetic processing part 9 Overall control part 10 Wafer 11 Oblique illumination 12 epi-illumination 14 stage controller 15 stage 16 A / D converter 17 storage unit 18 comparison operation unit 31 storage unit 32 input unit 33 display unit 34 network 50, 50A optical microscope 51 lens 52 CCD camera

Claims (6)

Irradiating means for irradiating illumination light onto the surface of the object to be inspected;
Scanning means for scanning the surface of the object to be inspected with illumination light from the irradiation means;
A plurality of detection means arranged so as to have different elevation angles with respect to the surface of the inspection object, and detecting scattered light from the inspection object;
A surface inspection apparatus comprising: an optical microscope that acquires an image of the surface of the object to be inspected based on the detection position of the scattered light. The surface inspection apparatus according to claim 1,
The irradiation means includes an illumination switching mechanism that switches between oblique illumination that irradiates illumination light from an oblique direction to the surface of the object to be inspected and epi-illumination that irradiates illumination light from a substantially vertical direction,
The surface inspection apparatus, wherein the optical microscope acquires a dark field image of the surface of the inspection object by the oblique illumination. The surface inspection apparatus according to claim 1,
The irradiation means includes an illumination switching mechanism that switches between oblique illumination that irradiates illumination light from an oblique direction to the surface of the object to be inspected and epi-illumination that irradiates illumination light from a substantially vertical direction,
The optical microscope acquires a bright field image of the surface of the inspection object by the epi-illumination. In the surface inspection apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
A surface inspection apparatus comprising: a defect determination unit that determines a type of a defect on the surface of the object to be inspected based on a difference in the amount of scattered light detected by the plurality of detection units. In the surface inspection apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
Based on the difference between the amount of scattered light detected by the detection means when switched to the oblique illumination and the amount of scattered light detected by the detection means when switched to the epi-illumination. A surface inspection apparatus comprising defect determination means for determining a defect type of an inspection object. A procedure for illuminating the surface of the object to be inspected with illumination light;
A procedure for scanning the surface of the object to be inspected with illumination light from the irradiation means;
A procedure for detecting scattered light from the object to be inspected by a plurality of detection means arranged so that the elevation angles with respect to the surface of the object to be inspected are different.
And a procedure for acquiring an image of the surface of the inspection object with an optical microscope based on the position where the scattered light is detected on the surface of the inspection object.

Images