JP2012149985A - Substrate inspection method and substrate inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce time required for inspection of a chip formed on a thinned substrate.SOLUTION: An inspection method for a substrate 30 performs: a conveyance process in which the substrate 30 is conveyed to a predetermined position while holding at least a part of the outer edge part 32 of the substrate 30 and maintaining the area surrounded by the outer edge part 32 in a non-contact state; a waiting process for waiting until vibration caused by the conveyance process converges; and an inspection process in which information regarding at least one side of the substrate 30 is acquired. In this substrate inspection method, a blowing process is performed in which a gas 42 is blown from both the front and the back sides of the substrate 30 to facilitate convergence of vibration during at least a part of the time in which at least the waiting process is performed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate inspection method and a substrate inspection apparatus.

  In the recent electronic device market, products using MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) technology (hereinafter simply referred to as “MEMS”) are spreading. MEMS is a technique for producing a fine structure such as a micron order, for example, and in many cases, a semiconductor device manufacturing technique is applied. That is, in many cases, a minute structure is formed on a substrate made of single crystal silicon or the like by using a patterning technique such as a film forming technique or a photolithography method. In such a case, since the above-described substrate can also be a part of a structure by MEMS technology, it is often thinned in the manufacturing process (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the case of such a thinned substrate, the back surface is also a part of the structure, so that contact is limited. Therefore, when inspecting the appearance, etc., the entire rear surface of the substrate is not adsorbed, and only the outer edge is fixed by adsorbing etc., and the inner area, which is the area surrounded by the outer edge, is kept in a non-contact state and transported and inspected. It is necessary to do.

JP 2010-50539 A

  However, in the above-described substrate inspection method, vibration of the substrate itself becomes a problem. When the thinned substrate is transported with only the outer edge portion fixed, vibrations having an amplitude of μm occur in the unfixed inner region. The inspection or the like cannot be performed until the vibration is settled. Such vibration tends to increase as the substrate becomes larger and thinner. For this reason, there is a problem that the time required for waiting for the vibration to settle before the inspection increases, and the cost required for the inspection increases.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  [Application Example 1] In the substrate inspection method of this application example, the substrate is transported to a predetermined position while holding at least a part of the outer edge portion of the substrate and maintaining a non-contact state in a region surrounded by the outer edge portion. A substrate inspection method that performs a transport process, a standby process that waits until vibrations generated by the transport process converge, and an inspection process that acquires some information about at least one surface of the substrate after the standby process. Then, at least during a period of time during which the standby process is being performed, a blowing process is performed in which gas is blown from both the front and back surfaces of the substrate to promote convergence of the vibration.

  With such a substrate inspection method, the above-described standby time can be shortened, so that the utilization efficiency of the substrate inspection apparatus can be improved, and the manufacturing cost of the above-described MEMS product can be reduced.

  Application Example 2 In the substrate inspection method described above, the air blowing step is also performed during at least a part of the time during which the transfer step is being performed.

  With such a substrate inspection method, the above-described standby time can be further shortened, so that the utilization efficiency of the substrate inspection apparatus can be further improved. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the above-mentioned MEMS product can be further reduced.

  Application Example 3 A substrate inspection apparatus according to this application example includes a substrate holding mechanism that can hold a substrate without contacting an inner region that is a region surrounded by an outer edge portion of the substrate, and the substrate holding mechanism. At least one of the transport mechanism that moves the held substrate in the surface direction, the blower mechanism that blows gas onto the front and back surfaces of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism, and the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism And an inspection mechanism for acquiring some information from the surface.

  With such a substrate inspection apparatus, it is possible to forcibly stop the vibration (of the substrate) generated by the substrate being conveyed. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently inspect a thinned substrate that is likely to generate vibration.

  Application Example 4 In the substrate inspection apparatus described above, the air blowing mechanism is a mechanism that blows gas over the entire front and back surfaces.

  With such a substrate inspection apparatus, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of vibrations during conveyance of the thinned substrate. And the generated slight vibration can be forcibly stopped. Therefore, it is possible to more efficiently inspect a thinned substrate where vibration is likely to occur.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing an outline of a substrate inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows the board | substrate which is a test object of the board | substrate inspection apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. The schematic plan view which shows the outline | summary of an adsorption stand. The external view which shows the state which looked at the adsorption stand from the substrate surface direction. The schematic cross section which shows the cross section of an adsorption stand with the cross section of a board | substrate, and the cross section of a housing | casing. The time chart which shows the board | substrate inspection method of 2nd Embodiment. Process drawing which shows the board | substrate inspection method of 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the housing | casing by which the upper side ventilation area concerning 3rd Embodiment was expanded. The time chart which shows the board | substrate inspection method of 4th Embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings to be used are appropriately enlarged or reduced so that the part to be described can be recognized.

(First embodiment)
<Board inspection device>
First, the outline | summary of the board | substrate inspection apparatus of this embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an outline of a substrate inspection apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.
The substrate inspection apparatus 1 includes a first table 11 that can reciprocate in the X direction (X axis direction) and a second table 12 that can reciprocate in the Y direction (Y axis direction). The second table 12 moves on a rail (no symbol) formed on the base 2 and extending in the Y direction. The first table 11 moves on a rail (no symbol) formed on the second table 12 extending in the X direction. The first table 11 and the second table 12 constitute a transport mechanism 10. In addition, the above-mentioned "upper" has shown the side by which the 1st table 11 grade | etc., Is arrange | positioned seeing from the base 2 in a Z direction (Z-axis direction).

  On the first table 11, a suction table 7 capable of sucking the substrate 30 is disposed. As described above, since the first table 11 can reciprocate in the X direction and the second table 12 can reciprocate in the Y direction, the suction table 7 can hold any position on the XY plane while holding the substrate 30. Can be moved to. In addition, although the operation | work which transfers the board | substrate 30 in the board | substrate inspection apparatus 1 to the adsorption stand 7 needs to be implemented manually, the aspect using a dedicated transfer apparatus is also possible.

  On the base 2, the support body 15 is arrange | positioned so that the above-mentioned conveyance mechanism 10 may be straddled. A casing 4 that accommodates a part of the inspection mechanism 3 (see FIG. 5) is disposed substantially at the center of the portion extending in the X direction of the support. The inspection mechanism 3 can inspect the appearance of a chip 31 (see FIG. 2 described later) formed on the substrate 30 by photographing the surface of the substrate 30 with the camera 5 (see FIG. 5) as will be described later. That is, the board inspection apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is an appearance inspection apparatus. The housing 4 can be moved in the Z direction by a rail (not indicated) formed on the support 15. With the above configuration, the substrate inspection apparatus 1 can inspect the appearance of the substrate 30 at an arbitrary position and determine whether or not it is acceptable.

<Board>
Next, the board | substrate 30 which is a test object of the above-mentioned board | substrate inspection apparatus 1 is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 2A is a schematic plan view of the substrate 30. FIG. 2B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the substrate 30 showing a cross section taken along line AA ′ in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the substrate 30 is partitioned into an annular outer edge portion 32 and an inner region 33 that is an area surrounded by the outer edge portion in plan view. Note that the above two areas are concepts applied to both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30.

  Chips 31 are regularly formed in the inner region 33. The chip 31 is a MEMS element manufactured by the MEMS technology, and has a three-dimensional structure. Specifically, the chip 31 includes a structure 36 that is a convex portion slightly raised from the surface of the substrate 30 or a concave portion that is slightly dug down, and a through hole 35 that is a hole that penetrates the substrate 30. The appearance inspection of the structure 36 can be performed by irradiating light from the surface (upper surface) side of the substrate 30. On the other hand, the inspection of the through hole 35 needs to be performed by irradiating light from the back surface (lower surface) side of the substrate 30. The adjacent chips 31 are separated by a scribe line (no code) or a dicing line (no code).

The substrate 30 is a substrate made of single crystal silicon and has an original thickness of 625 μm to 725 μm. As shown in FIG. 2B, the inner region 33 is thinned to approximately 65 μm. Note that the outer edge portion 32 maintains the original thickness described above.
Such thinning is part of the process of forming the chip 31, that is, the MEMS element. Unlike the general semiconductor device, the MEMS element in the present embodiment includes both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30 as constituent elements. Therefore, both the front and back surfaces are both protected during the appearance inspection, and at least the region where the chip 31 is formed cannot be contacted. Therefore, the board | substrate 30 is hold | maintained at the adsorption stand 7 so that only the outer edge part 32 may contact at the time of an external appearance test | inspection. In such a state, an appearance inspection is performed for each chip 31 by the inspection mechanism 3 described above. Therefore, during the appearance inspection of the substrate 30, the fine movement is repeated with only the outer edge portion 32 held. During such movement, vibration can occur in the thinned inner region 33. The above-described appearance inspection needs to be performed after the vibration has converged. The substrate inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can shorten the time required for convergence of such vibration.

<Suction table and inspection mechanism>
Next, the substrate holding mechanism 16, the blower mechanism 20, and the inspection mechanism 3 provided in the substrate inspection apparatus 1 will be described. Among the above-described mechanisms, the blower mechanism 20 is a mechanism that blows the gas 42 onto both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30. Therefore, in the substrate inspection apparatus 1, the blower mechanism 20 is disposed on both the suction platform 7 positioned below the substrate 30 and the housing 4 positioned above the substrate 30.

  The components of the inspection mechanism 3 are mainly housed in the housing 4. However, as described above, when the appearance of the through hole 35 formed in the substrate 30 is inspected, it is necessary to irradiate light from the back side of the substrate 30. Therefore, the inspection mechanism 3 includes a light source (a lower light source 14 to be described later) disposed on the suction table 7 as a component. Hereinafter, the configurations of the substrate holding mechanism 16, the air blowing mechanism 20, and the inspection mechanism 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The blower mechanism 20 includes a compressed air source 21 (see FIG. 3 and the like) that is not included in the board inspection apparatus 1. Further, the components of the substrate holding mechanism 16 are not arranged in the housing 4.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an outline of the suction table 7. FIG. 4 is an external view showing the suction table 7 as viewed from the substrate surface direction. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the cross section of the suction table 7 along the line B-B ′ in FIG. 3 together with the cross section of the substrate 30 and the cross section of the housing 4 placed on the suction table.

  The suction table 7 includes a suction table body 8 and a transparent substrate 9. The adsorption base body 8 is made of a material that can be easily processed, such as metal. Although illustrated as an integral member in FIG. 5, a plurality of members may be joined. The transparent substrate 9 is made of glass, but other transparent materials such as acrylic may be used.

  First, the substrate holding mechanism 16 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the suction table 7 (specifically, the above-described suction table main body 8) is formed with an outer depression (no symbol) that matches the planar shape of the substrate 30. Inside the outer depression, an inner depression (no symbol) whose planar shape substantially matches the inner region 33 of the substrate 30 is formed. An adsorption groove 25 is formed in a step portion between the outer depression and the inner depression.

  The suction groove 25 is annular in a plan view and is accommodated in the outer edge portion 32 of the substrate 30 in a plan view. Accordingly, the suction table 7 can hold and fix (fix) the substrate 30 so that only the outer edge portion 32 is in contact, that is, without contacting the inner region 33. The suction groove 25 communicates with the vacuum path 18. The vacuum path 18 is connected to a vacuum source 17 such as a vacuum pump via a first opening / closing valve 19. Therefore, the substrate 30 can be arbitrarily attached / detached by opening / closing the first opening / closing valve 19. The substrate holding mechanism 16 is configured by the vacuum source 17, the vacuum path 18, the first opening / closing valve 19, and the suction groove 25.

  Next, the blower mechanism 20 will be described. The blower mechanism 20 is a mechanism that includes a compressed air source 21, a blower path 22, a second opening / closing valve 23, and a blower hole 26, and is a mechanism that blows a gas 42 onto the substrate 30. As described above, the air blowing mechanism 20 is distributed to both the suction table 7 and the housing 4.

  First, the air blowing mechanism 20 on the suction stand 7 side will be described. The air blowing hole 26 on the suction table 7 side is a hole formed so as to penetrate the suction table main body 8 in the above-described inner depression, that is, a region overlapping the inner region 33 of the substrate 30. A part of the blow hole 26 is formed so as to include the through hole 35 of the chip 31 formed in the substrate 30 in plan view. That is, in the state where the substrate 30 is installed on the suction table 7, the center of the blow hole 26 substantially coincides with the center of the through hole 35, and the diameter of the blow hole 26 is larger than the diameter of the through hole 35. Is formed. In the case where the chip 31 has a large number of fine through holes 35, a large-diameter blow hole 26 including the large number of through holes 35 in a plan view can be used.

  As described above, the air blowing hole 26 including the through hole 35 in a plan view is a part. The other ventilation holes 26 are formed so as to face a region where the through hole 35 of the inner region 33 is not formed. Further, in order to accommodate the through hole 35 in the air blowing hole 26 in plan view, alignment is required when the substrate 30 is placed on the suction table 7. In order to easily perform such alignment, an orientation flat may be formed on the substrate 30.

  The air blowing path 22 on the suction stand 7 side is a path from the compressed air source 21 to the air blowing hole 26 on the suction stand 7 side. Specifically, it is a path constituted by a space between the suction table main body 8 and the transparent substrate 9 and a pipe from the compressed air source 21 to the above-described space via the second opening / closing valve 23. A pressure pump capable of pressurizing air or the like is used as the compressed air source 21, but a high-pressure cylinder filled with nitrogen or the like can also be used.

  The blower mechanism 20 on the side of the adsorption table 7 has a gas 42 supplied from the pressurized air source 21 by opening and closing the second opening / closing valve 23, and the back surface with respect to the substrate 30 held by the outer edge portion 32 being adsorbed. Can be sprayed at any timing from the side. And as above-mentioned, the ventilation hole 26 is regularly formed in the above-mentioned inside hollow. A part of the blow hole 26 is formed so as not to include the through hole 35 in a plan view. Further, the air blowing hole 26 including the through hole 35 in plan view also has a region that does not overlap with the through hole. Therefore, the air blowing mechanism 20 on the side of the adsorption table 7 can spray the gas 42 evenly over substantially the entire inner region 33 of the substrate 30 through the air holes 26.

  Next, the blower mechanism 20 on the housing 4 side will be described. As described above, the blower mechanism 20 on the housing 4 side is also composed of the pressure source 21, the blower path 22, the second opening / closing valve 23, and the blower hole 26 (similar to the blower mechanism 20 on the suction stand 7 side). ing. The ventilation holes 26 on the side of the housing 4 are holes that are regularly formed in the bottom of the housing 4 and penetrate the bottom.

  The housing 4 incorporates a camera 5 and the like at the top, and has a plate-like member facing the substrate 30 held on the suction table 7 at the bottom. The ventilation hole 26 is formed in the bottom plate-like member. In the housing 4, a space is formed between the bottom plate-like member and the upper part in which the camera 5 and the like are built. Such a space and a pipe or the like from the compressed air source 21 to the space via the second opening / closing valve 23 are the ventilation path 22 on the housing 4 side. The air blowing mechanism 20 on the housing 4 side also adsorbs the gas 42 supplied from the compressed air source 21 by opening and closing the second opening / closing valve 23, as in the air blowing mechanism 20 on the adsorption table 7 side. Thus, the substrate 30 held can be sprayed from the surface side at an arbitrary timing.

Here, a region where the gas 42 is blown from the surface side of the substrate 30, that is, a region where the air blowing holes 26 are formed on the housing 4 side is referred to as an upper air blowing region 27. The upper air blowing area 27 in the substrate inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a shape close to a circle in plan view. More specifically, the shape is a hexagonal shape or an octagonal shape. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to such a shape, and the function of blowing the gas 42 from the surface side of the substrate 30 can be achieved even in other shapes.
As shown in the drawing, the upper air blowing area 27 is narrower than the area where the above-described inner depression is formed, that is, the inner area 33 of the substrate 30. Therefore, when the substrate inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used, the gas 42 from the surface side of the substrate 30 is blown against a partial region of the inner region 33 of the substrate.

The compressed air source 21 and the second opening / closing valve 23 are common to both the blowing mechanism 20 on the suction stand 7 side and the blowing mechanism 20 on the housing 4 side. Therefore, in the substrate inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the air blowing from the front surface side and the air blowing from the back surface side of the substrate 30 are performed at a common timing. However, it is also possible to use a separate second opening / closing valve 23 controlled to open and close simultaneously.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the air blowing path 22 on the suction stand 7 side is formed so as to be spaced from the vacuum path 18 in the Z direction. Therefore, both of the above paths are formed without causing interference or the like even though they are close in plan view.

  Next, the inspection mechanism 3 will be described. The inspection mechanism 3 of the board inspection apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a camera 5, an upper light source 13, a transflective plate 6, and a lower light source 14 disposed below the suction table 7. It consists of With this configuration, the substrate inspection apparatus 1 can inspect the appearance of the structure 36 by photographing the substrate 30 from the front surface side, and can inspect the through hole 35 from the back surface side of the substrate 30.

  First, the inspection from the surface side of the substrate 30 will be described. The transflective plate 6 is disposed so as to be inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the XY plane. Part of the first irradiation light 43 emitted from the upper light source 13 is emitted toward the substrate 30 by the transflective plate 6. And it reflects on the surface of the board | substrate 30, and becomes reflected light. A part of the reflected light passes through the transflective reflector 6 and reaches the camera 5. With this reflected light, the camera 5 can inspect the appearance of the structure 36 formed on the chip 31. In addition, in order to irradiate the 1st irradiation light 43 toward the board | substrate 30, one of the ventilation holes 26 by the side of the housing | casing 4 is formed so that the optical axis of the 1st irradiation light 43 may be included.

  Next, the inspection of the back surface of the substrate 30 will be described. The lower light source 14 is a flat light source and includes at least the inner region 33 in plan view. Therefore, the lower light source 14 can irradiate the second irradiation light 44 through the transparent substrate 9 from the back side of the substrate 30 to the entire inner region 33. And as above-mentioned, the ventilation hole 26 contains the through-hole 35 by planar view. Therefore, the second irradiation light 44 is irradiated from the through hole 35 toward the camera 5. With this second irradiation light 44, the camera 5 can inspect the appearance of the through hole 35 formed in the chip 31 (specifically, the outline of the through hole).

Thus, the board | substrate inspection apparatus 1 concerning this embodiment can hold | maintain the board | substrate 30 with the suction stand 7, and can move it to arbitrary positions on XY plane. Then, the appearance of the surface structure 36 and the like and the through hole 35 can be inspected by irradiating light from both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30.
Here, since the substrate 30 is thinned except for the outer edge portion 32, as described above, vibration is generated when the substrate 30 is moved. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the above-described appearance inspection after waiting for the vibration to settle. The board inspection apparatus 1 can blow the gas 42 from the front and back surfaces of the board 30 at any timing by the blower mechanism 20. The gas 42 can forcibly converge the vibration described above. That is, the above-described vibration can be converged in a shorter time than when waiting for the vibration to naturally settle. Therefore, when the substrate inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is used, the appearance inspection of the thinned substrate 30 can be efficiently performed. Therefore, manufacturing efficiency can be improved and manufacturing cost of MEMS products and the like can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, as a second embodiment, a substrate inspection method performed using the above-described substrate inspection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the substrate inspection method of the present embodiment. In the inspection process of the substrate 30 in the present embodiment, the substrate 30 is transported (moved) so that the inspection target chip 31 (see FIG. 2) on the substrate 30 is positioned immediately below the camera 5. It consists of a standby process for waiting until the vibration generated in the substrate 30 converges to a level at which an appearance inspection is possible, and an inspection process for inspecting the appearance of the chip 31 using the camera 5. This figure shows the time required for the three processes, that is, the time during which the transfer process period 51, the standby process period 52, and the inspection process period 53 are performed. The conveyance process period 51 is a period during which the conveyance mechanism 10 is operating, and the inspection process period 53 is a period during which the inspection mechanism 3 is operating. The total of the execution periods of the above three steps is a chip processing period 50 that is the time required to inspect one chip 31.

  In the substrate inspection method of this embodiment, the camera 5 is also used to determine whether or not the vibration has converged. Therefore, the inspection mechanism 3 including the camera 5 is also operating during the standby process period 52. Therefore, the inspection process period 53 indicates a period during which the appearance of the substrate 30 is inspected by the inspection mechanism 3.

  In the substrate inspection method of this embodiment, in parallel with the above-described three steps, a blowing step of blowing the gas 42 on both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30 is performed. FIG. 6 also shows a blowing process period 54, which is an implementation period of the process, that is, a period in which the blowing mechanism 20 is operating. In the present embodiment, the blowing process period 54 substantially coincides with the standby process period 52. That is, the blower mechanism 20 is operating between the time when the transport mechanism 10 stops and the time when the appearance inspection by the inspection mechanism 3 is started. And the waiting | standby process period 52 is shortened by this ventilation mechanism 20. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a process (cross-sectional) diagram illustrating the substrate inspection method of the present embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating the effect of the air blowing process. Hereinafter, it demonstrates in order of a process.
FIG. 7A shows the substrate 30 in the inspection process period 53. Since the standby process period 52 has passed, the substrate 30 is completely stopped.
FIG. 7B shows the substrate 30 at the time when the transfer process is completed. As described above, after the appearance inspection of one chip 31 (see FIG. 2) is completed, the substrate 30 is transported so that the next chip 31 is positioned directly below the camera 5. As a result of the conveyance, vibration in the Z direction (see FIG. 1), that is, the normal direction of the substrate surface (illustrated by an arrow) occurs on the substrate 30.
FIG. 7C is a diagram showing a state where the air blowing process is performed, that is, a state where the gas 42 is blown onto both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30. The gas 42 acts to press against the substrate 30 from both the front and back surfaces, and the above-described vibration is forcibly converged. That is, compared with the case where the substrate 30 is left as it is, the above-described vibration can be converged in a short time. Note that, as described above, the camera 5 operates while the air blowing process is being performed, and the above-described vibration mode is photographed and observed.
FIG. 7D shows a state in which the first irradiation light 43 and the second irradiation light 44 are irradiated on the substrate 30 on which the vibration has converged, that is, a state in which the next chip 31 is being inspected. It is.

  Thus, the board | substrate inspection method of this embodiment has shortened the standby | waiting process period 52 by implementation of a ventilation process. As described above, the chip processing period 50 that is the time for inspecting one chip 31 is the total time of the transport process period 51, the standby process period 52, and the inspection process period 53. And the conveyance process period 51 and the test | inspection process period 53 do not change by implementation of a ventilation process. Therefore, with the substrate inspection method of the present embodiment, the time required for the inspection of the substrate 30 that is thinned and whose back surface is also part of the structure 36 can be shortened, and the efficiency of the substrate inspection apparatus 1 can be improved. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of a product using MEMS in which the back surface is also part of the structure 36 can be reduced.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a substrate inspection apparatus in which the upper air blowing area 27 is enlarged will be described as a third embodiment. FIG. 8 shows a second case in which the upper air blowing area 27 provided in the board inspection apparatus (without reference numeral) according to the present embodiment is expanded, that is, the area in which the air hole 26 is formed is enlarged. It is a figure which shows the housing | casing 48 with the camera 5 grade | etc.,. Note that the board inspection apparatus of the present embodiment is substantially the same as the board inspection apparatus 1 described above with respect to the components other than the second casing 48. Therefore, illustration of the components such as the suction stand 7 is omitted.

  As shown in the drawing, the second casing 48 is common to the casing 4 included in the board inspection apparatus 1 of the first embodiment with respect to the upper structure. That is, the upper part of the second casing 48 houses the camera 5, the transflective plate 6, and the upper light source 13. In addition to the lower light source 14 (see FIG. 5) not shown in the drawing, the inspection mechanism 3 (see FIG. 5) is configured in common with the substrate inspection apparatus 1.

  The second casing 48 has a lower portion, that is, a portion where the air blowing holes 26 are formed, enlarged in the horizontal direction. As described above, the upper air blowing area 27 has a shape close to a circle such as a hexagon in a plan view. The upper air blowing area 27 of the second casing 48 has a substantially increased horizontal dimension while maintaining such a planar shape. And the ventilation hole 26 is formed in the enlarged upper ventilation area | region 27 with the density substantially the same as the density in 1st Embodiment. Therefore, the number of the air holes 26 is increasing.

  Since the upper air blowing area 27 is enlarged and the number of the air blowing holes 26 is increased, the board inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment has a larger area on the surface of the substrate 30 than the board inspection apparatus 1 described above. Gas 42 can be blown. Therefore, in the above-described blowing process period 54, the above-described vibration can be converged in a shorter time. Therefore, when the substrate inspection apparatus of this embodiment is used, the appearance inspection of the product using MEMS can be performed in a short time, and the manufacturing cost can be further reduced.

  Note that the upper air blowing area 27 can be enlarged up to a maximum of approximately twice the diameter of the inner area 33 of the substrate 30 (the diameter when the planar shape of the upper air blowing area 27 is regarded as a circle). it can. By enlarging to such an extent, even when the chip 31 formed at the extreme end of the inner region 33 is inspected, the gas 42 can be blown over substantially the entire surface of the substrate 30.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, as a fourth embodiment, a substrate inspection method in which the blowing process period 54 is extended (enlarged) will be described. FIG. 9 is a time chart showing the substrate inspection method of this embodiment. The substrate inspection method according to the present embodiment is common to the formation inspection method according to the second embodiment in that the chip processing period 50 includes a transfer process period 51, a standby process period 52, and an inspection process period 53. Yes. And the board | substrate inspection method of this embodiment has the characteristics in the point that the ventilation process period 54 also includes the conveyance process period 51 with the standby process period 52 so that it may show in figure. That is, in the substrate inspection method of the present embodiment, the air blowing mechanism 20 operates while the transport mechanism 10 is operating, and the gas 42 is blown from both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30.

  As described above, the vibration in the normal direction in the substrate 30 is caused by the carrying process. The substrate inspection method of the second embodiment described above reduces the time required for convergence of such vibrations by blowing the gas 42 from both the front and back surfaces of the substrate 30. That is, the standby process period 52 is shortened by forcibly converging the vibration.

  The substrate inspection method of the present embodiment is characterized in that the occurrence of vibration itself is reduced by carrying out the blowing process also in the transfer process period 51. That is, the amplitude of vibration shown in FIG. 7B is reduced by blowing the gas 42 from both the front and back surfaces while the substrate 30 is being transported. Therefore, even when the same blower mechanism 20 is used, the standby process period 52 can be further shortened. Therefore, the chip processing period 50 can be further shortened, the utilization efficiency of the substrate inspection apparatus 1 can be further improved, and the manufacturing cost of the MEMS product or the like formed on the thinned substrate 30 can be further reduced.

  The present invention can be modified in various ways other than the above-described embodiments. Hereinafter, a modification will be described.

(Modification 1)
The substrate inspection apparatus 1 described above is an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the substrate 30. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to an appearance inspection apparatus using the camera 5 or the like, but also to an inspection apparatus that inspects the electrical characteristics and the like of each chip 31 formed on the substrate 30 by using a prober or the like. Applicable. Even in the case of inspecting such electrical characteristics, the standby time for waiting until the vibration is reduced can be reduced, so that the inspection time can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

(Modification 2)
The above-described substrate inspection apparatus 1 and the substrate inspection apparatus (without reference numeral) of the third embodiment perform the inspection of the through hole 35 using the second irradiation light 44 irradiated from the back side of the substrate 30. Yes. However, the embodiment of the present invention can also be applied to a substrate inspection apparatus and a substrate inspection method that use only light irradiated from the surface side of the substrate 30. In such a case, since all the components of the inspection mechanism 3 are accommodated in the housing (4 or 48), the configuration of the substrate inspection apparatus is simplified.

(Modification 3)
In the substrate inspection method of the second embodiment described above, the air blowing process is performed during the standby process period 52. Moreover, the board | substrate inspection method of the above-mentioned 4th Embodiment has implemented the ventilation process in the period of both the conveyance process period 51 and the standby process period 52. FIG. However, it is not necessary to make the implementation period of a ventilation process correspond to the period when another process is implemented. Therefore, a mode in which the blowing process is performed only during a part of the time in the standby process period 52 is also possible. Moreover, the form which implements a ventilation process during the one part time in the whole period of the standby process period 52 and the conveyance process period 51 is also possible.

(Modification 4)
In the above-described substrate inspection apparatus 1, the gas 42 is blown from the blower hole 26, that is, a locally formed hole. However, an embodiment in which the gas 42 is blown not from the holes but from the entire wider area is also possible. For example, the suction table 7 may be configured such that the gas 42 is blown over the substantially entire surface of the inner region 33 except for the annular region constituting the suction groove 25 as a cavity. The substrate inspection apparatus having such a configuration has advantages in that the structure can be simplified and the suction table 7 can be reduced in weight.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Board | substrate inspection apparatus, 2 ... Base, 3 ... Inspection mechanism, 4 ... Housing | casing, 5 ... Camera, 6 ... Semi-transparent reflecting plate, 7 ... Adsorption stand, 8 ... Adsorption stand main body, 9 ... Transparent substrate, 10 ... Transport mechanism, 11 ... first table, 12 ... second table, 13 ... upper light source, 14 ... lower light source, 15 ... support, 16 ... substrate holding mechanism, 17 ... vacuum source, 18 ... vacuum path, 19 ... first Open / close valve, 20 ... air blow mechanism, 21 ... pressure air source, 22 ... air flow path, 23 ... second open / close valve, 25 ... suction groove, 26 ... air blow hole, 27 ... upper air blow area, 30 ... substrate, 31 ... chip 32 ... Outer edge portion, 33 ... Inside region, 35 ... Through hole, 36 ... Structure, 42 ... Gas, 43 ... First irradiation light, 44 ... Second irradiation light, 48 ... Second housing, 50 ... chip processing period, 51 ... transport process period, 52 ... standby process period, 53 ... inspection process period.

Claims (4)

A transport process for transporting the substrate to a predetermined position while holding at least a part of the outer edge of the substrate and maintaining a non-contact state in the region surrounded by the outer edge, and vibration generated by the transport process converges A substrate inspection method for performing a standby process for waiting until and an inspection process for acquiring some information regarding at least one surface of the substrate after the standby process,
A substrate inspection method comprising: performing a blowing step of blowing gas from both the front and back surfaces of the substrate to promote convergence of vibration during at least a part of the time during which the standby step is being performed. The substrate inspection method according to claim 1,
The substrate inspection method, wherein the air blowing step is also performed during at least a part of the time during which the transfer step is being performed. A substrate holding mechanism capable of holding the substrate without contacting an inner region which is a region surrounded by an outer edge portion of the substrate;
A transport mechanism for moving the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism in a surface direction;
A blower mechanism that blows gas onto both front and back surfaces of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism;
An inspection mechanism for acquiring some information from at least one surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism;
A board inspection apparatus comprising: The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 3,
The board inspection apparatus, wherein the blower mechanism is a mechanism for blowing gas over the entire area of the front and back surfaces.

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