JP3709254B2 - Wafer inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wafer inspection apparatus used for defect inspection of a semiconductor wafer .
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as a wafer inspection apparatus used for defect inspection of a semiconductor wafer, an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-102479 is known. That is, in this wafer inspection apparatus, as shown in FIG. 10, the wafers 3 are taken out one by one from the wafer cassette 1 containing a plurality of wafers by the wafer transfer means, and the taken out wafers 3 are picked up by the macro inspection unit 4. Then, after aligning the orientation flat, the surface of the wafer 3 is inspected for scratches, dirt, dirt, and the like by macro inspection by an inspector. In this case, a macro table that can be rotated and swung is operated with a joystick to perform macro inspection of the wafer surface, and further, the wafer holding arm 2 is used to invert the wafer 3 and perform macro inspection of the back surface of the wafer 3. Then, after the macro inspection is completed, the wafer 3 is transferred to the micro inspection section 5 and a micro micro 6 performs local micro inspection with higher accuracy.
[0003]
Therefore, in such a wafer inspection apparatus, an inspector (human) is in front of the micro inspection unit 5 and at the time of the macro inspection unit 4, the macro table is swung by the joystick, or the wafer holding arm 2 is operated by the operation panel. The surface or the back surface of the wafer 3 is visually inspected. Further, at the time of micro inspection, the wafer 3 conveyed to the micro inspection section 5 is observed through a microscope by looking through the eyepiece of the microscope 6. Furthermore, stage settings for moving the wafer 3 to the observation position on the front surface of the apparatus and various settings necessary for microscope observation are performed.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a wafer inspection apparatus, there is no obstacle between the inspector and the wafer 3, so various vapors, fine particles, and dust emitted from the inspector, which is one of the contamination sources for the wafer 3. Contaminants such as dust may adhere to the wafer 3 while drifting in the air. In this wafer inspection process, there is a problem that a defective wafer is generated due to contamination of the wafer 3.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a wafer inspection apparatus capable of preventing contamination of a wafer by an inspector.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides a wafer testing apparatus having a macro inspection unit for performing at least macro inspection for the wafer, and the partition member provided so as to block between the examiner at least the macro inspection unit, at least a portion of the partition wall member And a window portion formed of a transparent member for viewing the wafer of the macro inspection portion.
[0006]
The present invention has a micro inspection unit for performing micro inspection for the wafer which has been macro inspection with macro inspection unit, so as to provide a partition wall member to block between the examiner and these macro inspection unit and micro inspection ing.
[0007]
In the present invention, the partition member surrounding the macro inspection portion and the four sides around the micro inspection portion is provided.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
1 to 3 show a schematic configuration of a wafer inspection apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. 3 is a side view.
[0009]
In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a base, on which a cassette mounting part 12, a macro inspection part 13 and a micro inspection part 14 are arranged.
The cassette placement unit 12 places a wafer cassette 15 that accommodates a plurality of wafers 16 in the stacking direction. Further, the cassette mounting portion 12 enables the wafer cassette 15 to move in the vertical direction so that the wafer 16 to be inspected in the wafer cassette 15 is at a predetermined height.
[0010]
A macro inspection unit 13 is disposed adjacent to such a wafer cassette 15. The macro inspection unit 13 includes a wafer take-out return arm 131, a macro table 132, a wafer holding arm 133, and a wafer transfer unit 134 as wafer transfer means. In this case, the wafer take-out return arm 131 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the opening of the wafer cassette 15, sucks the uninspected wafer 16 in the wafer cassette 15 and supplies it to the take-out macro table 132, and has been inspected The wafer 16 is returned to the original position in the wafer cassette 15.
[0011]
The macro table 132 is rotatable with the wafer 16 adsorbed, and the centering members 135 and 135 perform centering based on the notch position while rotating the wafer 16. The macro table 132 is lifted with the wafer 16 adsorbed, and can be rotated horizontally and swingably at the raised position, and this operation enables macro inspection of the surface of the wafer 16 by visual inspection by the inspector 17. ing. Such an operation on the macro table 132 is performed by an operation of the joystick 136 by the inspector 17.
[0012]
The wafer holding arm 133 is configured such that the wafer 16 can be reversed while the wafer 16 centered on the macro table 132 is sucked and held. By this operation, the macro inspection of the wafer back surface by the inspector 17 can be performed. It is possible.
[0013]
The wafer transfer unit 134 is capable of rotating by 180 ° about the rotation shaft 1341 and supplies the wafer 16 on the macro table 132 that has been visually inspected to the micro inspection unit 14.
[0014]
The micro inspection unit 14 includes an XY stage 141 and a wafer microscope 142. The XY stage 141 is for mounting the wafer 16 supplied by the wafer transfer unit 134, and linearly moves the wafer 16 to the observation position of the wafer microscope 142 by operating the coarse movement handle 143 or the fine movement handle 144 by the inspector. I am doing so. Reference numeral 145 denotes a vertical movement handle for moving the XY stage 141 up and down. The wafer microscope 142 has an eyepiece portion 1421, and the inspector 17 looks into the eyepiece portion 1421 to enable local micro inspection on the wafer 16. Reference numeral 1422 denotes a field stop opening / closing knob for the wafer microscope 142, and 1423 denotes a brightness opening / closing knob.
[0015]
A partition member having a predetermined height and a width dimension so as to block the macro inspection unit 13 and the micro inspection unit 14 from the inspector 17 on the front surface facing the inspector 17 of the wafer inspection apparatus configured as described above. 18 is provided. This partition member 18 is made of a material such as steel that is not charged with static electricity, or is installed securely so that static electricity is not charged, and its base end is fixed to the base 11 and provided upright. Thus, a part of various contaminants such as various vapors, particles and dusts emitted from the inspector 17 are prevented from drifting in the air and flowing toward the wafer 16 under inspection at the shortest distance. . The partition member 18 is provided so as to penetrate the eyepiece 1421 of the wafer microscope 142 toward the inspector 17 so that the inspector 17 can look into the eyepiece 1421 from the outside of the partition member 18. In this case, a low dust-generating shield member 19 is interposed at the boundary between the eyepiece 1421 and the partition wall member 18 to maintain airtightness, and the air in the vicinity of the eyepiece 1421 on the inspector 17 side is moved to the wafer inspection apparatus. It also prevents it from flowing into the side.
[0016]
In addition, a part of the partition wall member 18 is provided with a window portion 20 in which the transparent member 201 is fitted. This window portion 20 is for the inspector 17 to visually observe the macro inspection portion 13 of the wafer inspection apparatus from the outside of the partition wall member 18. Also in this case, a low dust-generating shield member 21 is interposed at the boundary portion between the window portion 20 and the partition wall member 18 to maintain airtightness, and the air on the inspector 17 side causes the boundary between the window portion 20 and the partition wall member 18. This prevents the wafer from flowing into the wafer inspection apparatus through the section. Further, the transparent member 201 of the window portion 20 is subjected to an anti-reflection coating process on the surface thereof to remove unnecessary reflections on the surface of the transparent member 201 to ensure a macro inspection.
[0017]
In addition, on the lower side of the partition member 18, the coarse movement handle 143 and the fine movement handle 144 for operating the movement of the XY stage 141 described above, and the vertical movement handle 145 for moving the XY stage 141 up and down are operated. It has the minimum necessary notch 181 for this purpose.
[0018]
On the other hand, an exhaust device 22 is provided on the opposite side of the wafer inspection apparatus from the partition member 18. The exhaust device 22 forcibly exhausts the air inside the wafer inspection device to the outside. The wafer inspection device moves around the partition member 18 while drifting in the air and the contaminants released inside the wafer inspection device. Contaminants that have entered inside are forcibly drawn and discharged outside the device.
[0019]
Reference numeral 23 denotes an operation panel for inputting various settings at the time of wafer inspection by the wafer inspection apparatus.
Thus, with such a configuration, first, the uninspected wafer 16 accommodated in the wafer cassette 15 is taken out by the wafer take-out return arm 131 of the macro inspection unit 13, supplied to the macro table 132, and centered here. The
[0020]
From this state, the macro table 132 is swung by the operation of the joystick 136 by the inspector 17 to perform rotation and swing macro inspection of the wafer surface. Further, the wafer holding arm 133 sucks the wafer on the macro table 132, and from this state, the wafer 16 is reversed, and the macro inspection by visual inspection is performed on the back surface. At this time, the visual inspection is performed while looking through the window portion 20 in which the transparent member 201 provided in a part of the partition wall member 18 is fitted.
[0021]
Then, the wafer 16 that has been subjected to visual macro inspection is transferred to the XY stage 141 of the micro inspection section 14 by the wafer transfer section 134, and the wafer 16 is removed from the wafer 16 by operating the coarse movement handle 143 and the fine movement handle 144 by the inspector 17. By moving to the observation position of the microscope 142 and looking into the eyepiece portion 1421 of the wafer microscope 142 penetrating outside the partition wall member 18, local micro inspection on the wafer 16 is performed.
[0022]
Therefore, in this case, the partition member 18 is provided between the macro inspection unit 13 and the micro inspection unit 14 and the inspector 17, and macro inspection by the inspector 17 with respect to the surface of the wafer 16 is performed by one of the partition members 18. The microscopic inspection on the wafer 16 by the wafer microscope 142 is performed through the window portion 20 in which the transparent member 201 provided in the portion is fitted. Since it is performed by looking into the eyepiece part 1421 of 142, various kinds of vapors, fine particles, and the like emitted from the inspector compared to the conventional one that does not block between the inspector and the wafer Contaminants such as dust can be significantly reduced from adhering to the wafer 16 while drifting in the air, thereby preventing wafer contamination during wafer inspection by the inspector 17. It can be.
(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the partition member 18 having a predetermined height and width dimension is provided on the front surface facing the inspector 17 of the wafer inspection apparatus. In the second embodiment, the wafer inspection apparatus is provided. The four sides of the macro inspection unit 13 and the micro inspection unit 14 are enclosed.
[0023]
4 to 6 show a schematic configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In this case, the partition member 18 surrounds the four sides around the macro inspection unit 13 and the micro inspection unit 14 of the wafer inspection apparatus. Further, a window portion 182 for taking the wafer 16 in and out of the wafer cassette 15 is formed on the wall surface of the partition wall member 18 on the side where the wafer cassette 15 is disposed. Then, in a state where the wafer cassette 15 is placed on the cassette placing portion 12 of the wafer inspection apparatus, a cover 24 is covered so as to cover the wafer cassette 15, and a boundary portion between the cover 24 and the window portion 182 of the partition wall member 18 is covered. A low dust-generating shield member 25 is interposed to maintain airtightness and prevent contamination from entering the partition wall member 18 from the window portion 182. Further, microscope operation parts such as a field stop opening / closing knob 1422 and a brightness opening / closing knob 1423 related to the wafer microscope 142 are provided through the partition wall member 18, and an inspector from the outside of the partition wall member 18 even if the wafer microscope 142 is a manual type. 17 can be operated.
[0024]
Others are the same as FIG. 1 thru | or FIG.
Thus, with this configuration, for example, if installed in a downflow clean room in which clean air flows from the top to the bottom of the room, the contaminants released from the inspector 17 will flow downward without rising. As a result, contaminants from the inspector 17 can be prevented from entering the wafer inspection apparatus from above the partition member 18.
[0025]
Accordingly, in this way, it is possible to further reduce the contamination from the inspector 17 from entering the wafer inspection apparatus and adhering to the wafer 16, and the effect of preventing wafer contamination can be further enhanced.
(Third embodiment)
In the second embodiment, the macro inspection unit 13 and the micro inspection unit 14 of the wafer inspection apparatus are surrounded by the partition member 18 except for the upper portions. However, in the third embodiment, the macro of the wafer inspection apparatus is used. The periphery including the upper part of the inspection unit 13 and the micro inspection unit 14 is surrounded by a partition member.
[0026]
7 to 9 show a schematic configuration of the third embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as those in FIGS. 4 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In this case, the partition wall member 26 covers the wafer observation part including the objective lens 1424 and the XY stage 141 of the wafer microscope 142 of the micro inspection part 14 and the four and upper surfaces of the macro inspection part 13 of the wafer inspection apparatus. The partition member 26 is air-tightly provided with a window portion 27 into which a transparent member 271 is fitted from the front surface on the inspector 17 side to the top surface at a portion corresponding to the macro inspection unit 13, and an air filter is formed on the top surface of the partition member 26. 28 is provided. The air filter 28 is for purifying external air and taking clean air into the wafer inspection apparatus when the air inside the wafer inspection apparatus is discharged by the exhaust device 22.
[0027]
Others are the same as FIG. 4 thru | or FIG.
Therefore, in this way, the partition wall member 26 covers the wafer observation part including the objective lens 1424 and the XY stage 141 of the wafer microscope 142 of the micro inspection part 14 and the four and upper surfaces of the macro inspection part 13 of the wafer inspection apparatus. As a result, contaminants from the inspector 17 can be prevented from entering the inside of the wafer inspection apparatus, and wafer contamination can be reliably prevented. In addition, since the microscope operation units such as the field stop opening / closing knob 1422 and the brightness opening / closing knob 1423 related to the wafer microscope 142 are arranged outside the partition wall member 26, the microscope operation unit is different from that of the second embodiment. There is no need to modify the wafer microscope 142 for positioning outside the partition wall member 26, which is advantageous in terms of cost and good operability.
[0028]
In the third embodiment, the coarse movement handle 143 and the fine movement handle 144 and the vertical movement handle 145 for moving the XY stage 141 up and down are provided inside the notch 261 below the partition wall member 26. By automating handle operations, mounting of these handles can be omitted.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention as described above, contaminants released from examiner can a little from adhering to the wafer macro inspection unit and the micro inspection unit while drifting in the air, during the wafer inspection by an inspector Wafer contamination can be prevented. Moreover, a macro test | inspection can be reliably performed by removing the unnecessary reflection in the transparent member surface of the window part of the partition member for visually observing a macro test | inspection part.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a third embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a third embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional wafer inspection apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 ... Base,
12 ... cassette loading part,
13 ... Macro inspection part,
131 ... Wafer removal return arm,
132 ... Macro table,
133: Wafer holding arm,
134 ... Wafer reversal transfer unit,
135 ... Centering member,
14 ... Micro inspection department,
141 ... XY stage,
142 ... wafer microscope,
1421 ... eyepiece,
1422: Field stop opening / closing knob,
1423 ... Brightness open / close knob,
1424 ... Objective lens,
143 ... coarse movement handle,
144: Fine movement handle,
145 ... vertical movement handle,
15 ... wafer cassette,
16 ... wafer,
17 ... Inspector,
18 ... partition member,
181 ... notch,
182 ... the window,
19: Shield member,
20 ... window,
201 ... transparent member,
21 ... Shield member,
22 ... exhaust system,
23 ... Control panel,
24 ... cover,
25. Shield member,
26 ... partition member,
27 ... window,
271: Transparent member,
28: Air filter.

Claims (11)

In a wafer inspection apparatus having a macro inspection unit that performs at least a macro inspection on a wafer , at least a partition member provided to shield between the macro inspection unit and an inspector, and at least a part of the partition member is the macro inspection A wafer inspection apparatus comprising: a window portion formed of a transparent member for visually observing a portion of the wafer . Has a micro inspection unit for performing micro inspection for the wafer which has been macro inspection by the macro inspection unit, the partition member claims, characterized that you intercept between the inspector and the macro inspection unit and micro inspection The wafer inspection apparatus according to 1. 3. The wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the partition member surrounds four sides of the macro inspection unit and the micro inspection unit. The wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partition member further covers four sides and an upper surface of the macro inspection unit. The partition member, the wafer inspection device according to claim 4, characterized by comprising the air filter in the partition wall member top surface. The micro-inspection unit performs micro-inspection on the wafer macro-inspected by the macro-inspection unit, the micro-inspection unit includes an objective lens and an XY stage, and the partition member further includes the objective lens and the XY stage. The wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the wafer inspection apparatus covers the wafer . The partition member, the wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that surrounding the peripheral four sides of the front Symbol macro inspection unit and the micro inspection unit. The wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inspection unit includes an operation unit, and the operation unit is disposed outside the partition member. The wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an antireflection treatment is performed on a surface of the transparent member of the window portion. 10. The wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the macro inspection unit is lifted in a state where the wafer is adsorbed and can be rotated horizontally and swingably at the raised position. The macro inspection unit is provided with a wafer holding arm, any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the luma black test against the rear surface by inverting the wafer on the macro inspection portion by the wafer holding arm The wafer inspection apparatus according to item.

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