JP5045991B2 - Foreign matter removing apparatus, foreign matter removing method, and imaging element device manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a foreign matter removal device which can accurately remove a foreign matter attaching to an imaging element, a foreign matter removal method and a manufacturing method of an imaging element device. <P>SOLUTION: The foreign matter removal device 17 has a light source 10, a rod 12 wherein light from the light source 10 passes through, an adherent material 13 which is formed in a projection side of light from the light source 10 of the rod 12 and collects light projected from the rod 12 on an imaging element 8 and an alignment part 22 which adjusts positions of a foreign matter and the adherent material 13 based on an output signal from the imaging element 8. A foreign matter is removed from the imaging element 8 by moving the rod 12 at a position adjusted by the alignment part 22 and attaching a foreign matter to the adherent material 13 by bringing the adherent material 13 into contact with the foreign matter on the imaging element 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a foreign matter removing device, a foreign matter removing method, and an image sensor device manufacturing method.

  In recent years, video cameras and digital cameras have been widely used, and image sensors are used for these cameras. The image sensor records a subject image obtained optically by performing photoelectric conversion. In a general imaging device, pixels are arranged in a matrix, and a photodiode is used as a light receiving unit (sensor) for each pixel. Then, the light incident on each pixel is captured by a photodiode and photoelectrically converted to generate electric charge. This electric charge is read out as a voltage by an amplifier, amplified, and output to the outside. Then, an image is displayed by the output image signal. Examples of such an image pickup device include a charge coupled device (CCD) and a metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The CCD amplifies each optical signal of the light receiving element with one amplifier (charge sequential transfer method). In each CMOS, each light receiving unit has an amplifier to amplify an optical signal (XY address system).

  Such an image sensor is packaged by a sealing substrate such as a glass substrate. At this time, if foreign matter remains on the image sensor, the incident light is blocked by the foreign matter, and the foreign matter appears as a black spot in the output image. For this reason, the problem that display quality falls and a yield falls arises. In recent years, the aperture of the light receiving portion has been reduced in response to the downsizing of the image sensor and the increase in the number of pixels. In such a case, there is a case where an optical signal cannot be received by the light receiving unit due to the presence of foreign matter on the image sensor. Therefore, in order to remove the foreign matter adhering to the pixel, there is a method in which the foreign matter is attached to and removed from the adhesive material by using a rod or the like with an adhesive material while observing the image sensor. However, when the adhesion is removed, the image sensor may be rubbed or the adhesive material may adhere to the image sensor. For this reason, it is preferable to use an apparatus or the like to remove foreign matter. Although there is a method of removing foreign matter by air blow, in this case, it is not preferable because the foreign matter cannot often be removed.

In order to remove the foreign matter on the image sensor, for example, an apparatus as described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be used. In this method, an adhesive material is provided at the tip of a cylinder or the like, and the foreign substance is removed by bringing the cylinder or the like into contact with the foreign substance on the semiconductor. However, according to these methods, since the semiconductor is illuminated by the optical system and the foreign matter is observed and inspected by using the imaging system, a complicated optical system and an imaging system such as a CCD camera are required. For example, Patent Document 3 discloses a method for inspecting a foreign substance attached to an imaging element without using such a complicated apparatus. This is because it is not necessary to provide a separate image pickup system by using an image pickup element that is a material to be inspected as the image pickup system.
JP 58-182826 A JP-A-6-260464 JP 2006-19356 A

  However, even after performing inspection using the imaging element inspection apparatus described in Patent Document 3 and removing foreign matter using an adhesive material, a foreign matter inspection unit including an optical system and the like and a foreign material removal unit including a cylinder and an adhesive material Since these are provided separately, positional displacement may occur. In other words, alignment may not be performed correctly at the stage of removing foreign matter. For this reason, even if an accurate position of the foreign matter can be detected at the stage of foreign matter inspection, there arises a problem that the foreign matter cannot be removed accurately. As a result, foreign matters remain on the image sensor, resulting in problems such as a reduction in display quality and a decrease in yield.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and provides a foreign matter removing device, a foreign matter removing method, and a manufacturing method of an imaging device device that can accurately remove foreign matter attached to an imaging device. With the goal.

  A foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention is a foreign matter removing device that removes foreign matter attached to the surface of an image sensor, a light source, a movable part through which light from the light source passes, and light from the light source in the movable part. An alignment material that is formed on the emission side and collects the light emitted from the movable part on the image sensor, and an alignment that adjusts the position of the foreign material and the adhesive material based on an output signal from the image sensor From the image sensor by moving the movable part at a position adjusted by the alignment unit and bringing the adhesive material into contact with a foreign substance on the image sensor and attaching the adhesive material to the adhesive material. Foreign matter is removed. Thereby, the foreign material adhering to the image sensor can be accurately removed.

  In the foreign matter removing apparatus, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source may coincide with the light emission side tip of the adhesive material. Thereby, a foreign material can be easily removed.

  The foreign matter removing apparatus may further include a cleaning chamber that cleans the adhesive material to which foreign matter has adhered and removes the foreign matter from the adhesive material. Thereby, work efficiency improves.

  Furthermore, the foreign matter removing apparatus further includes an illumination light source, illuminates the image sensor with light from the illumination light source, and determines a position of the foreign matter on the image sensor based on an output signal from the image sensor. It may be detected. Thereby, a foreign object can be detected easily.

A foreign matter removing method according to the present invention is a foreign matter removing method for removing foreign matter attached to the surface of an image pickup device, the step of illuminating the image pickup device by collecting light with an adhesive material,
Based on the output signal from the image sensor, adjusting the position of the foreign material on the image sensor and the adhesive material, and bringing the adhesive material into contact with the foreign material at the adjusted position and attaching the adhesive material to the adhesive material And a step of removing foreign matter from the imaging device. Thereby, the foreign material adhering to the image sensor can be accurately removed.

  Moreover, it is said foreign material removal method, Comprising: The optical axis of the light condensed with the said adhesive material and the light emission side front-end | tip of the said adhesive material may correspond. Thereby, a foreign material can be easily removed.

  In addition, it is said foreign material removal method, Comprising: You may further provide the process of wash | cleaning the said adhesive material to which the foreign material adhered after the process of removing the said foreign material. Thereby, work efficiency improves.

  Further, in the foreign matter removing method, the step of illuminating the imaging device and detecting the position of the foreign matter on the imaging device based on an output signal from the imaging device before the step of illuminating the imaging device. Further, it may be provided. Thereby, a foreign object can be detected easily.

  A method for manufacturing an image pickup device according to the present invention includes a step of removing foreign matter from the image pickup device by the foreign matter removing method and a step of packaging the image pickup device from which the foreign matter has been removed with a sealing substrate. It is. Thereby, productivity can be improved.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the foreign material removal apparatus which can remove the foreign material adhering to an image sensor correctly, the foreign material removal method, and the manufacturing method of an image sensor device can be provided.

Embodiment.
Before describing the foreign substance removing apparatus, the foreign substance removing method, and the manufacturing method of the imaging element device according to the present embodiment, an imaging element that is a material to be inspected will be described with reference to FIG. Here, an interline CCD image sensor will be described as an example of the image sensor 8. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of an interline CCD image sensor.

  In the imaging element 8, a plurality of light receiving portions (sensors) 2 that convert light into electric charges are arranged on a semiconductor substrate 1 in a matrix. As the light receiving unit 2, a photodiode can be used. A vertical transfer CCD 4 is arranged corresponding to each vertical column of the light receiving units 2 arranged in a matrix. In addition, pixels (pixels) 3 are formed corresponding to the respective light receiving units 2, and a vertical transfer CCD 4 is disposed in a part of the pixels 3. That is, a plurality of pixels 3 are arranged in a matrix on the semiconductor substrate 1. Further, a transfer gate 5 is provided between the light receiving unit 2 of each pixel 3 and the vertical transfer CCD 4. That is, each pixel 3 includes a light receiving unit 2, a vertical transfer CCD 4, and a transfer gate 5. Then, the charges converted by the light receiving unit 2 are read out to the vertical transfer CCD 4 through the transfer gate 5. That is, all charges of the light receiving elements constituting the image are all output to the vertical transfer CCD 4. Then, charges are transferred vertically downward by the vertical transfer CCD 4. The transferred charge is output to the horizontal transfer CCD 6. The horizontal transfer CCD 6 is provided at the lower end of the horizontal row of the pixels 3 arranged in a matrix. That is, the horizontal transfer CCD 6 is provided horizontally on the vertical transfer destination side of charges. The electric charges output to the horizontal transfer CCD 6 are transferred in the horizontal direction and output to an amplifier (amplifying circuit) 7 provided on the output end side of the horizontal transfer CCD 6. Thereby, the electric charge is read out as a voltage, amplified and output. That is, the charge moves in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. In this manner, all the pixels 3 are sequentially scanned, the charges of all the light receiving elements are output as output signals (image signals), and an image is displayed on a monitor or the like. In addition, a color filter may be arranged to obtain a color signal. A general CCD image sensor is configured as described above. In addition to the interline type, the CCD imaging device has a full frame transfer type that directly performs photoelectric conversion with each element of the vertical transfer CCD, a light receiving CCD and a transfer CCD, and from the light receiving CCD during the vertical blanking period. There is also a frame transfer type that transfers data to a transfer CCD. Of course, the above configuration is merely an example, and other configurations may be used. In the CMOS image sensor, an amplifier is disposed in each pixel, and a vertical signal line and a horizontal signal line are provided instead of the CCD. And the image signal amplified corresponding to the electric charge produced | generated in the light-receiving part is output from each pixel.

  Such an image sensor 8 is packaged by a sealing substrate. As the sealing substrate, for example, a glass substrate can be used. Various problems occur if foreign matter adheres to the surface of the image sensor 8 during packaging. In order to inspect and remove the foreign matter, the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present embodiment can be used. Next, the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the foreign matter removing apparatus.

  The foreign matter removing device 17 includes a light source 10, a diaphragm 11, a rod 12, an adhesive material 13, a stage 14, a controller 15, and a monitor 16. The light source 10 emits white light for illuminating the surface of the image sensor 8. For example, a lamp light source can be used as the light source 10. Then, excess light from the light source 10 is blocked by the diaphragm 11. The diaphragm 11 has, for example, an annular shape, and light that has passed through the diaphragm 11 enters the rod 12. The rod 12 has a cylindrical shape, and light incident on the rod 12 passes through the central portion. An adhesive material 13 is formed below the rod 12, that is, on the light exit side of the light that has passed through the rod 12. The light emitted from the rod 12 enters the adhesive material 13. The surface shape of the adhesive material 13 is spherical. Therefore, the adhesive material 13 functions as a convex lens. That is, the adhesive material 13 has a hemispherical shape and is attached to the lower portion of the rod 12. For this reason, due to the lens effect, light is condensed on the surface of the adhesive material 13 and forms an image on the upper surface of the image sensor 8. Then, the light condensed by the adhesive material 13 enters the image sensor 8, and a part of the image sensor 8 can be illuminated. Specifically, some pixels of the image sensor 8 are illuminated. Further, since the light is condensed by the adhesive material 13, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 10 coincides with the light emission side tip of the adhesive material 13. That is, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 10 coincides with the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13.

  In this way, the light incident on the image sensor 8 is detected by the light receiving unit 2 of the image sensor 8. Then, as described above, the image signal from all the light receiving elements (the output signal from the imaging element 8) is output. This image signal is input to the controller 15. Then, an image is output to the monitor 16 based on the image signal input to the controller 15. For example, when a foreign object adheres to the image sensor 8, the pixel 3 corresponding to the position of the foreign object (referred to as a defective pixel) is blocked by light. For this reason, the amount of light detected by the light receiving unit 2 is reduced, and the image signal input to the controller 15 is reduced only in the defective pixel portion. Based on this image signal, the defective pixel is displayed dark on the monitor 16. For example, one pixel among pixels included in a region irradiated through the adhesive material 13 (hereinafter referred to as an irradiation region) is a defective pixel to which foreign matter is attached. In this case, the defective pixel to which the foreign matter is attached is shielded from light, and only one of the pixels in the irradiation area is displayed dark. In addition, the pixels in other irradiation areas have predetermined brightness. Thereby, the presence or absence of a defect can be grasped at a glance. In this way, the position of the adhesive material 13 and the foreign material can be adjusted, that is, aligned, based on the image signal that is illuminated and outputted through the adhesive material 13. Details of the controller 15 will be described later.

  On the stage 14, the image sensor 8 which is a material to be inspected is placed. If the surface on which the image sensor 8 is placed is an XY plane, the stage 14 can move in the X direction and the Y direction, and the illumination area is moved, the adhesive material 13 is aligned with the foreign material, and the like. Thereby, the optical axis can be adjusted to an arbitrary position of the image sensor 8 and the image sensor 8 can be observed. Here, an XY stage is used as the stage 14, but an XYZ stage may be used. Further, as described above, the stage 14 may be moved to perform alignment or the like, or the stage 14 may be fixed and the optical head, that is, the light source 10, the diaphragm 11, the rod 12, and the adhesive material 13 may be moved. Good. That is, the optical head may be moved in the X direction or the Y direction.

  The rod 12 is a movable part that moves along the optical axis. For example, the rod 12 is moved by a motor or the like. Here, it is movable in the Z direction perpendicular to the XY plane, that is, in the arrow direction shown in FIG. Thereby, the adhesive material 13 formed in the lower part of the rod 12 also moves up and down along the optical axis, and the adhesive material 13 can be brought into contact with the foreign matter on the image sensor 8. That is, the foreign material is adhered and removed by the adhesive material 13. Specifically, the rod 12 is moved downward in a state where the foreign material and the adhesive material 13 are aligned. Then, when the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 comes into contact with the surface of the image sensor 8, the movement is stopped. As a result, the adhesive material 13 is pressed against the image sensor 8, and the adhesive material 13 and the foreign matter on the image sensor 8 come into contact with each other. Then, the rod 12 is moved upward, and the adhesive material 13 and the image sensor 8 are separated. At this time, since the adhesive material 13 has adhesiveness, the foreign material moves upward with the foreign material attached to the adhesive material 13. Accordingly, foreign matter can be removed from the image sensor 8. As the rod 12, for example, a hollow metal rod, a pipe, or a transparent material such as glass, plastic, or glass fiber can be used. As the adhesive material 13, a self-adhesive polyurethane resin or silicon resin can be used. The rod 12 and the adhesive material 13 as described above serve as a foreign matter removing portion. Moreover, according to the foreign material removal apparatus 17 concerning this Embodiment, the position of a foreign material can be confirmed using a foreign material removal part. That is, the foreign substance removing unit also has a function as a foreign substance inspection unit. For this reason, the positional shift which arises by providing a foreign material inspection part and a foreign material removal part separately like the past is eliminated. Thereby, a foreign material can be removed accurately.

  Further, although the foreign matter removing device 17 can remove foreign matter, it is preferable to further provide a cleaning chamber 18. In the cleaning chamber 18, the adhesive material 13 to which foreign matter has adhered can be cleaned and the foreign matter can be removed from the adhesive material 13. The rod 12 and the adhesive material 13 are moved and carried into the cleaning chamber 18. The cleaning chamber 18 is provided, for example, outside the stage 14. In the cleaning chamber 18, the adhesive material 13 is washed with water to remove foreign substances and blow-dried. Thereby, the adhesive material 13 can be used repeatedly and work efficiency improves. The reason for washing with water is that foreign matters of the adhesive material 13 formed of polyurethane resin or the like are easily removed due to the high polarity of water. Moreover, since such an adhesive material 13 is easily contaminated, it is preferably washed with pure water.

  Further, the foreign matter removing device 17 may include an illumination light source different from the light source 10. By illuminating the image sensor 8 with light from the illumination light source, the position of the foreign matter on the image sensor 8 can be detected based on the output signal from the image sensor 8. As described above, since a foreign object on the image sensor 8 can be detected without using a separate imaging system, it is not necessary to use a complicated device. In addition, foreign matter can be detected easily.

  Next, the controller 15 of the foreign matter removing apparatus 17 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the controller 15. As the controller 15, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) can be used.

  The controller 15 includes a foreign object position storage unit 20, a stage control unit 21, an alignment unit 22, and a rod control unit 23. The foreign substance position storage unit 20 stores the position of the detected foreign substance, that is, the position of the defective pixel. First, based on the image signal output from the image sensor 8, it is determined whether or not a foreign substance is attached. That is, the entire surface of the image sensor 8 is uniformly illuminated, and the foreign object position storage unit 20 stores the position where the image signal output from the image sensor 8 is changed. The stage control unit 21 moves the stage 14 so that the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 is aligned with the position of the defective pixel stored by the foreign object position storage unit 20. Although the stage 14 is moved here, the optical head may be moved. The alignment unit 22 aligns the position of the defective pixel on the image sensor 8 and the position of the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13. That is, the positions of the foreign matter on the image sensor 8 and the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 are adjusted. As described above, the optical axis of the light incident on the image sensor 8 from the light source 10 via the adhesive material 13 and the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 coincide. For this reason, alignment is performed by aligning the center of the incident light from the light source 10 with the position of the foreign matter. At this time, alignment is performed based on the image signal output from the image sensor 8. For alignment, the optical head may be moved, or the stage 14 may be moved. The rod controller 23 moves the rod 12 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. Alternatively, the rod 12 is moved into the cleaning chamber 18. The controller 15 is configured as described above. Note that the controller 15 is not limited to the illustrated configuration, and may have other configurations. The foreign substance removal apparatus 17 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above.

  Next, a method for forming the adhesive material 13 will be described. First, before polymerization of the urethane resin or the like forming the adhesive material 13, that is, a resin monomer droplet is applied to the tip of the rod 12. At this time, surface tension acts on the droplet, and the surface of the droplet becomes spherical. That is, the hemispherical adhesive material 13 adheres to the tip of the rod 12. The droplets are heated and polymerized to be solidified. Thereby, the adhesive material 13 is formed. Moreover, if the material with the same shape and wettability is used for the rod 12, the shape of the adhesive material 13 will be substantially the same spherical shape.

  Next, a foreign matter removing method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the foreign matter removing method. Further, the foreign matter removing apparatus 17 can be used for the foreign matter removing method.

  First, the entire surface of the pixel 3 of the image sensor 8 is illuminated uniformly (step S1). When the entire surface is illuminated, the optical head is moved from above the image sensor 8, and the image sensor 8 is illuminated with an illumination light source different from the light source 10. In addition, you may use the light source 10 as a light source to illuminate. Thereby, the light-receiving part 2 formed in each pixel 3 of the image sensor 8 detects light. Then, the light is converted into electric charges by the light receiving unit 2 and transferred to the amplifier 7. The amplifier 7 reads out the electric charge as a voltage, amplifies it, and outputs it as an image signal. Then, a defective pixel is detected (step S2). That is, a foreign object on the pixel 3 of the image sensor 8 is detected. In a defective pixel to which foreign matter is attached, the amount of received light is reduced because the foreign matter is shielded from light. Therefore, a pixel having a light reception amount lower than the threshold is determined as a defective pixel to which foreign matter is attached. Thus, the determined defective pixel is displayed dark on the monitor 16, and the normal pixel is displayed bright. That is, the pixel 3 having a change in the image signal output in step S1 is detected as a defective pixel. The detected position of the defective pixel is stored in the foreign object position storage unit 20. It should be noted that a defective pixel determined to have a foreign object may be observed with a microscope to confirm whether or not there is a foreign object.

  Next, the position of the foreign matter, that is, the position of the defective pixel is matched with the position of the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 (step S3). That is, alignment is performed. First, the optical head is moved onto the image sensor 8. Then, the stage 14 is moved by the stage controller 21 so that the position of the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 is aligned with the position of the defective pixel stored in the foreign matter position storage unit 20. Of course, the optical head may be moved. Then, the image sensor 8 is irradiated with light from the light source 10 through the adhesive material 13. That is, the light is collected by the spherical adhesive material 13 to illuminate the image sensor 8. Thereby, a part on the image sensor 8, that is, a plurality of pixels 3 including a defective pixel is illuminated. Based on the image signal output from the image sensor 8, the positions of the foreign matter on the image sensor 8 and the adhesive material 13 are adjusted. That is, alignment is performed by the alignment unit 22 so that the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 is aligned with the pixel 3 in which the image signal has changed (this pixel 3 is a defective pixel). Specifically, the alignment is performed so that the defective pixel is arranged at the center of the plurality of pixels illuminated through the adhesive material 13. This can be determined based on whether or not the center of the plurality of pixels is darker than the surrounding pixels. In the alignment, the stage 14 or the optical head is moved. In the foreign substance removing apparatus 17 according to the present embodiment, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 10, that is, the optical axis of the light collected by the adhesive material 13 and the light emission side tip of the adhesive material 13 are the same. I'm doing it. That is, the relative position of the defective pixel and the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 can be grasped from the image signal. Further, when illuminating with the light source 10, the image may not be accurately formed on the image sensor 8 by the adhesive material 13. That is, it may be somewhat blurred.

  Next, the foreign matter adhering to the defective pixel is removed (step S4). In order to attach the foreign matter to the adhesive material 13, the rod 12 is moved up and down along the optical axis at the position aligned in step S3. As a result, the adhesive material 13 also moves along the optical axis, the adhesive material 13 is brought into contact with the foreign material, and adhered to the adhesive material 13, thereby removing the foreign material from the imaging element 8. Here, the image signal output from the image sensor 8 can be observed on the monitor 16 until immediately before the foreign substance and the adhesive material 13 come into contact with each other. For this reason, misalignment is unlikely to occur, and the adhesive material 13 reliably comes into contact with the foreign matter. Then, when the adhesive material 13 comes into contact with the foreign material, the foreign material is attached to and removed from the adhesive material 13. Next, the adhesive material 13 to which foreign matter has adhered is washed (step S5). First, the rod 12 and the adhesive material 13 are moved into the cleaning chamber 18. And water is discharge | released to the adhesive material 13, and the adhesive material 13 which the foreign material adhered to the surface is wash | cleaned. Thereby, the foreign material on the surface of the adhesive material 13 is removed. Then, the washed adhesive material 13 is blown dry. Thereby, the adhesive material 13 can be used repeatedly and work efficiency improves. These processes are performed on all defective pixels (step S6). By the above process, the foreign matter of the image sensor 8 can be removed.

  Then, after removing the foreign matter, the image sensor 8 is packaged with a sealing substrate such as a glass substrate to manufacture the image sensor device. Thereby, productivity of an image sensor device can be improved. Further, the movement of the rod 12 in step S4 may be performed manually, or the distance between the image sensor 8 and the adhesive material 13 may be set in advance to uniformly remove foreign matter. In this way, it is possible to perform it automatically by performing it uniformly. A plurality of foreign matter removing portions, that is, the rod 12 and the adhesive material 13 may be used. In this case, the foreign matter on the image sensor 8 can be removed by another foreign matter removing unit while the foreign matter removing unit is being cleaned in the cleaning chamber 18. This further improves productivity and work efficiency.

  By using the foreign substance removing device 17, the foreign substance removing method, and the imaging element device manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, the foreign substance attached to the imaging element 8 can be accurately removed. This is because the position of the foreign matter can be confirmed using the rod 12 and the adhesive material 13 which are the foreign matter removing portion. That is, in the present embodiment, the foreign substance removing unit also has a function as a foreign substance inspection unit. For this reason, the positional shift which arises by providing a foreign material inspection part and a foreign material removal part separately like the past is eliminated. Further, it can be observed by the monitor 16 until the removal of the foreign matter, that is, immediately before the contact between the adhesive material 13 and the foreign matter. That is, since the relative positional relationship between the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 and the foreign substance can be grasped until immediately before the foreign substance is removed, the foreign substance can be more accurately removed. As a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in display quality, a decrease in yield, and the like caused by foreign matters remaining on the image sensor 8. Further, the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 10 and the tip of the spherical surface of the adhesive material 13 coincide. That is, alignment is performed by adjusting so that the defective pixel that is darkly displayed on the monitor 16 is positioned at the center of the irradiation region. Thereby, the foreign material can be easily removed. In addition, since an image signal output from the image sensor 8 that is a material to be inspected can be used, it is not necessary to use an imaging system such as a CCD camera. That is, it is not necessary to use a complicated apparatus as in the prior art.

It is a top view which shows the structure of the image pick-up element concerning embodiment. It is a front view which shows the structure of the foreign material removal apparatus concerning embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the controller concerning embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the foreign material removal method concerning embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 semiconductor substrate, 2 light receiving section, 3 pixels, 4 vertical transfer CCD,
5 Transfer gate, 6 Horizontal transfer CCD, 7 Amplifier, 8 Image sensor,
10 light source, 11 aperture, 12 rod, 13 adhesive, 14 stage,
15 Controller, 16 Monitor, 17 Foreign object removal device, 18 Cleaning chamber,
20 foreign object position storage unit, 21 stage control unit, 22 alignment unit,
23 Rod controller

Claims (9)

In the foreign matter removing apparatus for removing foreign matter attached to the surface of the image sensor,
A light source;
A movable part through which light from the light source passes;
An adhesive that is formed on the light exit side of the light from the light source of the movable part, and condenses the light emitted from the movable part on the imaging element;
Based on the output signal from the image sensor, and having an alignment unit that adjusts the position of the foreign material and the adhesive material,
Foreign matter removal that removes foreign matter from the image sensor by moving the movable portion at a position adjusted by the alignment portion, bringing the adhesive material into contact with the foreign matter on the imaging device, and attaching the adhesive material to the adhesive material apparatus.   The foreign matter removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an optical axis of light emitted from the light source coincides with a light emission side tip of the adhesive material.   The foreign matter removing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning chamber that cleans the adhesive material to which foreign matter has adhered and removes the foreign matter from the adhesive material.   The illumination device further includes an illumination light source, illuminates the image sensor with light from the illumination light source, and detects a position of a foreign object on the image sensor based on an output signal from the image sensor. The foreign matter removing apparatus described. In the foreign matter removal method for removing foreign matter attached to the surface of the image sensor,
Illuminating the imaging element by collecting light with an adhesive; and
Adjusting the position of the foreign material on the image sensor and the adhesive material based on the output signal from the image sensor;
A foreign matter removing method comprising: a step of bringing the adhesive material into contact with the foreign material at the adjusted position and removing the foreign material from the imaging device by attaching the adhesive material to the adhesive material.   The foreign matter removing method according to claim 5, wherein an optical axis of the light collected by the adhesive material and a light emission side tip of the adhesive material coincide with each other.   The foreign matter removal method according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising a step of washing the adhesive material to which the foreign matter has adhered after the step of removing the foreign matter.   8. The method according to claim 5, further comprising a step of illuminating the image sensor and detecting a position of a foreign object on the image sensor based on an output signal from the image sensor before the step of illuminating the image sensor. The foreign matter removing method described. Removing the foreign matter from the image sensor by the foreign matter removing method according to claim 5;
And a step of packaging the image pickup device from which foreign substances have been removed with a sealing substrate.

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