JP5164178B2 - Substrate inspection device, foreign matter removal device, and foreign matter removal method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate inspection apparatus, a foreign substance removal apparatus, and a foreign substance removal method that can remove foreign substances attached to a substrate such as a photomask, a liquid crystal panel, and a wafer.

  In a mask used for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel or the like, it is necessary to inspect whether there is a defect in a mask pattern or the presence of foreign matter. When particles exceeding the reference are detected in the inspection by the mask inspection apparatus, the particles must be removed from the mask substrate. As these particles, there are generally particles fixed by an oil or a cleaning agent residue, or particles adsorbed by static electricity.

The following methods are known as methods for removing particles.
(1) A method of removing by washing and action of a solvent and ultrasonic waves.
(2) A method for removing adsorbed substances caused by static electricity by removing static electricity and weakening the adsorbing force between the particles and the mask, then blowing them off by air blow and simultaneously sucking them by vacuum.
(3) A method in which particles are grasped by a manipulator such as nano tweezers and adhered to a separately prepared adhesive material and discarded (for example, see Patent Document 1).
(4) A method of scraping particles that have entered the indented portion of the inspection object using an elastic body having needle-like protrusions such as an AFM cantilever (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2008-311521 A JP 2008-26671 A

  However, in the case of the method described in (1), it is effective for both fixed and static electricity, but removal of a very small number of particles at the very minimum is inefficient and improvement is desired. In the method (2), it is not possible to remove what is fixed to the mask, and it is very difficult to neutralize fine particles of 10 μm or less, and the adsorption force due to electrostatic force cannot be completely eliminated. May not be possible. In addition, although vacuum suction is used in combination, the removed particles may be reattached to the mask.

  Further, when the nanotweezers (3) is used, if the particle thickness is sufficiently large relative to the thickness (several μm to several tens of μm) of the gripping part of the nanotweezers, the particles can be removed regardless of adhesion and adsorption. However, it is difficult to grip a foreign object that is very thin with respect to the thickness of the gripping part or a particle that is too small, and particularly difficult when an attractive force such as an electrostatic force remains. In the case of using the cantilever (4), the conveyance is dependent on the electrostatic force between the tip of the cantilever and the particles, and thus certainty is lacking.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate inspection apparatus including a substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles are detachable, a holder to which an adhesive member is attached, and a manipulator and an imaging device integrated with the holder. Any one of a plurality of adhesive particles provided on a flat plate, a moving means for relatively moving, an inspection means for inspecting for the presence or absence of defects and foreign matter based on imaging information of a substrate to be inspected imaged by an imaging device Is removed from the flat plate by holding the manipulator, and based on the inspection result of the inspection means, the foreign particles are attached to the adhesive particles held on the manipulator and removed from the inspection target substrate, and the adhesive particles are transferred from the manipulator to the adhesive member. And a control means for controlling the manipulator so as to be transported.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate inspection apparatus comprising: a substrate to be inspected; a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles are detachable; a holder to which an adhesive member is attached; and a manipulator and an imaging device integrated with the holder. Moving means for relative movement, inspection means for inspecting the presence or absence of defects and foreign matter based on imaging information of the inspection target substrate imaged by the imaging device, and a holding command to move the manipulator to a flat plate, and a plurality of adhesive properties A holding control means for holding any one of the particles with a manipulator and detaching from the flat plate, and a removal command, the manipulator holding the adhesive particles is moved to the position of the foreign matter based on the inspection result of the inspection means, and the foreign matter is removed. A removal control means that attaches to the adhesive particles and removes it from the substrate to be inspected, and a manipulator that holds the adhesive particles to which foreign matter has adhered by a disposal instruction. Move the motor to the adhesive member, characterized by comprising a discard control means for transferring from the manipulator to the adhesive member by attaching the sticky particles to the adhesive member.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate inspection apparatus according to the first or second aspect, after the foreign matter is removed from the inspection target substrate, the region on the inspection target substrate from which the foreign matter has been removed is imaged by the imaging device and displayed. It is characterized by displaying.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate inspection apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the substrate inspection apparatus includes a display unit that displays an image captured by the imaging device, and a removal operation when removing the foreign substance from the inspection target substrate. The transfer operation when transferring the adhesive to the adhesive member is imaged by an imaging device and displayed on the display means.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate inspection apparatus according to the fourth aspect, after removing the foreign matter from the substrate to be inspected, the region from which the foreign matter has been removed is imaged by the imaging device and displayed on the display means. It is what you do.
A sixth aspect of the present invention is the substrate inspection apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the manipulator is a micro tweezers formed by MEMS technology, and the adhesive member is gripped by the micro tweezers. It is.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foreign matter removing apparatus including a substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles can be detached, a holder to which an adhesive member is attached, and a manipulator and an imaging device integrated with the holder. A moving means for relatively moving the image, an observation means for imaging a substrate to be inspected by an imaging device and observing a foreign substance on the substrate to be inspected, and a manipulator for any one of a plurality of adhesive particles provided on a flat plate And then removed from the flat plate, and based on the observation result of the observation means, the foreign particles are adhered to the adhesive particles held on the manipulator and removed from the substrate to be inspected, and the adhesive particles are transferred from the manipulator to the adhesive member. And a control means for controlling the manipulator as described above.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foreign matter removing method, wherein a substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles are detachably provided, a holder to which an adhesive member is attached, and a manipulator and an imaging device are integrated with the holder. A foreign substance removing method in a substrate inspection apparatus, comprising: a moving means for relative movement; and an inspection means for inspecting for the presence or absence of defects and foreign substances based on imaging information of an inspection target substrate imaged by an imaging apparatus, A first step of holding any one of the sticky particles by the manipulator and separating from the flat plate, and a step of attaching the foreign matter on the substrate to be inspected to the sticky particles held by the manipulator based on the inspection result regarding the foreign matter. The adhesive particles are adhered from the manipulator to the adhesive member by pressing and adhering the adhesive particles to which the foreign matter has adhered to the adhesive member. A third step of feeding, characterized by having a.

  According to the present invention, foreign matters on the inspection target substrate can be reliably removed.

It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of a mask inspection apparatus. It is a perspective view of the right angle stage 122 for heads. It is a figure which shows the detail of the detection head 113. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the nanotweezers 10. FIG. It is a figure which shows the nano tweezers 10 with which the holder 130 was mounted | worn. It is an enlarged view which shows a part of arms 13a and 13b and the electrostatic actuator 14a. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a test | inspection and a foreign material removal operation | movement. It is a figure explaining inspection operation. It is a figure which shows the peeling sheet 20 in which the micro adsorption particle 21 was formed. It is a figure which shows the mask holder 117 with which the mask 116, the peeling sheet 20, and the adhesion member 22 were mounted | worn. It is a figure explaining the holding operation of minute adsorption particles 21. It is a figure explaining a foreign material removal operation. It is a figure explaining removal confirmation operation. It is a figure explaining adhesion of the foreign material 30 to the minute adsorption particle 21 in foreign material removal operation | movement.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a substrate inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a mask inspection apparatus (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 3753108, FIG. 1). In this embodiment, a mask inspection apparatus will be described as an example. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to an inspection apparatus for liquid crystal panels, wafers, and the like.

  The mask inspection apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 100 and a control apparatus 200. The apparatus main body 100 includes a prism 111, a surface plate 112, a detection head 113, a balance weight (counter weight) 114, a wire 115, a mask holder 117, a vertical driving mechanism 123, an air pad 121, a right angle stage 122 for a head, a motor stage 118, A horizontal movement mechanism 124 is provided.

  A rectangular parallelepiped prism 111 is vertically mounted on the surface plate 112, and a mask holder 117 is vertically provided on a horizontal movement mechanism 124 provided on the side thereof. For example, granite is used as the prism 111 from the viewpoint of ease of processing and flatness. Of course, materials other than granite such as metal or ceramic may be used. A mask 116 that is a substrate to be inspected is attached to the mask holder 117. The mounting angle between the mask 116 and the mask holder 117 can be adjusted so that the upper and lower sides of the mask 116 are kept horizontal. At the time of inspection, the mask holder 117 on which the mask 116 is mounted is moved in the X direction by the horizontal movement mechanism 124. The horizontal movement mechanism 124 is constituted by a rail, a linear motor, or the like.

  Right side stages 122 for heads are provided on side surfaces 119 and 120 which are reference surfaces of the prisms 111. Air pads 121 are respectively attached to the surfaces of the right angle stage 122 for the head that face the side surfaces 119 and 120. A detection head 113 and a motor stage 118 are mounted on the right-angle stage 122 for the head. A wire 115 is attached to the upper portion of the right-angle stage 122 for the head, and a balance weight 114 is provided at the end through the pulley. The balance weight 114 is set so as to be balanced with the right angle stage 122 for the head provided with the detection head 113 and the like. The wire 115 is preferably provided at the center of gravity of the moving unit including the detection head 113, the right angle stage 122 for the head, and the like.

  The head right-angle stage 122 is moved up and down by a vertical driving mechanism 123 including a motor stage 118 and a rack and pinion. This vertical movement control is performed by the control device 200, and the detection head 113 can be freely moved to the inspection position of the mask 116. In addition, clean air is flowing down in the apparatus to suppress the generation of particles.

  When inspection is performed, the right-angle stage 122 for the head provided with the detection head 113 is stopped at a predetermined vertical position, and the mask holder 117 is moved at a constant speed in the X direction by the horizontal movement mechanism 124, thereby mask 116. Is passed in front of the detection head 113. Meanwhile, images are acquired at regular time intervals by the CCD camera. The acquired image data is sent to the image information processing unit 210 of the control device 200, and the mask 116 is inspected for defects or abnormalities and the presence of dust based on the image information.

  When the image acquisition at the predetermined vertical position is completed, the right angle stage 122 for the head is moved in the vertical direction by a certain distance, and then the mask 116 is moved again in the X direction to perform image acquisition by the CCD camera. By repeating such an operation, the entire surface of the mask 116 can be inspected. The movement step in the vertical direction and the movement speed in the horizontal direction of the mask are adjusted according to the visual field range and performance of the CCD camera.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the right-angle stage 122 for the head. In FIG. 2, the motor stage 118 is not shown. On the right angle stage 122 for the head, air pads 121 having a bearing function are respectively attached to portions facing the side surfaces 119 and 120 of the prism 111. An air ejection portion 133 and a suction portion 134 are provided on the surface of the air pad 121 that faces the side surfaces 119 and 120.

  The air pad 121 is made of ceramic such as alumina because it is easy to process. The air ejection part 133 is provided with many ejection holes for ejecting air. The suction part 134 includes a groove formed so as to surround the air ejection part 133. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the air ejection part 133 is divided into four areas, and the suction part 134 is formed so as to surround each area. The manufacturing method and internal configuration of the air pad 121 are described in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-106562.

  An air supply port 135 and an air exhaust port 136 are provided on the upper surface of the air pad 121. Inside the air pad 121, the air supply port 135 communicates with the air ejection portion 133, and the air exhaust port 136 communicates with the suction portion 134. The air supply port 135 is supplied with pressurized air via a pipe (not shown), and the supplied air is ejected from the air ejection part 133. On the other hand, a pipe (not shown) is connected to the air exhaust port 136, and vacuum exhaust is performed by a vacuum pump or the like. As a result, air is sucked from the suction part 134. These pipes may be provided separately for each air pad 121, or one system of pipes may be branched in the middle.

  The distance between the air pad 121 and each of the side surfaces 119 and 120 is constant where the repulsive force caused by the air ejected from the air ejecting portion 133 balances the attracting force caused by the air sucked from the suction portion 134. Therefore, the air pad 121 floats with a small gap with respect to the prism 111. When the gap becomes narrow due to external force or vibration, the repulsive force becomes stronger than the suction force and returns to the original minute gap. On the other hand, when the gap becomes wider due to external force or vibration, the suction force becomes stronger than the repulsive force, so that the original minute gap is restored. Therefore, even when there is a disturbance due to external force or vibration, the interval between the minute gaps is kept constant.

  Further, since the right-angle stage 122 for head is provided with an air pad 121 facing the side surface 119 perpendicular to the X axis and an air pad 121 facing the side surface 120 perpendicular to the Y axis, the two orthogonal side surfaces 119 are provided. , 120 is kept constant, so that it is possible to suppress deterioration in straightness (straightness, yawing, pitching, rolling). Furthermore, since there is no contact portion, the accuracy deterioration factor is removed, and a change with time can be prevented.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of the detection head 113. The detection head 113 includes a base 40 that is movable in the Y-axis direction. On the base 40, a detection unit 41 for detecting pattern defects and foreign matters and a foreign matter attached to the surface of the mask 116 are removed. Removal mechanism 42 is provided. The detection unit 41 is a microscope (for example, a confocal microscope) and includes a lens 411 and an optical element 412 (for example, a CCD camera). The mask 116 to be inspected is arranged in the Y-axis minus direction with respect to the detection unit 41, and the Y-axis direction in FIG. 3 is the focus direction of the detection unit 41.

  The removal mechanism 42 includes minute tweezers (hereinafter referred to as nano tweezers) 10 that functions as a manipulator, a Y-direction drive unit 422, and a turning drive unit 423. Although details will be described later, the nano tweezers 10 is manufactured using a MEMS technology or the like and includes a pair of arms 13a and 13b that can be opened and closed. The nanotweezers 10 can be moved in the Y direction (the focus direction of the detection unit 41) by the Y direction driving unit 422. As the Y-direction drive unit 422, for example, a piezoelectric actuator or the like is used, and fine movement on a micron order is possible.

  The turning drive unit 423 is an actuator for inserting / removing the nanotweezers 10 into / from the microscope visual field, and rotationally drives the entire removal mechanism 42 about the shaft 423a. The state shown in FIG. 3 is the operating position of the removal mechanism 42, and the nanotweezers 10 are inserted immediately below the lens 411. When the foreign matter removal operation is not performed, the entire removal mechanism 42 is rotated counterclockwise and moved to the retracted position.

4 to 6 are diagrams for explaining the nanotweezers 10. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the nanotweezers 10. The nanotweezers 10 are integrally manufactured from an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) wafer. The SOI wafer is obtained by forming a SiO ₂ layer on one of _two Si single crystal plates and bonding them together via the SiO ₂ layer.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the nano tweezers 10 includes a pair of arms 13a and 13b, a pair of electrostatic actuators 14a and 14b, a pair of support parts 17a and 17b, a pair of connection parts 18a and 18 and a pair of arm support parts. 19a, 19b and a pedestal 11 are provided. The electrostatic actuator 14a is provided with a fixed electrode 15a and a movable electrode 16a, and the electrostatic actuator 14b is provided with a fixed electrode 15b and a movable electrode 16b. The base 11 is joined to the holder 130 shown in FIG.

  The electrostatic actuator 14a related to the arm 13a having a symmetrical shape and the electrostatic actuator 14b related to the arm 13b have the same structure. Both the fixed electrode 15a and the movable electrode 16a have a comb-teeth shape, and are arranged so as to face each other such that the respective comb teeth mesh with each other through a gap. The fixed electrode 15 a is formed on the pedestal 11. On the other hand, the movable electrode 16a is elastically fixed to the pedestal 11 by a thin beam-like support portion 17a. The fixed electrode 15b and the movable electrode 16b have the same structure.

  The arms 13a and 13b are elastically fixed to the pedestal 11 via thin beam-like arm support portions 19a and 19b, respectively. The arm 13a and the movable electrode 16a are connected by a connecting portion 18a, and the arm 13b and the movable electrode 16b are connected by a connecting portion 18b.

  Terminals 12a, 12b, 12e, 12f, and 12g are terminals for applying a voltage. Regarding the left arm 13a, the terminal 12a is connected to the fixed electrode 15a, and the terminal 12b is connected to the movable electrode 16a. On the other hand, for the right arm 13b, the terminal 12e is connected to the movable electrode 16b, and the terminal 12f is connected to the fixed electrode 15b. The terminal 12g is a ground terminal for preventing the base 11 from becoming a floating electrode.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the terminals 12a, 12b, 12e, and 12f are connected to the ground via chip resistors R1, R2, R5, and R6 for preventing overvoltage application. This is provided so that an electromotive force generated in the conducting wire due to an alternating electric field generated by an electromagnetic wave from the outside is not applied to the electrostatic actuators 14a and 14b.

  Depending on the wiring length of the power supply circuit and the surrounding environment, the electromotive force that periodically changes due to the alternating electric field may greatly exceed the voltage required to open and close the arms 13a and 13b. When such an excessive electromotive force is applied to the electrostatic actuators 14 a and 14 b, the tips of the arms 13 a and 13 b vibrate excessively, causing damage due to contact with each other, or causing breakdown within the nanotweezers 10. There is a risk of causing it. The chip resistors R1, R2, R5, and R6 are provided to prevent such an overvoltage from being applied.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a part of the arms 13a and 13b and the electrostatic actuator 14a. When a voltage is applied between the fixed electrode 15a and the movable electrode 16a, the movable electrode 16a moves in the illustrated right direction with respect to the fixed electrode 15a, thereby driving the arm 13a in the illustrated right direction. When the voltage application is released, the arm 13a returns to the original position, that is, the position shown in FIG. The operation is reversed only on the right side. Similarly, the movable electrode 16b moves in the left direction in the figure with respect to the fixed electrode 15b, so that the arm 13b is driven in the left direction. As a result, a minute object can be gripped between the arm 13a and the arm 13b, or the grip of the minute object can be released.

[Description of operation]
Next, the foreign substance removal operation using the removal mechanism 42 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The inspection apparatus 1 can inspect for the presence or absence of pattern defects and foreign matter, and can remove the detected foreign matter. That is, the inspection apparatus 1 performs an inspection operation for inspecting a pattern defect or foreign matter on the mask 116 prior to the foreign matter removing operation. When performing the inspection operation, the removal mechanism 42 stands by at the retreat position described above.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the inspection and foreign matter removing operation. In step S10, the right-angle stage 122 for the head provided with the detection head 113 is stopped at a predetermined vertical position (Z position), and the mask holder 117 is moved to the same position. Move in the direction (X direction) at a constant speed. While moving at the constant speed, images captured by the optical element 412 are acquired at regular time intervals. Thereafter, the detection head 113 is moved in the vertical direction (Z direction) by the visual field of the optical element 412, and then the mask holder 117 is moved in one direction at a constant speed to acquire an image. By repeating such an operation, an image of the entire area of the mask 116 is acquired.

  The acquired image data is sent to the image information processing unit 210 of the control device 200. The image information processing unit 210 determines the presence or absence of a pattern defect or abnormality of the mask 116 and foreign matter based on the image data (step S20). The determination result is held in the storage unit 220 of the control device 200 together with the position information of the pattern defect and foreign matter.

  If the foreign matter determination in step S20 is completed, the removal mechanism 42 is moved to the operating position in step S25. In the inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, the finely adsorbed particles are held by the nano tweezers 10 functioning as a manipulator, the finely adsorbed particles are pressed against the substrate surface, and the foreign matters are attached to the finely adsorbed particles. It is characteristic that it is discarded.

  In the inspection operation, the removal mechanism 42 is in the retracted position as shown in FIG. 8A, but in the foreign matter removal operation, the turning drive unit 423 is driven and removed as shown in FIG. 8B. The mechanism 42 is moved to the operating position. As a result, the arms 13a and 13b of the nanotweezers 10 are observed in the lens field of view as shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 30, a gripping operation for finely adsorbed particles by the nano tweezers 10 is performed. The finely adsorbed particles used here are adhesive particles formed of a resin having a self-adhesive force. As the self-adhesive resin, for example, an acrylic ester or polyurethane may be used as the main component, but in particular, the adhesiveness is maintained for a long time and the transferability to the other party is suppressed. Resins are preferred.

  FIG. 9 is a view showing the minute adsorption particles 21 provided on the release sheet 20. The minute adsorption particles 21 are held in a separable state on the release sheet 20 in a state of being formed into a cubic shape such as a spherical shape or a disk shape of 1 mm to 0.01 mm. The release sheet 20 is formed of a water-repellent member (for example, a fluororesin), and a plurality of minute adsorbent particles 21 are formed on the release sheet 20 by distributing the resin having self-adhesive force as described above in a mist form. Is done.

  In addition, the finely adsorbed particles can be manufactured by the following method. That is, after a resin layer having self-adhesive strength is formed on a release sheet, the resin layer is cut into a grid shape and the release sheet is stretched. As a result, the grid-like resin layers are separated from each other, and cubic-shaped fine adsorption particles are formed on the release sheet.

  Since the transfer of the adhesive substance to the mask 116 at the time of removing the foreign matter generates new contamination, it is necessary to thoroughly examine the degree of adhesion of the finely adsorbed particles 21. In FIG. 9, it is described that the sizes of the fine adsorption particles 21 are uniform, but actually, the fine adsorption particles 21 of various sizes are provided on the release sheet 20.

  The release sheet 20 has a size of, for example, several tens of mm square, and is detachably attached to the mask holder 117 of the mask inspection apparatus 1 using vacuum suction or the like, as shown in FIG. A flat adhesive member 22 is mounted at a position adjacent to the release sheet 20. Note that the height of the surfaces of the release sheet 20 and the adhesive member 22 (that is, the height in the focus direction) is set to the same height as the surface of the mask 116 to be inspected in consideration of the workability of the foreign substance removal operation. Is preferred.

  In the gripping operation in step S30, the horizontal driving mechanism 124 shown in FIG. 1 is driven to move the mask holder 117 in the X-axis direction, and the vertical driving mechanism 123 is driven to move the detection right stage 122 to the Z direction. By moving in the axial direction, the detection head 113 is moved to the position of the release sheet 20 provided in the mask holder 117, and the arms 13 a and 13 b of the nanotweezers 10 are moved to the minute adsorption particles 21 as shown in FIG. Is stopped at a position above. Then, the focus of the lens 411 is adjusted to the minutely adsorbed particles 21 on the release sheet 20.

  FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating a situation in the lens field of view when the arms 13 a and 13 b are positioned above the minute adsorption particles 21, and such an image is picked up by the optical element 412, and It is displayed on the display device 230. In the example shown in FIG. 11B, the ends of the arms 13a and 13b are shifted to the left side from the center of the field of view. However, the arms 13a and 13b are attached to the lens so that the ends of the arms are the center of the field of view. You may make it approach just below 411. FIG.

  The position of the arms 13a and 13b may be finely adjusted by operating the operation unit 240 while confirming the minute adsorption particles 21 and the arms 13a and 13b displayed on the display device 230. Thereafter, the Y-direction drive unit 422 is finely driven in the negative Y-axis direction to approach the release sheet 20 until the arms 13a and 13b are positioned laterally of the fine adsorbent particles 21.

  Thereafter, the arm 13a is driven in the closing direction to grip the finely adsorbed particles 21 by the arms 13a and 13b, and the Y-direction drive unit 422 is driven in the Y-axis plus direction to pull the gripped minutely adsorbed particles 21 away from the release sheet 20. . A series of operations from the approach of the arms 13 a and 13 b to the minute adsorption particle 21 to the grasping and separation to the minute adsorption particle 21 is imaged by the optical element 412. Therefore, each operation can be confirmed by the display device 230, and the operator may finely adjust the manual operation according to the situation. As a result, the minute adsorption particles 21 can be reliably held by the arms 13a and 13b.

  Note that the size of the minutely adsorbed particles 21 held here is preferably 5 to 50 times in diameter compared to the size of the foreign matter to be removed. This size is optimum from the viewpoint of workability and visibility in the microscope.

  When the gripping operation of the minutely adsorbed particles 21 in step S30 in FIG. 7 is completed, the process proceeds to step S40 to perform a process for removing foreign matter. First, the direction in which the base 40 (see FIG. 3) on which the detection unit 41 and the removal mechanism 42 are mounted is moved away from the release sheet 20 with the fine adsorption particles 21 held on the arms 13a and 13b kept in focus (see FIG. 3). Move a predetermined amount in the positive direction of the Y-axis). Therefore, the minute adsorption particles 21 held by the arms 13a and 13b can be confirmed by the display device 230 during the subsequent movement.

  Next, while the minute adsorbed particles 21 are held by the arms 13a and 13b, the vertical driving mechanism 123 and the horizontal driving mechanism 124 are driven to move the detection head 113 two-dimensionally in the X and Z directions. As shown in FIG. 12A, the lens 411 of the detection head 113 is positioned above the first foreign object 30. Note that numbers are sequentially assigned to the plurality of pieces of foreign matter information stored in the storage unit 220 in FIG. 1, and the pieces of foreign matter information are called in numerical order during the foreign matter removal operation.

  Thereafter, the Y-direction drive unit 422 is driven to bring the nanotweezers 10 closer to the lens 411 by about several tens of μm. In this way, the lens 411 is focused on the foreign object 30 on the mask 116 after making the lens 411 have no focus position. As a result, a captured image as shown in FIG. 13A is displayed on the display device 230. In FIG. 13A, a point P represents the position of the foreign material 30 and is captured at the center of the visual field indicated by a plus mark.

  From the state shown in FIG. 12, the right-angle stage 122 for the head is slightly moved in the negative Z-axis direction, and the finely adsorbed particles 21 held on the arms 13 a and 13 b are moved above the foreign matter 30 as shown in FIG. Let Thereafter, the Y-direction drive unit 422 is driven to move the arms 13a and 13 in the direction of the mask 116, and the minute adsorption particles 21 are pressed against the area where the foreign matter 30 is present on the mask 116. Drive to position. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12B, the foreign material 30 adheres to the minute adsorption particles 21 by the adhesive force and is removed from the surface of the mask 116.

  Thereafter, in order to confirm that the foreign matter 30 has been removed, the right angle stage 122 for head is slightly moved in the plus direction of the Z axis so that the foreign matter position P is located at the center of the visual field. As a result, a captured image as shown in FIG. 13C is displayed on the display device 230. If there is no foreign substance 30 at the position P, the foreign substance 30 is attached to the minute adsorption particles 21 and removed from the surface of the mask 116. I can judge. As can be seen from FIG. 13 (b), it cannot be determined from the captured image whether the foreign matter 30 is attached to the minute adsorbed particles 21, so that the foreign matter 30 is removed by providing the step of FIG. 13 (c). It is possible to confirm with certainty.

  If the foreign substance removal process in step S40 is completed, the process proceeds to step S50 to perform a process of discarding the foreign substance 30. First, the fine adsorption particles 21 held by the arms 13a and 13b are focused, and the detection head 113 is two-dimensionally moved in the X direction and the Z direction while maintaining the state. The detection head 113 is shown in FIG. Position above the member 22. The positioning position is set in advance according to the disposal order.

  After positioning, the focus of the lens 411 is adjusted to the surface of the adhesive member 22, and then the base 40 or the Y-direction drive unit 422 is driven in the adhesive member direction (Y-axis minus direction) and is held by the arms 13a and 13b. The minute adsorption particles 21 are brought into contact with the adhesive member 22. Thereafter, when the arms 13a and 13b are opened and moved in the negative Y-axis direction, the fine adsorbent particles 21 to which the foreign matter 30 has adhered are adhered onto the adhesive member 22 by the adhesive force of both the fine adsorbent particles 21 and the adhesive member 22. Move to be left behind. Thus, in the present embodiment, the fine adsorbed particles 21 to which the foreign matter 30 is attached are discarded on the adhesive member 22.

  As the adhesive member 22, a material having adhesiveness, such as a commercially available “αGEL (alpha gel)” (registered trademark), having no transfer to the nanotweezers and not contaminating is selected. An adhesive substance having an adhesive force larger than that of the fine adsorbent particles 21 is used so that the fine adsorbent particles 21 are reliably moved from the nanotweezers 10 to the adhesive member 22. Alternatively, after the finely adsorbed particles 21 are attached to the adhesive member 22, the arms 13a and 13b may be cleaned by pressing against the adhesive member 22 at the tip of the arms 13a and 13b. The adhesive member 22 is formed in a sheet shape of about several tens of mm square similarly to the release sheet 20 provided with the minute adsorption particles 21 and is held at the same surface height as the mask 116.

  When the discarding process in step S50 is completed, the process proceeds to step S60, and it is determined whether or not the foreign substance removal process has been completed for all the foreign substance information stored in the storage unit 220. If not completed, the process returns to step S30, and the removal operation from step S50 to step S60 is repeated. If all the foreign matters on the mask 116 have been removed by such a removal operation, the removal mechanism 42 is returned to the retracted position in step S65, and the series of operations is terminated.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the removal mechanism 42 provided with the nanotweezers 10 and the lens 411 provided with the optical element 412 are integrally moved relative to the mask holder 117. Then, the mask 116 is imaged by the optical element 412 to inspect the presence or absence of a defect or a foreign substance, and the foreign substance is removed based on the inspection result. That is, the release sheet 20 is held by the mask holder 117, and any one of the plurality of minute adsorption particles 21 adhering to the release sheet 20 is held by the nanotweezers 10 and separated from the release sheet 20, The minute adsorption particles 21 are pressed against the foreign matter 30 on the mask 116 so that the foreign matter 30 adheres to the minute adsorption particles 21. Then, the minutely adsorbed particles 21 attached to the foreign material 30 are pressed against and adhered to the adhesive member 22, thereby discarding the minutely adsorbed particles 21 to the adhesive member 22.

  Conventionally, as a method for mechanically removing fine foreign substances (particles) attached to a mask, a wafer substrate, etc., a method of grasping and discarding the fine foreign substances with nanotweezers has been proposed as a relatively reliable method. However, a minute foreign substance having a sufficient height can be gripped with nano tweezers, but in the case of a thin flat foreign substance, it is very difficult to grip with nano tweezers. For example, when the arm height is about 5 μm, a minute foreign matter having a thickness of 1 μm cannot be gripped. In addition, there is a case where minute foreign matters are finely crushed during gripping, and it is further difficult to grip and remove them. Moreover, if static electricity is charged, the difficulty of removal is further increased.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the sticky minute adsorbed particles 21 are pressed against the surface of the mask 116 so that the foreign matter 30 adheres to the minute adsorbed particles 21 and is removed. Therefore, even a minute foreign substance or a flat foreign substance can be easily removed, and since a wide area on the surface of the foreign substance adheres to the minute adsorption particles 21, even a foreign substance that is difficult to peel off due to the influence of static electricity is removed. can do.

  In addition, when the surface of the mask 116 is uneven as shown in FIG. 14A and the foreign material 30 is present in the recess, it is difficult to directly hold the nanotweezers 10 as in the conventional case, but the minute adsorption When the particles 21 are used, the fine adsorbent particles 21 can be deformed and easily enter the recesses, so that the foreign matter 30 can be attached to the fine adsorbent particles 21 and easily removed.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14B, even if a plurality of foreign substances 30 are solidified and distributed, they can be removed together with one minute adsorbed particle 21. Since the release sheet 20 can be provided with minute adsorption particles 21 of various sizes, the minute adsorption particles 21 may be selected according to the size and distribution range of the foreign matter 30.

  In addition, since the plurality of fine adsorption particles 21 are provided on the release sheet 20, the new fine adsorption particles 21 can be held and used with nanotweezers every time the foreign matter is removed. If the same minute adsorbent particles 21 are used for removing foreign matter a plurality of times, there is a risk that the foreign matter adhering to the minute adsorbent particles 21 will again adhere to the substrate. By exchanging for a thing, such reattachment can be prevented reliably.

  Furthermore, the removal operation when removing the foreign matter from the mask 116 and the transfer operation when transferring the foreign matter to the adhesive member 22 are imaged by the optical element 412 to confirm that each operation is performed reliably. Can be confirmed. Further, after removing the foreign matter from the mask 116, an image of the area where the foreign matter is present on the mask 116 is captured by the optical element 412, so that it can be confirmed that the foreign matter has been removed, and reliable foreign matter removal is performed. Can do.

  If it is better to remove static electricity from the foreign matter on the substrate with an ionizer or the like prior to removing the foreign matter, neutralization may be performed on the entire mask 116 or locally. In the above-described embodiment, only the Y-direction drive unit 422 that is a fine movement mechanism in the focus direction is provided as the movement mechanism of the nanotweezers 10, but in some cases, a fine movement mechanism in the X-axis direction or the Z-axis direction is further provided. Also good. By providing them, it is possible to improve the workability of the work of gripping the finely adsorbed particles 21 and the work of removing foreign matter.

  Further, it is preferable that the release sheet 20 and the adhesive member 22 provided with the minute adsorption particles 21 are set on the mask holder 117 at the start of work, and discarded and replaced when the respective adhesive performance deteriorates.

  In the above-described embodiment, as the manipulator for holding the fine adsorbent particles 21, the fine adsorbent particles 21 are gripped using the nano tweezers manufactured by the MEMS technology. You may make it hold | maintain so that the particle | grains 21 may be stabbed.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the removal of the foreign matter by the removal mechanism 42 has been described by taking as an example the substrate inspection device that inspects the inspection target substrate for the presence of defects and foreign matters. However, a foreign matter removal device is provided separately from the substrate inspection device. Alternatively, the inspection result (position information of the foreign matter) of the substrate inspection apparatus may be taken into the foreign matter removing apparatus and the foreign matter may be removed based on the inspection result. For example, the foreign matter removing apparatus omits the function of inspecting defects and foreign matters from the mask inspection apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, takes in positional information of foreign matters from other mask inspection devices, and stores it in the storage unit 220. Remove foreign matter based on

  That is, the mask 116 which is a substrate to be inspected, the release sheet 20 provided with a plurality of adhesive particles so as to be removable, and the mask holder 117 to which the adhesive member 22 is attached, and the manipulator (nano tweezers 10) with respect to the mask holder 117 ) And the detection unit 41 are integrally moved relative to each other, and the vertical direction drive mechanism 123 and the horizontal direction drive mechanism 124 are imaged. The detection unit 41 images the mask 116 and displays the foreign matter on the mask 116 on the display device 230. Observe. And the control apparatus 200 hold | maintains any one of several adhesive particle | grains provided in the peeling sheet 20 with the nano tweezers 10, makes it detach | leave from the peeling sheet 20, and hold | maintains at the nano tweezers 10 based on an observation result. The nanotweezers 10 are controlled so that foreign particles are attached to the adhered particles and removed from the mask 116, and the adhesive particles are transferred from the nanotweezers 10 to the adhesive member 22.

  Each of the embodiments described above may be used alone or in combination. This is because the effects of the respective embodiments can be achieved independently or synergistically. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired.

  1: mask inspection device, 10: nanotweezers, 13a, 13b: arm, 20: release sheet, 21: finely adsorbed particles, 22: adhesive member, 41: detection unit, 42: removal mechanism, 113: detection head, 116: Mask: 117: Mask holder, 122: Right angle stage for head, 123: Vertical direction drive mechanism, 124: Horizontal direction drive mechanism, 200: Control device, 210: Image information processing unit, 220: Storage unit, 230: Display device, 240: operation unit, 412: optical element, 422: Y-direction drive unit, 423: turning drive unit

Claims (8)

A substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles can be detached, and a holder to which an adhesive member is attached;
Moving means for integrally moving the manipulator and the imaging device relative to the holder;
Inspection means for inspecting the presence or absence of defects and foreign matter based on imaging information of the inspection target substrate imaged by the imaging device;
Any one of a plurality of adhesive particles provided on the flat plate is held by the manipulator and separated from the flat plate, and the adhesive particles held on the manipulator are And a control means for controlling the manipulator so as to remove foreign substances from the substrate to be inspected and transfer the adhesive particles from the manipulator to the adhesive member. A substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles can be detached, and a holder to which an adhesive member is attached;
Moving means for integrally moving the manipulator and the imaging device relative to the holder;
Inspection means for inspecting the presence or absence of defects and foreign matter based on imaging information of the inspection target substrate imaged by the imaging device;
According to a holding command, the manipulator is moved to the flat plate, holding control means for holding any one of the plurality of adhesive particles with the manipulator and separating from the flat plate,
Removal control for moving the manipulator holding the adhesive particles to the position of the foreign matter based on the inspection result of the inspection means, and removing the foreign matter from the inspection target substrate by attaching the foreign matter to the adhesive particles in accordance with a removal command Means,
According to a disposal instruction, a manipulator holding the adhesive particles to which the foreign matter is attached is moved to the adhesive member, and the disposal control means is attached to the adhesive member and transferred from the manipulator to the adhesive member. A board inspection apparatus comprising: In the board | substrate inspection apparatus of Claim 1 or 2,
A substrate inspection apparatus, wherein after removing the foreign matter from the inspection target substrate, the region on the inspection target substrate from which the foreign matter has been removed is imaged by the imaging device and displayed on the display means. In the board | substrate inspection apparatus of Claim 1 or 2,
Comprising display means for displaying an image captured by the imaging device;
The removal operation when removing the foreign matter from the inspection target substrate and the transfer operation when transferring the foreign matter to the adhesive member are imaged by the imaging device and displayed on the display means. Board inspection equipment. The board inspection apparatus according to claim 4,
After removing the foreign matter from the inspection target substrate, the substrate inspection apparatus picks up an image of the region from which the foreign matter has been removed on the inspection target substrate and displays it on the display means. In the board | substrate inspection apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-5,
The manipulator is a micro tweezers formed by MEMS technology, and the adhesive member is gripped by the micro tweezers. A substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles can be detached, and a holder to which an adhesive member is attached;
Moving means for integrally moving the manipulator and the imaging device relative to the holder;
An observation means for imaging the inspection target substrate by the imaging device and observing foreign matter on the inspection target substrate;
Any one of a plurality of adhesive particles provided on the flat plate is held by the manipulator to be detached from the flat plate, and the adhesive particles held on the manipulator are added to the adhesive particles based on the observation result of the observation means. And a controller for controlling the manipulator to remove the adhesive particles from the inspection target substrate and transfer the adhesive particles from the manipulator to the adhesive member. A substrate to be inspected, a flat plate on which a plurality of adhesive particles are detachable, a holder to which an adhesive member is attached, a moving means for integrally moving a manipulator and an imaging device relative to the holder, and an imaging device An inspection means for inspecting the presence or absence of defects and foreign matter based on the imaging information of the inspection target substrate imaged by the method, and a foreign matter removal method in a substrate inspection apparatus comprising:
A first step of holding any one of the plurality of adhesive particles by a manipulator and detaching from the flat plate;
A second step of attaching the foreign matter on the substrate to be inspected to the adhesive particles held by the manipulator based on the inspection result relating to the foreign matter;
And a third step of transferring the adhesive particles from the manipulator to the adhesive member by pressing and adhering the adhesive particles to which the foreign matter has adhered to the adhesive member.

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