JP5210998B2 - Silicon wafer inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a silicon wafer inspection apparatus that takes a fluoroscopic image of a silicon wafer, particularly a silicon wafer for manufacturing a solar cell, and detects defects (such as chipping, cracks, pinholes, and adhesion of fine particles) of the silicon wafer based on the image. About.

Inspection apparatuses for detecting defects such as chipping, cracks, pinholes, and adhesion of fine particles generated on a silicon wafer for solar cell production have been known so far.
As such a silicon wafer inspection apparatus, for example, a fine movement table that supports the lower surface of the edge portion of the silicon wafer, an infrared camera and an infrared light source that are vertically opposed to each other across the silicon wafer supported by the fine movement table, The infrared light source irradiates the silicon wafer with infrared light, the transmitted infrared light from the silicon wafer is taken into an infrared camera, and a fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer is displayed on a monitor, and a defect is inspected based on the fluoroscopic image There is something like that (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, even though defects of the silicon wafer are likely to occur at the edge portion, according to this inspection apparatus, the fine movement table covers the edge portion of the silicon wafer, so that the edge portion of the silicon wafer can be seen through. Therefore, there is a problem that the edge portion cannot be inspected.

  Therefore, in order to be able to inspect the entire silicon wafer including the edge part, the fine movement table that supports the edge part is divided into a plurality of parts, and each part of the fine movement table enters the lower surface of the edge part. And a retreat position retracted from the edge portion, and an inspection apparatus has been proposed in which a mask for blocking direct incident light from the infrared light source to the infrared camera is disposed in the vicinity of the edge portion. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

  However, in this inspection apparatus, it is necessary to move each part of the fine movement table between the support position and the retreat position while the silicon wafer is supported as the whole fine movement table during imaging by the infrared camera. For this reason, the silicon wafer has to be temporarily stopped at the inspection position, and has a drawback that it cannot be inspected at a high speed. In addition, in this inspection apparatus, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for moving each part of the fine movement table, and the position of the mask is finely adjusted in order to prevent flare and ghost from occurring in the photographed fluoroscopic image. It had to be complicated and the structure of the device was complicated.

JP-A-8-220008 JP 2007-303829 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a silicon wafer inspection apparatus having a simple structure that can detect a silicon wafer for manufacturing a solar cell, in particular, a defect generated in an edge portion thereof at high speed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is a silicon wafer inspection apparatus for detecting defects in a silicon wafer for solar cell manufacture, which is arranged side by side, and sequentially inspects silicon wafers to be inspected one by one at a constant speed. A pair of conveyor belts are provided, and the pair of conveyor belts are arranged at long and narrow intervals across the conveying direction at right angles, and the width of the interval does not hinder delivery of the silicon wafer between the pair of conveyor belts. A light source that is set to a size and is disposed above or below the space area of the pair of conveyor belts to irradiate light to the silicon wafer passing through the space area; and the space area Is disposed opposite to the light source with a gap therebetween and extends perpendicularly to the transport direction, and transmits from the silicon wafer. A line sensor camera that outputs a video signal of a fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer, a filter made of the same material as the silicon wafer, disposed immediately before at least one of the light source and the line sensor camera, An A / D converter connected to an output terminal of a line sensor camera; a buffer memory for sequentially recording image data output from the A / D converter; and the silicon disposed upstream of the space area. A sensor for detecting the entry of the wafer into the interval area, and the line sensor camera is operated until the silicon wafer is detected by the sensor and passes through the interval area. And recorded in the buffer memory during the operation of the line sensor camera. A silicon wafer inspection apparatus comprising a defect detection unit that detects image defects of the silicon wafer by reading image data of one recon wafer and processing the read image data. It is.

In the above configuration, preferably, the defect detection unit detects the luminance of each pixel constituting the image data for one piece of the silicon wafer, and compares the detected luminance value with a predetermined threshold value. To detect defects in the silicon wafer.
Preferably, the line sensor camera includes a pulse generator and a pulse counter that counts the number of pulses generated by the pulse generator, and the pulse counter detects the silicon wafer by the sensor. Each time the count value is reset, a new operation is started, and the line sensor camera starts operation when receiving a detection signal from the sensor, and the count value of the pulse counter is set to a predetermined value. The operation ends when it is reached.
Moreover, it is preferable that the light source emits light in a wavelength region including infrared rays.

According to the present invention, a pair of conveyor belts are arranged at an interval in the front-rear direction, a line sensor camera and a light source are arranged opposite to each other across the area of the interval, and silicon wafers are sequentially conveyed by the pair of conveyor belts. However, since the perspective image of the silicon wafer is captured by the line sensor camera and the defect is detected based on the perspective image, the inspection can be performed at a high speed without stopping the silicon wafer for each inspection.
Further, according to the present invention, a filter made of the same material as that of the silicon wafer is disposed immediately before at least one of the line sensor camera and the light source, and the light directly irradiated from the light source to the line sensor camera is the same as the transmitted light from the silicon wafer. Since the wavelength band is limited, a clear fluoroscopic image of a silicon wafer without flare and ghost can be obtained without using a mask as in the prior art. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the inspection can be performed while the silicon wafer is being conveyed by the pair of conveyor belts, and thus it is not necessary to provide a conventional complicated silicon wafer support (fine movement).

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the silicon wafer inspection apparatus by one Example of this invention, (A) is a front view, (B) is an enlarged view of the area of the space | interval between a pair of conveyor belts of (A). It is the top view which looked at the silicon wafer test | inspection apparatus of FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is the side view seen from the conveyance direction upstream of the silicon wafer inspection apparatus of FIG. It is a top view which illustrates the defect of the silicon wafer which appears in the fluoroscopic image of a silicon wafer.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a schematic configuration of a silicon wafer inspection apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a front view and FIG. 1B is an enlargement of an area between a pair of conveyor belts in FIG. FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the silicon wafer inspection apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from above, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the silicon wafer inspection apparatus of FIG. In FIG. 3, some components are omitted for the sake of clarity.

  As shown in FIG. 1, according to the present invention, a frame 1 and a pair of horizontal conveyor belts 2 that are attached to the upper surface of the frame 1 side by side and convey silicon wafers W one by one at a constant speed, 3 is provided. The conveyor belts 2 and 3 are arranged at an elongated interval 4 that intersects the conveyance direction (arrow X) at a right angle. In this case, the width of the interval 4 is set to a size that does not hinder delivery of the silicon wafer W between the pair of conveyor belts 2 and 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the conveyor belts 2 and 3 are each composed of a pair of conveyor belt elements 2a and 2b; 3a and 3b arranged in parallel at intervals in the width direction. The silicon wafer W is transported while the lower surfaces of both sides are supported by the pair of conveyor belt elements 2a, 2b; 3a, 3b.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a light source 5 is disposed below an area of a distance 4 between the pair of conveyor belts 2 and 3. The light source 5 is attached to the frame 1 via a fixed plate 6 having an L-shaped cross section. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the light source 5 extends along the interval 4 in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction (arrow X). Extend beyond the width. The light source 5 irradiates the silicon wafer W that passes through the area of the interval 4 with light.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, the frame 1 has a column portion 1 a having an inverted U-shaped cross section straddling the conveying surface of the conveyor belts 2 and 3 in the vicinity of the area of the interval 4 between the conveyor belts 2 and 3. ing. And the line sensor camera 8 is attached to the upper surface of the support | pillar part 1a via the XYZ stage 9. FIG. The line sensor camera 8 is disposed facing the light source 5 with an area of the interval 4 interposed therebetween, extends perpendicular to the transport direction (arrow X), detects transmitted light from the silicon wafer W, and detects the silicon wafer. The video signal of the W perspective image is output.

  The XYZ stage 9 includes an adjustment screw 9a for moving the line sensor camera 8 in the vertical direction, an adjustment screw 9b for moving the line sensor camera 8 in the transport direction (arrow X) in the horizontal plane, and a transport direction (arrow X). And an adjusting screw 9c for moving in a perpendicular direction. The line sensor camera 8 is accurately positioned with respect to the light source 5 by operating these adjustment screws 9a to 9c.

  Any light source 5 can be used as long as it irradiates light in a wavelength region that transmits through the silicon wafer W. However, it is preferable to use a light source that emits light in a wavelength region including infrared rays. This is because infrared rays are easily transmitted through the silicon wafer W and are suitable for obtaining a clear perspective image of the silicon wafer W.

  A filter 7 made of the same material as that of the silicon wafer W is disposed immediately before the light source 5. With the filter 7, the light directly irradiated from the light source 5 to the line sensor camera 8 can be limited to the same wavelength band as the transmitted light from the silicon wafer W. Therefore, a clear perspective image of the silicon wafer W without flare and ghost can be obtained without using a mask as in the prior art.

  In this embodiment, the light source 5 is arranged below the area of the interval 4 while the line sensor camera 8 is arranged above the area of the interval 4, but the positional relationship between the light source 5 and the line sensor camera 8 It goes without saying that may be upside down.

  An A / D converter 12 is connected to the output terminal of the line sensor camera 8, and line-shaped image data output from the A / D converter 12 is sequentially recorded in the buffer memory 13. Further, a sensor 10 that detects the entry of the silicon wafer W into the area of the interval 4 is arranged upstream of the area of the interval 4. The sensor 10 is attached to the frame 1 via a fixing member 11. Although not shown, in this embodiment, the sensor 10 is composed of an optical sensor having a known light emitting and receiving element.

  The line sensor camera 8 includes a pulse generator 16 and a pulse counter 17 that counts the number of pulses generated by the pulse generator 16. Each time the silicon wafer W is detected by the sensor 10, the pulse counter 17 resets the count value to zero and starts a new operation.

The line sensor camera 8 starts its operation when it receives a detection signal from the sensor 10 and ends its operation when the count value of the pulse counter 17 reaches a predetermined value. Thereby, the line sensor camera 8 operates from when the silicon wafer W is detected by the sensor 10 until it passes through the area of the interval 4.
When the image is captured by the line sensor camera 8, positioning is performed by appropriate positioning means (not shown) so that the silicon wafers W sequentially transferred always pass a predetermined position in the area of the interval 4.

  The silicon wafer inspection apparatus further reads out the image data for one silicon wafer W recorded in the buffer memory 13 during the operation of the line sensor camera 8 and performs image processing on the read image data, thereby obtaining the silicon wafer. A defect detection unit 14 for detecting W defects is provided. In this case, the entire image data recorded in the buffer memory 13 includes not only the image of the silicon wafer W but also the image of the margin portion outside the silicon wafer W. Then, based on the predetermined position coordinates of the four corners of the silicon wafer W in the entire image data, the defect detection unit 14 cuts out and reads out only the image portion of the silicon wafer W from the entire image data.

The defect detection unit 14 detects the luminance of each pixel constituting the image data for one silicon wafer W, and compares the detected luminance value with a predetermined threshold value to thereby detect defects in the silicon wafer W. Is detected.
In this embodiment, the detection of the silicon wafer W by the defect detection unit 14 is performed as follows.

First, the form when the defect of the silicon wafer W appears in the fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W is considered. FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a defect of the silicon wafer W that appears in a fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W. FIG.
For example, since large pinholes and bubbles generated in the silicon wafer W transmit light, they appear as white dots 20 in the perspective image of the silicon wafer W as shown in FIG. Since small pinholes and bubbles generated in the wafer W scatter light, they appear as black dots 21 in the fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W as shown in FIG. Further, since the crack generated in the silicon wafer W scatters light, it appears as a black line 22 in the fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W as shown in FIG. Further, since the particles adhering to the surface of the silicon wafer W do not transmit light, they appear as black dots 23 in the fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W as shown in FIG.

  In this way, the defect detection unit 14 divides the image data for one silicon wafer W into a plurality of parts, and detects the luminance of the pixels constituting the part for each of the divided parts. If the luminance value of the pixel exceeds a predetermined upper limit threshold, it is determined that a defect has occurred in the silicon wafer W because there are black dots or lines as shown in FIG. When the luminance value of the pixel falls below the predetermined lower threshold, it is determined that a defect has occurred in the silicon wafer W on the assumption that a white point as shown in FIG.

  The silicon wafer inspection apparatus also reads the recorded image data each time image data for one silicon wafer W is recorded in the buffer memory 13 and displays a display 15 for displaying a fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W. I have. Then, by visually observing the fluoroscopic image displayed on the display 15, the inspection result can be confirmed.

  According to the silicon wafer inspection apparatus of the present invention, the pair of conveyor belts 2 and 3 are arranged with a gap 4 in the front and rear direction, and the light source 5 and the line sensor camera 8 are arranged opposite to each other across the area of the gap 4. While the silicon wafers W are sequentially conveyed by the pair of conveyor belts 2 and 3, the line sensor camera 8 captures a fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer W and detects a defect based on the fluoroscopic image. Inspection can be performed at high speed without being stationary. Moreover, in this case, a clear perspective image of the silicon wafer without flare and ghost can be obtained without using a mask as in the prior art, and it is necessary to have a complicated silicon wafer support base (fine movement base) as in the prior art. Therefore, the configuration of the silicon wafer inspection apparatus becomes very simple.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 1a Support | pillar part 2, 3 Conveyor belt 2a, 2b Conveyor belt element 3a, 3b Conveyor belt element 4 Space | interval 5 Light source 6 Fixing plate 7 Filter 8 Line sensor camera 9 XYZ stage 9a-9c Adjustment screw 10 Sensor 11 Fixing member 12A / D converter 13 Buffer memory 14 Defect detection unit 15 Display 16 Pulse generator 17 Pulse counter W Silicon wafer

Claims (4)

A silicon wafer inspection apparatus for detecting defects in a silicon wafer for solar cell production,
A pair of conveyor belts arranged side by side and conveying silicon wafers to be inspected one by one at a constant speed one by one, the pair of conveyor belts being arranged at an elongated interval perpendicular to the conveying direction; The width of the interval is set to a size that does not hinder delivery of the silicon wafer between the pair of conveyor belts,
A light source that is disposed above or below the spacing area of the pair of conveyor belts and that irradiates light to the silicon wafer passing through the spacing area;
It is arranged opposite to the light source with the space area in between, and extends perpendicular to the transport direction, detects transmitted light from the silicon wafer, and outputs a video signal of a fluoroscopic image of the silicon wafer A line sensor camera to
A filter made of the same material as the silicon wafer, disposed immediately before at least one of the light source and the line sensor camera;
An A / D converter connected to the output terminal of the line sensor camera;
A buffer memory for sequentially recording image data output from the A / D converter;
A sensor disposed upstream of the spacing area and detecting entry of the silicon wafer into the spacing area; and
The line sensor camera is adapted to operate from when the silicon wafer is detected by the sensor until passing through the area of the interval,
Defect detection for detecting defects in the silicon wafer by reading out image data of one silicon wafer recorded in the buffer memory during the operation of the line sensor camera and performing image processing on the read image data Silicon wafer inspection apparatus characterized by comprising a section.   The defect detection unit detects the luminance of each pixel constituting the image data for one piece of the silicon wafer, and compares the detected luminance value with a predetermined threshold value to thereby detect the defect of the silicon wafer. The silicon wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The line sensor camera is
A pulse generator;
A pulse counter that counts the number of pulses generated by the pulse generator,
The pulse counter resets the count value every time the silicon wafer is detected by the sensor and starts a new operation. The line sensor camera starts operating when a detection signal is received from the sensor. 3. The silicon wafer inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation is terminated when the count value of the pulse counter reaches a predetermined value.   The said light source irradiates the light of the wavelength range containing infrared rays, The silicon wafer inspection apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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