JPH011251A - Pattern defect inspection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pattern defect inspection apparatus, and more particularly to a pattern defect inspection apparatus for inspecting patterns on reticles used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices and the like.

[Conventional technology]

In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, steppers have come to be used in exposure machines that print patterns on wafers as patterns become finer. Stepper is 5 on wafer
Using a reticle with ~10 times the pattern size,
Several tens to hundreds of chips are formed by projecting this pattern onto a wafer and performing reduction exposure. Since the reticle pattern is exposed repeatedly, highly accurate inspection for pattern defects is required.

A pattern for one to several chips is usually formed on the reticle. Defect inspection of a reticle on which a plurality of chips are formed is carried out by comparing the same locations on two adjacent chips, resulting in high inspection efficiency. However, since a reticle that is only formed for one chip cannot be compared chip-to-chip, the data used to generate patterns with a pattern generator or EB exposure machine is processed and used as inspection data, and this is compared with the reticle pattern. Use verification equipment.

Naturally, even if a reticle has a plurality of chips formed thereon, only one of the chips may be checked against inspection data.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the conventional data matching type pattern inspection device mentioned above,
The inspection data is arranged in order according to the coordinates of the pattern and stored on a tape or disk, and the inspection data -1, - are sent in synchronization with the scanning speed of the reticle.

Once the entire pattern on the reticle has been compared, the part of the pattern that is detected to be different from the inspection data is recalled, and the difference is detected to be due to a defect in the pattern, dust attached to the reticle, or noise. The operator determines by observing on the display or using the attached optical microscope. At this time, since the reticle moves only a short distance, it is possible to immediately reach the pattern portion where there is a difference, but due to the increase in the amount of inspection data, it takes time to reach the required data portion. In other words, even if the reticle pattern could be detected w4, it took time to obtain the information from the inspection data, and the overall inspection time increased due to the time difference during which work could not be done, making it extremely inefficient6. An object of the present invention is to provide a pattern defect inspection apparatus that solves the above-mentioned problems.

[Differences between the invention and the prior art]

In contrast to the conventional data matching type pattern inspection apparatus described above, the present invention separately stores only the data part of the inspection data that is detected to be different from the pattern on the reticle, so that the operator can The difference is that it is possible to directly call up the stored data portion that has a difference when performing vA detection and judgment of the portion that has been stored.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention relates to a pattern defect inspection apparatus that compares information obtained by scanning a reticle pattern with information read from a recording medium to inspect for defects in the pattern. This is a pattern defect inspection device characterized by having a memory section for storing.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, the data matching type pattern defect inspection apparatus of the present invention includes a CPU 2, memories 3 and 6, a defect determination section 4, a display 5, a sensor 7, a lens 8, a stage 10, a Y drive 12, and an X drive. It has a drive 13, a stage controller 14, and a defect data memory 15 that stores a data portion of inspection data in which a defect is detected when scanning a reticle pattern.

In the embodiment, the reticle 9 placed on the stage 10 is
While scanning with drive 13 and Y drive 12, light source 11
The sensor 7 receives the transmitted light through the lens 8. On the other hand, while synchronizing with the stage controller 14 that controls the movement of the stage, inspection data is read from the tape 1 or a disk instead of the tape, and the CPU 2 develops this into a bitmap and uses it as image data.

The information obtained from the reticle 9 is compared with the defect determining section 4, and a portion with a difference is determined to be a defect. A reticle pattern, a pattern based on image data, or a composite pattern thereof can be displayed on the display 5. One screen worth of image data including the coordinates of the reticle pattern determined to be defective and the defect is stored in the defect data memory 15. Approximately 3.8 Mbits is sufficient as the memory capacity to store image data for one screen, and the capacity of the defect data memory 15 as a whole is sufficient for five defects, that is, 20 Mbits. If there are six or more defects, it is sufficient to read the defect data to an empty part of the defect data memory 15 while observing and determining one defect on the display 5, so that no wasted time occurs.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a defect data memory that exclusively stores data related to defects, so that when an operator judges a defective part after comparing a reticle pattern with inspection data, it is possible to Therefore, inspection data that had to be retrieved back can be read directly.

The pattern of the reticle can be detected and at the same time the inspection data of the same part can be superimposed and judged, which eliminates wasted time and has the effect of improving inspection efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a pattern defect inspection apparatus for inspecting defects in a reticle pattern according to the present invention. 1...Tape 2...CPU3.6...Memory 4...Defect determination section 5...Display 7...Sensor 8...Lens 9.
...Reticle 10...Stage 11...Light source 12...Y drive 13...X drive 1
4... Stage controller 15... Defect data memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a pattern defect inspection device that inspects pattern defects by comparing information obtained by scanning a reticle pattern with information read from a recording medium, the part of the information on the recording medium where a defect is detected during scanning. What is claimed is: 1. A pattern defect inspection device comprising a memory section for storing.