Inspection system

摘要

The entire surface of a photomask 101 is inspected after data and parameters of the lithography simulator are set in the operation setting screen of a control computer 110 and after the inspection system 100 is calibrated. The coordinates of a portion or portions determined in the inspection to be a defect are written into an XML file. When the inspection system 100 is in the die-to-database inspection mode, the control computer 110 reads pattern data from the database, which data is used by the inspection system 100 to generate reference data, and then converts the read pattern data into OASIS format, which is highly versatile. The optical image captured by the inspection system 100 is converted into a bitmap. These data are sent to the lithography simulator, together with simulation operating conditions and the image data that was used to calibrate the inspection system 100.

主权项

1. An inspection apparatus comprising:
an optical image capture unit configured to capture optical images of an object to be inspected by irradiating the object with light; a comparing unit configured to compare a first optical image with reference information to determine coordinates of a portion of the first optical image determined to be a defect, wherein the first optical image and the coordinates of the portion together form a first inspection result; and an interface unit configured to output to a lithography simulator the first optical image and the coordinates, wherein the interface unit is connected to the lithography simulator through a general communications network and is configured to instruct the lithography simulator to generate a first simulated image of the portion of the first optical image, generate a second simulated image using the reference information, compare the first and second simulated images, identify a defect if a difference between the first and second simulated images exceeds a predetermined threshold, and send a result of the comparison to the comparing unit; and wherein the comparing unit is configured to inspect a second optical image different from the first optical image selected based upon the result of the comparison and produce a second inspection result, and configured to display the first and second inspection results.