| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a foreign matter removing device capable of measuring the height of a foreign matter attached to a front surface or a rear surface in various samples, such as an EUVL mask and an EUVL mask blank and removing the foreign matter.SOLUTION: A foreign matter removing device according to the present invention includes a measuring optical system (2) for detecting the height of a foreign matter existing on a sample surface and a cantilever (3) arranged so that a free end is obliquely contacted to the sample surface. The cantilever scans the sample surface (17a) on which the foreign matter (37) exists and the measuring optical system (2) detects a displacement amount of the free end during the scan. Since a displacement amount of the free end in a direction orthogonal to the sample surface corresponds to the height of the foreign matter, it is determined whether or not the detected displacement amount exceeds a threshold value and when the detected displacement amount exceeds the threshold value, the foreign matter is removed from the sample surface only by relatively moving the cantilever in the opposite direction. As a result, height measurement and removal of the foreign matter are performed together and the foreign matter can be removed with high throughput. |
