DEFECT INSPECTION METHOD, LOW LIGHT DETECTING METHOD, AND LOW LIGHT DETECTOR

摘要

A defect inspection method is characterized by having: an illumination light adjustment step for adjusting the light emitted from a light source; an illumination intensity distribution control step for forming a light beam obtained via the illumination light adjustment step in a desired illumination intensity distribution; a sample scanning step for displacing a sample in a substantially perpendicular direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the illumination intensity distribution; a scattered light detection step for counting the number of photons of the scattered light emitted from each of multiple small regions within a region being irradiated by illumination light, and outputting corresponding multiple scattered light detection signals; a defect determination step for determining the presence of defects by processing the multiple scattered light detection signals; a defect dimension determination step for determining the dimensions of a defect for each location determined to be a defect; and a display step for displaying the dimensions of a defect and the position on the sample surface for each location determined to be a defect.