MICRO-DEFECT INSPECTION METHOD, ITS DEVICE, EXPOSING METHOD, AND MANUFACTURE OF SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discriminate and detect a micro-defect from the fine structure portion of a pattern by applying oblique illuminations to a major straight line group constituting the pattern of a substrate of a semiconductor wafer from the same direction and orthogonal directions, and shielding and processing the generated scattered light from the pattern with space filters. SOLUTION: In the detection of a micro-defect such as a foreign matter stuck on the surface of a substrate, oblique illuminations 105a, 105b, 106a, 106b different in wavelength are applied to an inspection object 6 in parallel with or orthogonally to the straight line portions of a pattern 80 from four orthogonal directions. The scattered light is branched and separated by a wavelength separating prism 42, and the scattered portions from the edges of the pattern 80 are shielded by space filters 44, 444 and received by CCD sensors 51, 551. The obtained signals are bipolarized by bipolarization judging circuits 52, 552 with a prescribed threshold value and processed by an AND circuit 57, and the micro- foreign matter is discriminated and detected from the fine structure portion of the pattern 80.