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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7782451 | Device for and method of inspecting surface condition having different curvatures A target surface of a target object including portions having different curvatures is inspected by using an illuminating device and a camera that are fixed, a supporting device for supporting the target object such that its position and orientation are variable. The... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7777874 | Noncontact surface form measuring apparatus A noncontact form measuring apparatus emits a laser beam L. In the apparatus, a prism bends the laser beam into an X-axis direction, so that a Z-axis displacement of an objective optical system is converted by the prism into an X-axis displacement on a measurement c... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7777875 | Systems, circuits and methods for extending the detection range of an inspection system by avoiding detector saturation Inspection systems, circuits and methods are provided to enhance defect detection by addressing anode saturation as a limiting factor of the measurement detection range of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) detector. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a m... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7768635 | Apparatus and method for inspecting defects A defect inspection apparatus includes a movable stage for mounting a substrate having circuit patterns as an object of inspection, an irradiation optical system which irradiates a slit-shaped light beam from an oblique direction to the circuit patterns of the subst... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7768634 | Defects inspecting apparatus and defects inspecting method An inspecting apparatus and method including first and second illuminating units for illuminating a surface of a specimen to be inspected with different incident angles and first and second detecting optical units arranged at different elevation angle directions to ... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7764367 | Surface inspection method and surface inspection apparatus A surface inspection method and a surface inspection apparatus in which a plurality of photodetectors are arranged in a plurality of directions so that light scattered, diffracted or reflected on a surface of an object to be inspected or in the vicinity of the surfa... | 07/27/2010 |
| 7755752 | Combined modulated optical reflectance and photoreflectance system The capabilities of the Modulated Optical Reflectance (MOR) technology in dopant metrology applications are combined with the sensitivity of the PhotoReflectance (PR) method in the present system to provide stress and other measurements in semiconductor samples. Suc... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7755751 | Optical inspection method and optical inspection apparatus In the conventional contaminant particle/defect inspection method, if the illuminance of the illumination beam is held at not more than a predetermined upper limit value not to give thermal damage to the sample, the detection sensitivity and the inspection speed bei... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7751036 | Apparatus of inspecting defect in semiconductor and method of the same When size of a defect on an increasingly miniaturized pattern is obtained by defect inspection apparatus in the related art, a value is inconveniently given, which is different from a measured value of the same defect by SEM. Thus, a dimension value of a defect dete... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7746461 | Optical defect inspection apparatus A laser beam oscillated from a laser source is folded in its path by first and second plane mirrors and enters a beam expander. The surface of each plane mirror is deteriorated with illumination by the laser beam and the reflectance is reduced. To avoid a light quan... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7746459 | Systems configured to inspect a wafer Systems configured to inspect a wafer are provided. One system includes an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate an area on the wafer by directing light to the wafer at an oblique angle of incidence. The system also includes a collection subsystem configur... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7746460 | Device and method for scanning pieces of solid wood A device for scanning pieces of solid wood has a pusher movable across a length of a piece of solid wood and at least one scanning unit mounted on the pusher. At least one side of the piece of solid wood is scanned by the at least one scanning unit as the at least o... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7738090 | Fourier filters, systems for fabricating fourier filters, and systems and methods for inspecting a specimen using fourier filters Fourier filters, systems configured to fabricate Fourier filters and systems and methods configured to inspect specimens are provided herein. One Fourier filter configured for use in an inspection system comprises an array of patterned features formed within an opti... | 06/15/2010 |
| 7733473 | Inspection apparatus and inspection method An inspection apparatus includes a wafer stage for carrying a wafer, an illumination module which irradiates an inspection beam on the wafer carried on the wafer stage, a detection module which detects scattering rays or reflection rays from the wafer on the wafer s... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7733474 | Defect inspection system A defect inspection system can suppress an effect of light from a sample rough surface or a regular circuit pattern and increase a gain of light from a defect such as a foreign material to detect the defect on the sample surface with high sensitivity. When a lens wi... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7733472 | Method and system for determining condition of process performed for coating film before immersion light exposure A method is used for determining a condition of a predetermined process for preparing a process target, which includes a coating film formed on a substrate and including a resist film. This is to prevent film peeling from occurring in the coating film when performin... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7733475 | Defect inspecting apparatus A defect inspecting apparatus of the invention solves a problem that in a defect inspecting apparatus, because of improving detection sensitivity of a microscopic defect by reducing a detection pixel size, a focal depth becomes shallow, a height of imaging is varied... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7728967 | Laser-based maintenance apparatus A laser maintenance apparatus including a laser system which includes an optical system for emitting, in a first irradiation condition, a generation laser beam for generating an ultrasonic wave in a portion of an object on which maintenance is to be performed, and i... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7728966 | Optical inspection tool having lens unit with multiple beam paths for detecting surface defects of a substrate and methods of using same An optical inspection tool used to detect surface defects of a substrate include a chuck for holding a substrate and a lens unit disposed over the chuck. The lens unit includes at least a pair of oblique beam paths therein, wherein light penetrating the beam paths t... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7724357 | Backside contamination inspection device A system for simultaneously inspecting the frontsides and backsides of semiconductor wafers for defects is disclosed. The system rotates the semiconductor wafer while the frontside and backside surfaces are generally simultaneously optically scanned for defects. Rot... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7724358 | Illuminator for darkfield inspection Light from a single source is divided among several illumination arms, each of which directs light via a multimode fiber bundle from the source to the wafer location. The arms are arranged circumferentially around a common illumination region, so that the region is ... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7719671 | Foreign matter inspection method and foreign matter inspection apparatus In a foreign matter inspection apparatus comprising: irradiating unit for irradiating inspection light to an inspection area of an article to be inspected; intensity detecting unit for detecting intensity of either reflected light or scattered light, which is genera... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7719672 | Macro inspection apparatus and microscopic inspection method The invention provides a macro inspection apparatus including: a stage on which an inspection object is placed; a light source that irradiates light on an upper surface of the inspection object from an angular direction arbitrarily selected relative to the upper sur... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7714999 | High resolution wafer inspection system A method for inspecting a region, including irradiating the region via an optical system with a pump beam at a pump wavelength. A probe beam at a probe wavelength irradiates the region so as to generate returning probe beam radiation from the region. The beams are s... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7714998 | Image splitting in optical inspection systems In an optical inspection tool, an image of an object under inspection, such as a semiconductor wafer, may be obtained using imaging optics defining a focal plane. Light comprising the image can be split into portions that are detected using multiple detectors which ... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7714997 | Apparatus for inspecting defects This invention is a defect inspection apparatus having a reflecting objective lens free from chromatic aberration, or an achromatic catadioptric lens, and a dioptric objective lens, and thus constructed to suppress changes in brightness due to multi-wavelength illum... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7705977 | Methods for depth profiling in semiconductors using modulated optical reflectance technology Methods of obtaining dopant and damage depth profile information are disclosed using modulated optical reflectivity (MOR) measurements. In one aspect, the depth profile is constructed using information obtained from various measurements such as the junction depth, j... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7701569 | Dark field lighting testing device A dark field lighting testing device, for detecting a surface defect of an object having mirror surfaces, includes a cavity, the interior surface of which is made of a light-absorbing material; an opening arranged on a top of the cavity; a tape body arranged on the ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7692778 | Transfer/inspection apparatus and transfer apparatus The invention is to provide a transfer/inspection apparatus capable of inspecting any defect even during transferring and to provide a transfer/inspection apparatus capable of inspecting any defect in a non-contact state during transferring, even if the an object to... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7688435 | Detecting and classifying surface features or defects by controlling the angle of the illumination plane of incidence with respect to the feature or defect Scratches, pits and particles which are smaller or larger than the beam size may be measured and identified by a single and dual multiple beam techniques. In one embodiment, this the invention uses a pair of orthogonally oriented white light beams, one in the radial... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7684032 | Multi-wavelength system and method for detecting epitaxial layer defects The disclosed system provides a method and apparatus for automated detection of a variety of defects within an epitaxial layer by way of an optical surface analysis device containing at least two wavelengths of incident light. A unique defect detection algorithm is ... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7679734 | Curved surface shape inspection method, fiber optical block, and curved surface shape inspection device In a fiber optic block 10 formed by bundling and integrating a plurality of optical fibers 11 each composed of a core region 12 and a clad region 13, an at least partially curved input end face 14 composed of one end of each optica... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7679735 | Optical system for detecting anomalies and/or features of surfaces A surface inspection of the system applies a first oblique illumination beam and may also apply a second illumination beam to illuminate a surface either sequentially or simultaneously. Radiation reflected or scattered is collected by preferably three collection cha... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7679736 | System and method for optical photomask inspection through pellicle A pellicle correction factor is determined by comparing a first measurement of a reference photomask alone with a second measurement of that reference photomask through a reference pellicle protecting the mask layers of the photomask. A number of pellicle correction... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7675613 | Defect inspection method A method for inspecting a defect of a surface of a sample includes irradiating a laser beam on the sample surface a plurality of times so that at least part of an illumination field of the laser beam on the sample surface illuminates a first area of the sample surfa... | 03/09/2010 |
| 7663745 | Plural light source and camera to detect surface flaws A method for detecting specular surface flaws on a coated substrate includes impinging visible non-integrated electromagnetic radiation from a first source onto the coated substrate, reflecting the visible non-integrated electromagnetic radiation off the coated subs... | 02/16/2010 |
| 7659973 | Wafer inspection using short-pulsed continuous broadband illumination An inspection system may be configured to inspect objects, such as semiconductor wafers, using narrow-pulse broadband illumination. The illumination may be obtained in some embodiments using a laser configured to emit light into a material having a spectral broadeni... | 02/09/2010 |
| 7659974 | System and method for controlling light scattered from a workpiece surface in a surface inspection system In one embodiment, a surface analyzer system comprises a radiation targeting assembly to target a radiation beam onto a surface; and a scattered radiation collecting assembly that collects radiation scattered from the surface. The radiation targeting assembly genera... | 02/09/2010 |
| 7656518 | Method of measuring asymmetry in a scatterometer, a method of measuring an overlay error in a substrate and a metrology apparatus In a method of measuring asymmetry in a scatterometer, a target portion is illuminated twice, first with 0° of substrate rotation and secondly with 180° of substrate rotation. One of those images is rotated and then that rotated image is subtracted from the other ... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7656519 | Wafer edge inspection In one embodiment, a surface analyzer system comprises a radiation targeting assembly to target radiation onto an edge surface of a wafer, the radiation targeting assembly comprising a first expanded paraboloid or expanded ellipsoid reflector positioned adjacent the... | 02/02/2010 |
