JP2009064726A - Substrate inspection device, substrate inspection method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute a pattern defect inspection with high accuracy by preventing deformation and alteration or the like of a resist pattern caused by a temperature rise due to electron beam radiation. <P>SOLUTION: A cooling module is configured so that a vacuum container of the cooling module is air-tightly connected to a vacuum container of an inspection module while a substrate placing table is provided in the cooling vacuum container. The cooling module is provided with: a means for supplying heat-transfer gas between the surface of the placing table and a substrate; and a cooling means for cooling the placing table. The substrate is transferred between the inspection vacuum container and the cooling vacuum container by a substrate transfer means. The substrate heated by electron beam radiation in the inspection module is transferred to the placing table of the cooling module. The substrate cooled by the placing table is transferred into the inspection module so as to continue the resist pattern inspection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field in which a substrate on which a resist pattern is formed is irradiated with an electron beam in a vacuum atmosphere, and thereby a defect of the pattern is inspected based on secondary electrons emitted from the substrate.

In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a defect inspection method for a resist pattern formed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) includes an optical inspection method using a laser. In this method, the line width of the resist pattern is 32 nm or less. Then, it becomes difficult to detect the defect of the pattern.
Therefore, there is an SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) type inspection method using an electron beam as a method for inspecting a defect of the pattern when the line width of the pattern is 32 nm or less, for example, 15 nm (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this SEM type substrate inspection method, as shown in FIG. 12, primary electrons (electron beams) are emitted from an electron emission portion 11 provided on the upper side of the vacuum vessel 10, and this electron beam is placed on the mounting table 12. By irradiating the wafer W and detecting secondary electrons emitted from the wafer W by the irradiation of primary electrons, the defect inspection of the resist pattern formed on the surface of the wafer W is performed.

  However, the above-described SEM type substrate inspection method has the following problems. That is, since the wafer W receives heat energy from the electron beam, its temperature rises, and there is a possibility that the resist pattern formed on the surface of the wafer W may be altered or deformed. As a result, in the next step, for example, when the wafer W is etched using the resist as a mask, there is a problem that it causes a defective etching.

  In general, in order to cool the wafer W in a vacuum atmosphere, a coolant is passed through the mounting table 12 and a gas for heat transfer is supplied between the electrostatic chuck 13 and the wafer W, thereby Heat exchange between the cooled mounting table 12 and the wafer is performed through this gas, thereby adjusting the temperature of the wafer W. The reason for using the heat transfer gas in this way is that there is a microscopic gap between the wafer W and the surface of the mounting table 12, and this gap becomes a vacuum, so that heat exchange occurs between the two. It is difficult.

On the other hand, in order to detect fine pattern defects with high accuracy, the inspection atmosphere (atmosphere in the vacuum vessel 10) needs to be maintained at a high vacuum of 133.2 × 10 ⁻³ Pa (10 ⁻³ Torr) or less. Therefore, when such a cooling method is applied in the vacuum vessel 10 for inspecting the substrate, the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum vessel 10 is increased due to the leakage of heat transfer gas, and pattern defects are inspected with high accuracy. There is a problem that you can not.

JP 2002-216698 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to perform temperature inspection by electron beam irradiation when inspecting a substrate on which a resist pattern is formed by inspecting a defect of the pattern by electron beam irradiation. An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of preventing a deformation, alteration, or the like of a resist pattern due to an increase and performing a pattern defect inspection with high accuracy.

In the substrate inspection apparatus of the present invention, an inspection vacuum vessel in a vacuum atmosphere and a resist pattern are formed, and the surface of the substrate placed in the vacuum vessel is irradiated with an electron beam from the surface of the substrate. An inspection module that inspects the resist pattern based on the emitted secondary electrons, and an inspection module,
A load lock chamber hermetically connected to the inspection vacuum vessel for transferring the substrate between the normal pressure atmosphere and the inspection module, and the load lock chamber between the normal pressure atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere. A load lock module comprising: a means for switching;
A cooling vacuum container that is airtightly connected to the inspection vacuum container and is in a vacuum atmosphere, a substrate mounting table provided in the vacuum container, and heat between the surface of the mounting table and the substrate. A cooling module comprising: means for supplying a transmission gas; and cooling means for cooling the mounting table.
Substrate transport means for transporting the substrate between the vacuum container for inspection and the vacuum container for cooling;
The step of transporting the substrate heated by the electron beam irradiation in the inspection module to the mounting table of the cooling module, and the inspection module for performing the resist pattern inspection on the substrate cooled by the mounting table. And a control means for executing the step of transporting the inside.

  In the substrate inspection apparatus described above, the load lock module, the inspection module, and the cooling module are hermetically connected to a common substrate transfer chamber, and the substrate transfer means is provided in the substrate transfer chamber, and the load lock module, It is preferable that the substrate is transported between the inspection module and the cooling module.

  Further, in the substrate inspection apparatus described above, the vacuum container for inspection has a first transfer port and a second transfer port, and the load lock chamber and the vacuum container of the cooling module have the first transfer port and The substrate transfer means is connected to the second transfer port in an airtight manner, and the substrate transfer means includes means for transferring the substrate between the load lock module and the inspection module, and means for transferring the substrate between the cooling module and the inspection module. It is good also as a structure divided | segmented.

  In the substrate inspection apparatus described above, the load lock module may also serve as the cooling module. Further, the load lock module includes: a first load lock module for loading a substrate before inspection from a normal pressure atmosphere; and a second load lock module for discharging the substrate after inspection to a normal pressure atmosphere. It is good also as a structure including. In this case, it is preferable that the second load lock module is provided with means for heating the substrate in order to prevent dew condensation on the substrate after the inspection.

The substrate inspection method of the present invention includes a step of carrying a substrate on which a resist pattern is formed into a vacuum vessel for inspection in a vacuum atmosphere via a load lock chamber;
Subsequently, irradiating the surface of the substrate with an electron beam and inspecting the resist pattern based on secondary electrons emitted from the surface of the substrate;
Placing the substrate heated by the electron beam irradiation on a mounting table in a cooling vacuum vessel that is airtightly connected to the vacuum vessel for inspection and in a vacuum atmosphere;
A step of cooling the substrate by cooling the mounting table while supplying a gas for heat transfer between the surface of the mounting table and the substrate;
Next, in order to continue the inspection of the resist pattern, the substrate is transported from the cooling vacuum vessel into the inspection vacuum vessel.

  In the substrate inspection method described above, the step of carrying the substrate from the load lock chamber into the inspection vacuum vessel is performed by the substrate transfer means in the substrate transfer chamber interposed between the load lock chamber and the inspection vacuum vessel. The step of transferring the substrate between the inspection vacuum vessel and the cooling vacuum vessel is performed through the substrate transfer chamber, and is performed by the substrate transfer means through the substrate transfer chamber. May be.

  Further, in the substrate inspection method described above, the step of carrying the substrate from the load lock chamber into the vacuum container for inspection is performed by the first substrate transport means from the load lock chamber through the first transport port of the vacuum container. The step of transferring the substrate between the inspection vacuum vessel and the cooling vacuum vessel is performed by the second substrate transfer means via the second transfer port of the inspection vacuum vessel. You may comprise.

  In the substrate inspection method described above, the load lock chamber may also serve as the cooling vacuum container. Furthermore, the substrate after inspection is carried into a load lock chamber different from the load lock chamber, and the substrate is heated in the separate load lock chamber to prevent dew condensation, and then is carried out to a normal pressure atmosphere. It is good also as a structure further including the process to do.

  Further, the present invention is a storage medium used for a substrate inspection apparatus that inspects a substrate in a vacuum chamber for inspection in a vacuum atmosphere, and stores a program that operates on a computer. A step group is assembled so as to execute the substrate inspection method.

  According to the present invention, a substrate heated by electron beam irradiation in order to perform a pattern defect inspection in an inspection vacuum vessel is transported to a mounting table in a cooling vacuum vessel without breaking the vacuum. Here, the substrate is cooled, and the cooled substrate is returned to the inspection vacuum vessel to continue the pattern defect inspection. For this reason, the resist pattern can be prevented from being altered or deformed during defect inspection, and there is no risk of pressure increase due to leakage of heat transfer gas in the inspection vacuum vessel. Pattern defects can be inspected.

(First embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a substrate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate inspection apparatus 20 includes, for example, one SEM type inspection module 30, and the inspection module 30 is airtightly connected to a vacuum transfer chamber 21 having a pentagonal cross-sectional shape.

  A cooling module 40 and first and second load lock modules 22a and 22b are further connected to the vacuum transfer chamber 21 in an airtight manner. An atmospheric transfer chamber 23 is provided on the opposite side of the load lock modules 22a and 22b from the vacuum transfer chamber 21, and a wafer W is stored on the opposite side of the atmospheric transfer chamber 23 from the load lock modules 22a and 22b. Loading / unloading ports 24a and 24b for mounting a wafer carrier (hereinafter referred to as a carrier) 200 called a hoop, which are two possible closed-type substrate transfer containers, are provided. In addition, G in FIG. 1 is a gate valve.

  The vacuum transfer chamber 21 is provided with a transfer arm mechanism 50 that is a substrate transfer means for carrying the wafer W in and out of the inspection module 30, the cooling module 40, and the load lock modules 22a and 22b. The transfer arm mechanism 50 has an articulated arm structure having a fork-like arm 51, and is arranged at the approximate center of the vacuum transfer chamber 21.

  The two loading / unloading ports 24a and 24b for mounting the carrier 200 in the atmospheric transfer chamber 23 are provided with shutters (not shown), and the carrier 200 containing the wafer W is mounted on the loading / unloading ports 24a and 24b. When attached, the shutter is released to communicate with the atmospheric transfer chamber 23 while preventing intrusion of outside air.

  The atmospheric transfer chamber 23 is provided with a transfer arm mechanism 27 for carrying the wafer W into and out of the carrier 200 and carrying the wafer W into and out of the load lock modules 22a and 22b. The transfer arm mechanism 27 has an articulated arm structure and can run on the rail 28 along the arrangement of the carriers 200. Further, an optical inspection module 6 is provided on the side surface of the atmospheric transfer chamber 23 to perform a defect inspection of the resist pattern on the wafer W in an atmospheric atmosphere using a laser.

  Next, the SEM type inspection module 30 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 denotes a vacuum container, and a mounting table 32 for mounting the wafer W is provided below the vacuum container 31. The mounting table 32 can be moved in the X direction and the Y direction by an XY drive mechanism 33 indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. An electrostatic chuck 34 is provided on the surface of the mounting table 32, and the wafer W is held flat by the electrostatic chuck 34 so that the inspection range on the surface of the wafer W is focused with high accuracy. Can be done. Further, inside the mounting table 32, there are provided lifting pins (not shown) capable of delivering the wafer W to the transfer arm mechanism 50 provided in the vacuum transfer chamber 21.

  Further, an electron emission unit 60 for irradiating the wafer W with primary electrons is provided on the ceiling of the vacuum vessel 31 so as to face the mounting table 32. A power supply 61 for applying a voltage to the electron emission unit 60 is connected to the electron emission unit 60. Further, a focusing lens 62 for focusing the primary electrons (electron beam) emitted from the electron emission unit 60 and the electron beam passing range are regulated between the electron emission unit 60 and the mounting table 32. An aperture 63 that performs scanning and a scanning coil 64 that scans primary electrons are provided. Further, an electron detection means 69 for detecting secondary electrons emitted from the wafer W by irradiation of primary electrons is provided between the mounting table 32 and the scanning coil 64.

  Further, an exhaust port 66 is formed at the bottom of the vacuum vessel 31, and a vacuum pump 67 is connected to the exhaust port 66 via a valve V1. On the other hand, a transfer port 68 for the wafer W is formed in the side wall of the vacuum container 31, and the transfer port 68 is opened and closed by a gate valve G.

  Next, the cooling module 40 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 41 denotes a vacuum container, and a mounting table 42 on which the wafer W is mounted is provided inside the vacuum container 41. An electrostatic chuck 34 is provided on the surface of the mounting table 42, and a coolant reservoir 45 for circulating a cooling medium is formed inside the mounting table 42 for cooling the wafer W via the mounting table 42. The refrigerant reservoir 45 is provided with an introduction pipe 46A and a discharge pipe 46B. A cooling medium such as liquid nitrogen is supplied into the refrigerant reservoir 45 via the introduction pipe 46A, and the cooling medium circulated through the refrigerant reservoir 45 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus via the discharge pipe 46B. ing.

  Further, in the mounting table 42, a plurality of holes 47 for backside gas (gas for heat transfer) whose upper ends open on the upper surface of the mounting table 42 are formed. Is communicated with a gas supply path 49 for backside gas through a vent chamber 48, for example. The electrostatic chuck 34 is also provided with holes 50 at positions corresponding to the holes 47 so that backside gas can be blown from the holes 47 to the back surface of the wafer W through the holes 50 of the electrostatic chuck 34. It has become. The gas supply path 49 is connected to a gas supply source 52 such as He gas which is a heat transfer gas via a pressure regulator 51 such as a butterfly valve. Further, inside the mounting table 42, there are provided lifting pins (not shown) capable of delivering the wafer W to the transfer arm mechanism 50 provided in the vacuum transfer chamber 21.

  An exhaust port 53 is formed at the bottom of the vacuum vessel 41, and a vacuum pump 54 is connected to the exhaust port 53 via a valve V2. Further, a transfer port 55 for the wafer W is formed in the side wall of the vacuum container 41 on the side of the vacuum transfer chamber 21, and this transfer port 55 is opened and closed by a gate valve G.

  Next, the load lock modules 20a and 20b will be described. In this embodiment, of the two load lock modules 22a and 22b, the first load lock module 22a is used exclusively for loading an unprocessed wafer W, and the second load lock module 22b is used for the inspected wafer W. Used exclusively for carrying out. For convenience of explanation, the second load lock module 22b for unloading the wafer W will be described. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 70 denotes a load lock chamber which is a vacuum container, and a mounting table 71 on which the wafer W is mounted is provided in the load lock chamber 70. The mounting table 71 is fixed to the bottom surface of the load lock chamber 70.

  The mounting table 71 is provided with a heater 72 which is a resistance heating element for heating the wafer W, and prevents dew condensation when the inspected wafer W is returned from the vacuum atmosphere to the air atmosphere as will be described later. In order to do this, the wafer W is heated.

  Further, a means for supplying a heat transfer gas is provided inside the mounting table 71, and this means includes a hole 47, a vent chamber 48, a gas supply path 49, a hole 50, a pressure, as shown in FIG. It comprises a regulator 51 and a gas supply source 52. In addition, the wafer W can be transferred to the inside of the mounting table 71 to the transfer arm mechanism 50 provided in the vacuum transfer chamber 21 and the transfer arm mechanism 27 provided in the atmospheric transfer chamber 23. A lifting pin (not shown) is provided.

  An exhaust port 74 is formed at the bottom of the load lock chamber 70, and a vacuum pump 75 is connected to the exhaust port 74 via a valve V3. A supply port 76 is formed in the upper portion of the load lock chamber 70, and a nitrogen gas supply source 77, which is a dry gas, is connected to the supply port 76 through a valve V4. The nitrogen gas is supplied from the nitrogen gas supply source 77 through the supply port 76 into the load lock chamber 70 so that the atmosphere can be made atmospheric. That is, in this example, means for switching the inside of the load lock chamber 70 between the air atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere by the exhaust port 74, the valve V3 and the vacuum pump 75, the supply port 76, the valve V4 and the nitrogen gas supply source 77. It is composed. In addition, transfer ports 78 and 79 for the wafer W are formed on the side wall of the load lock chamber 70 on the atmosphere transfer chamber 23 side and on the side wall of the load lock chamber 70 on the vacuum transfer chamber 21 side. 79 is opened and closed by a gate valve G.

  Next, the first load lock module 22a for loading the wafer W will be described. The first load lock module 22a uses the heater 72 and the heat transfer gas in the second load lock module 22b shown in FIG. The configuration is the same except that the supplying means is not provided.

  The substrate inspection apparatus 20 includes a control unit 100. The control unit 100 includes, for example, a computer. The operation sequence of the transfer arm mechanism 27, the transfer arm mechanism 50, and the gate valve G, and the resist performed by the inspection module 30 are included. Pattern defect inspection and cooling of the wafer W performed by the cooling module 40 are controlled by a computer program. The program is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnetic optical desk (MO), or a memory card, and installed in the control unit 100 from the storage medium. Further, this program may be transmitted from another device via, for example, a dedicated line and installed on a computer that is the control unit 100 online.

  Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when the carrier 200 containing the wafer W on which the resist pattern is formed is loaded into the loading / unloading port 24a from the outside, the shutter of the loading / unloading port 24a is released, and the unprocessed wafer W is taken out by the transfer arm mechanism 27. It is conveyed to the type | formula inspection module 6 (step S10). The optical inspection module 6 performs inspection on items such as wafer notch alignment and direction determination using laser light in a normal pressure atmosphere such as an air atmosphere (step S11).

  Subsequently, the wafer W is taken out from the optical inspection module 6 by the transfer arm mechanism 27 and placed on the mounting table 71 of the first load lock module 22a. Then, after the inside of the load lock chamber 70 is switched from the air atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere, the wafer W is taken out from the load lock chamber 22 a and transferred to the cooling module 40.

The mounting table 42 of the cooling module 40 is cooled by introducing a coolant such as liquid nitrogen into the coolant reservoir 45 in advance, and the wafer W is mounted on the mounting table 42 and adsorbed to the electrostatic chuck 34. Thereafter, a backside gas, for example, He gas is supplied from the gas supply path 49, and the backside gas flows between the back surface of the wafer W and the surface of the electrostatic chuck 34. Is taken by the mounting table 42 and cooled to, for example, 0 ° C. (step S12).
The cooled wafer W is taken out by the transfer arm mechanism 50, transferred to the SEM type inspection module 30, and sucked and held by the electrostatic chuck 34. Thereafter, the transfer arm mechanism 50 is retracted, the gate valve G is closed, and a defect inspection using an electron beam is performed (step S13).

  This defect inspection is performed as follows. First, a primary electron (electron beam) emitted from the electron emission unit 60 according to an instruction from the control unit 100 is irradiated onto the wafer W. On the other hand, the mounting table 32 is controlled to move in the X direction and the Y direction by the XY drive mechanism 33, and the electron beam scans the surface of the wafer W in a grid pattern. The secondary electrons emitted from the wafer W by the irradiation of the primary electrons are detected by the electron detection means 69, and the defect inspection of the pattern is performed based on the detection data and the position data of the wafer W.

  The wafer W mounted on the mounting table 32 receives thermal energy from the electron beam during scanning, and the temperature of the wafer W gradually rises with time. If the temperature of the wafer W continues to rise, the resist pattern may be altered or deformed. Therefore, when the temperature is raised to a temperature lower than the temperature at which such an adverse effect occurs, for example, 5 ° C., the voltage is supplied from the control unit 100 to the power supply unit 61. A stop command signal is output. FIG. 7 schematically shows the temperature change of the wafer W in a series of steps. In this example, such temperature management is performed as time management. That is, when the cooled wafer W is irradiated with the electron beam, the time until the temperature of the wafer W reaches the allowable upper limit temperature is obtained in advance, and when the set time t has elapsed, the electron beam is irradiated. Then, the wafer W is transferred to the cooling module 40 and cooled as described above (steps S14 and S15). After the wafer W is cooled, it is returned to the inspection module 30 by the transfer arm mechanism 50, and the defect inspection of the pattern using the electron beam is continued in the same manner as described above (step S16).

  The pattern defect inspection is performed until the resist pattern formed on the surface of the wafer W is completely scanned by the electron beam. In this example, since the set time t described above is considerably shorter than the time for scanning all with the electron beam, the wafer W is cooled many times. Accordingly, the wafer W goes back and forth between the inspection module 30 and the cooling module 40 many times via the vacuum transfer chamber 21 as indicated by an arrow B in FIG.

  When the defect inspection of the pattern by the electron beam is completed in step S17, the wafer W is transferred to the second load lock module 22b. Here, after the wafer W is cooled, the steps for performing the inspection are repeated, so that the wafer W may be lower than the dew point in the atmosphere depending on the timing of completion of the inspection. In this case, when the wafer W is exposed to the air atmosphere, condensation occurs. Therefore, in order to prevent this condensation, the temperature of the wafer W is adjusted to, for example, room temperature in the load lock chamber 70 (step S18). In this temperature adjustment process, the mounting table 71 is heated by the heater 72 and a backside gas, for example, He gas is supplied from the gas supply path 49, whereby the heat of the mounting table 71 is transferred to the wafer W through the backside gas. This is performed by heating the wafer W.

  After the wafer W is heated to room temperature, nitrogen gas is supplied from the nitrogen gas supply source 77 through the supply port 76 into the load lock chamber 70 and returned to atmospheric pressure. Although the temperature of the wafer W may be higher than the room temperature depending on the timing of completion of the inspection, in this example, after the wafer W is uniformly loaded into the second load lock module 22b, the heater 72 is operated for a certain time. I am letting. Thereafter, the wafer W in the load lock chamber 70 is taken out by the transfer arm mechanism 27 in the atmospheric transfer chamber 23, and the wafer W is returned to the original carrier 200 (step S19).

According to the above-described embodiment, the wafer W heated by the electron beam irradiation in the inspection module 30 to carry out pattern defect inspection is transferred to the mounting table 42 in the cooling module 40 without breaking the vacuum. Here, the wafer W is cooled, and the cooled wafer W is returned to the inspection module 30 to continue the pattern defect inspection. For this reason, alteration or deformation of the resist pattern during defect inspection can be prevented. Since the cooling of the wafer W is not performed by the inspection module 30 but by the cooling module 40, the inspection module 30 does not need to supply a heat transfer gas for cooling. Then, since there is no fear of a pressure increase due to this gas leakage, the high vacuum atmosphere necessary for electron beam irradiation is not disturbed, and pattern defects can be inspected with high accuracy.
(Second Embodiment)
In this embodiment, in the board inspection apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 1, the means for supplying heat transfer gas to the first load lock module 22a out of the two load lock modules 22a and 22b and the mounting table are cooled. Except for the provision of the cooling means, the configuration is the same. That is, the first load lock module 22a is provided with a mounting table having exactly the same function as the mounting table 42 provided in the cooling module 40 shown in FIG. 3. Even in the first load lock module 22a, heat is also generated. The wafer W can be cooled by the transmission backside gas.

  In the case of such a configuration, two wafers W can be carried into the substrate inspection apparatus 20, and pattern defect inspection can be alternately performed on each wafer W in the inspection module 30. More specifically, the first wafer W1 is cooled by the cooling module 40 as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 8, and the second wafer is indicated as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. W2 is set so that the first load lock module 22a performs the cooling process. While the first wafer W1 is being inspected by the inspection module 30, the second wafer W2 is cooled by the first load lock module 22a, and the first wafer W is cooled by the cooling module 40. During the cooling process, the inspection module 30 performs the pattern defect inspection on the second wafer W2. In the control unit 100, a program is set up so that the inspection data of the first wafer W1 and the inspection data of the second wafer W2 are divided and managed. With such a configuration, there is an advantage that two wafers W can be processed in parallel in the substrate inspection apparatus 20.

In this embodiment, instead of loading two wafers W into the substrate inspection apparatus 20, a single wafer W may be loaded. In this case, the wafer W can be cooled using the switching time from the air atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere before the wafer W is first loaded into the inspection module 30.
(Third embodiment)
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, an SEM type inspection module 30 is provided next to the load lock module 22, and the load lock module 22 and the inspection module 30 are placed in a vacuum container 31 of the inspection module 30. The transfer arm mechanism 50 described above for transferring the wafer W between them is installed, and the load lock module 22 supplies the heat transfer gas as described above as shown in FIG. The cooling means for cooling the mounting table and the means for heating the mounting table are provided. The transfer arm mechanism 50 is provided between the transfer port 68 provided on the side wall of the vacuum container 31 of the inspection module 30 and the mounting table 32 in the vacuum container 31, and the vacuum container 70 of the load lock module 22 is connected to the vacuum container 70. The carrier port 68 is airtightly connected. The transfer port 68 is opened and closed by a gate valve G. Further, an atmospheric transfer chamber 23 having the transfer arm mechanism 50 described above is provided on the opposite side of the load lock module 22 from the inspection module 30, and a transfer port 80 provided on a side wall of the atmospheric transfer chamber 23. Further, the vacuum container 70 of the load lock module 22 is airtightly connected. A loading / unloading port 24 for mounting one carrier 200 is provided on the opposite side of the atmospheric transfer chamber 23 from the load lock module 22. An optical inspection module 6 is provided on the side wall of the atmospheric transfer chamber 23.

  The flow of the wafer W in this apparatus will be briefly described. First, the unprocessed wafer W is taken out from the carrier 200 and transferred to the optical inspection module 6. After the inspection by the inspection module 6, the inspection module 6 is transferred to the load lock module 22 by the transfer arm mechanism 50 in the atmospheric transfer chamber 23. Then, after the inside of the load lock chamber 70 is changed from an air atmosphere to a vacuum atmosphere, the wafer W is cooled by the refrigerant and the backside gas. After that, the cooled wafer W is taken out of the load lock chamber 70 by the transfer arm mechanism 50 in the vacuum container 31 and mounted on the mounting table 32 in the vacuum container 31. After inspection for a predetermined time by the inspection module 30, the wafer W is taken out by the transfer arm mechanism 50 in the vacuum vessel 31 and transferred to the load lock module 22. The load lock module 22 performs a cooling process. Thereafter, the inspection process and the cooling process are alternately performed between the load lock module 22 and the inspection module 30. The transfer of the wafer W between these modules is performed by the transfer arm mechanism 50 in the vacuum vessel 31 through the transfer port 68. Done through.

  After the inspection is completed and transferred to the load lock module 22, the wafer W is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 72 and the backside gas. Then, after the load lock chamber 70 is returned from the vacuum atmosphere to the air atmosphere, the wafer W in the load lock chamber 70 is taken out by the transfer arm mechanism 50 in the atmospheric transfer chamber 23 and returned to the original carrier 200.

By adopting such an apparatus configuration, it is not necessary to provide the cooling module 40 and the vacuum transfer chamber 21, so that the apparatus configuration can be simplified and the installation area of the apparatus can be suppressed. 9 and 10, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions as those of the substrate inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the inspection module 30 shown in FIG. 2, the cooling module 40 shown in FIG. 3, and the load lock module 22 shown in FIG. It is.
(Fourth embodiment)
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the cooling module 40 is provided next to the inspection module 30 in the third embodiment described above, and the inspection module 30 and the cooling module are provided in the vacuum container 31 of the inspection module 30. The configuration is the same except that the above-described transfer arm mechanism 50 for transferring the wafer W to and from 40 is installed. The transfer arm mechanism 50 is provided between the transfer port 69 provided on the other side wall of the vacuum container 31 of the inspection module 30 and the mounting table 32 in the vacuum container 31, and the vacuum container 41 of the cooling module 40 is The transfer port 69 is airtightly connected. The transfer port 69 is opened and closed by a gate valve G. In this embodiment, the cooling process of the wafer W is performed in the cooling module 40 and the load lock module 22.

  In this embodiment, after the wafer W is cooled in the load lock chamber 70, the wafer W is taken out by the transfer arm mechanism 50 provided between the transfer port 68 in the vacuum container 31 and the mounting table 32, and the inspection module 30. Then, the pattern is inspected for defects, and thereafter, between the cooling module 40 and the inspection module 30 by the transfer arm mechanism 50 provided between the transfer port 69 in the vacuum vessel 31 and the mounting table 32. The transfer of the wafer W is repeated. In this example, two wafers W may be inspected in parallel as in the second embodiment, or only one wafer W may be inspected. In FIG. 11, the same parts as those of the substrate inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the inspection module 30 shown in FIG. 2, the cooling module 40 shown in FIG. 3, and the load lock module 22 shown in FIG.

  In the third and fourth embodiments, only one load lock module 22 is installed between the inspection module 30 and the atmospheric transfer chamber 23. However, as shown in FIG. Two load lock modules 22a and 22b may be provided between the chamber 23, and one load lock module 22a may be dedicated for carrying in, and the other load lock module 22b may be dedicated for carrying out.

It is a cross-sectional view which shows the board | substrate inspection apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view which shows an example of the test | inspection module of the SEM type used for embodiment of this invention. It is a cross-sectional side view which shows an example of the cooling module used for embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view which shows an example of the load lock module used for embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action of embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the said board | substrate inspection apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the said board | substrate inspection apparatus. It is explanatory drawing explaining other embodiment of this invention. It is the cross-sectional view and longitudinal cross-sectional view which show the board | substrate inspection apparatus concerning other embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view which shows an example of the load lock module used for other embodiment of this invention. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the board | substrate inspection apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the conventional SEM type board | substrate inspection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

20 substrate inspection apparatus 21 vacuum transfer chambers 22a, 22b load lock chamber 23 atmospheric transfer chambers 27, 50 transfer arm mechanism 30 inspection module 32 mounting table 33 XY drive mechanism 34 electrostatic chuck 42 mounting table 45 refrigerant reservoir 47 hole 48 Venting chamber 49 Gas supply path 50 Hole 51 Pressure regulator 52 Gas supply source 71 Mounting table 75 Vacuum pump 77 Nitrogen gas supply source 100 Control unit W Wafer G Gate V1 to V4 Valve

Claims (12)

Based on the secondary electrons emitted from the surface of the substrate in which a vacuum atmosphere for inspection in a vacuum atmosphere, a resist pattern is formed, the surface of the substrate placed in the vacuum vessel is irradiated with an electron beam An inspection module for inspecting the resist pattern, and an inspection module,
A load lock chamber hermetically connected to the inspection vacuum vessel for transferring the substrate between the normal pressure atmosphere and the inspection module, and the load lock chamber between the normal pressure atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere. A load lock module comprising: a means for switching;
A cooling vacuum container that is airtightly connected to the inspection vacuum container and is in a vacuum atmosphere, a substrate mounting table provided in the vacuum container, and heat between the surface of the mounting table and the substrate. A cooling module comprising: means for supplying a transmission gas; and cooling means for cooling the mounting table.
Substrate transport means for transporting the substrate between the vacuum container for inspection and the vacuum container for cooling;
The step of transporting the substrate heated by the electron beam irradiation in the inspection module to the mounting table of the cooling module, and the inspection module for performing the resist pattern inspection on the substrate cooled by the mounting table. And a control means for executing the step of transporting the substrate into the substrate. The load lock module, the inspection module and the cooling module are hermetically connected to a common substrate transfer chamber,
The said board | substrate conveyance means is provided in this board | substrate conveyance chamber, It is comprised so that a board | substrate may be conveyed among the said load lock module, the said inspection module, and the said cooling module. Board inspection equipment. The inspection vacuum container has a first transfer port and a second transfer port, and the vacuum container of the load lock chamber and the cooling module is airtight to the first transfer port and the second transfer port, respectively. Connected to
2. The substrate conveying means is divided into means for transferring a substrate between a load lock module and an inspection module and means for transferring a substrate between the cooling module and the inspection module. The board inspection apparatus according to 1.   4. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the load lock module also serves as the cooling module.   The load lock module includes a first load lock module for loading a substrate before inspection from a normal pressure atmosphere, and a second load lock module for discharging the substrate after inspection to a normal pressure atmosphere. 5. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   6. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second load lock module includes means for heating the substrate in order to prevent dew condensation on the substrate after the inspection. A step of carrying a substrate on which a resist pattern is formed into a vacuum vessel for inspection in a vacuum atmosphere via a load lock chamber;
Subsequently, irradiating the surface of the substrate with an electron beam and inspecting the resist pattern based on secondary electrons emitted from the surface of the substrate;
Placing the substrate heated by the electron beam irradiation on a mounting table in a cooling vacuum vessel that is airtightly connected to the vacuum vessel for inspection and in a vacuum atmosphere;
A step of cooling the substrate by cooling the mounting table while supplying a gas for heat transfer between the surface of the mounting table and the substrate;
And a step of transporting the substrate from the cooling vacuum vessel into the inspection vacuum vessel in order to continue the resist pattern inspection. The step of carrying the substrate from the load lock chamber into the inspection vacuum vessel is performed via the substrate transfer chamber by the substrate transfer means in the substrate transfer chamber interposed between the load lock chamber and the inspection vacuum vessel. I,
8. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein the step of transporting the substrate between the vacuum container for inspection and the vacuum container for cooling is performed by the substrate transport means through the substrate transport chamber. Inspection method. The step of carrying the substrate from the load lock chamber into the vacuum chamber for inspection is performed by the first substrate transfer means from the load lock chamber through the first transfer port of the vacuum vessel,
The step of transporting the substrate between the vacuum container for inspection and the vacuum container for cooling is performed by a second substrate transport means via a second transport port of the vacuum container for inspection. The substrate inspection method according to claim 7.   The substrate inspection method according to claim 7, wherein the load lock chamber also serves as the cooling vacuum container. Carrying the substrate after the inspection into a load lock chamber different from the load lock chamber;
11. The method according to claim 8, further comprising a step of heating the substrate in the separate load lock chamber and then transporting the substrate to a normal pressure atmosphere in order to prevent substrate condensation. Board inspection method. A storage medium for storing a program that is used in a substrate inspection apparatus that inspects a substrate in a vacuum chamber for inspection in a vacuum atmosphere and that operates on a computer,
12. A storage medium characterized in that the program includes a group of steps so as to execute the substrate inspection method according to claim 7.

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