A semiconductor defect inspection device and method for detecting defects
of partially finished substrates (semiconductor wafers) for semiconductor
devices is provided. The substrate surface is irradiated with a charged
particle beam and a voltage contrast image is obtained while the charged
voltage is controlled at a desired level, and the electric resistances of
the irradiated area from the image are calculated to detect a defect and
identify the type of defect. Further, the distribution of electric
resistances on the whole surface of the substrate can be quickly worked
out. The charged particle beam irradiation conditions are varied in order
to bring the charged voltage of the area to a desired value. With this
device/method, electric resistances of small portions at desired charged
voltages and the corresponding electric resistances are measured in a
non-contact manner to determine the type of defect. When this inspection
method is applied to the PCB manufacturing process, defects can be
detected and remedied at an early stage of the process. Consequently, in
the semiconductor devices and other PCB related devices, the defect rate
decreases and the productivity increase. Since the defect occurrence rate
is reduced, the reliability of semiconductor devices is increased, and the
efficiency in developing new products is improved.
