Structural Design and Simulation of a Multi-Channel and Dual Working Condition Wafer Defect Inspection Prototype

Detecting and classifying defects on unpatterned wafers is a key part of wafer front-end inspection. Defect inspection schemes vary depending on the type and location of the defects. In this paper, the structure of the prototype is designed to meet the requirements of wafer surface and edge defect inspection. This prototype has four inspection channels: scattering, reflection, phase, and contour, with two working conditions: surface and edge inspection. The key structure of the prototype was simulated using Ansys. The simulation results show that the maximum deformation of the optical detection subsystem is 19.5 μm and the fundamental frequency of the prototype is 96.9 Hz; thus, these results meet the requirements of optical performance stability and structural design. The experimental results show that the prototype meets the requirements of the inspection sensitivity better than 200 nm equivalent PSL spherical defects.