[PROBLEM] To provide a defect detection device capable of detecting not only a defect within a visible range but also a defect outside the visible range among the objects to be inspected. [SOLUTION] A defect detection device 10 includes: an excitation source 11 capable of being placed at any position on a surface of an inspection target object S, the excitation source 11 being configured to excite an elastic wave within the inspection target object S, the elastic wave being predominant in one vibration mode and propagating in a predetermined direction; an illumination unit (pulsed laser light source 13, illumination light lens 14) configured to perform stroboscopic illumination on an illumination area of the surface of the inspection target object by using a laser light source; a displacement measurement unit (speckle shearing interferometer 15) configured to collectively measure a displacement of each point in a front-back direction within the illumination area in at least three different phases of the elastic wave, by speckle interferometry or speckle shearing interferometry; and a reflected wave/scattered wave detector 16 configured to detect either one or both of a reflected wave and a scattered wave of the elastic wave, based on the displacement measured by the displacement measurement unit.

Provided are a defect removal device and a defect removal method capable of removing defects of a semiconductor substrate with high accuracy, and a pattern forming method and a method of manufacturing an electronic device using the semiconductor substrate from which defects on a surface are removed. The defect removal device includes: a first light source unit that emits incidence light for detecting a defect on a semiconductor substrate; a surface defect measurement unit including a detection unit that detects the defect on the semiconductor substrate based on radiated light radiated by reflection or scattering of the incidence light from the defect of the semiconductor substrate; a removal unit that irradiates the semiconductor substrate with laser light to remove the defect based on position information of the defect on the semiconductor substrate; and an alignment unit that adjusts optical axes of the incidence light and the laser light, in which the optical axes of the incidence light and the laser light are adjusted by the alignment unit such that the incidence light and the laser light are emitted to the semiconductor substrate.

A defect detection device 10 includes: an excitation source 11 capable of being placed at any position on a surface of an inspection target object S, the excitation source 11 being configured to excite an elastic wave within the inspection target object S, the elastic wave being predominant in one vibration mode and propagating in a predetermined direction; an illumination unit (pulsed laser light source 13, illumination light lens 14) configured to perform stroboscopic illumination on an illumination area of the surface of the inspection target object by using a laser light source; a displacement measurement unit (speckle shearing interferometer 15) configured to collectively measure a displacement of each point in a front-back direction within the illumination area in at least three different phases of the elastic wave, by speckle interferometry or speckle shearing interferometry; and a reflected wave/scattered wave detector 16 configured to detect either one or both of a reflected wave and a scattered wave of the elastic wave, based on the displacement measured by the displacement measurement unit.

A vibration measurement device 10 includes an excitation unit (signal generator 11 and vibrator 12) for exciting an elastic wave to an inspection target S, an illumination unit (wavelength stabilized laser beam source 13 and illumination light lens 14) for performing stroboscopic illumination to a measurement region of a surface of the inspection target S using a wavelength stabilized laser beam source 13, a displacement measurement unit (speckle-sharing interferometer 15) for collectively measuring a displacement of each point of the measurement region in the back-and-forth direction by speckle interferometry or speckle-sharing interferometer. By using the wavelength stabilized laser beam source 13, an interference image can be obtained even when the inspection target S has large surface irregularities.

An optical inspection system for detecting sub-micron features on a sample component. The system may have a controller, a camera responsive to the controller for capturing images, an objective lens able to capture submicron scale features on the sample component, and a pulsed light source. The pulsed light source may be used to generate light pulses. The camera may be controlled to acquire images, using the objective lens, only while the pulsed light source is providing light pulses illuminating a portion of the sample component. Relative movement between the sample component and the objective lens is provided to enable at least one of a desired subportion or an entirety of the sample component to be scanned with the camera.

A machine-vision device including a camera system, with a camera and an integrated origin light source that is integrated into the camera system, and a lighting device with: control interface including: a plurality of light sensors each for capturing a respective origin light signal, and emitting a respective sensor signal, and an electronic unit for processing the sensor signal configured so as to transmit a respective control signal to a respective output of the processing electronic unit. The lighting device with one or more automatically controlled light sources that are external to the camera system, each connected to one respective output of the processing electronic unit by respective connection, so as to be controlled with the control signal delivered to the output. At least one light sensor is placed so as to directly capture the light emitted by one origin light source.

A method for inspection of a surface of a sheet moving in a direction, in which the surface is illuminated with first and second light sources, with the first light source emitting light under a first incidence angle range onto a first surface area and the second light source emitting light under a second incidence angle range onto a second surface area of the surface of the sheet. The first and second light sources are operated in pulsed fashion in alternation with a stipulated pulse frequency so that the surface of the sheet is illuminated in alternation with the pulse frequency in the first surface area and the second surface area and the first surface area illuminated by the first light source is observable by an inspector via a mirror in the bright field and the second surface area illuminated by the second light source is observable by the inspector via the mirror in the dark field.

An apparatus for checking tires described as a linear camera having an objective line lying on an optical plane; a first, a second and a third light source for emitting respectively a first, a second and a third light radiation; a command and control unit for selectively activating at least one from among the first, second and third light source and activating the linear camera in order to acquire a two-dimensional image of a linear surface portion of the tire synchronously with the activation of the first, second and third source. The first and second light source lie on opposite sides of the optical plane. Furthermore, the first, second and third light source include each one or more sub-sources each having a respective main extension direction parallel to the optical plane and the distance of the sub-sources of the third light source from the optical plane is less than the distance of the first and second light source from the optical plane.

A processing system is configured to access an image of a system under analysis including a plurality of features of interest. The processing system determines a first angular position estimate of a first feature of interest in the image and determines a second angular position estimate of a second feature of interest in the image. The processing system determines a final angular position estimate for the system under analysis based on a relationship between the first angular position estimate and the second angular position estimate. The final angular position estimate is output.

A machine-vision device including a camera system, with a camera and an integrated origin light source that is integrated into the camera system, and a lighting device with: control interface including: a plurality of light sensors each for capturing a respective origin light signal, and emitting a respective sensor signal, and an electronic unit for processing the sensor signal configured so as to transmit a respective control signal to a respective output of the processing electronic unit. The lighting device with one or more automatically controlled light sources that are external to the camera system, each connected to one respective output of the processing electronic unit by respective connection, so as to be controlled with the control signal delivered to the output. At least one light sensor is placed so as to directly capture the light emitted by one origin light source.