Abstract: A shape of an object is measured with a high degree of accuracy. A shape measurement system comprises: a distance measuring head for irradiating an object with light and receiving light reflected from the object; a distance measuring device for generating a distance detection waveform on the basis of the reflected light; and a control device for analyzing the distance detection waveform and calculating a measured distance value to the object. The shape measurement system is characterized in that the control device calculates a feature amount of the distance detection waveform and performs at least one of a process of correcting an error in the measured distance value by substituting the feature amount into a correction formula and a process of performing a confidence weighting of an error in the measured distance value by substituting the feature amount into a confidence weighting formula.

Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a substrate inspection device that increases the flatness of a substrate during inspection, and improves the detection sensitivity of foreign matter. Therefore, the present invention is a substrate inspection device provided with a turntable on which a substrate to be inspected is mounted, and a clamp mechanism that holds the substrate on the turntable. The substrate inspection device is characterized in that the clamp mechanism has an abutting part that moves in an in-plane direction of the substrate and presses the substrate. Preferably, the abutting part contacts or separates from an outer peripheral side surface of the substrate by rotating centered on a rotational axis in an out-of-plane direction of the substrate.

Abstract: An optical condition determination system includes a simulation execution unit that performs an optical simulation on a surface texture model that models a surface texture of a target object of the appearance inspection, and a defect model that models a defect of the target object, under a plurality of optical conditions to generate a surface texture image and a defect image, an image synthesizing unit that synthesizes the surface texture image and the defect image generated by an optical simulation under the same optical condition to generate a synthetic image, an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value representing easiness of detecting the defect in the synthetic image, a correlation analysis unit that analyzes a correlation between an optical condition and the evaluation value corresponding to the synthetic image, and an optimum condition searching unit that searches for the optical condition suitable for the appearance inspection based on an analysis result of the correlatio

Abstract: A shape of an object is measured with a high degree of accuracy. A shape measurement system comprises: a distance measuring head for irradiating an object with light and receiving light reflected from the object; a distance measuring device for generating a distance detection waveform on the basis of the reflected light; and a control device for analyzing the distance detection waveform and calculating a measured distance value to the object. The shape measurement system is characterized in that the control device calculates a feature amount of the distance detection waveform and performs at least one of a process of correcting an error in the measured distance value by substituting the feature amount into a correction formula and a process of performing a confidence weighting of an error in the measured distance value by substituting the feature amount into a confidence weighting formula.

Abstract: As a technique to improve processing efficiency of defect inspection by quickly adjusting a position of a detection system, provided is a defect inspection apparatus including: a stage that moves with a sample and a pattern substrate placed thereon; an illumination optical system that irradiates an object on the stage from a direction inclined from the normal direction of the pattern substrate; a first detection optical system that detects scattered light in the normal direction; a second detection optical system that detects scattered light in a direction different from the scattered light detected by the first detection optical system; a signal processing unit that processes both scattered light signals; and a control unit.

Abstract: An optical condition determination system includes a simulation execution unit that performs an optical simulation on a surface texture model that models a surface texture of a target object of the appearance inspection, and a defect model that models a defect of the target object, under a plurality of optical conditions to generate a surface texture image and a defect image, an image synthesizing unit that synthesizes the surface texture image and the defect image generated by an optical simulation under the same optical condition to generate a synthetic image, an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value representing easiness of detecting the defect in the synthetic image, a correlation analysis unit that analyzes a correlation between an optical condition and the evaluation value corresponding to the synthetic image, and an optimum condition searching unit that searches for the optical condition suitable for the appearance inspection based on an analysis result of the correlatio

Abstract: As a technique to improve processing efficiency of defect inspection by quickly adjusting a position of a detection system, provided is a defect inspection apparatus including: a stage that moves with a sample and a pattern substrate placed thereon; an illumination optical system that irradiates an object on the stage from a direction inclined from the normal direction of the pattern substrate; a first detection optical system that detects scattered light in the normal direction; a second detection optical system that detects scattered light in a direction different from the scattered light detected by the first detection optical system; a signal processing unit that processes both scattered light signals; and a control unit.

Abstract: A method of forming a semiconductor thin film includes a highly sensitive inspection method for detecting lateral crystals and a crystallizing method. In the crystallizing method, the time-based pulse width of a laser SXL is modulated and an approximate band-like crystal silicon film SPSI is formed in a desired region while scanning the substrate SUB1 bidirectionally in the X and ?X directions. In the inspection method, an inspection beam PRO1 is irradiated to the substrate just after the laser SXL is turned off. A protrusion TOKI will be formed on the silicon film portion where the laser SXL is turned off if the state of the silicon film is that of a lateral crystal SPSI. The inspection beam PRO1 is scattered by the protrusion TOKI and observed by a detector. If the state of the silicon film is granular crystal GGSI or aggregated film AGSI, such a protrusion TOKI is not observed.

Abstract: In crystallization of a silicon film by annealing using a linear-shaped laser beam having a width of the short axis of the beam is ununiform, the profile (intensity distribution) of the laser beam is evaluated and the results are fed back to a condition of oscillating the laser beam or an optical condition for projecting the laser beam onto the silicon film, whereby a display device comprising a high-quality crystalline silicon film is manufactured.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a display device to improve the quality of a polycrystal silicon upon dehydrogenating and polycrystallizing an amorphous silicon at the outside of a display region of a substrate, by forming a plurality of pixels having TFT devices using an amorphous silicon in the display region of the substrate, and forming a plurality of driving circuits having semiconductor devices using a polycrystal silicon at the outside of the display region, the method including irradiation of a first continuous oscillation laser only to the amorphous silicon in the region for forming the driving circuit and the peripheral region thereof to conduct dehydrogenation and then irradiation of a second continuous oscillation region only to the dehydrogenated region to polycrystallize the amorphous silicon, wherein the region to which the first continuous oscillation laser is irradiated is wider than the region to which the second continuous oscillation laser is irradiated.

Abstract: In crystallization of a silicon film by annealing with a linear-shaped laser beam having an ununiform width of the short axis of the beam, the profile (intensity distribution) of the laser beam is evaluated, and the result is fed back to an oscillating condition of the laser beam or an optical condition which projects this onto the silicon film, whereby a display device comprising a high-quality crystalline silicon film is produced.

Abstract: A semiconductor thin film is manufactured by scanning laser light or a substrate onto an arbitrary region of the semiconductor thin film and irradiating a laser thereon. The semiconductor thin film is formed by the substantially belt-shaped crystal being crystallized such that crystalline grains grow in the scanning direction, on the substrate, on XY coordinates where value x of beam size W (?m) of the laser light measured in substantially the same direction as the scanning direction is defined as X axis, and where value y of scanning velocity Vs (m/s) is defined as Y axis, the crystallization processing is performed within a region where all of the following conditions hold: condition 1: the beam size W is larger than wavelength of the laser beam, condition 2: the scanning velocity Vs is smaller than upper-limit of crystal growth speed, and condition 3: x×(1/y)<25 ?s.

Abstract: In crystallization of a silicon film by annealing using a linear-shaped laser beam having a width of the short axis of the beam is ununiform, the profile (intensity distribution) of the laser beam is evaluated and the results are fed back to a condition of oscillating the laser beam or an optical condition for projecting the laser beam onto the silicon film, whereby a display device comprising a high-quality crystalline silicon film is manufactured.

Abstract: In crystallization of a silicon film by annealing with a linear-shaped laser beam having an ununiform width of the short axis of the beam, the profile (intensity distribution) of the laser beam is evaluated, and the result is fed back to an oscillating condition of the laser beam or an optical condition which projects this onto the silicon film, whereby a display device comprising a high-quality crystalline silicon film is produced.

Abstract: A laser beam temporally modulated in amplitude by a modulator and shaped into a long and narrow shape by a beam shaper is rotated around the optical axis of an image rotator inserted between the beam shaper and a substrate. Thus, the longitudinal direction of the laser beam having the long and narrow shape is rotated around the optical axis on the substrate. In order to perform annealing in a plurality of directions on the substrate, the laser beam shaped into the long and narrow shape is rotated on the substrate while a stage mounted with the substrate is moved only in two directions, that is, X- and Y-directions. In such a manner, the substrate can be scanned at a high speed with a continuous wave laser beam modulated temporally in amplitude and shaped into a long and narrow shape, without rotating the substrate. Thus, a semiconductor film can be annealed.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a display device to improve the quality of a polycrystal silicon upon dehydrogenating and polycrystallizing an amorphous silicon at the outside of a display region of a substrate, by forming a plurality of pixels having TFT devices using an amorphous silicon in the display region of the substrate, and forming a plurality of driving circuits having semiconductor devices using a polycrystal silicon at the outside of the display region, the method including irradiation of a first continuous oscillation laser only to the amorphous silicon in the region for forming the driving circuit and the peripheral region thereof to conduct dehydrogenation and then irradiation of a second continuous oscillation region only to the dehydrogenated region to polycrystallize the amorphous silicon, wherein the region to which the first continuous oscillation laser is irradiated is wider than the region to which the second continuous oscillation laser is irradiated.

Abstract: A semiconductor thin film is manufactured by scanning laser light or a substrate onto an arbitrary region of the semiconductor thin film and irradiating a laser thereon. The semiconductor thin film is formed by the substantially belt-shaped crystal being crystallized such that crystalline grains grow in the scanning direction, on the substrate, on XY coordinates where value x of beam size W (?m) of the laser light measured in substantially the same direction as the scanning direction is defined as X axis, and where value y of scanning velocity Vs (m/s) is defined as Y axis, the crystallization processing is performed within a region where all of the following conditions hold: condition 1: the beam size W is larger than wavelength of the laser beam, condition 2: the scanning velocity Vs is smaller than upper-limit of crystal growth speed, and condition 3: x×(1/y)<25 ?s.

Abstract: A display panel includes an insulating substrate, a pixel portion, a gate driver circuit portion, and a drain driver circuit portion. The pixel portion, gate driver circuit portion and drain driver circuit portion are formed out of thin film transistors on the insulating substrate, and the thin film transistors forming the pixel portion, the gate driver circuit portion and the drain driver circuit portion are built in poly-crystalline silicon films, respectively. Each of the poly-crystalline silicon films forming the thin film transistors is formed out of one of at least two kinds of crystal grains different in grain size.

Abstract: A semiconductor thin film is manufactured by scanning laser light or a substrate onto an arbitrary region of the semiconductor thin film and irradiating a laser thereon. The semiconductor thin film is formed by the substantially belt-shaped crystal being crystallized such that crystalline grains grow in the scanning direction, on the substrate, on XY coordinates where value x of beam size W (?m) of the laser light measured in substantially the same direction as the scanning direction is defined as X axis, and where value y of scanning velocity Vs (m/s) is defined as Y axis, the crystallization processing is performed within a region where all of the following conditions hold: condition 1: the beam size W is larger than wavelength of the laser beam, condition 2: the scanning velocity Vs is smaller than upper-limit of crystal growth speed, and condition 3: x×(1/y)<25 ?s.

Abstract: A mechanism for always measuring the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam and displacement of the optical axis of the laser beam is provided so that a measured signal is processed when the laser beam incident on a laser beam shaping optical element is out of a predetermined condition. The shape, diameter and incidence position of the laser beam incident on the laser beam shaping optical element are always kept in the predetermined condition by a spatial filter disposed at the position of a focal point of lenses forming a beam expander disposed in the optical axis, on the basis of a result of the signal processing. In this manner, silicon thin films uniform in crystallinity can be formed stably with a high yield on an insulating substrate which forms display panels of flat panel display devices.