Abstract: Inspection apparatuses of an inspection apparatus group are connected to a network and transfer inspected result to a data collection system. The same wafer selected from a specific process is inspected by the different inspection apparatuses and the inspected data are collected and analyzed to calculate a correlation degree among the inspection apparatuses. On the other hand, the course of occurrence of failures in the same process can be analyzed to thereby calculate an average occurrence frequency of failures. An optimum inspection apparatus and inspection frequency are successively obtained on the basis of calculated results of an inter-apparatus correlation degree calculation process and a failure occurrence frequency calculation process, so that a feeding method of wafers to the inspection apparatus group is indicated through an inspection apparatus group management system.

Abstract: An automatic contaminants detection apparatus comprises a polarized laser beam source, a polarized laser beam irradiation optical system having irradiation angle switching means for switching an irradiation angle depending on the presence or absence of a pattern on a sample surface to irradiate the polarized laser beam emitted by the polarized laser beam source to the sample surface with an angle of grazing, a detector for detecting condensed scattered or reflected lights of the laser beam from the sample surface with or without interleave of an analyzer, and analyzer switching means for inserting or removing the analyzer into or from a detection light path of the detector depending on the presence or absence of the pattern on the sample surface. The apparatus can detect contaminants on the patterned or non-patterned sample surface with a high sensitivity.