Method of and apparatus for inspection of articles by comparison with a master
First Claim
1. A method of inspecting articles related to semiconductor manufacture comprising:
- a) creating a defect free master image by losslessly imaging a defect free article and storing such defect-free master image;
b) imaging the article under inspection;
c) comparing the image of article under inspection with the defect-free master image;
d) outputting the results of the image comparison, specifically identifying locations of image deviations.
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Abstract
A simple, powerful technique for facilitating defect inspection in manufactured articles, especially articles used in or resulting from semiconductor fabrication. In the case of an article having a chrome and glass pattern thereon, such as a reticle or other article used in photolithography, a master version is identified, in as pristine a fashion as possible. That master version is imaged and stored, and that image used subsequently for comparison to other correspondingly patterned articles as part of an inspection process. The data provided by reading the recorded image of the master article substitutes for data derived from prior Die to Die or Die to Database comparisons. The invention also is directed to an apparatus which enables the nonvolatile storage of one or more of such master versions for use in article inspection.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of inspecting articles related to semiconductor manufacture comprising:
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a) creating a defect free master image by losslessly imaging a defect free article and storing such defect-free master image;
b) imaging the article under inspection;
c) comparing the image of article under inspection with the defect-free master image;
d) outputting the results of the image comparison, specifically identifying locations of image deviations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method as claimed in 1, comprising the following additional step:
b1) after said step b), making defect free master image version available to users in remote locations, such that said users can perform said steps c and d using said image of said master version. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method of obtaining a recorded image of a defect free master article for comparison with correspondingly-patterned articles to identify possible defects and thereby avoid replication of said defects during manufacture of semiconductor devices, said method comprising:
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a) identifying said defect free master article to be used in the course of said comparison by inspection of product produced by said defect free master article;
b) scanning said defect free master article to obtain an image thereof; and
c) recording said image of said defect free master article on a storage medium;
such that said image recorded on said storage medium is of a form in which it can be compared with a correspondingly patterned article to identify possible defects in said correspondingly-patterned article, so as to avoid replication of said defects during said manufacture of said semiconductor devices. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of inspecting an article having a pattern forming a plurality of die designs thereupon, said pattern being used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, said method comprising:
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a) inspecting at least one article to identify a die which is demonstrably defect free;
b) obtaining a master image of the die;
c) recording the master image onto a storage medium;
d) obtaining an inspected image of a die of the article to be inspected; and
e) comparing the inspected image to the master image and identifying as defective each location of the inspected image that is inconsistent with a corresponding location on the master image, so as to avoid replication of defects during said manufacture of said semiconductor devices - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for inspecting specimen patterned articles where such patterns have been transferred to the articles during the manufacture of semiconductor devices and where such inspection is compared against a defect free image created by a high resolution scan of such a patterned article and where such scanned article and resulting scan are determined to be error free, said apparatus comprising:
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(A) a high resolution scanning device which creates images of the patterned articles;
(B) non-volatile recording media operate to record images of patterned articles, both specimen articles and defect free articles. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification