Method, apparatus and system for verification of patterns
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining if an established pattern contains one or more defects, comprising the steps of:
- (i) defining a digital template image representing a desired pattern;
(ii) acquiring a digital image of an established pattern;
(iii) performing a first gray scale morphological image processing filter operation on said digital template to obtain a first resultant image;
(iv) performing a second gray scale morphological image processing filter operation on said acquired digital image to obtain a second resultant image;
(v) performing at least one pair of pixel value comparisons comprising determining a first difference between corresponding pixels of said first resultant image and pixels of said acquired digital image and a second difference between corresponding pixels of said second resultant image and pixels of said defined template;
(vi) comparing each of the determined pixel value differences to determine if a defect is present in said established pattern, the type of defect being determined defined by the first and second gray scale morphological image processing filter operations performed in steps (iii) and (iv) and the presence of that type of defect being indicated when said determined difference exceeds a difference defined for that type of defect.
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Abstract
A method, apparatus and system for verifying the establishment of a pattern includes a unit for storing a template of the pattern, a unit for acquiring an image of the established pattern, a first image processing unit to alter at least one of said template and acquired images to produce at least two resultant images, a comparison unit to compare the two resultant images with the other of said template and acquired image and a unit to evaluate the results of each comparison to determine if the established pattern includes a defect. Both gray scale and binary processing and comparisons are disclosed for use as required.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of determining if an established pattern contains one or more defects, comprising the steps of:
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(i) defining a digital template image representing a desired pattern; (ii) acquiring a digital image of an established pattern; (iii) performing a first gray scale morphological image processing filter operation on said digital template to obtain a first resultant image; (iv) performing a second gray scale morphological image processing filter operation on said acquired digital image to obtain a second resultant image; (v) performing at least one pair of pixel value comparisons comprising determining a first difference between corresponding pixels of said first resultant image and pixels of said acquired digital image and a second difference between corresponding pixels of said second resultant image and pixels of said defined template; (vi) comparing each of the determined pixel value differences to determine if a defect is present in said established pattern, the type of defect being determined defined by the first and second gray scale morphological image processing filter operations performed in steps (iii) and (iv) and the presence of that type of defect being indicated when said determined difference exceeds a difference defined for that type of defect. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system to determine if an established pattern contains one or more defects, comprising:
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means to store a defined digital template for said pattern; means to acquire a digital image of said established pattern; gray scale morphological image processing filter means to process said defined digital template to obtain a first resultant image and to process said acquired digital image to obtain a second resultant image; means to perform at least one pair of pixel value comparisons comprising a first comparison between corresponding pixels of said first resultant image and pixels of said acquired image and a second comparison between corresponding pixels of said second resultant image and pixels of said defined digital template; and means to evaluate the differences in pixel values resulting from each comparison to determine if said established pattern contains one or more defects, the type of defect being detected being determined according to said gray scale morphological image processing filter operations performed and the presence of that type of defect being indicated by a difference in said corresponding pixel values exceeding a difference defined for that type of defect. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification