Method and system for identifying defects in a semiconductor

• US 6,292,582 B1
• Filed: 05/30/1997
• Issued: 09/18/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rudolph Technologies Incorporated (Onto Innovation Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ISOA, Inc. (Onto Innovation Inc.)
• Inventors: Cleavelin, C. Rinn, Hennessey, A. Kathleen, Pattikonda, Ramakrishna, Lin, YouLing, Hastings, Howard V. II, Wong, Wan S., Reddy, Rajasekar, Katragadda, Ramachandra R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bella, Matthew C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHAWAN, SHEELA C
• Application Number:
  US08/867,154
• Time in Patent Office: 1,572 Days
• Field of Search: 382/145, 382/149, 382/155, 382/159, 348/125, 348/126, 364/413.06, 364/443, 364/449, 356/394
• US Class Current: 382/149
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/95607 using a comparative method
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10056 Microscopic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30148 Semiconductor; IC; Wafer
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/001 using an image reference approach
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/54466 Located in a dummy or reference die
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/5448 Located on chip prior to dicing and remaining on chip after dicing
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/544 Marks applied to semiconductor devices or parts, e.g. registration marks, alignment structures, wafer maps test patterns for characterising or monitoring manufacturing processes H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00

Abstract

A system and method allow for associating a descriptive label with an anomaly on a manufactured object, such as a semiconductor wafer. The method includes placing the manufactured device on a moveable stage; capturing and preparing a digital-pixel-based representation of the image; symbolically decomposing the digital-pixel-based representation of the image to create a primitive-based representation of the image; analyzing the primitive-based representation of the image to detect and locate the anomaly; isolating primitives associated with the anomaly; comparing the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly with primitives in a knowledge base to locate a set of primitives in the knowledge base most like the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly; and assigning a label associated with the set of primitives in the knowledge base that was most similar to the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly. Different layers of semiconductor wafer may be analyzed to determine an appropriate label for a defect.

Claims

1. A method for associating a descriptive label with an anomaly on a manufactured object, the method comprising:

placing the manufactured device on a moveable stage;

capturing and preparing a digital-pixel-based representation of the image;

symbolically decomposing the digital-pixel-based representation of the image to create a primitive-based representation of the image;

comparing the primitive-based representation of the image to a primitive-based reference image to detect and locate the anomaly;

isolating primitives associated with the anomaly;

comparing the isolated primitives with primitives in a knowledgebase to locate a set of primitives in the knowledgebase most like the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly; and

assigning a label associated with the set of primitives in the knowledgebase that was most similar to the isolated primitives, wherein highly-determinative primitives in the knowledgebase are weighted more heavily than others to assist in arriving at a more accurate label.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of comparing the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly with primitives in a knowledgebase to locate a set of primitives in the knowledgebase most like the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly comprises mapping the isolated primitives in feature space and finding a minimum Euclidean distance in feature space to a mapping of primitives in the knowledgebase.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the label is a type of defect label indicating the type of the anomaly.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the label is a source of defect label indicating the source of the anomaly.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

quantifying the difference between the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly and the set of primitives in the knowledgebase most like the isolated primitives; and

providing a notice if the quantified difference is greater than a predetermined threshold.

6. A method for associating a descriptive label with an anomaly on a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising:

placing the semiconductor wafer on a moveable stage;

capturing and preparing one or more digital-pixel-based representations of each layer of the semiconductor wafer as each layer is manufactured;

symbolically decomposing the digital-pixel-based representations of each layer to create a plurality of primitive-based representations of each layer;

comparing the primitive-based representation of a last manufactured layer of the semiconductor wafer to a primitive-based reference image to detect and locate the anomaly;

isolating primitives associated with the anomaly;

comparing the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly with primitives in a knowledgebase to locate a set of primitives in the knowledgebase most like the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly;

assigning a first label associated with the set of primitives in the knowledgebase that was most similar to the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly; and

comparing primitives corresponding to a location of the anomaly from each of the primitive-based representations ofthe image to find a primitive-based representation ofthe image for a layer in which the anomaly first appears.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the primitives associated with the anomaly for the layer in which the anomaly first appears may be compared with primitives in the knowledgebase to find a set of primitives most similar to the primitives associated with the anomaly for the layer in which the anomaly first appears and assigning a second label associated with the set of primitives most similar to the primitives associated with the anomaly for the layer in which the anomaly first appears.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first label indicates the type of the anomaly and the second label indicates the source of the anomaly.

9. A method of identifying a defect source for a defect on a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising the steps of:

capturing a pixel-based image of each layer of the semiconductor wafer as each layer is manufactured to form a plurality of pixel-based images;

symbolically decomposing the plurality of pixel-based images to form a plurality of primitive-based representations of each image;

comparing the primitive-based representation of the image for the last layer manufactured on the semiconductor device to a primitive-based reference image to detect an anomaly;

determining an anomaly location of the anomaly; and

analyzing each image in the plurality of primitive-based primitives at the anomaly location to determine on which layer an anomaly first appeared.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising comparing the primitive-based representation of the image for the layer on which the anomaly first appeared with primitives in a knowledgebase to determine a set of primitives in the knowledgebase most similar to the primitive-based representation and assigning a label associated with the most similar set of primitives to the anomaly.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the label comprises a defect-source label indicating the source of the anomaly.

12. A system for associating a descriptive label with an anomaly on a semiconductor wafer, the system comprising:

a moveable stage for receiving and holding the semiconductor wafer;

a camera for capturing images of the wafer;

a digitizer coupled to the camera for producing a digital-pixel-based representation of each layer of the semiconductor wafer as each layer is applied to produce a plurality of digital-pixel-based representations corresponding to different layers;

a computer having a processor and memory, the computer coupled to the digitizer for receiving the plurality of digital-pixel-based representations; and

the computer programmed to be operable to;

symbolically decompose the plurality of digital-pixel-based representations to create a plurality of primitive-based representations of the image,

compare the primitive-based representation for a last layer applied to the semiconductor wafer to a primitive-based reference image to detect and locate the anomaly,

isolate primitives associated with the anomaly,

compare the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly with primitives in a knowledgebase to locate a set of primitives in the knowledgebase most like the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly,

assign a first label associated with the set of primitives in the knowledgebase that was most similar to the isolated primitives associated with the anomaly, and

compare primitives corresponding to a location of the anomaly from each of the plurality of primitive-based representations to find a primitive-based representation of the image for a layer in which the anomaly first appears.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the computer is further programmed to be operable to compare primitives associated with the anomaly for the layer in which the anomaly first appears with primitives in the knowledgebase to find a set of primitives most similar to the primitives associated with the anomaly for the layer in which the anomaly first appears and assigning a second label associated with the set of primitives most similar to the primitives associated with the anomaly for the layer in which the anomaly first appears.