Method and apparatus for inspecting reticles implementing parallel processing
First Claim
1. An apparatus for inspecting a plurality of image portions of at least a region of a sample for defects, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of processors arranged to receive and analyze the image portions, the processors being arranged to operate in parallel and being configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing the image portions to determine whether the corresponding regions of the sample are defective, wherein each processor has access to a memory portion sized to hold at least one of the image portions; and
a data distribution system arranged to receive image data, select at least a first processor for receiving a first image portion and not a second image portion of the image data and one or more first algorithms selected from the plurality of different algorithms, select at least a second processor for receiving the second image portion and not the first image portion of the image data and one or more second algorithms selected from the plurality of different algorithms, output the first image portion to the memory portion that is accessible by the first processor and the second image portion to the memory portion that is accessible by the second selected processor, and configure the first processor with the one or more first algorithms and the second processor with the one or more selected algorithms, wherein the first image portion and the second image portion are different rectangular shaped image portions that each has a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein the first processor is then operable to implement the one or more first algorithms to analyze substantially all of the first image portion to determine whether the analyzed first image portion has a defect and the second processor is then operable to implement the one or more second algorithms to analyze substantially all of the second image portion to determine whether the analyzed second image portion has a defect, when the defect determination operations for the first and second image portions are each based on analysis of substantially all of the respective image portion.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is an apparatus for analyzing a plurality of image portions of at least a region of a sample. The apparatus includes a plurality of processors arranged to receive and analyze at least one of the image portions, and the processors being arranged to operate in parallel. The apparatus also includes a data distribution system arranged to receive image data, select at least a first processor for receiving a first image from the image data, select at least a second processor for receiving a second image from the image data, and output the first and second image portions to their selected processors.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An apparatus for inspecting a plurality of image portions of at least a region of a sample for defects, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of processors arranged to receive and analyze the image portions, the processors being arranged to operate in parallel and being configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing the image portions to determine whether the corresponding regions of the sample are defective, wherein each processor has access to a memory portion sized to hold at least one of the image portions; and a data distribution system arranged to receive image data, select at least a first processor for receiving a first image portion and not a second image portion of the image data and one or more first algorithms selected from the plurality of different algorithms, select at least a second processor for receiving the second image portion and not the first image portion of the image data and one or more second algorithms selected from the plurality of different algorithms, output the first image portion to the memory portion that is accessible by the first processor and the second image portion to the memory portion that is accessible by the second selected processor, and configure the first processor with the one or more first algorithms and the second processor with the one or more selected algorithms, wherein the first image portion and the second image portion are different rectangular shaped image portions that each has a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein the first processor is then operable to implement the one or more first algorithms to analyze substantially all of the first image portion to determine whether the analyzed first image portion has a defect and the second processor is then operable to implement the one or more second algorithms to analyze substantially all of the second image portion to determine whether the analyzed second image portion has a defect, when the defect determination operations for the first and second image portions are each based on analysis of substantially all of the respective image portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for inspecting a plurality of image portions of at least a region of a sample, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of distributors arranged to receive the image portions; and a plurality of processors that are arranged into a plurality of subgroups that are each coupled to an associated distributor, wherein each processor has access to a memory portion sized to hold at least one of the image portions, each processor being configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing the image portions to determine whether the corresponding regions of the sample are defective, each distributor being configurable to select one or more algorithms selected from the plurality of different algorithms, output selected image portions to its associated subgroup of processors whereby a different set of one or more image portions is output to each associated processor'"'"'s accessible memory portion and configure each processor with its selected one or more algorithms, at least two of the processors being arranged to analyze at least two of the image portions in parallel, wherein the image portions are different rectangular shaped image portions that each has a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein each of the at least two processors are operable to implement its selected one or more algorithms to substantially all of each of its image portions to determine whether the analyzed each image portion has a defect. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of inspecting a sample having a plurality of fine patterns thereon, and processing data resulting from the inspection, comprising:
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a) receiving data derived from the inspection in a multiprocessor system, the system comprising a master processor and a plurality of slave processors; b) dividing the data into groups using the master processor and sending a different data group to a different memory portion that is accessible by a different one of the slave processors, each data group corresponding to information derived from a portion of the sample, wherein the data groups are different rectangular shaped image portions that each has a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein each slave processor is configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing substantially all its received data group to determine whether the corresponding portion of the sample is defective; c) selecting one or more algorithms from the plurality of different algorithms for each slave processor and configuring each slave processor with the selected one or more algorithms for such each slave processor; d) processing the data groups with the slave processors based on the selected one or more algorithms for each slave processor; and e) deriving defect information regarding the sample and the fine patterns from the combined data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for analyzing image data obtained from a sample using a plurality of processors, comprising the acts of:
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receiving image data from an inspection system that generates the image data from a sample; dividing the image data into a plurality of image portions that correspond to various portions of the sample; outputting each image portion to a memory portion that is accessible by a selected processor, at least some of the image portions going to different memory portions that are accessible by different processors, each processor being configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing the image portions to determine whether the corresponding portions of the sample are defective, wherein the image portions are different rectangular shaped image portions that each has a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels; selecting one or more algorithms from the different algorithms of each selected processor and configuring each selected processor with its selected one or more algorithms; analyzing substantially all of each image portion for defects within the selected processor based on the selected one or more algorithms for such selected processor to then determine whether the corresponding portion of the each analyzed image portion has a defect; and outputting and combining results from each processor such that defect data is compiled for the entire image data. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for inspecting a sample having a plurality of fine patterns thereon, and processing data resulting from the inspection, the computer readable medium comprising:
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computer readable code for receiving data derived from the inspection in a multiprocessor system, the system comprising a master processor and a plurality of slave processors;
computer readable code for dividing the data into groups using the master processor and sending a different data group to a different memory portion that is accessible by a different one of the slave processors, each data group corresponding to information derived from a portion of the sample, wherein the data groups are different rectangular shaped image portions that each was a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein each slave processor is configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing substantially all its received data group to determine whether the corresponding portion of the sample is defectivecomputer readable code for selecting one or more algorithms from the plurality of different algorithms for each slave processor and configuring each slave processor with the selected one or more algorithms for such each slave processor; computer readable code for processing the data groups with the slave processors based on the selected one or more algorithms for each slave processor, computer readable code for deriving defect information regarding the sample and the fine patterns from the combined data; and a computer readable medium for storing the computer readable codes. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for inspecting a sample having a plurality of fine patterns thereon, and processing data resulting from the inspection, the computer readable medium comprising:
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computer readable code for receiving image data from an inspection system that generates the image data from a sample; computer readable code for dividing the image data into a plurality of image portions that correspond to various portions of the sample; computer readable code for outputting each image portion to a memory portion that is accessible by a selected processor, at least some of the image portions going to different memory portions that are accessible by different processors, each processor being configurable to implement one or more algorithms selected from a plurality of different algorithms for analyzing the image portions to determine whether the corresponding portions of the sample are defective, wherein the image portions are different rectangular shaped image portions that each has a width that comprises a plurality of pixels and a length that comprises a plurality of pixels; computer readable code for selecting one or more algorithms from the different algorithms of each selected processor and configuring each selected processor with its selected one or more algorithms; computer readable code for analyzing substantially all of each image portion for defects within the selected processor based on the selected one or more algorithms for such selected processor to then determine whether the corresponding portion of the each analyzed image portion has a defect; and computer readable code for outputting and combining results from each processor such that defect data is compiled for the entire image data; and a computer readable medium for storing the computer readable codes. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification