Pattern inspection method and its apparatus

• US 7,711,178 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2007
• Issued: 05/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.), Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.), Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Goto, Hiroshi, Takeuchi, Naoya, Kuwabara, Masayuki, Sakai, Kaoru, Okabe, Takafumi, Maeda, Shunji
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta; Bhavesh M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Akhavannik; Hadi
• Application Number:
  US11/869,217
• Publication Number:
  US 20080031511A1
• Time in Patent Office: 938 Days
• Field of Search: 382/142, 382/151
• US Class Current: 382/151
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30148 Semiconductor; IC; Wafer
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0002 Inspection of images, e.g. flaw detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/001 using an image reference approach
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/32 using correlation-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/33 using feature-based methods

Abstract

A pattern inspection method including: sequentially imaging plural chips formed on a substrate; selecting a pattern which is suitable for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a subject chip and reference image stored in memory from an image of a firstly imaged chip among said sequentially imaged plural chips formed on the substrate; computing position gap between an inspection image of a chip obtained by the sequential imaging and reference image stored in a memory by using a positional information of a pattern image included in the inspection image and a reference pattern image included in the reference image which are both corresponding to the pattern selected at the selecting; aligning the inspection image and the reference image by using information of the calculated position gap; and comparing the aligned inspection image with the reference image and extracting a difference as a defect candidate.

Claims

1. A pattern inspection method comprising:

sequentially imaging plural chips formed on a substrate;

selecting at least one of pattern sections of each inspection image obtained by the imaging, which are suitable for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a subject chip and a reference image stored in a memory, while discarding other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap;

calculating position gap between an inspection image of a chip obtained by the imaging and the reference image stored in the memory by using positional information of pattern images included in the inspection image and reference pattern images included in the reference image which are both corresponding to the at least one of pattern sections selected at the selecting;

aligning the inspection image and the reference image by using information of the calculated position gap; and

comparing the aligned inspection image with the reference image, and extracting a difference between the two images as a defect candidate,

wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections which are suitable for calculating position gap and the other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap, are determined before firstly starting the calculating of position gap.

2. A pattern inspection method according to claim 1, wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections are selected from plural pattern sections formed in the firstly imaged chip, using edge information of each pattern section included in the firstly imaged chip.

3. A pattern inspection method according to claim 1, wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections are selected from a region where plural pattern sections are formed in the firstly imaged chip.

4. A pattern inspection method according to claim 3, wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections are selected from plural pattern sections formed in the firstly imaged chip, using edge information of each pattern section included in the firstly imaged chip.

5. A pattern inspection apparatus comprising:

an image acquisition unit which sequentially detects images of a manufactured product on which plural chips are formed;

a pattern selecting unit for selecting at least one of pattern sections of each inspection image obtained by the image acquisition unit, which are suitable for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a subject chip detected by the image acquisition unit and a reference image stored in a memory, while discarding other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap;

a calculating unit for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a chip formed on the substrate and the reference image stored in the memory, by comparing an image of a pattern section included in each images which are corresponding to the at least one of pattern sections selected by the pattern selecting unit;

an aligning unit for aligning the inspection image and the reference image by using information of the calculated position gap; and

a defect candidate extracting unit which compares the aligned inspection image with the reference image, and extracting a difference between the inspection image and the reference as a defect candidate,

wherein the at least one of pattern sections which are suitable for calculating position gap and the other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap, are determined before firstly starting the calculating of position gap.

6. A pattern inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the pattern selecting unit selects the at least one of pattern sections among plural pattern sections formed in a firstly imaged chip, using edge information of each pattern section included in the firstly imaged chip.

7. A pattern inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the pattern selecting unit selects the at least one of pattern sections from a region where plural pattern sections are formed in a firstly imaged chip.

8. A pattern inspection apparatus according to the claim 7, wherein the pattern selecting unit selects the at least one of pattern sections among plural pattern sections formed in the firstly imaged chip, using edge information of each pattern section included in the firstly imaged chip.

9. A pattern inspection method comprising:

sequentially imaging plural products formed on a substrate;

selecting at least one of pattern sections of each inspection image obtained by the imaging, which are suitable for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a subject product and a reference image stored in a memory, while discarding other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap;

calculating position gap between an inspection image of a product obtained by the imaging and the reference image stored in the memory by using positional information of pattern images included in the inspection image and reference pattern images included in the reference image which are both corresponding to the at least one of pattern sections selected at the selecting;

aligning the inspection image and the reference image by using information of the calculated position gap; and

comparing the aligned inspection image with the reference image, and extracting a difference between the two images as a defect candidate,

wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections which are suitable for calculating position gap and the other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap, are determined before firstly starting the calculating of position gap.

10. A pattern inspection method according to claim 9, wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections are selected from plural pattern sections formed in a selected imaged product of interest, using edge information of each pattern section included in the selected imaged product.

11. A pattern inspection method according to claim 9, wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections are selected from a region where plural pattern sections are formed in a selected imaged product of interest.

12. A pattern inspection method according to claim 11, wherein in the selecting, the at least one of pattern sections are selected from plural pattern sections formed in the selected imaged product, using edge information of each pattern section included in the selected imaged product.

13. A pattern inspection apparatus comprising:

an image acquisition unit which sequentially detects images of a manufactured substrate on which plural products are formed;

a pattern selecting unit for selecting at least one of pattern sections of each inspection image obtained by the image acquisition unit, which are suitable for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a subject product detected by the image acquisition unit and a reference image stored in a memory, while discarding other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap;

a calculating unit for calculating position gap between an inspection image of a product formed on the substrate and the reference image stored in the memory, by comparing an image of a pattern section included in each images which are corresponding to the at least one of pattern sections selected by the pattern selecting unit;

an aligning unit for aligning the inspection image and the reference image by using information of the calculated position gap; and

a defect candidate extracting unit which compares the aligned inspection image with the reference image, and extracting a difference between the inspection image and the reference as a defect candidate,

wherein the at least one of pattern sections which are suitable for calculating position gap and the other pattern sections which are not suitable for calculating position gap, are determined before firstly starting the calculating of position gap.

14. A pattern inspection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the pattern selecting unit selects the at least one of pattern sections among plural pattern sections formed in a selected imaged product, using edge information of each pattern section included in the selected imaged product.

15. A pattern inspection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the pattern selecting unit selects the at least one of pattern sections from a region where plural pattern sections are formed in a selected imaged product.

16. A pattern inspection apparatus according to the claim 15, wherein the pattern selecting unit selects the at least one of pattern sections among plural pattern sections formed in the selected imaged product, using edge information of each pattern section included in the selected imaged product.