Methods and systems for generating an inspection process for a wafer
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for generating an inspection process for a wafer, comprising:
- separately determining a value of a local attribute for different locations within a design for a wafer based on a defect that can cause at least one type of fault mechanism at the different locations;
determining a sensitivity with which defects will be reported for different locations on the wafer corresponding to the different locations within the design based on the value of the local attribute; and
generating an inspection process for the wafer based on the determined sensitivity, wherein using the inspection process, defects are detected based on magnitude of a characteristic of individual output in output generated for the wafer during the inspection process and are not detected based on size of the defects.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for generating an inspection process for a wafer are provided. One computer-implemented method includes separately determining a value of a local attribute for different locations within a design for a wafer based on a defect that can cause at least one type of fault mechanism at the different locations. The method also includes determining a sensitivity with which defects will be reported for different locations on the wafer corresponding to the different locations within the design based on the value of the local attribute. In addition, the method includes generating an inspection process for the wafer based on the determined sensitivity. Groups may be generated based on the value of the local attribute thereby assigning pixels that will have at least similar noise statistics to the same group, which can be important for defect detection algorithms. Better segmentation may lead to better noise statistics estimation.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for generating an inspection process for a wafer, comprising:
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separately determining a value of a local attribute for different locations within a design for a wafer based on a defect that can cause at least one type of fault mechanism at the different locations; determining a sensitivity with which defects will be reported for different locations on the wafer corresponding to the different locations within the design based on the value of the local attribute; and generating an inspection process for the wafer based on the determined sensitivity, wherein using the inspection process, defects are detected based on magnitude of a characteristic of individual output in output generated for the wafer during the inspection process and are not detected based on size of the defects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer-readable medium, comprising program instructions executable on a computer system for performing a computer-implemented method for generating an inspection process for a wafer, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:
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separately determining a value of a local attribute for different locations within a design for a wafer based on a defect that can cause at least one type of fault mechanism at the different locations; determining a sensitivity with which defects will be reported for different locations on the wafer corresponding to the different locations within the design based on the value of the local attribute; and generating an inspection process for the wafer based on the determined sensitivity, wherein using the inspection process, defects are detected based on magnitude of a characteristic of individual output in output generated for the wafer during the inspection process and are not detected based on size of the defects.
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28. A system configured to generate and perform an inspection process on a wafer, comprising:
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a computer subsystem configured to; separately determine a value of a local attribute for different locations within a design for a wafer based on a defect that can cause at least one type of fault mechanism at the different locations; determine a sensitivity with which defects will be reported for different locations on the wafer corresponding to the different locations within the design based on the value of the local attribute; and generate an inspection process for the wafer based on the determined sensitivity; and an inspection subsystem configured to perform the inspection process on the wafer, wherein using the inspection process defects are detected based on magnitude of a characteristic of individual output in output generated for the wafer during the inspection process and are not detected based on size of the defects.
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Specification