Methods for accurate identification of an edge of a care area for an array area formed on a wafer and methods for binning defects detected in an array area formed on a wafer
First Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method for binning defects detected in an array area formed on a wafer, comprising:
- identifying an edge of a care area for the array area, wherein said identifying comprises determining a value for a difference image as a function of position from a position known to be inside the array area to a position known to be outside of the array area, determining a threshold from an average of the values for the difference image known to be inside the array area, and identifying the position that is located closest to the inside of the array area and that has the value greater than the threshold as a position of the edge of the care area;
determining distances between positions of the defects and the edge of the array area; and
binning the defects in groups such that the distances determined for the defects in each of the groups are at least similar, wherein said identifying, said determining, and said binning are performed using a computer system.
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Abstract
Methods for identifying an edge of a care area for an array area formed on a wafer and/or for binning defects detected in the array area are provided. One method for identifying an edge of a care area for an array area formed on a wafer includes determining a value for a difference image as a function of position from a position known to be inside the array area to a position known to be outside of the array area. The method also includes identifying the position that is located closest to the inside of the array area and that has the value greater than a threshold as a position of the edge of the care area.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for binning defects detected in an array area formed on a wafer, comprising:
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identifying an edge of a care area for the array area, wherein said identifying comprises determining a value for a difference image as a function of position from a position known to be inside the array area to a position known to be outside of the array area, determining a threshold from an average of the values for the difference image known to be inside the array area, and identifying the position that is located closest to the inside of the array area and that has the value greater than the threshold as a position of the edge of the care area; determining distances between positions of the defects and the edge of the array area; and binning the defects in groups such that the distances determined for the defects in each of the groups are at least similar, wherein said identifying, said determining, and said binning are performed using a computer system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions executable on a computer system for performing a computer-implemented method for binning defects detected in an array area formed on a wafer, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:
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identifying an edge of a care area for the array area, wherein said identifying comprises determining a value for a difference image as a function of position from a position known to be inside the array area to a position known to be outside of the array area, determining a threshold from an average of the values for the difference image known to be inside the array area, and identifying the position that is located closest to the inside of the array area and that has the value greater than the threshold as a position of the edge of the care area; determining distances between positions of the defects and the edge of the array area; and binning the defects in groups such that the distances determined for the defects in each of the groups are at least similar.
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20. A system configured to bin defects detected in an array area formed on a wafer comprising:
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an inspection subsystem configured to acquire images of the wafer; and a computer subsystem configured to detect the defects in the array area formed on the wafer using the images, to identify an edge of a care area for the array area by determining a value for a difference image as a function of position from a position known to be inside the array area to a position known to be outside of the array area, determining a threshold from an average of the values for the difference image known to be inside the array area, and identifying the position that is located closest to the inside of the array area and that has the value greater than the threshold as a position of the edge of the care area, and to bin the defects detected in the array area by determining distances between positions of the defects and the edge of the array area and binning the defects in groups such that the distances determined for the defects in each of the groups are at least similar.
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Specification