Context-based inspection for dark field inspection
First Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method for detecting defects on a wafer, comprising:
- altering one or more design clips for a current layer being inspected on the wafer based on how the one or more design clips printed on a wafer will appear in output generated by a wafer inspection process for the wafer;
aligning the one or more altered design clips to the output generated for the wafer during the wafer inspection process;
determining if one or more features in the output correspond to previous layer features on a layer of the wafer other than the current layer being inspected in the wafer inspection process by identifying portions of the output that appear to correspond to patterned features on the wafer that are not included in the one or more altered design clips as corresponding to the previous layer features and eliminating the one or more features corresponding to the previous layer features from the output prior to detecting defects on the wafer; and
detecting the defects on the wafer based on the output aligned to the one or more altered design clips, wherein said altering, aligning, and detecting are performed by one or more computer systems.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for detecting defects on a wafer are provided. One method includes altering one or more design clips based on how the one or more design clips will appear in output generated by a wafer inspection process for a wafer. The method also includes aligning the one or more altered design clips to the output generated for the wafer during the wafer inspection process. In addition, the method includes detecting defects on the wafer based on the output aligned to the one or more altered design clips.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for detecting defects on a wafer, comprising:
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altering one or more design clips for a current layer being inspected on the wafer based on how the one or more design clips printed on a wafer will appear in output generated by a wafer inspection process for the wafer; aligning the one or more altered design clips to the output generated for the wafer during the wafer inspection process; determining if one or more features in the output correspond to previous layer features on a layer of the wafer other than the current layer being inspected in the wafer inspection process by identifying portions of the output that appear to correspond to patterned features on the wafer that are not included in the one or more altered design clips as corresponding to the previous layer features and eliminating the one or more features corresponding to the previous layer features from the output prior to detecting defects on the wafer; and detecting the defects on the wafer based on the output aligned to the one or more altered design clips, wherein said altering, aligning, and detecting are performed by one or more computer systems. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions executable on a computer system for performing computer-implemented method for detecting defects on a wafer, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:
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altering one or more design clips for a current layer being inspected on the wafer based on how the one or more design clips printed on a wafer will appear in output generated by a wafer inspection process for the wafer; aligning the one or more altered design clips to the output generated for the wafer during the wafer inspection process; determining if one or more features in the output correspond to previous layer features on a layer of the wafer other than the current layer being inspected in the wafer inspection process by identifying portions of the output that appear to correspond to patterned features on the wafer that are not included in the one or more altered design clips as corresponding to the previous layer features and eliminating the one or more features corresponding to the previous layer features from the output prior to detecting defects on the wafer; and detecting the defects on the wafer based on the output aligned to the one or more altered design clips.
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18. A system figured to detect defects on a wafer, comprising:
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an optical inspection subsystem configured to generate output for a wafer; and a computer subsystem configured for; altering one or more design clips for a current layer being inspected on the wafer based on how the one or more design clips printed on the wafer will appear in the output generated by the optical inspection subsystem for the wafer; aligning the one or more altered design clips to the output generated for the wafer by the optical inspection subsystem; determining if one or more features in the output correspond to previous layer features on a layer of the wafer other than the current layer being inspected in the wafer inspection process by identifying portions of the output that appear to correspond to patterned features on the wafer that are not included in the one or more altered design clips as corresponding to the previous layer features and eliminating the one or more features corresponding to the previous layer features from the output prior to detecting defects on the wafer; and detecting the defects on the wafer based on the output aligned to the one or more altered design clips. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification