Patent · US Active

Care areas for improved electron beam defect detection

US10692690B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by

1References

20Claims

0Family size

Assignee

KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION · US

Inventors

Vidyasagar Anantha · Hyderabad, IN
Arpit Yati · Lucknow, IN
Saravanan Paramasivam · Chennai, IN
Martin Plihal · Pleasanton, US
Jincheng Lin · Shanghai, CN

Key dates

Filing date	Jun 30, 2017
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Jun 30, 2037

Classification

Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
CPC primaryH01J2237/2817
WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Use of care areas in scanning electron microscopes or other review tools can provide improved sensitivity and throughput. A care area is received at a controller of a scanning electron microscope from, for example, an inspector tool. The inspector tool may be a broad band plasma tool. The care area is applied to a field of view of a scanning electron microscope image to identify at least one area of interest. Defects are detected only within the area of interest using the scanning electron microscope. The care areas can be design-based or some other type of care area. Use of care areas in SEM tools can provide improved sensitivity and throughput.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.