Diagnostic methods for the classifiers and the defects captured by optical tools

US11237119B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION · US

Inventors

• Martin Plihal · Pleasanton, US
• Erfan Soltanmohammadi · Melrose, US
• Saravanan Paramasivam · Chennai, IN
• Sairam Ravu · Chennai, IN
• Ankit Jain · Bombay Thanda, IN
• Prasanti Uppaluri · Saratoga, US
• Vijay Ramachandran · Sunnyvale, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 7, 2017
• Grant date: Feb 1, 2022
• Expiry date: Aug 7, 2039

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02P90/02
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Wafer inspection with stable nuisance rates and defect of interest capture rates are disclosed. This technique can be used for discovery of newly appearing defects that occur during the manufacturing process. Based on a first wafer, defects of interest are identified based on the classified filtered inspection results. For each remaining wafer, the defect classifier is updated and defects of interest in the next wafer are identified based on the classified filtered inspection results.