Patent · US Expired

Surface inspection system

US5864394A · kind A · utility

187Cited by
39References
113Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 29, 1995
Grant dateJan 26, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 29, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L2924/0002
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A high throughput surface inspection system with enhanced detection sensitivity is described. The acquired data is processed in real time at a rate of below 50 MHz thereby reducing the cost for data processing. Anomalies are detected and verified by comparing adjacent repeating patterns and the height of the surface is monitored and corrected dynamically to reduce misregistration errors between adjacent repeating patterns. Local thresholds employing neighborhood information are used for detecting and verifying the presence of anomalies. The sampled point spread function of the combined illumination and collection system is exploited for anomaly detection and verification.

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