Patent · US Active

Systems and methods for detecting defects on a wafer and generating inspection results for the wafer

US7756658B2 · kind B2 · utility

56Cited by
13References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 14, 2008
Grant dateJul 13, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 4, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02P90/02
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Systems and methods for detecting defects on a wafer and generating inspection results for the wafer are provided. One method includes detecting defects on a wafer by comparing output generated by scanning of the wafer performed by an inspection system to one or more defect detection thresholds. The method also includes sampling outliers in the output by selecting the output having the highest values from bins defined based on one or more predetermined criteria. In addition, the method includes selecting a portion of the sampled outliers based on wafer-level analysis of the sampled outliers. The method further includes generating inspection results for the wafer by combining information about the selected portion of the sampled outliers with information about the defects detected using the one or more defect detection thresholds.

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