Reticle inspection systems and method
US8189203B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 5, 2009 |
| Grant date | May 29, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 28, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2021/95676
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and systems for reticle inspection. The method includes coherently illuminating surfaces of an inspection reticle and a reference reticle, applying a Fourier transform to scattered light from the illuminated surfaces, shifting the phase of the transformed light from the reference reticle such that a phase difference between the transformed light from the inspection reticle and the transformed light from the reference reticle is 180 degrees, combining the transformed light as an image subtraction, applying an inverse Fourier transform to the combined light, and detecting the combined light at a detector. An optical path length difference between two optical paths from the illumination source to the detector is less than a coherence length of the illumination source. The image detected by the detector represents a difference in amplitude and phase distributions of the reticles allowing foreign particles, defects, or the like, to be easily distinguished.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.