摘要:
A pattern defects inspection system inspects the presence/absence of pattern defects in a photomask as an object to be inspected in which a chromium pattern and a phase shift pattern are formed together. Measurement data output from a sensor circuit for generating measurement pattern data by inspecting measurement patterns corresponding to two types of patterns formed on the object by radiating light on the object, and two identifiable design data stored in a magnetic disk unit in advance, i.e., chromium pattern design data used to form a chromium pattern and phase shift pattern design data used to form a phase shift pattern, are read out by a bit pattern generator for performing development processing. The two types of bit data obtained by the bit pattern generator are synthesized according to the same coordinate definition. The synthesized design data is compared with the measurement data by a comparator. As a result, the presence/absence of pattern defects in the object can be determined.
摘要:
A pattern inspecting method, comprising preparing a sample having a first and a second inspection regions and an imaging device having a plurality of pixels, scanning the first inspection region to a first direction using the imaging device to obtain a first measurement pattern representing at least parts of the first inspection region, scanning the second inspection region to the first direction using the imaging device to obtain a second measurement pattern representing at least parts of the second inspection region, comparing the first measurement pattern and the second measurement pattern with each other to determine presence or absence of a defect formed on the sample, and controlling a scanning condition for scanning a pattern of the second inspection region by the imaging device so as to keep the same with the scanning condition when the pattern of the first inspection region is scanned by the imaging device.
摘要:
A pattern inspection apparatus uses a die-to-database comparison method which compares detected pattern data obtained from an optical image of a pattern of a plate to be inspected with first reference pattern data obtained from designed pattern data in combination with a die-to-die comparison method which compares the detected pattern data with second reference pattern data obtained by detecting an area to be a basis for repetition. A computer detects presence of a plurality of repeated pattern areas from layout information contained in the designed pattern data, reads the arrangement, the number, the dimension and the repeated pitch of the repeated pattern areas, and automatically fetches an inspection area of the die-to-die comparison method.
摘要:
In a method of inspecting a sample on which a pattern relating to fabrication of a semiconductor device is formed, there are provided a light radiation unit, an acquiring unit, a storage unit, a template, a calculation unit, a correction unit, a defect detection unit and an output unit. Pinhole shape data to be detected of the pattern is stored in the template. The calculation unit calculates the degree of coincidence between the pinhole shape data stored in the template and the measured image data stored in the storage unit in units of a predetermined amount of data. The correction unit corrects a portion of the measured image data corresponding to a value of the degree of coincidence exceeding a second predetermined value in units of the predetermined amount of data, when the degree of coincidence obtained by the calculation unit has exceeded a first predetermined value, thereby correcting the portion of the measured image data including the detected pinhole. The defect detection unit detects a defect in the pattern on the basis of the corrected measured image data portion including the pinhole, which is obtained by the correcting unit, and the measured image data.
摘要:
A pattern defect inspection apparatus comprises a light irradiating portion, a light receive element, a light receive element amplifier, a preparation portion for preparing multi-valued design pattern image data, an offset adjusting portion, a gain adjusting portion, and an inspecting portion. The offset adjusting portion adjusts the offset of the light receive element amplifier such that measurement data of a translucent portion of a pattern on a sample surface corresponds to design pattern image data corresponding to the translucent portion, regarding the translucent portion as a non-transparent portion. The gain adjusting portion adjusts the gain of the light receive element amplifier such that measurement data of a transparent portion of the pattern on the sample surface corresponds to design pattern image data corresponding to the transparent portion.
摘要:
A pattern inspection apparatus uses a die-to-database comparison method which compares detected pattern data obtained from an optical image of a pattern of a plate to be inspected with first reference pattern data obtained from designed pattern data in combination with a die-to-die comparison method which compares the detected pattern data with second reference pattern data obtained by detecting an area to be a basis for repetition. A computer detects presence of a plurality of repeated pattern areas from layout information contained in the designed pattern data, reads the arrangement, the number, the dimension and the repeated pitch of the repeated pattern areas, and automatically fetches an inspection area of the die-to-die comparison method.
摘要:
A pattern inspection apparatus uses a die-to-database comparison method which compares detected pattern data obtained from an optical image of a pattern of a plate to be inspected with first reference pattern data obtained from designed pattern data in combination with a die-to-die comparison method which compares the detected pattern data with second reference pattern data obtained by detecting an area to be a basis for repetition. A computer detects presence of a plurality of repeated pattern areas from layout information contained in the designed pattern data, reads the arrangement, the number, the dimension and the repeated pitch of the repeated pattern areas, and automatically fetches an inspection area of the die-to-die comparison method.
摘要:
A pattern inspection apparatus uses a die-to-database comparison method which compares detected pattern data obtained from an optical image of a pattern of a plate to be inspected with first reference pattern data obtained from designed pattern data in combination with a die-to-die comparison method which compares the detected pattern data with second reference pattern data obtained by detecting an area to be a basis for repetition. A computer detects presence of a plurality of repeated pattern areas from layout information contained in the designed pattern data, reads the arrangement, the number, the dimension and the repeated pitch of the repeated pattern areas, and automatically fetches an inspection area of the die-to-die comparison method.
摘要:
A pattern defect inspection apparatus according to this invention comprises an irradiation circuit for irradiating a substrate on which a given pattern is drawn, a detector circuit for detecting said irradiated pattern on said substrate, a bit pattern generating circuit for quantizing and generating previously given design data by processing said design data based on specified figure information to obtain bit pattern data composed of a finite number of pixels, and a comparator circuit for detecting defects on said substrate by comparing the detected data from said detecting means with the data from said bit pattern generating means, wherein the bit pattern generating circuit has an additional parameter conditioner for setting the dimension of each pixel to be quantized into said bit pattern data to the desired value.
摘要:
The present invention provides a reticle defect inspection method and a reticle defect inspection apparatus capable of calibrating the offset and gain of a sensor amplifier using a product reticle even though black and white regions each sufficiently wider than a TDI sensor imaging area do not exist in the product reticle. An output of each pixel of the TDI sensor is amplified by the sensor amplifier. A bottom value of the amplified amount-of-light signal of each pixel is stored by bottom value storing means of offset/gain calibrating means, and a peak value thereof is stored by peak value storing means. The offset of each pixel is calculated by offset calculating means based on the bottom value of each pixel. The gain of each pixel is calculated by gain calculating means based on the offset of each pixel and the peak value of each pixel. The calculated offset and gain of each pixel are stored in a register and thereby the offset and gain of the sensor amplifier are calibrated.