Patent ID: 6122397
Filing Date: 2000-09-19
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A method for inspecting a semiconductor surface, wherein the semiconductor surface has a first surface component and a second surface component, the method comprising the steps of:(a) obtaining an image of the first surface component and the second surface component;(b) performing a first multimodule maskless primitive characterization for defect detection for the first surface component;(c) performing a second multimodule maskless primitive characterization for defect detection for the second surface component;(d) performing a correlation between the first multimodule maskless primitive characterization and the second multimodule maskless primitive characterization; and(e) wherein the step of performing a correlation between the first multimodule maskless primitive characterization from a first semiconductor surface component and the second multimodule maskless primitive characterization from a second semiconductor surface component further comprises the steps of:(i) providing a first set of primitive profiles for the first semiconductor surface component;(ii) providing a second set of primitive profiles for the second semiconductor surface component;(iii) computing a first set of potential defect objects from the image of the first semiconductor surface component;(iv) computing a second set of potential defect objects from the image of the second semiconductor surface component;(v) correlating the first set of primitive profiles, the second set of primitive profiles to provide a primitive correlation; and(vi) correlating the first set of potential defect objects the second set of potential defect objects and the primitive correlation.