Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6772089?dq=5481721
Timestamp: 2016-12-07 09:16:55
Document Index: 422472194

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 119', 'application No. 2001', 'art 220', 'art 222', 'art 220', 'art 136', 'art 132', 'art 154', 'art 156', 'art 154', 'art 158', 'art 154', 'art 138', 'application No. 09']

Patent US6772089 - Graphic contour extracting method, pattern inspecting method, program and ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA graphic contour extracting method includes: acquiring an image of a graphic form to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the image of the graphic form to be inspected by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form,...http://www.google.com/patents/US6772089?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6772089 - Graphic contour extracting method, pattern inspecting method, program and pattern inspecting systemAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS6772089 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/188,889Publication dateAug 3, 2004Filing dateJul 5, 2002Priority dateJul 5, 2001Fee statusLapsedAlso published asUS7321680, US20030074156, US20040181361Publication number10188889, 188889, US 6772089 B2, US 6772089B2, US-B2-6772089, US6772089 B2, US6772089B2InventorsTakahiro Ikeda, Yumiko MiyanoOriginal AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha ToshibaExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (8), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (26), Classifications (24), Legal Events (7) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetGraphic contour extracting method, pattern inspecting method, program and pattern inspecting system
US 6772089 B2Abstract
A graphic contour extracting method includes: acquiring an image of a graphic form to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the image of the graphic form to be inspected by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of the first rectangular graphic form being replaced with any one of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of the second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, the closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and the inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and searching an edge of the graphic form to be inspected on the basis of the inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the graphic form to be inspected.
What is claimed is: 1. A graphic contour extracting method comprising:
acquiring an image of a graphic form to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the image of the graphic form to be inspected by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of said first rectangular graphic form being replaced with any one of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of said second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, said closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and said inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and
searching an edge of the graphic form to be inspected on the basis of said inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the graphic form to be inspected. 2. A graphic contour extracting method according to claim 1, wherein said first rectangular graphic form includes at least one of:
a graphic form, at least one end of which is replaced with said semi-circle, said semi-ellipse or said parabola so as to form a convex portion; and a graphic form, at least one end of which is replaced with said semi-circle, said semi-ellipse or said parabola so as to form a concave portion. 3. A graphic contour extracting method according to claim 1, wherein defining of said inspection region includes defining said inspection region by combining a plurality of inspection graphic forms.
4. A pattern inspecting method comprising:
acquiring an image of a pattern to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the pattern by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of said first rectangular graphic form being replaced with anyone of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of said second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, said closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and said inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and
searching an edge of the pattern on the basis of said inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the pattern. 5. A pattern inspecting method according to claim 4, wherein said first rectangular graphic form includes at least one of:
a graphic form, at least one end of which is replaced with said semi-circle, said semi-ellipse or said parabola so as to form a convex portion; and a graphic form, at least one end of which is replaced with said semi-circle, said semi-ellipse or said parabola so as to form a concave portion. 6. A pattern inspecting method according to claim 4, wherein defining of said inspection region includes defining said inspection region by combining a plurality of inspection graphic forms.
7. A program for causing a computer to execute a graphic contour extracting method, said method comprising:
searching an edge of the graphic form to be inspected on the basis of said inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the graphic form to be inspected. 8. A program for causing a computer to execute a pattern inspecting method, said method comprising:
acquiring an image of a pattern to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the pattern by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of said first rectangular graphic form being replaced with any one of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of said second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, said closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and said inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and
searching an edge of the pattern on the basis of said inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the pattern. 9. A pattern inspecting system comprising:
an image acquiring part which acquires an image of a pattern to be inspected; an inspection region defining part which defines an inspection region for the pattern by preparing an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of said first rectangular graphic form being replaced with any one of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of said second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, said closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and said inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and
a contour extracting part which searches an edge of the pattern on the basis of said inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the pattern. 10. A pattern inspecting system according to claim 9, wherein said first rectangular graphic form includes at least one of:
a graphic form, at least one end of which is replaced with said semi-circle, said semi-ellipse or said parabola so as to form a convex portion; and a graphic form, at least one end of which is replaced with said semi-circle, said semi-ellipse or said parabola so as to form a concave portion. 11. A pattern inspecting system according to claim 9, wherein said inspection region defining part defines said inspection region by combining a plurality of inspection graphic forms.
12. A pattern inspecting system according to claim 9, which further comprises:
a display part including a display screen which displays the image and said inspection graphic form; a GUI which alternatively displays a candidate graphic form for said inspection graphic form or its component on said display screen, said candidate graphic form including at least one of said circle, said ellipse, said rectangle, said first rectangle, said second rectangle and said closed curve, and said edge searching direction being previously defined for every shape to form; and an input part which assigns a reference position and said proposed graphic form, said reference point providing a reference when said inspection region is defined on said display screen; wherein said inspection region defining part defines said inspection region on the basis of said reference position assigned by said input part and said candidate graphic form. Description
This application claims benefit of priority under 35USC § 119 to Japanese patent application No. 2001-204478, filed on Jul. 5, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
In a process of inspection in a semiconductor manufacturing process, image data of a pattern to be inspected are often acquired by an electron microscope, an optical microscope, a charge coupled device (CCD) or the like, to utilize contour information on the pattern to be inspected which is extracted on the basis of the image data. As contour information extracting methods, various methods have been put to practical use. For example, such methods include a method for setting a predetermined density value as a threshold value to define a portion corresponding to the threshold value as an edge when an acquired pattern image is a variable density image, a method for comparing an acquired pattern image with a closed curve graphic form serving as a reference, and a method for detecting a pattern edge by means of a two-dimensional filter, such as a Sobel filter.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a graphic contour extracting method comprising: acquiring an image of a graphic form to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the image of the graphic form to be inspected by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of the first rectangular graphic form being replaced with anyone of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of the second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, the closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and the inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and searching an edge of the graphic form to be inspected on the basis of the inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the graphic form to be inspected.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pattern inspecting method comprising: acquiring an image of a pattern to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the pattern by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of the first rectangular graphic form being replaced with anyone of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of the second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, the closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and the inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and searching an edge of the pattern on the basis of the inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the pattern.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute a graphic contour extracting method, the method comprising: acquiring an image of a graphic form to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the image of the graphic form to be inspected by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of the first rectangular graphic form being replaced with anyone of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of the second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, the closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and the inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and searching an edge of the graphic form to be inspected on the basis of the inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the graphic form to be inspected.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute a graphic contour extracting method, the method comprising: acquiring an image of a graphical form to be inspected., the image being constituted by pixels; preparing a polygonal line having a shape approximating the shape of the graphical form; determining an edge searching direction on the basis of the polygonal line; and analyzing a density distribution of the pixels of the image in the edge searching direction to detect coordinates of an edge point of the graphical form.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute a pattern inspecting method, the method comprising: acquiring an image of a pattern to be inspected; defining an inspection region for the pattern by an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of the first rectangular graphic form being replaced with any one of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of the second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, the closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and the inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and searching an edge of the pattern on the basis of the inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the pattern.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pattern inspecting system comprising: an image acquiring part which acquires an image of a pattern to be inspected; an inspection region defining part which defines an inspection region for the pattern by preparing an inspection graphic form including at least one of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a first rectangular graphic form, a second rectangular graphic form and a closed curved graphic form, at least one end of the first rectangular graphic form being replaced with any one of a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse and a parabola, at least one of four corners of the second rectangular graphic form being replaced with a ¼ circle or a ¼ ellipse, the closed curved graphic form being expressed by the following expression: ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 , and the inspection graphic form having an edge searching direction previously defined for at least one component thereof; and a contour extracting part which searches an edge of the pattern on the basis of the inspection graphic form to acquire contour information of the pattern.
FIGS. 9A through 8C are schematic diagrams for explaining a sixth embodiment of a pattern inspecting method according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows a list of ROI boundary shapes (candidate graphic forms) capable of being called out by the pull-down menus 220 b through 220 f. In the Rectangle 220 b, there are shown two rectangular shapes capable of being searched in X and Y directions, respectively. In the Ellpse 220 c, a circular or elliptical ROI boundary shape is shown. In the rectangles (Capsule 1-4) 220 d 1 through 220 d 4 four kinds of ROI boundaries are shown, each of the ROI boundaries has a semi-circular, semi-elliptical or parabolic shape on one of their ends. Each of the Capsules 1 and 2 is a rectangle with one end replaced with a semi-circular, semi-elliptical or parabolic shape. The Capsule 1 is a rectangle wherein a semi-circle, semi-ellipse or parabola is arranged so as to expand outwardly from one end of the rectangle, and the Capsule 2 is a rectangle wherein a semi-circle, semi-ellipse or parabola is arranged so as to extend inwardly from its one end as if the end of the rectangle is cut out. Each of the Capsules 3 and 4 is rectangle with both ends replaced with semi-circular, semi-elliptical or parabolic shapes. Similar to the Capsules 1 and 2, the Capsule 3 is a rectangle wherein a semi-circle, semi-ellipse or parabola is arranged so as to expand outwardly from both ends of the rectangle, and the Capsule 4 is a rectangle wherein semi-circles, semi-ellipses or parabolas are arranged so as to extend inwardly from both ends of the rectangle as if the rectangle itself is cut out. The rectangles (Round) 220 e 1 through 220 e 4 having a ¼ elliptical or circular corner include rectangles (Rounds 1 through 4) wherein one corner through four corners are in shape of ¼ elliptical or circular, respectively. The curve (Potential) 220 f is a button for assigning calculation of an edge searching curve group, and the details thereof will be described later.
While the semiconductor device pattern P2 shown in FIG. 29A has been designed at a design stage so as to have a substantially rectangular shape, the corner portions of the shape is modulated so as to be round after a lithography process. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4C, the shape of an ROI boundary is defined as a rectangle wherein two of four corners are replaced with ¼ ellipses.
Then, a pull-down menu is drawn out from the ROI shape selecting part 220 in the display screen 210 (the second frame FR2) to select the Capsule button 220 d and the button 220 d 1 of the Capsule 1 (see FIG. 3) is selected from the displayed Capsules 1 through 4. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4C, an ROI boundary 12 having a rectangular shape wherein a line drawn between the reference points SP2 and SP2′ would be its diagonal and wherein upper two corners of a rectangular boundary are replaced with ¼ circles is set. In this embodiment, the radius R2 of the ¼ circle was determined with respect to a width w2 between the SP2 and SP2′ so as to satisfy the following expression:
and central positions c2 and c2′ were determined by a numerical calculation so that both ends of the ¼ circle contact sides of the original rectangular boundary. Thus, the shape of the ROI boundary 12 can be completely determined only by assigning the reference points SP2 and SP2′ by means of the mouse M or the like.
E1: direction from ROI boundary 12 and parallel to X-axis
E2: direction from ROI boundary 12 toward center C2 of ¼ circle
E3: direction parallel to Y-axis from ROI boundary 12 E4: direction from ROI boundary 12 toward center C2′ of ¼ circle
E5: direction from ROI boundary 12 and parallel to X-axis
In the edge search in this embodiment, the density of a pixel was examined with respect to each searching direction, and the coordinates of the outermost position of positions wherein the density was 50% of the maximum and minimum values were defined as coordinates of an edge point.
While the corner of the rectangular region has been replaced with the ¼ circle in this embodiment, this may be a ¼ ellipse. The proportion of the major/minor axis of the ellipse or the radius of the circle to the size of the rectangular region should not be limited to the above described golden section ratio, it may be suitably changed. Alternatively, a curve expressed by the following expression may be used as a similar closed curve. ( x - x 0 ) 4 a 4 + ( y - y 0 ) 4 b 4 = 1 ( 2 ) While the edge has been searched toward the interior of the ROI boundary 12, the edge may be searched outwardly from the interior of the ROI boundary 12 as shown in FIG. 4E by selecting the button 222 b of the edge search direction assigning part 222.
In this embodiment, the shape of an ROI boundary was defined by a graphic form wherein both ends of a rectangle are replaced with semi-circles (Capsule 3 in FIG. 3).
Then, a pull-down menu is drawn out from the ROI shape selecting part 220 on the display screen 210 (the second frame FR2) to select the Capsule button 220 d and the button 220 d 3 of the Capsule 3 (see FIG. 3) is selected from the displayed Capsules 1 through 4. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5B, upper and lower two sides of a rectangular boundary determined by the reference points SP4 and SP4′ are replaced with semi-circles to set an ROI boundary 14. In this embodiment, the radius R4 of the semi-circle was defined so as to be w4/2 with respect to a width w4 between the SP4 and SP4′. Thus, the shape of the ROI boundary 14 can be easily determined only by assigning the SP4 and SP4′ by means of the mouse M.
E11: direction from ROI boundary 14 toward center C4 E12: direction from ROI boundary 14 and parallel to X-axis
E13: direction from ROI boundary 14 toward center C4′
E14: direction from ROI boundary 14 and parallel to X-axis
Also in this embodiment, the density of a pixel was examined with respect to each searching direction, and the coordinates of the outermost position of positions wherein the density was 50% of the maximum and minimum values were defined as coordinates of an edge point.
Then, a second ROI boundary 16 b is set as shown in FIG. 6B by dragging the mouse M and selecting the Round 2 (see FIG. 3) in the pull-down menu.
Then, a region surrounded by the first ROI boundary 16 a′ and a region surrounded by the second ROI boundary 16 b is synthesized to prepare a single ROI boundary 16 as shown in FIG. 6C and an edge searching direction corresponding to each region in the ROI boundary 16 to search an edge from a pixel on the ROI boundary 16 toward the interior of the ROI boundary 16 is determined as follows.
E21: direction from ROI boundary 16 and parallel to X-axis
E22: direction from ROI boundary 16 and parallel to Y-axis
E23: direction from ROI boundary 16 toward center C6 of ¼ circle
E24: direction from ROI boundary 16 and parallel to X-axis
E25: direction from ROI boundary 16 toward center C6′
E26: direction from ROI boundary 16 and parallel to Y-axis
E27: direction from ROI boundary 16 and parallel to X-axis
E28: direction from ROI boundary 16 and parallel to X-axis
Similar to the second and third embodiments, in edge search, the coordinates of the outermost position of positions wherein the density was 50% of the maximum and minimum values were defined as coordinates of an edge point.
E31: direction from ROI boundary 20 and parallel to Y-axis
E32: direction from ROI boundary 20 toward center C8 a of circle
E33: direction from ROI boundary 20 and parallel to X-axis
E34: direction from ROI boundary 20 toward center C8 b E35: direction from ROI boundary 20 and parallel to Y-axis
E36: direction from ROI boundary 20 toward center C8 c E37: direction from ROI boundary 20 and parallel to X-axis
E36: direction from ROI boundary 20 toward center C8 d In this embodiment, similar to the above described first through fourth embodiments, the coordinates of the outermost position of positions wherein the density was 50% of the maximum and minimum values were defined as coordinates of an edge point in the edge search.
E41: direction from ROI boundary 22 toward center C12 of circle
E42: direction from ROI boundary 22 toward center C12′ of circle
Moreover, coordinates of edge points were determined by the above described threshold method.
E51: direction from ROI boundary 24 a toward center C14 of circle
E52: direction from auxiliary line 24 b to the right
Then, the Potential button 220 f in the pull-down menu 220 is select by moving the cursor CS and clicking the mouse M. Thus, the edge searching curve calculating part 136 (see FIG. 1) of the image processing unit 130 carries out the following operation.
That is, a plane to which an image belongs in the region of interest 26 is assumed as a complex plane z=x+iy, and a function of the image at position z on the image is defined by the following expression on the basis of a gray level gi of a pixel at position zi=xi+iyi: V  ( z ) = ∑ i = 1 N  f  ( g i ) h (  z - z i  ( 3 ) wherein f(gi) is a function which is monotone with respect to gi, and h(|z−zi|) is a function smoothly decreasing with |z−zi|, which can be changed to, e.g., the following form, to be a function capable of being differentiated on z plane. V  ( z ) = ∑ i = 1 N  g i  1 - exp  ( -  z - z i  )  z - z i  ( 4 ) The equi-potential curves of this function are shown in FIG. 10B. Broken lines 32 similar to contour lines in the figure are equi-potential curves. However, since it takes a lot of times to calculate such contour lines, it is not always required to display the broken lines 32 on the screen.
Then, a function W(z) calculated from the function in expression (3) and Cauchy-Riemann's relation. ∂ V ∂ x = ∂ W ∂ y ,  ∂ V ∂ y = - ∂ W ∂ x ( 5 ) Then, W is calculated by a numerical calculation, and a group 34 of curves on z plane wherein W=Constant is plotted by sequentially giving Constants at appropriate intervals. This group 34 of curves is always perpendicular to the equi-potential curves 32 by the principle of complex analysis since function V+iW is a regular function.
The image acquiring part 132 is designed to acquire the SEM image of a pattern to be inspected from the SEM unit 110 to remove noises and carry out a binary coding to extract a schematic contour of the pattern. The polygonal line preparing part 154 is designed to prepare a polygonal line having a shape approximating the shape of the pattern by a method which will be described later. The cut-out processing part 156 is designed to extract vertices of the polygonal line prepared by the polygonal line preparing part 154 and to carry out a cut-out processing with respect to each of the vertices. The edge searching direction calculating part 158 is designed to calculate an edge searching direction on the basis of the shape of the polygonal line prepared by the polygonal line preparing part 154. The contour extracting part 138 is designed to extract contour information, such as coordinates of edge points of the pattern, in the calculated edge searching direction.
First, various templates TP2, TP4 and TP6 shown in FIGS. 16A through 16C, respectively, are previously prepared, and a pattern matching of each of these templates with the schematic contour line is carried out (step S5). The matching is carried out while carrying out transformations of coordinate system, such as rotation, expansion/reduction, and parallel translation, with respect to each of the templates. Thus, it is possible to carry out the matching even if the size of the templates is different from the size of the actual image.
The edge searching direction in the cut-out portion may be calculated as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 20, a right-angled isosceles triangle 52 having a segment 46′ of a cut-out portion 56 as a base is prepared so that the vertex 53 of the right-angled portion becomes inside of a polygonal line PL2. Next, a ¼ circle having a radius which corresponds to the length of an isosceles portion of the triangle 52 is drawn about the vertex 53. That is, both end points of the ¼ circle are coincident with the starting and end points of the segment 46′ of the cut-out. Then, the edge search is carried out from the vertex 53 toward the ¼ circle with a regular degrees of intervals at angles. In addition, the center of the ¼ circle should not be limited to the vertex 53 of the isosceles triangle 52, but it may be an arbitrary point on a straight line 54 which is perpendicular to the segment 46′ of the cut-out portion and which divides the segment 46′ into two equal parts.
Finally, the dimension, area, edge roughness, perimeter, round extent and so fourth of the pattern to be inspected are calculated on the basis of the obtained contour information (step S10) to output the results of inspection.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, the ninth embodiment of a pattern inspecting method according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the schematic procedure for carrying out a pattern inspecting method in this embodiment, and FIGS. 21 through 25 are illustrations for explaining the pattern inspecting method in this embodiment. Also in this embodiment, the pattern P22 shown in FIG. 13 is used as a pattern to be inspected.
1) the directions in which the lines are extended from the vertex shall be only two directions which are the same as the matched template;
2) only one of the lines crosses another line in one direction; and
3) extension of the line is stopped when the line crosses another line or when the line reaches the end of the screen.
Thus, the same first polygonal line PL2 as that in FIG. 17 was prepared (step S16).
The following method may be used for drawing lines between vertices. First, the graphic form of the pattern P22 to be inspected is read from the design data 162 or the like and is converted into, e.g., a Freeman's chain code. The Freeman's chain code is used for a method for numbering each of directions for every 45 degrees to express the shape of a graphic form by numerical codes. For example, if the shape of the pattern P22 measured in this embodiment is expressed by a chain code clockwise from a location corresponding to the left-bottom vertex in FIG. 13, “20206484” is yielded. If the drawing of lines between extracted vertices is carried out in accordance with this code, the same polygonal line PL2 as that in FIG. 17 can be prepared.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, the tenth embodiment of a pattern inspecting method according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing the schematic procedure for carrying out a pattern inspecting method in this embodiment. Also in this embodiment, the pattern P22 shown in FIG. 13 is used as a pattern to be inspected.
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention should not be limited to the above descried embodiments. Of course, the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the principle of the invention. For example, while the image data have been acquired from the SEM unit in the pattern inspecting method in the above described embodiments, the present invention should not be limited thereto, but a pattern inspecting method according to the present invention can be applied to a pattern image obtained by an optical microscope or another scanning probe microscope.
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Engineering Co., Ltd.Land partition data generating method and apparatusUS20040131246 *Oct 16, 2003Jul 8, 2004Takahiro IkedaMicropattern measuring method, micropattern measuring apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium on which a micropattern measuring program is recordedUS20060023933 *Jul 29, 2005Feb 2, 2006Tadashi MitsuiPattern evaluation method, method of manufacturing semiconductor, program and pattern evaluation apparatusUS20060110042 *Oct 21, 2005May 25, 2006Atsushi OnishiPattern matching method, program and semiconductor device manufacturing methodUS20070174012 *Jan 25, 2006Jul 26, 2007Badger Karen DMethod Of Determining Photomask Inspection CapabilitiesUS20070223803 *Mar 21, 2007Sep 27, 2007Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationPattern matching method and pattern matching programUS20080025565 *Jul 26, 2006Jan 31, 2008Yan ZhangVision-based method of determining cargo status by boundary detectionUS20080232671 *Mar 20, 2008Sep 25, 2008Mitsuyo AsanoMask pattern verifying methodUS20080237462 *Aug 6, 2007Oct 2, 2008Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationSemiconductor Testing Method and Semiconductor TesterUS20090039261 *Aug 7, 2008Feb 12, 2009Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationPattern Inspection Method and Pattern Inspection SystemUS20100190342 *Jan 7, 2010Jul 29, 2010Toshiya KotaniPattern generating method, method of manufacturing semiconductor device, computer program product, and pattern-shape-determination-parameter generating methodUS20100200749 *Apr 22, 2010Aug 12, 2010Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationSemiconductor Testing Method and Semiconductor TesterUS20100310180 *Aug 17, 2010Dec 9, 2010Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationPattern Inspection Method and Pattern Inspection System* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification702/159, 250/201.2, 382/190, 382/107, 382/144, 382/145, 345/626, 382/166, 382/178International ClassificationG06T1/00, G01B11/14, G06T3/00, G01B5/02, G06T7/60, G06F15/00, G06K9/62, G01B21/02, G01B11/02, H01L21/66, G01B13/02Cooperative ClassificationG06K9/6253, G06K9/48European ClassificationG06K9/48, G06K9/62B5Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionDec 16, 2002ASAssignmentOwner name: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:IKEDA, TAKAHIRO;MIYANO, YUMIKO;REEL/FRAME:013590/0804Effective date: 20021211Feb 14, 2006CCCertificate of correctionSep 24, 2007FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Sep 21, 2011FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Mar 11, 2016REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedAug 3, 2016LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesSep 20, 2016FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20160803RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services