Patent Document ID: 10074036
Application ID: 14884670
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of inspecting a photolithographic reticle, the method comprising: obtaining modeled images of a plurality of target features of the reticle based on a design database for fabricating the reticle; from an inspection tool, obtaining a plurality of actual images of the target features of the reticle; binning the modelled images and the actual images into a plurality of bins based on image properties of the modelled and actual images, wherein at least some of the image properties of each bin are affected by one or more neighbor features of the target features on the reticle in a same manner; and analyzing the modelled images and the actual images from at least one of the bins to generate a feature characteristic uniformity map for the reticle, wherein the feature characteristic uniformity map for each bin is a critical dimension uniformity (CDU) map for each bin, wherein each modelled image includes a target feature having a CD value and a surrounding area, and wherein each modelled image incorporates at least a portion of the optical properties of the inspection tool.