PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16113165
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-08
Publication Date: 2019-12
Patent Classification: ["356", "237500"]

Abstract:
A surface topography of a sample with a transparent surface layer is measured using surface topographies of a reference sample. The surface topographies of the reference sample are measured before and after the deposition of an opaque film over the surface layer. A surface topography of the sample is measured at the same relative positions as the surface topography measurements of the reference sample. A height difference at multiple corresponding positions on the sample and the pre-opaque film reference sample is determined. The actual surface height of the reference sample at each position is known from the surface topography of the post-opaque reference sample. The actual surface topography of the sample is determined by combining the actual surface heights of the reference sample with the determined height differences. The resulting surface topography of the sample may be used to characterize the sample, such as detecting defects on the sample.

Claim (Index 11):
An optical metrology apparatus configured to characterize a test sample that is a semiconductor sample, the optical metrology apparatus comprising:\n a light source that produces an illumination beam; an objective lens that directs the illumination beam to be incident on the test sample and to receive light reflected by the sample; at least one detector array that receives the light after it is reflected by the test sample and acquires optical metrology data from the light; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one detector array and is configured to receive the optical metrology data, the at least one processor configured to: obtain a first surface topography of at least one reference sample and a second surface topography of the at least one reference sample, wherein the at least one reference sample has a surface film that is at least partially transparent to one or more wavelengths of light in the illumination beam, the first surface topography comprises a first relative height of a top surface of the at least one reference sample at each measurement position in a first plurality of measurement positions on the at least one reference sample, and the second surface topography of the at least one reference sample comprises a second relative height of the top surface of the at least one reference sample at each measurement position in the first plurality of measurement positions after an opaque film is deposited over the surface film, wherein the opaque film is opaque to the one or more wavelengths of light used by the optical metrology device; determine a third surface topography of a test sample from the optical metrology data, wherein the test sample is nominally the same as the at least one reference sample and includes a surface film that is at least partially transparent to the one or more wavelengths of light in the illumination beam and does not include an opaque film deposited over the surface film, wherein the third surface topography comprises a third relative height of a top surface of the test sample at each measurement position in a second plurality of measurement positions on the test sample, wherein a position of each measurement position in the second plurality of measurement positions on the test sample is the same as the position of each pixel-measurement position in the first plurality of measurement positions on the at least one reference sample; determine a differential surface topography by comparing the first surface topography to the third surface topography; determine a proxy surface topography of the test sample by combining the differential surface topography with the second surface topography, wherein the proxy surface topography comprises a fourth relative height of the top surface of the test sample at each measurement position in the second plurality of measurement positions on the test sample; determine the characteristic of the test sample with the proxy surface topography of the test sample; and communicate a signal to a process tool that causes the process tool to adjust a process parameter associated with a fabrication process step of a sample fabrication sequence based on the characteristic of the test sample.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 59.0
- Percentile: 96.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.66102
- Patent Class: 356.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15207261', '13112821', '10558006', '12020351', '10405528']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.6615272883133337
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4862801734424988
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.6440025768262503
- Mean Citation Score: 201.195138
- Max Citation Score: 218.1149
- Similarity Product: 172.05282956266404

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test