Kla Tencor Corporation

Isaac Katz

Yoram Uziel

Joel L Seligson

Michael Faeyrman

Yoram Hanfling

Yehuda Elisha

Shimon Kostianovsky

A method and apparatus for automatically focusing a high resolution microscope, wherein during setup the operator designates areas within each field of view where a measurement will be taken, and for each area of interest translates the microscope along its optical axis (Z-axis) while measuring the image intensities at discrete subareas within the area of interest. These image intensities are then evaluated, and those having the greatest signal-to-noise ratio and occurring at a common point along the Z-axis will be selected, and the corresponding subareas identified. During subsequent inspections of the area of interest, only light reflected from the identified subareas will be used to focus the microscope. The invention has application in both conventional microscopy and interferometry.

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Hadera, Israel

Isaac Katz