Kla Tencor Corporation

Applied Materials South East Asia Pte. Ltd.

Vayavision Sensing, Ltd.

Negevtech Ltd.

Applied Materials, Inc.

Applied Materials Israel Limited

Opal Technologies Ltd.

Mark Wagner

Noam Dotan

Dov Furman

Shai Silberstein

Gad Neumann

Ram Segal

Youval Nehmadi

Michael E Adel

Ady Levy

Daniel Kandel

Kris Bhaskar

Dana Klein

Ran Zaslavsky

Shmuel Mangan

Leonid Poslavsky

Roie Volkovich

Brian Duffy

Allen Park

Eran Amit

Rui-Fang Shi

Mark Davis Smith

Avishai Bartov

Barak Bringoltz

Ellis Chang

Nuriel Amir

Erez Sali

John Charles Robinson

Frank Laske

Amir Widmann

Tomer Yanir

Gadi Greenberg

Tal Marciano

Laurent Karsenti

Tzahi Grunzweig

Ronny Cohen

Ariel Ben-Porath

Moshe Langer

William Pierson

Myungjun Lee

Songnian Rong

Tal Itzkovich

Vijayakumar Ramachandran

Slawomir Czerkas

Onur Demirer

Mohammad Mehdi Daneshpanah

Nadav Carmel

Ophir Gvirtzer

Anna Cohen

Vidya Ramanathan

Janay Camp

Lior Shoval

Michael Ben Yishai

Yuval Dorfan

Yuval Dorphan

Shahar Ben Ezra

Itzik Avital

Autonomous driving of a vehicle in which computerized perception by the vehicle, including of its environment and of itself (e.g., its egomotion), is used to autonomously drive the vehicle and, additionally, can also be used to provide feedback to enhance performance, safety, and/or other attributes of autonomous driving of the vehicle (e.g., when certain conditions affecting the vehicle are determined to exist by detecting patterns in or otherwise analyzing what is perceived by the vehicle), such as by adjusting autonomous driving of the vehicle, conveying messages regarding the vehicle, and/or performing other actions concerning the vehicle.

Functional safety in autonomous driving

A perception system, comprising a set of reference sensors; a set of test sensors and a computing device, which is configured for receiving first training signals from the set of reference sensors and receiving second training signals from the set of test sensors, the set of reference sensors and the set of test sensors simultaneously exposed to a common scene; processing the first training signals to obtain reference images containing reference depth information associated with the scene; and using the second training signals and the reference images to train a neural network for transforming subsequent test signals from the set of test sensors into test images containing inferred depth information.

Methods and systems for training and validating a perception system

A method for managing a change in a physical property of a vehicle due to an external object that is attached to the vehicle, the method may include receiving information regarding the external object and a relationship between the external object and the vehicle; wherein at least part of the information is sensed information that is sensed by a sensor; determining, by a vehicle computer and based on the information, an effect of the external object on the vehicle; and responding to the effect of the external object on the vehicle.

Managing a change in a physical property of a vehicle due to an external object

The generation of flexible sparse metrology sample plans includes receiving a full set of metrology signals from one or more wafers from a metrology tool, determining a set of wafer properties based on the full set of metrology signals and calculating a wafer property metric associated with the set of wafer properties, calculating one or more independent characterization metrics based on the full set of metrology signals, and generating a flexible sparse sample plan based on the set of wafer properties, the wafer property metric, and the one or more independent characterization metrics. The one or more independent characterization metrics of the one or more properties calculated with metrology signals from the flexible sparse sampling plan is within a selected threshold from one or more independent characterization metrics of the one or more properties calculated with the full set of metrology signals.

Method and system for process control with flexible sampling

Metrology methods are provided, which comprise identifying overlay critical patterns in a device design, the overlay critical patterns having an overlay sensitivity to process variation above a specified threshold that depends on design specifications; and using metrology targets that correspond to the identified overlay critical patterns. Alternatively or complementarily, metrology methods comprise identifying yield critical patterns according to a corresponding process window narrowing due to specified process variation, wherein the narrowing is defined by a dependency of edge placement errors (EPEs) of the patterns on process parameters. Corresponding targets and measurements are provided.

Metrology using overlay and yield critical patterns

Methods and systems for detecting defects on a specimen are provided. One system includes a storage medium configured for storing images for a physical version of a specimen generated by an inspection system. At least two dies are formed on the specimen with different values of one or more parameters of a fabrication process performed on the specimen. The system also includes computer subsystem(s) configured for comparing portions of the stored images generated at locations on the specimen at which patterns having the same as-designed characteristics are formed with at least two of the different values. The portions of the stored images that are compared are not constrained by locations of the dies on the specimen, locations of the patterns within the dies, or locations of the patterns on the specimen. The computer subsystem(s) are also configured for detecting defects at the locations based on results of the comparing.

Virtual inspection systems for process window characterization

A metrology performance analysis system includes a metrology tool including one or more detectors and a controller communicatively coupled to the one or more detectors. The controller is configured to receive one or more metrology data sets associated with a metrology target from the metrology tool in which the one or more metrology data sets include one or more measured metrology metrics and the one or more measured metrology metrics indicate deviations from nominal values. The controller is further configured to determine relationships between the deviations from the nominal values and one or more selected semiconductor process variations, and determine one or more root causes of the deviations from the nominal values based on the relationships between values of the one or more metrology metrics and the one or more selected semiconductor process variations.

Feed forward of metrology data in a metrology system

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for qualifying a photolithographic reticle. A reticle inspection tool is used to acquire at least two images at different imaging configurations from each pattern area of the reticle. A reticle pattern is reconstructed based on each at least two images from each pattern area of the reticle. For each reconstructed reticle pattern, a lithographic process with two or more different process conditions is modeled on such reconstructed reticle pattern to generate two or more corresponding modeled test wafer patterns. Each two or more modelled test wafer patterns is analyzed to identify hot spot patterns of the reticle patterns that are susceptible to the different process conditions altering wafer patterns formed with such hot spot patterns.

Qualifying patterns for microlithography

Universal target based inspection drive metrology includes designing a plurality of universal metrology targets measurable with an inspection tool and measurable with a metrology tool, identifying a plurality of inspectable features within at least one die of a wafer using design data, disposing the plurality of universal targets within the at least one die of the wafer, each universal target being disposed at least proximate to one of the identified inspectable features, inspecting a region containing one or more of the universal targets with an inspection tool, identifying one or more anomalistic universal targets in the inspected region with an inspection tool and, responsive to the identification of one or more anomalistic universal targets in the inspected region, performing one or more metrology processes on the one or more anomalistic universal metrology targets with the metrology tool.

Method and system for universal target based inspection and metrology

The invention discloses a method for measuring positions of structures on a mask and thereby determining mask manufacturing errors. It is shown, that from a plurality measurement sites an influence of an optical proximity effect on a position measurement of structures on the mask, is determined with a metrology tool. A rendered image of the data representation of the structures is obtained. Additionally, at least one optical image of the pattern within the area on the mask is captured with the imaging system of the metrology tool. The field of view of the metrology tool is approximately identical to the size of the selected area of the mask design data. Finally, a residual is determined, which shows the manufacturing based proximity effect.

Method for measuring positions of structures on a mask and thereby determining mask manufacturing errors

A method and system are presented for evaluating a variation of a parameter of a pattern. The method includes processing data indicative of an aerial intensity image of at least a portion of a patterned article, and determining values of a certain functional of the aerial image intensity for predetermined regions within the at least portion of the patterned article. The values of the aerial image intensity functional are indicative of a variation of at least one parameter of the pattern within the at least portion of the patterned article or are indicative of a variation of at least one parameter of a pattern manufactured by utilizing the patterned article.

Method and system for evaluating a variation in a parameter of a pattern

Fast on-line electro-optical detection of wafer defects by illuminating with a short light pulse from a repetitively pulsed laser, a section of the wafer while it is moved across the field of view of an imaging system, and imaging the moving wafer onto a focal plane assembly, optically forming a continuous surface of photo-detectors at the focal plane of the optical imaging system. The continuously moving wafer is illuminated by a laser pulse of duration significantly shorter than the pixel dwell time, such that there is effectively no image smear during the wafer motion. The laser pulse has sufficient energy and brightness to impart the necessary illumination to each sequentially inspected field of view required for creating an image of the inspected wafer die. A novel fiber optical illumination delivery system, which is effective in reducing the effects of source coherence is described. Other novel aspects of the system include a system for compensating for variations in the pulse energy of a Q-switched laser output, methods for autofocussing of the wafer imaging system, and novel methods for removal of repetitive features of the image by means of Fourier plane filtering, to enable easier detection of wafer defects.

System for detection of wafer defects

A method for inspecting a wafer including a multiplicity of dies, the method including dividing an image of at least a portion of the wafer into a plurality of sub-images each representing a sub-portion of the wafer and selecting at least one defect candidate within each sub-image by comparing each sub-image to a corresponding sub-image of a reference including a representation, which is assumed to be faultless, of the portion of the wafer.

Method and apparatus for detecting defects in wafers

Method and apparatus for detecting defects in wafers including alignment of the wafer images so as to induce the same smear in all images

Growing community of inventors

Rehovot, Israel

Mark Wagner