The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Sep. 14, 2021

Filed:

Sep. 16, 2020
Applicant:

Kla Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);

Inventors:

Xiaochun Yang, Fremont, CA (US);

Vikram Tolani, San Jose, CA (US);

Yao Zhang, Sunnyvale, CA (US);

Assignee:

KLA Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03F 1/72 (2012.01); G03F 1/84 (2012.01); G03F 1/24 (2012.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G03F 1/72 (2013.01); G03F 1/24 (2013.01); G03F 1/84 (2013.01);
Abstract

A system for reducing printable defects on a pattern mask is disclosed. The system includes a controller configured to be communicatively coupled to a characterization sub-system, the controller including one or more processors configured to execute program instructions causing the one or more processors to: direct the characterization sub-system to perform inspection of a mask blank; generate a cost function based on a first characteristic and a second characteristic, the first characteristic comprising areas of defect regions exposed by mask patterns, the second characteristic comprising pattern complexity of a design pattern; determine one or more values indicative of a minimum of the cost function via a non-linear optimization procedure; and generate one or more control signals to adjust rotation and translation of the mask blank relative to the design pattern based on the determined one or more values indicative of the minimum of the cost function.


Find Patent Forward Citations

Loading…