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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 30, 2022
Filed:
Aug. 23, 2017
Hitachi High-tech Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Takeyoshi Ohashi, Tokyo, JP;
Atsuko Shintani, Tokyo, JP;
Masami Ikota, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuhisa Hasumi, Tokyo, JP;
HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An object of the invention is to quantitatively evaluate crystal growth amount in a wide range from an undergrowth state to an overgrowth state with nondestructive inspection. By using a plenty of image feature values such as pattern brightness, a pattern area and a pattern shape which are extracted from an SEM image, and depending on whether brightness inside a pattern is lower than brightness outside the pattern (), undergrowth and overgrowth is determined (). Based on a brightness difference or the pattern area, a growth amount index or a normality index of crystal growth in a concave pattern such as a hole pattern or a trench pattern is calculated ().