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:
May. 14, 2024
Filed:
Apr. 26, 2022
Applied Materials Israel Ltd., Rehovot, IL;
Ariel Shkalim, DN Sede-Gat, IL;
Vladimir Ovechkin, Ashdod, IL;
Evgeny Bal, Natanya, IL;
Ronen Madmon, Mazkeret Batia, IL;
Ori Petel, Ramat-Gan, IL;
Alexander Chereshnya, Kfar Saba, IL;
Oren Shmuel Cohen, Tel Aviv, IL;
Boaz Cohen, Lehavim, IL;
Applied Materials Israel Ltd., Rehovot, IL;
Abstract
There is provided a mask inspection system and a method of mask inspection. The method comprises: detecting, by the inspection tool, a runtime defect at a defect location on a mask of a semiconductor specimen during runtime scan of the mask, and acquiring, by the inspection tool after runtime and based on the defect location, a plurality sets of aerial images of the runtime defect corresponding to a plurality of focus states throughout a focus process window, each set of aerial images acquired at a respective focus state. The method further comprises for each set of aerial images, calculating a statistic-based EPD value of the runtime defect, thereby giving rise to a plurality of statistic-based EPD values each corresponding to a respective focus state, and determining whether the runtime defect is a true defect based on the plurality of statistic-based EPD values.