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. 12, 2025
Filed:
Mar. 29, 2022
Onto Innovation Inc., Wilmington, MA (US);
Nigel P. Smith, Beaverton, OR (US);
Francis Scott Hoover, Houston, TX (US);
Nicholas James Keller, La Jolla, CA (US);
Kevin Eduard Heidrich, Beaverton, OR (US);
Onto Innovation Inc., Wilmington, MA (US);
Abstract
Overlay is determined for a device using signals measured from the device and a signal response to overlay determined from a plurality of calibration targets. Each calibration target has the same design as the device, but includes a known overlay shift. The calibration targets may be located in a scribe line, within a product area on the wafer, or on a separate calibration wafer. Each calibration target may have a different overlay shift, including zero overlay shift. The device may serve as a calibration target with zero overlay shift. The overlay shift may be in two orthogonal directions. The signal response to overlay may be determined based on a set of signals obtained from the calibration targets. A second set of signals may then be obtained from the device and the overlay determined based on the second set of signals and the determined signal response to overlay.