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. 05, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 12, 1999
Naama Gordon, Ramat-Efal, IL;
Gadi Greenberg, Tel Aviv, IL;
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for inspecting isolated features on a reticle is provided wherein the isolated features are analyzed for defects globally as individual, whole features, rather than locally, pixel-by-pixel. In one embodiment, the reticle is imaged to produce pixels having a gray level, and an isolated feature is identified. An energy value for the isolated feature to be inspected is calculated by summing the gray levels of its pixels. A plurality of scatter values for the feature in different directions in the feature is calculated based on the equilibrium center of the feature to produce a unique “signature” for the inspected feature. The energy and scatter values of the inspected feature's signature are then compared with energy and scatter values associated with a corresponding reference feature to determine whether a defect exists in the inspected feature.