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:
Jun. 07, 2005
Filed:
May. 18, 2001
Setsuo Norioka, Tokyo, JP;
Manabu Saito, Tokyo, JP;
Akira Tohyama, Tokyo, JP;
JEOL Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method of quickly and accurately inspecting the stitching accuracy at which regions of a lithographic pattern are stitched at boundaries. The numerous regions of the lithographic pattern are exposed or delineated, one at a time. Inspected regions are scanned with a charged-particle beam to detect secondary electrons. The obtained signal is stored as an inspected image in an image memory, together with positional data about the inspected regions. After completion of acceptance of images from all the inspected regions, the inspected image is compared with a separately prepared reference image by an image processing unit. Pattern elements in the inspected regions corresponding to the reference image are extracted. Deviations at field boundaries or the like can be detected from the relative positions of these pattern elements, if any.