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:
Oct. 17, 2006
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2003
Stan Stokowski, Danville, CA (US);
David Alles, Los Altos, CA (US);
Stan Stokowski, Danville, CA (US);
David Alles, Los Altos, CA (US);
KLA-Tencor Technologies Corp., Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and systems for inspecting a reticle are provided. In an embodiment, a method may include forming an aerial image of the reticle using a set of exposure conditions. The reticle may include optical proximity correction (OPC) features. The method may also include detecting defects on the reticle by comparing the aerial image to a reference image stored in a database. The reference image may be substantially optically equivalent to an image of the reticle that would be printed on a specimen by an exposure system under the set of exposure conditions. The reference image may not include images of the OPC features. Therefore, a substantial portion of the defects include defects that would be printed onto the specimen by the exposure system using the reticle under the set of exposure conditions. The method may also include indicating the defects that are detected in critical regions of the reticle.