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:
Sep. 16, 2008
Filed:
Feb. 15, 2006
Hiroshi Miyai, Hitachi, JP;
Ryuichi Funatsu, Hitachinaka, JP;
Taku Ninomiya, Hitachinaka, JP;
Yasuhiko Nara, Hitachinaka, JP;
Hiroshi Miyai, Hitachi, JP;
Ryuichi Funatsu, Hitachinaka, JP;
Taku Ninomiya, Hitachinaka, JP;
Yasuhiko Nara, Hitachinaka, JP;
Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An inspection method and apparatus irradiates a sample on which a pattern is formed with an electron beam, so that an inspection image and a reference image can be generated on the basis of a secondary electron or a reflected electron emitted by the sample. An abnormal pattern is determined based on a difference in halftone values of each pixel between the inspection image and the reference image. A plurality of feature quantities of the abnormal pattern are obtained from an image of the abnormal pattern, and, based on the distribution of the plurality of feature quantities of the abnormal pattern, a range for classifying the type of the abnormal pattern is designated. Thus, a desired defect can be extracted from many defects extracted by inspection.