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:
Jul. 26, 2011
Filed:
Aug. 27, 2008
Tony Dibiase, San Jose, CA (US);
Tony DiBiase, San Jose, CA (US);
KLA-Tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of inspecting a pattern on a substrate, by extracting boundary locations from design data for repeating blocks within the pattern, inspecting the substrate at only the boundary locations of the repeating blocks, detecting alignment errors at the boundary locations, comparing the alignment errors to a threshold, and flagging the alignment errors that exceed the threshold. In this manner, the alignment errors that were of no consequence in larger design rule devices can be detected, and a determination can be made as to whether they adversely impact the proper operation of the integrated circuit that will eventually be formed from the pattern. By performing the inspection only on the boundary locations, a much higher magnification can be used than what would be reasonably possible for an inspection of the entire substrate.