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:
Mar. 13, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 25, 2008
Shai Silberstein, Rishon-Le-Zion, IL;
Tsafrir Avni, Shoam, IL;
Shai Silberstein, Rishon-Le-Zion, IL;
Tsafrir Avni, Shoam, IL;
Applied Materials South East Asia Pte. Ltd., Singapore, SG;
Abstract
An optical inspection tool can automatically perform analysis/operations after the tool has generated data identifying defects (e.g. a defect list) from an inspection run of an object such as a semiconductor wafer. The tool can decouple post-inspection tasks from performing inspection runs so that one or more post-inspection tasks are performed on defect data from a previous inspection run while another inspection run is in progress. This can significantly improve the throughput of the tool when multiple inspections are performed, since the inspection run time effectively is shortened to include only the time the tool is actually used to acquire defect data. One or more post-inspection tasks can be performed, including, but not limited to, merging inspection runs, removing duplicate defects, removing straight-line false alarms, and characterizing defects.