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. 01, 2013
Filed:
Jan. 12, 2011
Takafumi Inoue, Kanagawa, JP;
Hideo Tsuchiya, Tokyo, JP;
Takafumi Inoue, Kanagawa, JP;
Hideo Tsuchiya, Tokyo, JP;
NuFlare Technology, Inc., Numazu-shi, JP;
Abstract
Optical image data of a mask is acquired. Reference image data associated with the optical images is created from design pattern data. Regional image data that includes pixel values denoted by multi-valued resolution based on importance level information of the patterns is created from region data including at least one portion of the patterns defined in the design pattern data. Defect determination is conducted on a pixel-by-pixel basis by comparing the optical image data with the reference image data, by means of either a plurality of threshold values determined by each pixel value within the regional image data or a plurality of defect determination methods. Image data of a section whose Mask Error Enhancement Factor (MEEF) is equal to or greater than a predetermined value is created from the region data including at least one portion of the patterns defined in the design pattern data.