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. 11, 2014
Filed:
Dec. 14, 2009
Yuji Miyoshi, Hitachinaka, JP;
Kazuhisa Hasumi, Hitachinaka, JP;
Yuji Miyoshi, Hitachinaka, JP;
Kazuhisa Hasumi, Hitachinaka, JP;
Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The inspection conditions of a known inspection apparatus necessary for inspection are such that wafers are individually prepared for respective layer types and layer thicknesses, and standard particles having different sizes are applied to all of the wafers. Moreover, the wafers to which standard particles have been applied and which have been prepared for the respective layer types and layer thicknesses are inspected by the inspection apparatus to determine the optimal inspection conditions for the respective layer types and layer thicknesses. Therefore, there are problems that it requires long time and involves high cost to determine the inspection conditions. In the invention, the relation between the layer thickness and the scattering intensity in the inspection apparatus is calculated. The scattering intensity is divided into a plurality of intensity regions, and the inspection conditions optimized for the respective divided regions are determined. The inspection conditions are shared in each divided intensity region, whereby the time and cost necessary to determine the inspection conditions can be dramatically reduced.