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.

Date of Patent:
Sep. 02, 2014

Filed:

Sep. 08, 2009
Applicants:

Pablo I. Rovira, San Francisco, CA (US);

Jaime Poris, Boulder Creek, CA (US);

Jonathan M. Madsen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);

Scott D. Penner, Mountain View, CA (US);

Inventors:

Pablo I. Rovira, San Francisco, CA (US);

Jaime Poris, Boulder Creek, CA (US);

Jonathan M. Madsen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);

Scott D. Penner, Mountain View, CA (US);

Assignee:

Nanometrics Incorporated, Milpitas, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 11/30 (2006.01); G21C 17/00 (2006.01); G01C 25/00 (2006.01); G01D 18/00 (2006.01); G06F 11/34 (2006.01); G05B 23/02 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 11/3409 (2013.01); G05B 23/024 (2013.01);
Abstract

A metrology unit includes an integrated reference target with which an automated system check process is performed. The automated system check process includes measuring a feature on the reference target and determining if the measurement is within a desired specification for the metrology unit. When the metrology unit fails the automated system check, or if otherwise warranted, an automated diagnosis process may be performed using the same integrated reference target. The automated system check and automated diagnosis may be optimized based on correlations between parameters of the automated qualification and parameters of the automated diagnosis. Similarly, the measurement of a processed wafer may be optimized based on a correlation between parameters of the metrology of the processed wafer and parameters of the automated system check.


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