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. 07, 2014
Filed:
May. 16, 2012
Zhengyu Wang, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Rui-fang Shi, Cupertino, CA (US);
Lih-huah Yiin, Mountain View, CA (US);
Bing LI, Milpitas, CA (US);
Zhengyu Wang, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Rui-fang Shi, Cupertino, CA (US);
Lih-Huah Yiin, Mountain View, CA (US);
Bing Li, Milpitas, CA (US);
KLA-Tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A detection method for a spot image based thin line detection is disclosed. The method includes a step for generating a band limited spot image from a transmitted and reflected optical image of the mask. The spot image is calibrated to minimize a plurality of optical aberrations from the spot image. The spot image is restored back to a mask image to allow at least one of: a more reliable segmentation between thin line and non-thin line areas on the mask image or a more accurate line width measurement for facilitating segmentation. Thin line features and non-thin lines features are distinguished on the restored mask image. Areas containing thin line features are grown while preventing the thin line growth from encroaching the non-thin line features.