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:
Aug. 02, 2016
Filed:
Jun. 30, 2011
Applicants:
Wei Zhou, Saint Paul, MN (US);
Michael Grant, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Inventors:
Wei Zhou, Saint Paul, MN (US);
Michael Grant, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Assignee:
Rudolph Technologies, Inc., Flanders, NJ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06K 9/62 (2006.01); G06T 7/00 (2006.01); G02B 21/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06T 7/0004 (2013.01); G02B 21/006 (2013.01);
Abstract
A method of identifying discontinuities in the surface of a substrate is herein disclosed. An object plane of an imaging system is positioned at a focal position associated with a discontinuity and an image is captured, the discontinuity having a relatively higher contrast with respect to the remainder of the surface of the substrate. The discontinuity is thereby more readily discernable than when the focal plane is positioned at the surface of the substrate. Analysis of discontinuities may include the extraction of discontinuity characteristics.