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:
Apr. 04, 2017
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2015
Applicant:
Kla-tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Inventor:
Steven R. Lange, Alamo, CA (US);
Assignee:
KLA-Tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 21/00 (2006.01); G01N 21/95 (2006.01); G01N 21/88 (2006.01); G01N 21/21 (2006.01); G01N 21/956 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 21/9505 (2013.01); G01N 21/8806 (2013.01); G01N 21/9501 (2013.01); G01N 21/21 (2013.01); G01N 2021/8845 (2013.01); G01N 2021/95676 (2013.01); G01N 2201/061 (2013.01); G01N 2201/08 (2013.01);
Abstract
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for inspecting a vertical memory stack. On an inspection tool, incident light having a first wavelength range is used to detect defects on a surface of the vertical memory stack. On the inspection tool, incident light having a second wavelength range is used to detect defects on both the surface and throughout a depth of the vertical memory stack. The defects detected using the first and second wavelength range are compared to detect defects only throughout the depth of the vertical memory stack, excluding defects on the surface, as well as to detect defects only on the surface.