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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8189904 | Image preprocessing for probe mark inspection Digital image processing methods are applied to an image of a semiconductor interconnection pad to preprocess the image prior to an inspection or registration. An image of a semiconductor pads exhibiting spatial patterns from structure, texture or features are filte... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8184897 | Method and apparatus for determining an optical threshold and a resist bias One embodiment of the present invention provides techniques and systems for determining modeling parameters for a photolithography process. During operation, the system can receive a layout. Next, the system can determine an iso-focal pattern in the layout. The syst... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8175372 | Wafer edge inspection and metrology Some aspects of the present invention relate to a wafer inspection method. A plurality of images is acquired about an edge portion of a wafer. Each of the images comprises a pixel array having a first dimension and a second dimension. A composite image of compressed... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8159243 | Probe tip to device pad alignment in obscured view probing applications A method of performing alignment of an array of probe tips of a probe card to corresponding contact pads for wafer probing applications by performing the steps of: obtaining a backside image of the wafer; overlaying a mapping of the contact pads over the backside im... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8160350 | Method and system for evaluating a variation in a parameter of a pattern A method and system are presented for evaluating a variation of a parameter of a pattern. The method includes processing data indicative of an aerial intensity image of at least a portion of a patterned article, and determining values of a certain functional of the ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8160349 | Pattern shape evaluation method, program, and semiconductor device manufacturing method A pattern shape evaluation method comprising detecting an edge of an evaluation target pattern from an image of the evaluation target pattern to output the edge as a first edge, detecting an edge of a reference pattern from an image of the reference pattern to outpu... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8155427 | Wafer-scale image archiving and receiving system A system for the long-term storage and high-speed retrieval of images stored on silicon wafers. The images are stored by utilizing semiconductor fabrication techniques. These images are organized and managed using metadata in the form of a barcode. Each barcode is a... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8155428 | Memory cell and page break inspection A method of inspecting an array having memory blocks and page breaks. The array is imaged, and the image is divided into sections. Sections that include the memory blocks are selected into a candidate image. Pixels within a boundary horizontal line of pixels are ins... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8144970 | Determining method and apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method A method of determining a defocus direction of a pattern image formed on a reticle, which is projected by an exposure apparatus onto a resist on a substrate as a resist pattern, the exposure apparatus exposing the resist to light via the pattern image on the reticle... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8144971 | Pattern matching processing system and computer readable medium The pattern matching processing system includes: a recognition pattern-storage unit which stores a first image data obtained by picking up an image of at least a portion of a lead frame or a substrate of a first object and the second image data obtained by picking u... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8139844 | Methods and systems for determining a defect criticality index for defects on wafers Various methods and systems for determining a defect criticality index (DCI) for defects on wafers are provided. One computer-implemented method includes determining critical area information for a portion of a design for a wafer surrounding a defect detected on the... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8139846 | Verification of integrated circuits against malicious circuit insertions and modifications using non-destructive X-ray microscopy A method and system for verifying the integrity of integrated circuits (ICs) by detecting the presence of unauthorized circuit insertions or modifications using non-destructive x-ray microscopy is disclosed. A reference image based on a trusted IC or a trusted desig... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8139845 | Evaluation object pattern determining apparatus, evaluation object pattern determining method, evaluation object pattern determining program and pattern evaluating system There is provided an evaluation object pattern determining apparatus capable of determining local patterns to be evaluated. The apparatus is for use in a pattern evaluating system storing patterns of a LSI chip as CAD data, picking out coordinates of local patterns ... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8135207 | Optical inspection tools featuring parallel post-inspection analysis An optical inspection tool can automatically perform analysis/operations after the tool has generated data identifying defects (e.g. a defect list) from an inspection run of an object such as a semiconductor wafer. The tool can decouple post-inspection tasks from pe... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8131057 | Defect distribution pattern comparison method and system A comparison system is provided with a defect inspection unit, a reference pattern storage unit, a pattern comparison unit, a comparison result processing unit and an output unit. The inspection unit inspects an object processed by a processing system, such as a sem... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8126258 | Method of detecting defects in patterns on semiconductor substrate by comparing second image with reference image after acquiring second image from first image and apparatus for performing the same In a method of detecting defects in patterns and an apparatus for performing the method, a first image of a detection region on a semiconductor substrate may be acquired. A second image may be acquired from the first image by performing a Fourier transform and perfo... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8126257 | Alignment of semiconductor wafer patterns by corresponding edge groups A pattern shape evaluation method includes acquiring an image of an evaluation target pattern including a plurality of element patterns; detecting edge of the evaluation target pattern from the image; classifying the detected edge of the evaluation target pattern in... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8121394 | Method for manufacturing electronic device A method for manufacturing an electronic device is provided. The method includes: pressure-bonding a plurality of terminals of an electronic component to a plurality of electrodes formed on a surface of a transparent substrate, respectively, via an anisotropic condu... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8121395 | Inspection apparatus and an inspection method for inspecting a circuit pattern A circuit-pattern inspection apparatus and related method provide a highly sensitive defect inspection of an area including the most circumferential portion of a memory mat of a semiconductor chip formed on a semiconductor wafer. In certain examples, an image of a c... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8107720 | Detection system for detecting appearances of many electronic elements and methods of using the same A detection system for detecting appearances of many electronic elements includes a rotary module, a feeding module and a detection module. The rotary module has a base structure and a hollow transparent rotary structure disposed on the base structure. The feeding m... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8107719 | Machine vision system for three-dimensional metrology and inspection in the semiconductor industry The system 10 of the preferred embodiment includes a structural subsystem 20 to provide both a stable platform and vibration isolation, a camera subsystem 30 to capture the image of a moving object when the object moves into a viewing area, a li... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8107718 | Method, system, and apparatus for use in locating a structure in an integrated circuit A method, system, and apparatus use in locating a structure in an integrated circuit are provided. Electrical activities are induced in the IC for producing respective unique electromagnetic radiation patterns that collectively contain information on the location of... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8098927 | Imaging characteristics fluctuation predicting method, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method A method for predicting imaging characteristics fluctuation of a projection optical system in an exposure apparatus which projects a pattern formed on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate through the projection optical system is provided. In a measurement step, th... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8094923 | Wafer containing cassette inspection device and method A wafer containing cassette inspection device that expresses external view attributes such as shapes of respective inspection object portions of water containing cassettes of different types under the same condition without changing imaging conditions for each of th... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8086022 | Electron beam inspection system and an image generation method for an electron beam inspection system An inspection system uses a scanning electron microscope that detects a high-precision electron beam image, and at the same time removes restrictions for a low sampling rate. A sampled signal is obtained by sampling an analog brightness signal generated by a seconda... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8077962 | Pattern generating apparatus and pattern shape evaluating apparatus Although there has been a method for evaluating pattern shapes of electronic devices by using, as a reference pattern, design data or a non-defective pattern, the conventional method has a problem that the pattern shape cannot be evaluated with high accuracy because... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8073240 | Computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and systems for identifying one or more optical modes of an inspection system as candidates for use in inspection of a layer of a wafer Computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and systems for identifying one or more optical modes of an inspection system as candidates for use in inspection of a layer of a wafer are provided. One method includes determining one or more characteristics o... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8059885 | Calculating image intensity of mask by decomposing Manhattan polygon based on parallel edge A method, system, computer program product and table lookup system for calculating image intensity for a mask used in integrated circuit processing are disclosed. A method may comprise: decomposing a Manhattan polygon of the mask into decomposed areas based on paral... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8055057 | Method for detecting defects in a substrate having a semiconductor device thereon An inspection apparatus and a method for detecting defects in a substrate having a semiconductor device thereon are provided. The method includes establishing a first inspection region including first patterns repeatedly formed in a first direction and a second insp... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8055058 | Apparatus and method for detecting defects in wafer using line sensor camera An apparatus and method for detecting defects in a wafer are provided. An optical part is disposed under an inspection stage and radiates infrared light. An image obtaining part detects the infrared light transmitted through the wafer to output an image signal. A co... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8045788 | Product setup sharing for multiple inspection systems An inspection tool includes a camera for obtaining images of a wafer and a controller configured for performing light source flat field correction, optical image warping correction, and optical image scale correction of the images. In operation, separate inspection ... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8041105 | Pattern evaluation method, computer-readable medium, and semiconductor device manufacturing method A pattern evaluation method includes: acquiring a plurality of examination images obtained in regard to an evaluation target pattern, at least one of the plurality of examination images being different from the other examination images; detecting all edges of the ev... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8041104 | Pattern matching apparatus and scanning electron microscope using the same A pattern matching apparatus comprising: means for storing photographed image data of a semiconductor device; means for storing CAD data of said semiconductor device; an information input means for inputting information on the white band width contained in said imag... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8036447 | Inspection apparatus for inspecting patterns of a substrate A pattern inspection apparatus has a setting unit of a plurality of cell areas A and B of different cell comparison pitches and inspects the plurality of cell areas of the different cell comparison pitches in accordance with settings of the setting unit. As informat... | 10/11/2011 |
| 8031931 | Printed fourier filtering in optical inspection tools A spatial mask printer may be used in conjunction with an optical inspection tool. The tool can be used to obtain a Fourier image of an inspected object, and a filter mask image can be designed to block certain aspects of the object's image in the Fourier plane corr... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8009895 | Semiconductor wafer analysis system A semiconductor wafer analysis system is provided. In an embodiment, the semiconductor wafer analysis system includes a tester to test semiconductor wafers manufactured by at least one manufacturing facility, a wafer map generation module to generate wafer maps on t... | 08/30/2011 |
| 8000519 | Method of metal pattern inspection verification A method of evaluating an inline inspection recipe compares the capture rate of metal pattern defects in bounding boxes arising from failed electrical test vectors to the capture rate after the bounding box is shifted. A difference between the first and second captu... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7983471 | Pattern inspection apparatus and method A pattern inspection apparatus is used for inspecting a fine pattern, such as a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI), a liquid crystal panel, and a photomask (reticle) for the semiconductor or the liquid crystal panel, which are fabricated based on data for fabric... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7978902 | Calibration method, inspection method, and semiconductor device manufacturing method According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a calibration method of performing contrast threshold calibration in extracting a pattern edge from an image of a pattern formed on a processing target substrate, including simulating formation of the patter... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7970199 | Method and apparatus for detecting defect on a surface of a specimen A surface inspection apparatus is provided based on an optical interference scheme using a wide-band laser light source, such as diode laser, for an interferometer. In the apparatus, a diode laser with a large spectrum width having a short coherence length is used a... | 06/28/2011 |
