Method of design-based defect classification and system thereof

Abstract

There is provided an inspection method capable of classifying defects detected on a production layer of a specimen. The method comprises: obtaining input data related to the detected defects; processing the input data using a decision algorithm associated with the production layer and specifying two or more classification operations and a sequence thereof; and sorting the processed defects in accordance with predefined bins, wherein each bin is associated with at least one classification operation, wherein at least one classification operation sorts at least part of the processed defects to one or more classification bins to yield finally classified defects, and wherein each classification operation, excluding the last one, sorts at least part of the processed defects to be processed by one or more of the following classification operations.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 61 / 594,952 filed Feb. 3, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to wafer inspection tools and methods of operating thereof and, in particular, to methods and systems for design-based defect classification.TECHNICAL BACKGROUND[0003]In the semiconductor industry, devices are fabricated by a number of manufacturing processes producing structures of an ever-decreasing size. Thus, such processes as inspection, metrology and alike (referred to hereinafter as inspection processes) require increased precision and effectiveness for manufacturing specimens. The term “specimen” used in this specification should be expansively construed to cover any kind of wafer, reticle and other structures, combinations and / or parts thereof used for manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits, magnetic heads, flat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach enables efficient classification of defects, reducing processing time and improving production yield by accurately distinguishing between defects of interest and nuisances, thereby enhancing manufacturing control and precision.

Problems solved by technology

With shrinking design rules (28 nm and below), the amount of defect-related data reported by a high-sensitivity inspection tools is extremely large (e.g. several thousand defects per wafer).

The severities of reported defects can vary from disastrous impacts on product yields to trivial anomalies with no effect on product quality.

As manufacture control requirements become more challenging, classification of reported defects has also become highly complex and time and processing power consuming

Images