System and method for compensating misalignments of illumination radiation

Abstract

System (200) comprising: a beam steering assembly (204) configured to adjust an incident beam (203) to form a corrected beam (205); a beam monitoring arrangement (206) optically coupled to the beam steering arrangement (204), the beam monitoring arrangement (206) configured to generate monitoring data for the corrected beam (205), the monitoring data comprising one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); the beam monitoring arrangement (206) comprising: a transmissive mirror (602) configured to: Receiving the corrected beam (205) from the beam steering arrangement (204); Reflecting a first portion of the corrected beam (205); and forwarding a second part of the corrected beam (205); and a beam splitter (604) configured to: Receiving the second part of the corrected beam (205) transmitted by the transmissive mirror (602); Forwarding a third portion of the corrected beam (205) through at least one first optical element (606) to a first imaging device (610); and Reflecting a fourth part of the corrected beam (205) by at least one second optical element (608) to a second imaging device (612), wherein the third part of the corrected beam (205) and the fourth part of the corrected beam (205) are formed from the second part of the corrected beam (205); and a controller (210) communicatively coupled to the beam monitoring arrangement (206) and the beam steering arrangement (204), the controller (210) comprising one or more processors (212) configured to execute a set of program instructions (216) stored in a memory (214), the program instructions (216) configured to cause the one or more processors (212) to: Storing one or more zero parameters of the corrected beam (205); Calculating at least one difference between the one or more zero parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); Determining one or more beam position settings of the incident beam (203) based on the at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); and Steering the beam steering assembly (204) by means of one or more motor drivers (220) to actuate one or more motors (304, 308) to adjust the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).

Description

Reference to Related ApplicationsThe present patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62 / 330,756, filed May 2, 2016, entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACTIVE COMPENSATION OF ILLUMINATION LASER BEAM JITTER FOR WAFER INSPECTION SYSTEM," with Frank LI, Steve XU, Tim SWISS, Kwan AUYEUNG, and Yury YUDITSKY as inventors.Technical FieldThe present invention relates generally to the inspection and inspection (review) of wafers and, more particularly, to adjusting an illumination beam in an inspection system to compensate for misalignment.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONManufacturing semiconductor devices, such as logic and memory devices, typically involves processing a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, using a large number of semiconductor fabrication processes to form various structures (features) and multiple levels of the semiconductor devices. Multiple semiconductor devices may be fabricated in an array on a single semiconductor wafer and then separated into individual semiconductor devices.Semiconductor devices may develop defects during manufacturing processes. As the demand for integrated circuits with ever-smaller device features continues to increase, the need for improved inspection systems for these ever-smaller devices continues to grow. Compensating for misalignment of an illumination beam in these improved inspection systems becomes increasingly critical because even minute jitter in the system can directly affect the detection rate of the smaller and smaller devices.System jitter may originate from multiple sources, resulting in a jitter frequency distribution in the range of 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz. A source of system jitter is "air wobble" or turbulent air flow along the illumination beam path caused by purge air that creates zones of pressure changes and changes the refractive index of the air, which affects the orientation and translation components of a position of the illumination beam in a frequency range from 5 Hz to 100 Hz. Another source of system jitter is the illumination light source, which will have intrinsic instabilities in the frequency range of 0.5 to 10 Hz. A third source of system jitter is the mechanical vibration of components of an inspection system, such as optical holders and mechanical contacts, that are potentially excited by various external forces that affect the orientation and translation components of the position of the illumination beam in a frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz.These system jitter sources are often too difficult to effectively remove from the inspection system, which means that the illumination beam remains misaligned unless compensated within the improved inspection systems.US 2006 / 0 202 115 A1 relates to a device and a method for maintaining a desired position of a collimated light beam. For this purpose, one or more passive optical elements are arranged movably in the beam path. The actual beam position is determined and compared with the desired position. A corresponding error signal results in an adjustment of one or more of the passive optical elements to correct the beam position.WO 2010 / 146 799 A1 describes a method and an apparatus for defect inspection in which properties of the illumination light, such as intensity, position, beam diameter and polarization, are controlled.It would therefore be desirable to provide a system and method that overcomes the disadvantages of prior approaches such as those mentioned above.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe system of the invention includes a beam steering arrangement configured to adjust an incident beam to form a corrected beam. Further, the system comprises a beam monitoring arrangement optically coupled to the beam steering arrangement and configured to generate monitoring data for the corrected beam, wherein the monitoring data comprises one or more offset parameters (offset parameters, offset parameters) of the corrected beam. The beam monitoring arrangement comprises a transmissive mirror configured to: receive the corrected beam from the beam directing arrangement; reflect a first portion of the corrected beam; and forward a second portion of the corrected beam. The beam monitoring arrangement further comprises a beam splitter configured to: receive the second portion of the corrected beam that has been transmitted from the transmissive mirror; transmit a third portion of the corrected beam through at least one first optical element to a first imaging device; and reflect a fourth portion of the corrected beam through at least one second optical element to a second imaging device, wherein the third portion of the corrected beam and the fourth portion of the corrected beam are formed from the second portion of the corrected beam. The system further includes a controller communicatively coupled to the beam monitoring assembly and the beam steering assembly. The controller includes one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in a memory. The program instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to store one or more zero parameters of the corrected beam, calculate at least one difference between the one or more zero parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam, determine one or more beam position settings of the incident beam based on the at least one difference between the one or more zero parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam, steer the beam steering assembly via one or more motor drivers to actuate one or more motors for adjusting the incident beam to form the corrected beam. A method is disclosed in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The method includes receiving an incident beam, adjusting the incident beam to form a corrected beam using a beam steering arrangement, generating monitoring data for the corrected beam via a beam monitoring arrangement optically coupled to the beam steering arrangement. The monitoring data includes one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam. Here, the beam monitoring arrangement comprises a transmissive mirror configured to receive the corrected beam from the beam steering arrangement; reflect a first portion of the corrected beam; propagate a second portion of the corrected beam; and a beam splitter configured to receive the second portion of the corrected beam that has been propagated from the transmissive mirror; propagate a third portion of the corrected beam through at least one first optical element to a first imaging device; and reflect a fourth portion of the corrected beam through at least one second optical element to a second imaging device, wherein the third portion of the corrected beam and the fourth portion of the corrected beam are formed from the second portion of the corrected beam. Further, the method includes storing one or more null parameters of the corrected beam, calculating at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam, determining one or more beam position settings of the incident beam based on the at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam, and steering the beam steering assembly using one or more motor drivers to actuate one or more motors based on the one or more beam position settings to adjust the incident beam to form the corrected beam.It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not necessarily limitative of the present disclosure. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the characteristic, illustrate the subject matter of the disclosure. Together, the descriptions and the drawings serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.Brief Description of the DrawingsThe numerous advantages of the disclosure will be better understood by the person skilled in the art with reference to the appended figures: FIG. 1A shows a graph of relative intensity versus beam position for a Gaussian illumination beam profile, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1B shows a graph of relative intensity versus beam position for a top-flattened (flat-top) illumination beam profile generated by a beam modulator from a Gaussian illumination beam, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1C shows a graph of relative intensity versus beam position for a flat-top modeled illumination beam profile generated by a beam modulator from an offset Gaussian illumination beam, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1D shows a graph of relative intensity versus beam position for a flat-top modeled illumination beam profile generated by a beam modulator from an offset Gaussian illumination beam, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1E shows a graph of relative intensity versus beam position for multiple flat-top illumination beam profiles generated by a beam modulator from multiple off-center Gaussian illumination beams, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1F shows a plot of jitter measured as a function of time within an inspection system, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1G shows a graph of the relative amplitude of jitter as a function of the frequency of jitter within a test system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram view of a system for compensating misalignment of illumination radiation according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3A shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3B shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3C shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3D shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3E shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram view of a beam steering arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6A shows a block diagram view of a beam monitoring arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6B shows a block diagram view of a beam monitoring arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6C shows a block diagram view of a beam monitoring arrangement according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for compensating for misalignment of the illumination beam, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONReference will now be made in detail to background examples and some embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Referring to FIGS. 1A to 7, a system and method for compensating misalignment of illumination radiation according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed.In some cases, inspection systems implement an illumination beam focused on the Gaussian focal plane. These inspection systems, which are focused on the focal plane, observe only a minimal influence of the position of the illumination beam by translation jitter (jitter by shifting) in the inspection system. FIG. 1A shows a graph 100 of the relative intensity as a function of the beam position (in μm) for a Gaussian illumination beam profile with data 102 and a fitting curve 104.Improved inspection systems instead implement a flat-top, top-flattened illumination beam formed by passing a Gaussian illumination beam through a beam modulator. FIG. 1B shows a graph 110 of the relative intensity as a function of the beam position (in μm) for a flat-top illumination beam profile with data 112.The quality of a flat-top illumination beam profile correlates with the position of the Gaussian beam on the beam modulator. When the Gaussian beam is off-center (offset), the flat-top profile has an undesirable tilt feature at the edge of the flat-top profile in the direction of the offset. FIG. 1C shows a relative intensity versus beam position (in mm) plot 120 for a flat-top modeled illumination beam profile generated by a beam modulator from a Gaussian illumination beam with an offset (beam offset) of -0.1 mm, with data 122, a fitting curve 124, and a comparison curve 126. FIG. 1D shows a relative intensity versus beam position (in mm) plot 130 for a flat-top modeled illumination beam profile generated by a beam modulator from a + 0.1 mm offset Gaussian illumination beam having data 132, a fitting curve 134, and a comparison curve 136.Any alignment or translation jitter in the input Gaussian illumination beam is displayed on the beam modulator in real time, with the flat-top profile oscillating at its edges at a frequency similar to the frequency of the alignment or translation jitter in the input Gaussian illumination beam. FIG. 1E shows a graph 140 of relative intensity as a function of beam position for multiple modeled flat-top illumination beam profiles generated by a beam modulator from multiple offset Gaussian illumination beams. For example, data 142 aand a fitting curve 142 bdisplay beam offset of -150 μm (offset). In another example, data 144 aand a fitting curve 144 billustrate a beam offset of -300 μm. In another example, data 146a and a fitting curve 146b illustrate a beam offset of -50 μm. In another example, data 148 aand a fit curve 148 billustrate a beam offset of 150 μm. In another example, data 150 aand a fitting curve 150 bdisplay beam offset of 300 μm. In another example, data 152 aand a fitting curve 152 billustrate a beam offset of 50 μm.Approximately 99% of the jitter in the improved inspection systems is >100 μm at the critical optical plane, leading to instability in magnitude determination that affects the stability of the signals and the inspection system acquisition rate. FIG. 1F shows a plot 160 of jitter (in μm) measured as a function of time (in seconds) in a data inspection system 162. FIG. 1G shows a diagram 170 of the relative amplitude of jitter as a function of the frequency of jitter (in Hz) within an inspection system with data 172.Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved inspection system with the ability to reduce system jitter by compensating for misalignment of the illumination beam. For example, it would be desirable for the improved inspection system to be capable of reducing system jitter by approximately 10 times.Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a system and method for compensating misalignment of the illumination beam. Embodiments of the present disclosure are also directed to measuring one or more of: a translation component (displacement component) of the position of an illumination beam, an alignment component of the position of the illumination beam, an illumination beam size, and / or data regarding the respiration of the illumination beam. Embodiments of the present disclosure are also directed to determining one or more illumination beam settings based on measured data. Embodiments of the present disclosure are also directed to forming a corrected illumination beam by adjusting one or more of a translation component of a position of the illumination beam, an orientation component, a position of the illumination beam, a deviation (drift) in the size of the illumination beam, and / or a variance in the data relating to breathing of the illumination beam. Embodiments of the present disclosure are also directed to measuring the illumination beam, determining settings for the illumination beam, and adjusting (adjusting) an illumination beam to form the corrected beam in an x-direction and / or a y-direction.FIG. 2 shows a block diagram view of a system 200 for compensating misalignment of illumination radiation according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the system 200 includes an illumination source 202. In another embodiment, the system 200 includes a beam steering assembly 204. In another embodiment, the system 200 includes a beam monitoring arrangement 206. In another embodiment, the system 200 includes a controller 210. In another embodiment, the system 200 includes one or more motor drivers 220. In another embodiment, the system 200 includes a beam modulator 230.Illumination source 202 may comprise any illumination source known in the art including, but not limited to, a broadband light source or a narrowband light source. In one embodiment, the illumination source 202 includes one or more lasers. For example, the illumination source 202 may comprise any laser or laser system known in the art and capable of emitting radiation in the infrared, visible and / or ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, the illumination source 202 may include, but is not limited to, one or more diode lasers, one or more continuous wave (CW) lasers, one or more ion lasers, and the like.In one embodiment, illumination source 202 generates an incident beam 203. In another embodiment, the beam directing assembly 204 is optically coupled to the illumination source 202. In this regard, illumination source 202 generates incident beam 203 and directs incident beam 203 to beam directing assembly 204. For example, the illumination source 202 may direct the incident beam 203 through an optical element arrangement 240 to the beam directing arrangement 204. For example, the optical element array 240 may include one or more optical elements known in the art of optics, such as steering optics, mirrors, beam splitters, lenses, collection lenses, filters, and the like.In another embodiment, the beam directing arrangement 204 adjusts the incident beam 203 to form a corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 is optically coupled to the beam directing arrangement 204. In another embodiment, the beam directing arrangement 204 directs the corrected beam 205 to the beam monitoring arrangement 206. For example, the beam directing arrangement 204 may direct the corrected beam 205 through an optical element arrangement 250 to the beam monitoring arrangement 206. For example, the optical element arrangement 250 may include one or more optical elements known in the art of optics, such as, but not limited to, steering optics, mirrors, beam splitters, lenses, collection apertures, filters, and the like.In another embodiment, the beam steering assembly 204 is communicatively coupled to one or more controllers 210 and one or more motor drivers 220.In another embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 directs at least a portion of the corrected beam 205 to the beam modulator 230. For example, the beam modulator 230 may include, but is not limited to, a beam shaping optical element. For example, the beam forming optical element may include, but is not limited to, a multi-curved lens or a diffractive optical element. In another example, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 may direct the corrected beam 205 through an optical element arrangement 260 to the beam modulator 230. For example, the optical element arrangement 260 may include one or more optical elements known in the art of optics, such as steering optics, mirrors, beam splitters, lenses, collection apertures, filters, and the like.In another embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 is communicatively coupled to the controller 210. In another embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 generates one or more sets of monitoring data for the corrected beam 205. For example, the one or more monitoring datasets are generated via one or more beam monitoring sensors. For example, the one or more beam monitoring sensors may include, but are not limited to, one or more cameras or one or more two-cell detectors, as will be described in further detail herein.In another embodiment, the one or more sets of monitoring data include one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. For example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, a component of the offset (offset alignment component) orientation of an offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, a component of translation of the offset (offset translation component) of the offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, a size of the offset beam. In another example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, offset beam breathing data. In another embodiment, the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205 include one or more of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component. In another embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 sends the one or more sets of monitoring data for the corrected beam 205 to the controller 210.In an embodiment, the one or more motor drivers 220 are communicatively coupled to the one or more beam steering assemblies 204 and the controller 210. In another embodiment, the one or more motor drivers 220 actuate one or more motors in the beam steering assembly 204 based on one or more beam position settings received from the controller 210, as described in detail hereinafter.In another embodiment, the beam steering arrangement 204 includes one or more encoders. In another embodiment, the encoders generate data upon actuation of the one or more motors. In another embodiment, the beam control arrangement 204 aggregates the generated encoder data prior to transmission to the controller 210, and the controller 210 deaggregates the aggregated encoder data upon reception. In another embodiment, the system 200 receives the generated encoder data in a non-aggregated form.In one embodiment, the controller 210 includes one or more processors 212 and a storage medium 214. In another embodiment, one or more sets of program instructions 216 are stored in the storage medium 214. In another embodiment, the one or more processors 212 are configured to execute the sets of program instructions 216 to perform one or more of the various steps described in the present disclosure.In another embodiment, the controller 210 is communicatively coupled to the one or more beam steering assemblies 204, the one or more beam monitoring assemblies 206, and the one or more motor drivers 220. In another embodiment, the controller 210 is configured to receive and / or acquire data or information from other systems or arrangements through a transmission medium (e.g., the one or more sets of monitoring data from the beam monitoring arrangement 206, one or more sets of encoder data from the beam steering arrangement 204, or one or more user inputs received via a user interface), wherein the transmission medium may include wired and / or wireless portions. In another embodiment, the controller 210 of the system 200 is configured to transmit data or information (e.g., the output of one or more procedures disclosed herein) to one or more systems or assemblies (units) through a transmission medium (e.g., one or more commands to the one or more motor drivers 220, the beam steering assembly 204, the beam monitoring assembly 206, or a user interface), wherein the transmission medium may include wired and / or wireless portions. In this regard, the transmission medium may serve as a data connection between the controller 210 and other devices or assemblies of the system 200. In another embodiment, the controller 210 is configured to send data to external systems over a transmission medium (e.g., network connection).In one embodiment, the set of program instructions 216 is programmed to cause the one or more processors 212 to store one or more null parameters for the corrected beam 205. For example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, a component of null alignment (null alignment component) of a null position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, a zero translation (null translation) component of the null position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, a size of the null beam. In another example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, data regarding the breathing of the null jet. In another embodiment, the one or more null parameters of the corrected beam 205 include one or more components of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.In another embodiment, the set of program instructions 216 is programmed to cause the one or more processors 212 to receive the one or more sets of monitoring data from the beam monitoring arrangement 206. In another embodiment, the controller 210 calculates one or more differences between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. For example, calculating the one or more differences may include calculating a direction difference between the zero-position-zero-position component of the corrected beam 205 and the offset-position-offset-position component of the corrected beam 205. In another example, calculating one or more differences may include calculating a translation difference between the zero translation component (zero translation component) of the zero position of the corrected beam 205 and the offset translation component (offset translation component) of the offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, calculating one or more differences may include calculating a beam size difference between the size of the null beam and the size of the offset beam. In another example, calculating one or more differences may include calculating a difference of jet breathing data (jet breathing data difference) between the null jet breathing data and the offset jet breathing data.In another embodiment, the set of program instructions 216 is programmed such that the one or more processors 212 determine one or more beam position settings of the incident beam 203 based on the calculated one or more differences between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, the controller 210 transmits the one or more beam position settings to the one or more motor drivers 220.In another embodiment, the set of program instructions 216 is programmed such that the one or more processors 212 cause the beam steering assembly 204 to actuate one or more motors and adjust the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205, via the one or more motor drivers 220. For example, the one or more motor drivers 220 may adjust the incident beam 203 based on the one or more beam position settings. For example, the one or more beam position settings may include one or more commands to actuate the one or more motors coupled to one or more optical components of the beam steering assembly 204, the one or more optical components being described in detail herein.In another embodiment, the set of program instructions 216 is programmed to cause the one or more processors 212 to verify actuation of the one or more motors based on the encoder data received from the beam steering assembly 204.In one embodiment, the one or more processors 212 of the controller 210 include any one or more processing elements known in the art. In this sense, the one or more processors 212 may include any microprocessor device configured to execute algorithms and / or instructions. For example, the one or more processors 212 may be comprised of a desktop computer, mainframe computer system, workstation, image computer, parallel processor, vehicle-on-board (vehicle) computer, handheld computer (e.g., tablet, smartphone, or phablet), or other computer system (e.g., networked computer) configured to execute a program configured to operate the system 200 as described in the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that the steps described in the present disclosure may be performed by a single computer system or, alternatively, by multiple computer systems. The term "processor" may be generally defined to include any device having one or more processing elements that execute the program instructions 216 from a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., memory 214). Moreover, various assemblies of the system 200 (e.g., the beam steering assembly 204, the beam monitoring assembly 206, the one or more motor drivers 220, or a user interface) may include processor or logic elements suitable for performing at least a portion of the steps described in the present disclosure. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.In one embodiment, storage medium 214 of controller 210 includes any storage medium suitable in the art for storing program instructions 216 executable by the associated one or more processors 212. For example, storage medium 214 may include a non-transitory storage medium. For example, storage medium 214 may include, but is not limited to, read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic or optical storage device (e.g., disk), magnetic tape, solid state drive, and the like. In another embodiment, it is noted herein that the memory 214 is configured to provide display information to a display device and / or the output of the various steps described herein. It is further noted that the memory 214 may be housed in a common control housing with the one or more processors 212. In an alternative embodiment, the memory 214 may be remotely located with respect to the physical location of the processors 212 and the controller 210. For example, the one or more processors 212 of the controller 210 may access a remote memory (e.g., server) that may be accessed via a network (e.g., Internet, intranet, and the like). In another embodiment, storage medium 214 stores program instructions 216 to cause the one or more processors 212 to execute the various steps described by the present disclosure.In additional embodiments, the system 200 includes a user interface. In another embodiment, the user interface is communicatively coupled to the one or more processors 212 of the controller 210. In another embodiment, the user interface includes a display device (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a cathode ray tube (CRT), and the like). In another embodiment, the user interface includes a user input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, and the like).In additional embodiments, system 200 may include a table configured to secure a sample. In another embodiment, an illumination beam generated by beam modulator 230 illuminates the sample mounted on the stage. In another embodiment, the sample comprises a wafer. For example, the sample may include, but is not limited to, a semiconductor wafer. As used in the present disclosure, the term "wafer" refers to a substrate formed from a semiconductor and / or non-semiconductor material. For example, a semiconductor or semiconductor material may include, but is not limited to, single crystal silicon, gallium arsenide, and indium phosphide.In another embodiment, the sample table may comprise any suitable mechanical and / or robotic assembly known in the art. In another embodiment, the controller 210 (or another controller in the system 200) may actuate the sample stage. For example, the sample table may be configured by the controller 210 (or other controller in the system 200) to move the sample to a selected position or orientation. For example, the sample table may include one or more actuators or may be mechanically coupled to one or more actuators including, but not limited to, a motor or servo. In this regard, the one or more actuators for displacing or rotating the sample for positioning, focusing and / or scanning are configured in accordance with a selected inspection or metrology algorithm, a plurality of which are known in the art.In additional embodiments, system 200 may include one or more optical components configured to direct the illumination reflected and / or scattered from the surface of the sample to one or more detectors. For example, the detectors may comprise any suitable detector known in the art. For example, the detectors may include, but are not limited to, one or more photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), charge coupled devices (CCDs), time delay integration (TDI) cameras, and the like. Additionally, the output of the detector may be communicatively coupled to the controller 210.In an example, the detector may be coupled to the controller 210 in any suitable manner (e.g., by one or more transmission media indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 1 ) such that the controller 210 may receive the output generated by the detector. In another example, if multiple detectors are provided, the controller 210 may be coupled to the multiple detectors as described above. It should be appreciated that the controller 210 may be configured to detect one or more defects of the sample using detection data collected and transmitted by the detector using any method and / or algorithm known in the art for detecting defects on the wafer. For example, the detector may be configured to accept instructions from another arrangement of the system 200, including, but not limited to, the controller 210.It is noted herein that the detector may include any detector configured to collect and analyze illumination reflected, scattered, diffracted, and / or radiated from a surface of the sample to locate one or more defects. For purposes of the present disclosure, a defect may be classified as a gap, short-circuit connection, particles, residue, slag, or any other defect known in the art.It is noted herein that that portion of the system 200 is a closed compensation loop for purposes of the present disclosure, which portion includes generating monitoring data with the beam monitoring arrangement 206 and adjusting the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205 via the one or more motor drivers 220, where the adjustments to the incident beam 203 are based on one or more beam adjustments determined from the monitoring data by the controller 210. However, it is contemplated that one or more external sources may be applied to the system 200, such that the previously described portion of the system 200 may instead be an open compensation loop. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.The embodiments of the system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be further configured as described herein. Additionally, the system 200 may be configured to perform any other or more other steps of any embodiment of the systems and methods described herein.FIGS. 3A-5 show beam steering assemblies 204 a, 204 b, and 204 caccording to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the embodiments and examples described throughout the present disclosure are to be construed as extending to the beam steering assemblies 204 a, 204 band 204 cin FIGS. 3A-5, unless otherwise indicated.FIGS. 3A through 3E illustrate the beam steering assembly 204 aaccording to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the beam steering assembly 204 aincludes a first prism 302 coupled to one or more motors 304. In another embodiment, the one or more motors 304 are coupled to one or more motor drivers 220. In another embodiment, the beam steering assembly 204 aincludes a second prism 306 coupled to one or more motors 308. In another embodiment, the one or more motors 308 are coupled to one or more motor drivers 220.FIGS. 3B through 3E illustrate how the shifting and / or tilting of one or more prisms 302 or prisms 306 adjusts the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205. In one embodiment, changing the distance between prism 302 and prism 306 adjusts the translation component of a position of incident beam 203 to form corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, tilting one or more of the prisms 302 and / or prisms 306 adjusts the orientation component of the position of the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205. For example, FIG. 3E illustrates the tilting of both prism 302 and prism 306 by prism positions (a), (b), and (c). In another embodiment, a combination of changing the distance between prism 302 and prism 306 and tilting one or more of prisms 302 and prisms 306 adjusts the magnitude of incident beam 203 to form corrected beam 205.In another embodiment, the linear motion of prism 302 and / or prism 306 is driven via one or more direct drive motors 304 and / or 308, respectively. In another embodiment, the rotational motion of prism 302 and / or prism 306 is driven via one or more stepper motors 304 and / or 308, each operating in brushless mode. It is contemplated that the combination of one or more linear motion direct drive motors and one or more stepper motors operating in the brushless mode for rotational motion is fast enough to actively adjust the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205 using one or more of translation or rotation of one or more of the prisms 302 and 306.Although embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to the beam steering assembly 204 awith the two prisms 302 and 306, it is noted herein that the beam steering assembly 204 ais not limited to the two prisms 302 and 306. For example, the beam steering assembly 204 amay include up to a number N of prisms. For example, the beam steering arrangement 204 amay include one or more prism pairs per beam adjustment direction (i.e., at least four prisms to adjust the incident beam 203 in both the x-direction and the y-direction to form the corrected beam 205, or at least two prisms to adjust the incident beam 203 in either the x-direction or the y-direction to form the corrected beam 205). Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.Although FIGS. 3A through 3E show a single motor driver 220 that controls the one or more motors 304 and the one or more motors 308, it is noted herein that at least some of the one or more motors 304 and the one or more motors 308 may be controlled by a motor-specific motor driver 220. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.FIG. 4 illustrates the beam steering arrangement 204 bin accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the beam steering assembly 204 bincludes a reflective mirror 402 coupled to one or more motors 404. For example, the one or more motors 404 may each be a piezoelectric motor. In another embodiment, the one or more motors 404 are coupled to the motor driver 220. It is noted herein that when multiple motors 404 are present, at least some of the multiple motors 404 may be controlled by a motor-specific motor driver 220.In another embodiment, at position (a), the reflective mirror 402 reflects the incident beam 203 to the beam monitoring assembly 206 without adjusting the incident beam 203. In another embodiment, moving the reflective mirror 402 from position (a) to position (b) adjusts the orientation component of the position of the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205 in one or more of the x-direction and / or the y-direction. It is noted, however, that moving the reflecting mirror 402 from position (a) to position (b) will not adjust the translation component of the position of the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205.FIG. 5 illustrates the beam steering arrangement 204 caccording to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the beam steering assembly 204 ccomprises a rectangular prism 502 coupled to one or more motors 504. For example, the one or more motors 404 may each be a servo motor. In another embodiment, the one or more motors 404 are coupled to the motor driver 220. It is noted herein that when multiple motors 504 are present, at least some of the multiple motors 504 may be controlled by a motor specific motor driver 220.In another embodiment, prism 502 directs incident beam 203 to beam monitoring assembly 206 at position (a) without adjusting incident beam 203. In another embodiment, rotating prism 502 from position (a) to position (b) adjusts the translation component of the position of incident beam 203 to form corrected beam 205 in one or more of the x-direction and / or the y-direction. It should be noted, however, that rotating prism 502 from position (a) to position (b) does not adjust the orientation component of the position of incident beam 203 to form corrected beam 205.It should be noted herein that the beam control arrangements 204 a, 204 band 204 care not limited to the types of motors 304, 308, 404 or 504 disclosed above. For example, motors 304, 308, 404 or 504 may each be a direct drive motor, a stepper motor, a stepper motor operating in brushless mode, a piezoelectric motor, a servo motor, or any other motor known in the art. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.FIGS. 6A-6C show beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that the embodiments and examples described in the present disclosure are to be construed as extending to the beam monitoring arrangements 206 a, 206 band 206 cin FIGS. 6A to 6C, unless otherwise indicated.In one embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangements 206 a, 206 band 206 creceptor the corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, the beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 band 206 cinclude a transmissive mirror 602. In another embodiment, transmissive mirror 602 reflects at least a portion of corrected beam 205 to beam modulator 230. In another embodiment, transmissive mirror 602 directs at least a portion of corrected beam 205 to a beam splitter 604.It is noted herein that the ratio of the corrected beam 205 reflected to the beam modulator 230 to the portion of the corrected beam 205 directed to the beam splitter 604 may be >99%:<1%. However, it is contemplated that transmissive mirror 602 may reflect corrected beam 205 at any ratio. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.In another embodiment, the beam splitter 604 directs at least a portion of the corrected beam 205 directed by the transmissive mirror 602 to a first imaging device 610 (image capture device) through at least one optical element 606. For example, the at least one optical element 606 may include, but is not limited to, a telescopic beam expander. For example, the telescope beam expander 606 may increase the size of the splitter-articulated portion of the corrected beam 205 while maintaining beam collimation. In another example, the at least one optical element 606 may be any optical element known in the art.In another embodiment, the beam splitter 604 reflects at least a portion of the corrected beam 205 directed toward a second imaging device 612 through the transmissive mirror 602 through at least one optical element 608. For example, the at least one optical element 608 may include, but is not limited to, a focusing lens. For example, the imaging device 612 (image capturing device) is located in the focal plane of the focusing lens. In another example, the at least one optical element 608 can be any optical element known in the art.It is noted herein that the ratio of the corrected beam 205 directed to the first imaging device 610 to the portion of the corrected beam 205 reflected to the second imaging device 612 may be 50 / 50. However, it is contemplated that the beam splitter 604 may reflect or direct the corrected beam 205 at any ratio. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.As shown in FIG. 6A, in one embodiment, imaging devices 610 and 612 are cameras that can measure one or more of translation jitter of illumination radiation, alignment jitter of illumination radiation, illumination beam size, and / or data regarding the respiration of the illumination beam in both the x-direction and the y-direction (i.e., two-dimensional cameras). In another embodiment, cameras 610 and 612 monitor one or more of translation jitter and alignment jitter of corrected beam 205 as a function of time. For example, camera 610 may measure translation jitter, alignment jitter, and beam size in both the x-direction and the y-direction. In another example, camera 612 may measure the alignment jitter in both the x-direction and the y-direction. In another embodiment, the measurements performed by cameras 610 and 612 may be processed via digital signal processor (DSP) code. For example, an adjustment of the centroid position of an illumination beam measured by cameras 610 and 612 may be determined via a DSP code. In another embodiment, decoupling translation jitter and alignment jitter in the measurements performed by cameras 610 and 612 may be performed in real time via DSP code.As shown in FIG. 6B, in one embodiment, imaging devices (imaging devices) 620 and 622 are cameras that can measure one or more of translation jitter of illumination radiation, alignment jitter of illumination radiation, illumination beam size, and / or data regarding respiration of the illumination beam in either the x-direction or the y-direction (i.e., are one-dimensional cameras). In another embodiment, cameras 620 and 622 monitor one or more of translation jitter and alignment jitter of corrected beam 205 as a function of time. For example, camera 620 may measure translation jitter, alignment jitter, and beam size in either the x-direction or the y-direction. In another example, camera 622 may measure the alignment jitter in either the x-direction or the y-direction. In another embodiment, the measurements captured by cameras 620 and 622 may be processed via DSP code. For example, a centroid position adjustment of the illumination beam measured by cameras 620 and 622 may be determined via a DSP code. As another example, decoupling translation jitter or alignment jitter in the illumination beam measurements taken by cameras 620 and 622 may be performed in real-time via DSP code.It is noted herein that using one-dimensional cameras 620 and 622 instead of two-dimensional cameras 610 and 612 may result in faster measurement performance at a lower data rate. It is further noted herein that where only alignment jitter is needed, the optical branches leading to cameras 612 or 622 in FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively, may be removed.As shown in FIG. 6C, in one embodiment, the imaging devices 630 and 632 are two-cell detectors capable of measuring one or more of translation jitter of an illumination radiation, alignment jitter of an illumination radiation in either the x-direction or the y-direction. In another embodiment, the two-cell detectors 630 and 632 monitor the translation jitter or the alignment jitter of the corrected beam 205 as a function of time. In another embodiment, the two-cell detector 630 measures a two-cell signal A for a first half of a two-cell cell, and the two-cell detector 632 measures a two-cell signal B for a second half of the two-cell cell. In another embodiment, a position of the illumination beam measured by the two-cell detectors 630 and 632 is determined with equation (1).In another embodiment, the measurements of cameras 630 and 632 may be processed via DSP code. For example, decoupling translation jitter or alignment jitter in the illumination beam measured by the measurements of the bi-cell detectors 630 and 632 may be performed in real time via a DSP code.Although embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 b, and 206 chaving two cameras or two two-cell detectors, it should be appreciated herein that the beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 b, and 206 care not limited to two cameras or two two-cell detectors. For example, the beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 b, and 206 cmay include only one camera or a two-cell detector. In another example, the beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 b, and 206 cmay include up to a number N of cameras or two-cell detectors. In another example, the beam monitoring assemblies 206 a, 206 b, and 206 cmay include a mixed number of cameras and two-cell detectors. Therefore, the above description should not be interpreted as a limitation on the present disclosure, but merely as an illustration.Advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure include compensating for misalignment of illumination radiation in one or more of an x-direction and / or a y-direction. Advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure also include measuring one or more of the following: a translation component of the position of an illumination beam, an orientation component of the position of the illumination beam, an illumination beam size, and data regarding the respiration of the illumination beam. Advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure also include forming a corrected beam from the illumination beam by adjusting one or more of the translation component of the position of the illumination beam, the alignment component of the position of the illumination beam, and deviations (drifting) in the size of the illumination beam.It is noted herein that the system 200 may be configured for a first set of skills that operate in both the x-direction and the y-direction. In one embodiment, the first set of skills includes measuring one or more of a translation component of the position of an illumination beam, an orientation component of the position of the illumination beam, an illumination beam size, and data regarding the respiration of the illumination beam. In another embodiment, the first set of skills includes forming a corrected beam from the illumination beam by adjusting one or more of the translational component of the position of the illumination beam, the alignment component of the position of the illumination beam, and drifting in the size of the illumination beam.It is further noted that system 200 may be configured with a second set of skills operating in either an x-direction or a y-direction. In an embodiment, the second set of skills includes measuring one or more of: a translation component of the position of an illumination beam and / or an alignment component of the position of the illumination beam. In another embodiment, the second set of skills includes forming a corrected beam from the illumination beam by adjusting one or more of the translation component of the position of the illumination beam and / or the alignment component of the position of the illumination beam.It is further noted that the system 200 may be configured with at least a third set of skills operating in one or more of the directions of an x-direction and / or a y-direction. In an embodiment, the at least one third set of skills comprises one or more of the first set of skills and / or the second set of skills.FIG. 7 shows a process flow diagram illustrating a method 700 for compensating misalignment of illumination radiation. The method may also include one or more other steps that may be performed by the output sensing subsystem and / or computer subsystem(s) or system(s) described herein. The steps may be performed by one or more computer systems, which may be configured according to any of the embodiments described herein. It is noted herein that the steps of method 700 may be implemented in whole or in part by system 200. However, it should be appreciated that the method 700 is not limited to the system 200 as additional or alternative system level embodiments may perform all or part of the steps of the method 700.In step 702, an incident beam 203 is adjusted to form a corrected beam 205. In one embodiment, the incident beam 203 is received by the beam directing arrangement 204 from the illumination source 202. In another embodiment, the beam directing arrangement 204 adjusts the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205. For example, the system 200 may implement any of the beam steering arrangements 204 a, 204 b, or 204 cto adjust the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, the corrected beam 205 is directed by the beam directing arrangement 204 to the beam monitoring arrangement 206.In step 704, monitoring data is generated. In one embodiment, the monitoring data is generated by the beam monitoring arrangement 206. For example, the system 200 may implement any of the beam monitoring arrangements 206 a, 206 b, or 206 cto generate the monitoring data. In another embodiment, the monitoring data includes one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, the one or more sets of monitoring data include one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. For example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, a component of the offset (offset alignment component) orientation of the offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, an offset translation component of the offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, a size of the offset beam. In another example, the one or more offset parameters may include, but are not limited to, offset beam breathing data. In another embodiment, the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205 include one or more components of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component. In another embodiment, the beam monitoring arrangement 206 sends the one or more sets of monitoring data for the corrected beam 205 to the controller 210.In step 706, one or more null parameters of the corrected beam 205 are stored. In one embodiment, the one or more null parameters are stored by the controller 210. For example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, a zero-orientation component of the zero position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the null parameters may include a zero translation (null translation) component of the null position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, a size of the null beam. In another example, the one or more null parameters may include, but are not limited to, data regarding the breathing of the null jet. In another embodiment, the one or more null parameters of the corrected beam 205 include one or more components of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.In step 708, one or more differences between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205 are calculated. In one embodiment, the one or more offset parameters are received by the controller 210 from the beam monitoring arrangement 206. In another embodiment, the controller 210 calculates one or more differences between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. For example, calculating the one or more differences may include calculating a direction difference between the zero-orientation component of the zero position of the corrected beam 205 and the offset-orientation component (offset-orientation component) of the offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, calculating one or more differences may include calculating a translation difference between the zero translation component (zero translation component) of the zero position of the corrected beam 205 and the offset translation component (offset translation component) of the offset position of the corrected beam 205. In another example, calculating one or more differences may include calculating a beam size difference between the size of the null beam and the size of the offset beam. In another example, calculating one or more differences may include calculating a difference of jet breathing data (jet breathing data difference) between the null jet breathing data and the offset jet breathing data.In step 710, one or more beam position settings of the incident beam 203 are determined. In one embodiment, the one or more beam position settings of the incident beam 203 are determined by the controller 210. In another embodiment, the one or more beam settings are based on the calculated one or more differences between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam 205. In another embodiment, the one or more beam position settings are transmitted by the controller 210 to the one or more motor drivers 220.In step 712, a beam steering arrangement is aligned to adjust the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205. In one embodiment, the beam steering assembly 204 includes one or more motors coupled to one or more optical components. For example, the one or more motors are actuated by the one or more motor drivers 220. In another embodiment, the one or more beam position settings are received from the one or more motor drivers 220. For example, the one or more beam settings may include one or more commands to actuate the one or more motors of the beam steering assembly 204. For example, actuation of the one or more motors moves the one or more optical components that adjust the incident beam 203 to form the corrected beam 205.In an additional step, encoder data for the one or more motors is generated after actuation of the one or more motors. In one embodiment, the beam steering arrangement 204 includes one or more encoders. In another embodiment, actuation of the one or more motors by the one or more motor drivers 220 based on the one or more beam position settings is recorded by the one or more encoders as the encoder data. In another embodiment, the encoder data is transmitted to the controller 210.In an additional step, actuation of the one or more motors is verified from the encoder data. In one embodiment, the controller 210 receives the encoder data. In another embodiment, the controller 210 compares the actuation of the one or more motors recorded in the encoder data with the one or more beam position settings transmitted to the one or more motor drivers 220.All methods described herein may include storing results from one or more steps of the method embodiments in a storage medium. The results may include any of the results described herein and may be stored in any manner known in the art. The storage medium may include any storage medium described herein or any other suitable storage medium known in the art. After the results are stored, the results may be accessed in the storage medium and used by any of the method or system embodiments described herein, formatted for display to a user, used by another software module, method, or system, etc. Moreover, the results may be stored "permanently", "semipermanent", temporarily, or for a certain period of time. For example, the storage medium may be random access memory (RAM), and the results need not necessarily exist in the storage medium indefinitely.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that it is common in the art to describe devices and / or methods as set forth herein, and thereafter use technical practices to integrate such described devices and / or methods into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the apparatuses and / or methods described herein may be incorporated into a data processing system via an appropriate set of experiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a typical data processing system generally includes: one or more system chassis units, a display device, a memory such as volatile and nonvolatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces and application programs, one or more interaction devices such as a touchpad or screen, and / or control systems having feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback to detect position and / or velocity; control motors to move and / or adjust components and / or amounts). A typical data processing system may be implemented using any suitable commercially available components, such as typically found in data computation / communication and / or network computation / communication systems.One skilled in the art will recognize that the components (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the discussion accompanying them described herein are used as examples of conceptual clarity and that various configuration modifications are contemplated. Accordingly, the specific examples and accompanying discussion as used herein are intended to be representative of their more general categories. In general, the use of a particular example is intended to be representative of its category, and the non-inclusion of particular components (e.g., operations), devices, and objects should not be understood as limiting.With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those skilled in the art may translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as appropriate for the context and / or application. The various singular / plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for clarity.The subject matter described herein sometimes illustrates various components included in or associated with various other components. It should be understood that such illustrated architectures are merely exemplary and that many other architectures achieving the same functionality may in fact be implemented. In a conceptual sense, each arrangement of components for achieving the same functionality is effectively "associated" so that the desired functionality is achieved. Thus, any two components combined herein to achieve a particular functionality may be considered "associated with each other" such that the desired functionality is achieved independent of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be considered "operably (functionally, operably) connected" or "operably (functionally, operably) coupled" to each other to achieve the desired functionality; and any two components so associated may also be considered "operably (functionally, operably) couplable" to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably (functionally, operably) couplable include, but are not limited to, physically matching and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interagable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interagable components.In some cases, one or more components may be referred to herein as "configured for", "configurable for", "operable / operable for", "adapted / adjustable", "capable / capable of", "adjustable / conforming to". Those skilled in the art will recognize that such terms (e.g., "configured for") may generally include active state components and / or inactive state components and / or standby state components, unless the context requires otherwise.While certain aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made based on the teachings herein without departing from the subject matter described herein and in its broader aspects, and therefore the appended claims are intended to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the subject matter described herein. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the terms used herein, and in particular the appended claims (e.g., the carcasses of the appended claims), are generally meant as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including / comprising" should be construed as "including / comprising, but not limited to", the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least", the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "comprising, but not limited to", etc.). It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that when a particular number of claim recitation introduced is intended, such intent is expressly recited in the claim, and no such intent is present in the absence of such recitation. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim concentrations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed as though the introduction of claim recurrence by the indefinite article "a / e / n" limits a particular claim comprising such a referenced claim recurrence to claims comprising only such recurrence, even if the same claim comprises the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a / e / n" (for example, "a / e / n" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one / e / n" or "a / e / n or more"); the same applies to the use of particular articles used to introduce claim recurrences. Moreover, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the mere recitation of "two recitations" without other modifiers typically means at least two recitations or two or more recitations). Additionally, in cases where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, generally such a construction is intended in the sense that one skilled in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include systems, but are not intended to be limited to having A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). In cases where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B or C, etc." is used, such a construction is generally intended in the sense that one skilled in the art would understand the convention (for example, "a system having at least one of A, B or C" would include, but are not intended to be limited to, systems having A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B and C together, etc.). Those skilled in the art will further understand that typically a disjunction word and / or phrase having two or more alternative terms, whether in the specification, claims or drawings, will be understood to take into account the possibilities of inclusion of one of the terms, one of the terms, or both terms, unless the context dictates otherwise. For example, the term "A or B" is typically understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B".With reference to the appended claims, those skilled in the art will recognize that the operations set forth herein may be performed in generally any order. Although various operational sequences are presented in a sequence, it should be understood that the various operations may be performed in orders other than those illustrated, or may be performed simultaneously. Examples of such alternative orders may include overlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental, preliminary, supplemental, concurrent, reverse, or other different orders unless the context dictates otherwise. Moreover, terms such as "responsive to" ("responsive to"), "relative to" ("relative to"), or other past forms of adjectives are generally not intended to exclude such variants unless the context dictates otherwise.

Claims

A system (200) comprising: a beam steering arrangement (204) configured to adjust an incident beam (203) to form a corrected beam (205); a beam monitoring arrangement (206) optically coupled to the beam steering arrangement (204), the beam monitoring arrangement (206) configured to generate monitoring data for the corrected beam (205), the monitoring data comprising one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); wherein the beam monitoring arrangement (206) comprises: a transmissive mirror (602) configured to: receive the corrected beam (205) from the beam steering arrangement (204); reflect a first portion of the corrected beam (205); and forward a second portion of the corrected beam (205); a beam splitter (604) configured to: receive the second portion of the corrected beam (205) that was passed from the transmissive mirror (602); pass a third portion of the corrected beam (205) through at least one first optical element (606) to a first imaging device (610); and reflect a fourth portion of the corrected beam (205) through at least one second optical element (608) to a second imaging device (612), wherein the third portion of the corrected beam (205) and the fourth portion of the corrected beam (205) are formed from the second portion of the corrected beam (205); and a controller (210) communicatively coupled to the beam monitoring arrangement (206) and the beam steering arrangement (204), the controller (210) comprising one or more processors (212) configured to execute a set of program instructions (216) stored in a memory (214), the program instructions (216) configured to cause the one or more processors (212) to: store one or more null parameters of the corrected beam (205); calculate at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); determine one or more beam position settings of the incident beam (203) based on the at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); and steering the beam steering assembly (204) using one or more motor drivers (220) to actuate one or more motors (304, 308) to adjust the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprise at least one of: a component of the orientation of the offset of an offset position of the corrected beam (205), a component of translation of the offset of the offset position of the corrected beam (205), a size of the offset beam, or data regarding breathing of the offset beam.The system (200) of claim 2, wherein at least one of the offset alignment component of the offset position of the corrected beam (205), the offset position component of the corrected beam (205), the offset beam size, or the data relating to breathing of the offset beam comprises at least one of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the one or more zero parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprise at least one of: a zero orientation component of a zero position of the corrected beam (205), a zero translation component of the zero position of the corrected beam (205), a size of the zero beam, or data related to breathing the zero beam.The system (200) of claim 4, wherein at least one of the zero orientation component of the zero position of the corrected beam (205), the zero translation component of the zero position of the corrected beam (205), the size of the zero beam, or the data relating to the breathing of the zero beam comprises at least one of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.The system (200) of claim 1, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a direction difference between a zero-orientation component of a null position of the corrected beam (205) and a zero-orientation component of an offset position of the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a translation difference between a component of zero translation of a null position of the corrected beam (205) and a component of translation of the offset of an offset position of the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a beam size difference between a size of the null beam and a size of the offset beam.The system (200) of claim 1, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a difference of data regarding beam respiration between data regarding the respiration of the null beam and data regarding the respiration of the offset beam.The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the beam steering arrangement (204) is further configured to: generate encoder data for the one or more motors (304, 308) after actuation of the one or more motors (304, 308).The system (200) of claim 10, wherein the program instructions (216) are further configured to: verify actuation of the one or more motors (304, 308) in response to the one or more beam position adjustments using the encoder data.The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the beam steering assembly (204) comprises: at least two prisms (302, 306) coupled to the one or more motors (304, 308), wherein actuating the one or more motors (304, 308) to change the distance between the two prisms (302, 306) via the one or more motors (304, 308) adjusts a translation component of a position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205), wherein actuating the one or more motors (304, 308) to tilt at least one of the two prisms (302, 306) via the one or more motors (304, 308) adjusts an alignment component of the position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205), wherein actuating the one or more motors (304) to tilt at least one of the two prisms (302, 306), 308), to simultaneously change the distance between the two prisms (302, 306) and tilt at least one of the two prisms (302, 306) using the one or more motors (304, 308), adjust a beam size of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the beam steering arrangement (204) comprises: a reflective mirror (402) coupled to the one or more motors (404), wherein the translation of the reflective mirror (402) via the one or more motors (404) adjusts an alignment component of a position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the beam directing assembly (204) comprises: at least one prism (502) coupled to the one or more motors (504), wherein rotating the prism (502) via the one or more motors (504) adjusts a translation component of a position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the first optical element (606) is a telescopic beam expander, wherein the second optical element (608) is a focusing lens.The system (200) of claim 15, wherein the first imaging device (610) and the second imaging device (612) are a camera, each camera capable of measuring the corrected beam (205) in at least one of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.The system (200) of claim 16, wherein the camera of the first imaging device (610) measures at least a translation component of a position of the corrected beam (205) and an orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205), wherein the camera of the second imaging device (612) measures the orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 15, wherein the first and / or second imaging devices (630, 632) is a two-cell detector, each two-cell detector capable of measuring the corrected beam (205) in either an x-direction or a y-direction.The system (200) of claim 18, wherein the two-cell detector of the first imaging device (630) measures at least one of a translation component of a position of the corrected beam (205) and an orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205), wherein the two-cell detector of the second imaging device (632) measures the orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205).The system (200) of claim 15, further comprising: a beam modulator (230), wherein the beam modulator (230) receives the first portion of the corrected beam (205) reflected from the transmissive mirror (602).The system (200) of claim 1, wherein the one or more motors (304, 308) comprise at least one of: a direct drive motor, a stepper motor, a brushless motor, a piezoelectric motor, or a servo motor.The system (200) of claim 1, further comprising: at least one illumination source (202) configured to generate the incident beam (203).A method comprising: receiving an incident beam (203); adjusting the incident beam (203) to form a corrected beam (205) by a beam steering arrangement (204); generating monitoring data for the corrected beam (205) via a beam monitoring arrangement (206) optically coupled to the beam steering arrangement (204), the monitoring data comprising one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); wherein the beam monitoring arrangement (206) comprises: a transmissive mirror (602) configured to: receive the corrected beam (205) from the beam steering arrangement (204); reflect a first portion of the corrected beam (205); and forward a second portion of the corrected beam (205); and a beam splitter (604) configured to: receive the second portion of the corrected beam (205) that was passed from the transmissive mirror (602); pass a third portion of the corrected beam (205) through at least one first optical element (606) to a first imaging device (610); and reflect a fourth portion of the corrected beam (205) through at least one second optical element (608) to a second imaging device (612), wherein the third portion of the corrected beam (205) and the fourth portion of the corrected beam (205) are formed from the second portion of the corrected beam (205); store one or more null parameters of the corrected beam (205); calculate at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); determining one or more beam position settings of the incident beam (203) based on the at least one difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205); and directing the beam steering arrangement (204) via one or more motor drivers (220) to actuate one or more motors (304, 308) based on the one or more beam position settings to adjust the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprise at least one of: a component of the orientation of the offset of an offset position of the corrected beam (205), a component of translation of the offset of the offset position of the corrected beam (205), a size of the offset beam, or data relating to breathing of the offset beam.The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the offset alignment component of the offset position of the corrected beam (205), the offset position component of the corrected beam (205), the offset beam size, or the offset beam breathing data comprises at least one of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more zero parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprise at least one of: a component of zero alignment of a zero position of the corrected beam (205), a component of zero translation of the zero position of the corrected beam (205), a size of the zero beam, or data regarding breathing of the zero beam.The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the zero-position zero-position component of the corrected beam (205), the zero-translation zero-position component of the corrected beam (205), the size of the zero beam, or the data relating to the breathing of the zero beam comprises at least one of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.The method of claim 23, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a direction difference between a component of zero alignment of a null position of the corrected beam (205) and a component of alignment of offset of an offset position of the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 23, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more zero parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a translation difference between a component of zero translation of a zero position of the corrected beam (205) and a component of translation of the offset of an offset position of the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 23, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a beam size difference between a size of the null beam and a size of the offset beam.The method of claim 23, wherein calculating the difference between the one or more null parameters and the one or more offset parameters of the corrected beam (205) comprises calculating a difference of data regarding beam respiration between data regarding the respiration of the null beam and data regarding the respiration of the offset beam.The method of claim 23, further comprising: generating encoder data for the one or more motors (304, 308) after actuation of the one or more motors (304, 308).The method of claim 32, further comprising: verifying actuation of the one or more motors (304, 308) based on the encoder data.The method of claim 23, wherein the beam steering assembly (204) comprises: at least two prisms (302, 306) coupled to the one or more motors (304, 308), wherein actuating the one or more motors (304, 308) to change the distance between the two prisms (302, 306) using the one or more motors (304, 308) adjusts a translation component of a position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205), wherein actuating the one or more motors (304, 308) to tilt at least one of the two prisms (302, 306) using the one or more motors (304, 308) adjusts an alignment component of the position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205), wherein actuating the one or more motors (304, 308), In order to simultaneously change the distance between the two prisms (302, 306) and to tilt at least one of the two prisms (302, 306) by means of the one or more motors (304, 308), adjust a beam size of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 23, wherein the beam steering arrangement (204) comprises: a reflective mirror (402) coupled to the one or more motors (404), wherein the translation of the reflective mirror (402) via the one or more motors (404) adjusts an orientation component of a position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 23, wherein the beam directing assembly (204) comprises: at least one prism (502) coupled to the one or more motors (504), wherein rotating the prism (502) via the one or more motors (504) adjusts a translation component of a position of the incident beam (203) to form the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 23, wherein the first optical element (606) is a telescopic beam expander, wherein the second optical element (608) is a focusing lens.The method of claim 37, wherein the first imaging device (610) and the second imaging device (612) are a camera, each camera capable of measuring the corrected beam (205) in at least one of an x-direction component and / or a y-direction component.The method of claim 38, wherein the camera of the first imaging device (610) measures at least a translation component of a position of the corrected beam (205) and an orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205), wherein the camera of the second imaging device (612) measures the orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 37, wherein the first and / or second imaging devices (620, 622) is a two-cell detector, each two-cell detector capable of measuring the corrected beam (205) in either an x-direction or a y-direction.The method of claim 40, wherein the two-cell detector of the first imaging device (620) measures at least a translation component of a position of the corrected beam (205) and an orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205), wherein the two-cell detector of the second imaging device (622) measures the orientation component of the position of the corrected beam (205).The method of claim 37, wherein the beam monitoring arrangement (206) further comprises a beam modulator (230) configured to receive the first portion of the corrected beam (205) reflected from the transmissive mirror (602).The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more motors (304, 308) comprise at least one of: a direct drive motor, a stepper motor, a brushless motor, a piezoelectric motor, or a servo motor.The method of claim 23, wherein the incident beam (203) is received from an illumination source (202) configured to generate the incident beam (203).

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