Systems and methods for design rules based alignment and metrology

Abstract

An object (such as a wafer or chip) can be aligned using design rules, where a region of the object (which can be the entire object) is divided into two (or possibly more) adjacent sections, where components / elements are formed in each section according to respective design rules designated for each section. For a pair of adjacent sections, the respective design rules specify respective periodicities of the components / elements therein, where the periodicities are different from each other and also from that of a reference pattern / signal. Respective moire patterns are generated for each section from a superimposition of an image of the components / elements in that section and the reference pattern / signal. The distance between respective peaks in the respective moire patterns can indicate a displacement needed to align the two sections, facilitating alignment of the object.

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