Pattern Measurement Device with Iterative Outlier Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pattern measurement devices struggle to accurately obtain the distance between centers of patterns formed by directed self-assembly lithography due to measurement errors and structural defects, leading to inclusion of outliers in the data.
Innovation Solution
A pattern measurement device that includes a dimension measurement unit for measuring pattern dimensions, an outlier removal unit that executes statistical outlier processing at least twice to remove measurement errors and structural outliers, and a representative value determination unit that calculates a representative dimension value from the cleaned data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If image processing is performed to obtain the distance between centers, then the measurement process can be automated, but outliers due to incorrect image processing are included, reducing measurement accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes outlier data points from the measurement results through statistical outlier processing. By identifying and excluding these anomalous values, the patent purifies the measurement data to obtain accurate representative values for the distance between centers, thereby resolving the contradiction between automated measurement and measurement precision.
2Measurement precision
If statistical outlier processing is performed once, then measurement accuracy can be improved, but outliers due to defects such as collapse of periodic structure may remain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs statistical outlier processing multiple times in sequence as a preliminary action to thoroughly remove outliers. By iteratively applying the outlier removal process, the patent ensures that both measurement errors and structural defects are eliminated, thereby enhancing the reliability of the final representative dimension value while maintaining measurement precision.
3Reliability
If multiple outlier processing steps are performed, then reliability of representative dimension value can be secured, but the complexity of the measurement process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service through automated statistical outlier processing that iteratively identifies and removes outliers without requiring manual intervention. The process automatically determines which values are outliers and removes them, thereby achieving high reliability of the representative dimension value while avoiding the complexity increase that would result from manual multi-step processing.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is to accurately measure a dimension of a pattern by using statistical outlier processing, and is a pattern measurement device for measuring a dimension of a pattern formed on a sample. The pattern measurement device includes: a dimension measurement unit configured to measure a dimension of the pattern; an outlier removal unit configured to execute outlier processing at least twice on a plurality of dimension values measured by the dimension measurement unit; and a representative value determination unit configured to obtain a representative dimension value of the pattern from one or a plurality of the dimension values from which an outlier has been removed by the outlier removal unit.