US Patent No: 7,676,077

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Methods and systems for utilizing design data in combination with inspection data

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ALSO PUBLISHED AS: 20070156379
ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)
 

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Abstract

Various methods and systems for utilizing design data in combination with inspection data are provided. One computer-implemented method for determining a position of inspection data in design data space includes aligning data acquired by an inspection system for alignment sites on a wafer with data for predetermined alignment sites. The method also includes determining positions of the alignment sites on the wafer in design data space based on positions of the predetermined alignment sites in the design data space. In addition, the method includes determining a position of inspection data acquired for the wafer by the inspection system in the design data space based on the positions of the alignment sites on the wafer in the design data space. In one embodiment, the position of the inspection data is determined with sub-pixel accuracy.

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First Claim

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
KLA-TENCOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATIONMILPITAS, CA719

International Classification(s)

  • [Classification Symbol]
  • [Patents Count]

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Duffy, Brian Taunton, MA 24 176
Kulkarni, Ashok San Jose, CA 24 330
Maayah, Kais Cupertino, CA 10 127
Rouse, Gordon Dublin, CA 7 117

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
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7,114,145 System and method for lithography simulation 28 2004
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2006/0292,463 Device manufacturing method and a calibration substrate 23 2005
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2006/0273,242 System and method for characterizing aerial image quality in a lithography system 46 2006
2006/0273,266 Method for detecting, sampling, analyzing, and correcting marginal patterns in integrated circuit manufacturing 43 2006
2007/0031,745 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING A FOCUS-EXPOSURE MODEL OF A LITHOGRAPHY PROCESS 39 2006
2007/0032,896 METHOD FOR LITHOGRAPHY MODEL CALIBRATION 38 2006
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KLA-TENCOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (24)
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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (15)
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APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. (13)
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6,539,106 Feature-based defect detection 91 1999
6,466,315 Method and system for reticle inspection by photolithography simulation 58 1999
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KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC. (9)
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SYNOPSYS, INC. (9)
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6,470,489 Design rule checking system and method 228 1998
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6,658,640 Simulation-based feed forward process control 34 2001
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TENCOR INSTRUMENTS (8)
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TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED (7)
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GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC. (6)
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ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. (5)
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7,207,017 Method and system for metrology recipe generation and review and analysis of design, simulation and metrology results 29 2004
 
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. (5)
7,124,386 Dummy fill for integrated circuits 140 2002
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2003/0229,875 Use of models in integrated circuit fabrication 151 2002
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7,231,628 Method and system for context-specific mask inspection 136 2003
 
KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA (3)
2003/0014,146 Dangerous process/pattern detection system and method, danger detection program, and semiconductor device manufacturing method 23 2002
2004/0223,639 System for creating an inspection recipe, system for reviewing defects, method for creating an inspection recipe and method for reviewing defects 20 2004
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NIKON CORPORATION (3)
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SEMICONDUCTOR DIAGNOSTICS, INC. (3)
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FUJITSU LIMITED (2)
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GOOGLE INC. (2)
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2007/0002,322 Image inspection method 19 2005
 
LSI LOGIC CORPORATION (2)
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UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER (1)
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA (1)
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OTHER [CHECK PATENT PROFILE FOR ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION] (5)
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Patent Citation Ranking

Forward Cites

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION (6)
8,194,968 Methods and systems for using electrical information for a device being fabricated on a wafer to perform one or more defect-related functions 1 2008
8,139,844 Methods and systems for determining a defect criticality index for defects on wafers 0 2008
8,213,704 Methods and systems for detecting defects in a reticle design pattern 0 2008
7,975,245 Computer-implemented methods for determining if actual defects are potentially systematic defects or potentially random defects 0 2008
8,204,297 Methods and systems for classifying defects detected on a reticle 0 2009
8,112,241 Methods and systems for generating an inspection process for a wafer 0 2009
 
KLA-TENCOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (4)
8,041,103 Methods and systems for determining a position of inspection data in design data space 2 2007
8,213,705 Methods for accurate identification of an edge of a care area for an array area formed on a wafer and methods for binning defects detected in an array area formed on a wafer 0 2011
8,139,843 Methods and systems for utilizing design data in combination with inspection data 2 2011
8,422,010 Methods and systems for determining a characteristic of a wafer 0 2012
 
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. (3)
7,962,866 Method, system, and computer program product for determining three-dimensional feature characteristics in electronic designs 0 2007
7,827,519 Method, system, and computer program product for preparing multiple layers of semiconductor substrates for electronic designs 0 2007
8,423,924 System and method for compressed post-OPC data 0 2011
 
HITACHI, LTD. (3)
7,961,953 Image monitoring system 0 2008
8,304,724 Microstructured pattern inspection method 0 2010
8,200,024 Image monitoring system 1 2011
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (2)
7,853,848 System and method for signature-based systematic condition detection and analysis 1 2007
8,429,570 Pattern recognition with edge correction for design based metrology 0 2010
 
APPLIED MATERIALS ISRAEL, LTD. (1)
8,254,661 System and method for generating spatial signatures 0 2009
 
GLOBALFOUNDRIES SINGAPORE PTE. LTD. (1)
8,289,508 Defect detection recipe definition 0 2009
 
INTEL CORPORATION (1)
8,064,682 Defect analysis 0 2007
 
LUMINESCENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (1)
8,386,968 Virtual photo-mask critical-dimension measurement 0 2010
 
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (1)
8,229,205 Pattern matching method in manufacturing semiconductor memory devices 0 2008

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