# US 10,120,973 B2 · Method of performing metrology operations and system thereof

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,120,973 B2
- Document ID: US10120973B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/460,078
- Filed: 2017-03-15
- Published: 2018-09-20
- Granted: 2018-11-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-03-15
- Assignees: Applied Materials Israel Ltd.
- Applicants: Applied Materials Israel Ltd.
- Inventors: Ron Katzir; Imry Kissos; Lavi Jacov Shachar; Amit Batikoff; Shaul Cohen; Noam Zac
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10120973B2

## CPC

- G01N 21/9501: {Semiconductor wafers (manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)}
- G01N 21/8851: {Scan or image signal processing specially adapted therefor, e.g. for scan signal adjustment, for detecting different kinds of defects, for compensating for structures, markings, edges (G01N21/8806 and G01N21/93 - G01N21/95692 take precedence; optical measurement of dimensions G01B11/00; optical scanning G02B26/10; image transformation G06T3/00; computerised image enhancement G06T5/00; image processing per se for flaw detection G06T7/0002)}
- G01N 21/93: Detection standards; Calibrating {baseline adjustment, drift correction}
- G01N 21/956: Inspecting patterns on the surface of objects {(contactless testing of electronic circuits G01R31/308; testing currency G07D; manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)}
- G03F 1/84: Inspecting
- G03F 7/70616: {Monitoring the printed patterns}
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- G03F: PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; (phototypographic composing devices B41B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; electrophotography, sensitive layers or processes therefor G03G)

## Abstract

There are provided system and method of performing metrology operations related to a specimen. The method comprises: accommodating definitions of metrology objects and metrology operations, at least one of the group consisting of the metrology objects and the metrology operations being defined using design data; accommodating a design-based representation and an image-based representation of the specimen, the design-based representation of the specimen comprising design-based representation of at least first metrology object, the image-based representation of the specimen comprising image-based representation of the at least first metrology object, the metrology operations including at least first metrology operation defined as related to the at least first metrology object and performed on at least the image-based representation of the specimen; mapping between the design-based representation and the image-based representation of the at least first metrology object; and performing the at least first metrology operation according to definition thereof using the mapping.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computerized method of performing metrology operations on at least one representation of a specimen using a processor operatively connected to a memory, the method comprising:
accommodating, in the memory, definitions of one or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations, wherein at least one of the group consisting of the one or more metrology objects and the one or more metrology operations is defined with reference to design data;
accommodating, in the memory, a representation group comprising a design-based representation of the specimen and an image-based representation of the specimen, wherein the design-based representation of the specimen comprises design-based representation of at least first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects and the image-based representation of the specimen comprises image-based representation of the at least first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects, and wherein the one or more metrology operations include at least first metrology operation, the at least first metrology operation being defined to be related to the at least first metrology object and to be performed on at least the image-based representation of the specimen;
mapping, by the processor, between the design-based representation of the at least first metrology object and the image-based representation of the at least first metrology object; and
performing, by the processor, the at least first metrology operation according to definition of the at least first metrology operation using the mapping.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the design data is the design-based representation of the specimen, and the one or more metrology operations are defined related to at least one of the metrology objects.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the design data is pre-acquired design data, the one or more metrology objects are defined on the pre-acquired design data, and at least one of the metrology operations is defined related to the one or more metrology objects, the method further comprising:
searching on the design-based representation of the specimen to identify the at least first metrology object.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the one or more metrology objects include one or more initial objects each initially defined on the design data or image data.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The computerized method of claim 4, wherein the one or more metrology objects further include one or more derived objects resulted from performing at least one of the metrology operations defined related to the initial objects, and wherein the one or more metrology operations include at least one operation defined related to the derived objects.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The computerized method of claim 2, wherein the one or more metrology objects include one or more of the following: structural elements, virtual objects, and ghost objects, wherein the virtual objects are metrology objects that do not have an original design-based representation thereof, and the ghost objects are metrology objects that only have design-based representation thereof.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the one or more metrology operations are selected from a group comprising: search operation, measurement operation, and Region Of Interest (ROI) operation.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The computerized method of claim 7, wherein the measurement operation is selected from a group comprising: Area, Critical Dimension (CD), Distance, Center of Gravity (CoG), Gray Level (GL), Contact Hole Analysis (CHA), Distance from image to design, and Arithmetic calculations.

### Claim 9 (depends on 2)

The computerized method of claim 2, wherein the one or more metrology objects are defined on the design-based representation of the specimen and the metrology operations are defined to be performed on the image-based representations of the specimen, or on both the image-based representations of the specimen and the design-based representation of the specimen.

### Claim 10 (depends on 2)

The computerized method of claim 2, wherein the one or more metrology objects are defined on the image-based representations of the specimen and the metrology operations are defined to be performed on both the image-based representations of the specimen and the design-based representation of the specimen.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the mapping is performed by registering the image-based representations of the specimen with the design-based representation of the specimen to obtain position calibration data, identifying pairs of corresponding design-based representation and image-based representation of the at least first metrology object using the position calibration data and assigning a unique identifier to each of the pairs.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the definitions of one or more metrology operations include a representation to perform the one or more metrology operations which is determined by one or more of the following factors: the type of the metrology operations, a representation where the metrology objects related to the metrology operations are defined and one or more additional parameters defined by a user.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the metrology objects is associated with an attribute of context indicative of a parent object thereof.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein at least second metrology object of the one or more metrology objects has only a design-based representation thereof on the design-based representation of the specimen, and at least second metrology operation of the one or more metrology operations is defined to be related to the at least second metrology object and to be performed on the image-based representation or on both the design-based representation of the specimen and the image-based representation, the method comprising:
registering, by the processor, the design-based representation of the specimen and the image-based representation of the specimen to obtain position calibration data;
identifying, by the processor, a position indication of the at least second metrology object on the image-based representation of the specimen using the position calibration data; and
performing, by the processor, at least second metrology operation of the one or more metrology operations related to the at least second metrology object according to definition of the at least second metrology operation using the position indication.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the one or more metrology objects include at least one defect object having only an image-based representation thereof on the image-based representation of the specimen, and at least third metrology operation of the one or more metrology operations is defined to be related to the at least one defect object and to be performed on both the image-based representation and the design-based representation of the specimen, the method comprising:
registering, by the processor, the design-based representation of the specimen and the image-based representation of the specimen to obtain position calibration data;
identifying, by the processor, a position indication of the at least one defect object on the design-based representation of the specimen using the position calibration data; and
performing, by the processor, the at least third metrology operation on both the image-based representation and the design-based representation of the specimen using the position indication.

### Claim 16

A computerized system of performing metrology operations on at least one representation of a specimen, the system comprising a processing circuitry that comprises a processor and a memory operatively coupled thereto, wherein:
the memory is configured to:
store definitions of one or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations, wherein at least one of the group consisting of the one or more metrology objects and the one or more metrology operations is defined with reference to design data; and
store a representation group comprising a design-based representation of the specimen and an image-based representation of the specimen; wherein the design-based representation of the specimen comprises design-based representation of at least first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects and the image-based representation of the specimen comprises image-based representation of the at least first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects, and wherein the one or more metrology operations include at least first metrology operation, the at least first metrology operation being defined to be related to the at least first metrology object and to be performed on at least the image-based representation of the specimen; and
the processor is configured to:
map between the design-based representation of the at least first metrology object and the image-based representation of the at least first metrology object; and
perform the at least first metrology operation according to definition of the at least first metrology operation using the mapping.

### Claim 17

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform metrology operations on at least one representation of a specimen, the metrology operations comprising:
accommodating, in the memory, definitions of one or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations, wherein at least one of the group consisting of the one or more metrology objects and the one or more metrology operations is defined with reference to design data;
accommodating, in the memory, a representation group comprising a design-based representation of the specimen and an image-based representation of the specimen; wherein the design-based representation of the specimen comprises design-based representation of at least first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects and the image-based representation of the specimen comprises image-based representation of the at least first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects, and wherein the one or more metrology operations include at least first metrology operation, the at least first metrology operation being defined to be related to the at least first metrology object and to be performed on at least the image-based representation of the specimen;
mapping, by the computer, between the design-based representation of the at least first metrology object and the image-based representation of the at least first metrology object; and
performing, by the computer, the at least first metrology operation according to definition of the at least first metrology operation using the mapping.