Data analytics and computational analytics for semiconductor process control

A computing system, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor configured to perform a method for detecting comprising deviations from expected geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate, the method comprising:
• determining a set of contours suspected of having at least one excursion in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on a geometric distribution of proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to a plurality of expected geometric features, wherein determining the geometric distribution comprises determining a design proximity index for each of the plurality of points of interest in the design window, wherein the design proximity index is a measure of how close a point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is to an adjacent expected geometric feature of the plurality of expected geometric features;
• obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate;
• comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspected contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours;
• determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a confirmed excursion, wherein the confirmed excursion is operable to cause a yield impacting defect within at least one of the expected geometric features of the design window of the substrate;
• and
• taking a corrective action to eliminate a re-occurrence of the confirmed excursion based on the determined probability.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform a method for detecting excursions comprising deviations from expected geometric features in an integrated circuit substrate, the method comprising:

• determining a set of contours suspected of having at least one excursion in a design window of the integrated circuit substrate based on a geometric distribution of proximities of a plurality of points of interest in the design window to a plurality of expected geometric features, wherein determining the geometric distribution comprises determining a design proximity index for each of the plurality of points of interest in the design window, wherein the design proximity index is a measure of how close a point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is to an adjacent expected geometric feature of the plurality of expected geometric features;
• obtaining a set of imaged contours from one or more images of a defect-free integrated circuit substrate;
• comparing the set of imaged contours to the set of suspected contours to obtain a set of potential excursions from the imaged contours;
• determining a probability that a potential excursion from the set of potential excursions is a confirmed excursion, wherein the confirmed excursion is operable to cause a yield impacting defect within at least one of the expected geometric features of the design window of the substrate;
• and
• taking a corrective action to eliminate a re-occurrence of the confirmed excursion based on the determined probability.