US 10,504,805 B2 · Method of examining defects in a semiconductor specimen and system thereof

Abstract

There is provided a method of examining defects in a semiconductor specimen and a system thereof. The method comprises: processing a first defect map obtained for a first semiconductor specimen to assign cluster-seed (CS) scores to at least some of the classified defects presented therein, wherein a CS score of a given defect is indicative of a number of neighboring defects classified to the same class as the given defect; upon obtaining a second defect map for a second semiconductor specimen, using the CS scores assigned to the at least some of the classified defects presented in the first defect map to select, among defects presented in the second defect map, defects for review, wherein the first defect map and the second defect map present respective defects in an attribute hyperspace; and reviewing defects selected in the second defect map, thereby obtaining classified defects presented in the second semiconductor specimen.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An examination system comprising:

a memory;
and
a processor, operatively coupled with the memory, to:
upon obtaining a first defect map representing defects in a first semiconductor specimen in an attribute hyperspace, process the first defect map to assign cluster-seed (CS) scores to at least part of classified defects presented in the first defect map, wherein a CS score of a given defect of the classified defects in the first defect map is indicative of a number of neighboring defects in the first defect map that are classified to the same class as the given defect;
upon obtaining a second defect map representing defects in a second semiconductor specimen in the attribute hyperspace, use the CS scores assigned to the at least part of classified defects presented in the first defect map to select, among defects presented in the second defect map, defects for review;
and
review the selected defects in the second defect map for classification of the selected defects.

4 more elements

A method comprising:

processing a first defect map obtained for a first semiconductor specimen to assign cluster-seed (CS) scores to at least part of the classified defects presented in the first defect map therein, wherein a CS score of a given defect of the classified defects in the first defect map is indicative of a number of neighboring defects in the first defect map that are classified to the same class as the given defect;
upon obtaining a second defect map for a second semiconductor specimen, using, by a processor, the CS scores assigned to the at least part of the classified defects presented in the first defect map to select, among defects presented in the second defect map, defects for review, wherein the first defect map and the second defect map present respective defects in an attribute hyperspace;
and
reviewing the selected defects in the second defect map to obtain classified defects in the second semiconductor specimen.

1 more element

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

processing a first defect map obtained for a first semiconductor specimen to assign cluster-seed (CS) scores to at least part of the classified defects presented in the first defect map, wherein a CS score of a given defect of the classified defects in the first defect map is indicative of a number of neighboring defects in the first defect map that are classified to the same class as the given defect;
upon obtaining a second defect map for a second semiconductor specimen, using the CS scores assigned to the at least part of classified defects presented in the first defect map to select, among defects presented in the second defect map, defects for review, wherein the first defect map and the second defect map present respective defects in an attribute hyperspace;
and
reviewing the selected defects in the second defect map to obtain classified defects in the second semiconductor specimen.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method of examining defects in a semiconductor specimen and system thereof

Life of this patent

Method of examining defects in a semiconductor specimen and system thereof

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20