Methods and computer program products for characterizing a crystalline structure

A method of defining a normalized shape of a crystalline structure comprising:

• determining a thickness for each of a plurality of different radial locations on the crystalline structure;
• defining a reference line to represent a relationship between thickness and radial location, wherein defining the reference line comprises adjusting the thickness for at least some of the different radial locations to at least partially compensate for taper across the crystalline structure such that the reference line represents the adjusted relationship between thickness and radial location;
• and
• determining the normalized profile of the crystalline structure based upon deviations in the adjusted thickness from the reference line for each of a plurality of different radial locations on the crystalline structure.

A computer program product for defining a normalized profile of a crystalline structure, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program instructions comprising:

• first computer-readable program instructions for determining a thickness of a crystalline structure for each of a plurality of different radial locations on the crystalline structure;
• second computer-readable program instructions for defining a reference line to represent a relationship between thickness of the crystalline structure and radial location, wherein said second computer-readable program instructions comprises computer-readable program instructions for adjusting the thickness for at least some of the different radial locations to at least partially compensate for taper across the crystalline structure such that the reference line represents the adjusted relationship between thickness and radial location;
• and
• third computer-readable program instructions for determining the normalized profile of the crystalline structure based upon deviations in the adjusted thickness from the reference line for each of a plurality of different radial locations on the crystalline structure.

A computer program product for representing a shape of a crystalline structure proximate an edge of the crystalline structure, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program instructions comprising:

• first computer-readable program instructions for determining a thickness of the crystalline structure for each of a plurality of different radial locations on the crystalline structure;
• and
• second computer-readable program instructions for defining first and second lines at least partially based upon the thickness of the crystalline structure across at least partially different regions proximate the edge of the crystalline structure, wherein said second computer-readable program instructions define the first line based at least partially upon the thickness across a respective region that includes at least one radial location that is positioned closer to the edge of the crystalline structure than the respective region upon which the second line is based, and wherein said second computer-readable program instructions define the second line based at least partially upon the thickness across a respective region that includes at least one radial location that is positioned further from the edge of the crystalline structure than the respective region upon which the first line is based.