Defect monitoring in semiconductor device fabrication

A method of forming a device comprising:

• providing a substrate containing at least a partially formed device thereon, wherein the device comprises at least one defect site;
• acquiring a pixilated image of the defect site selected, wherein each pixel comprises a grey level value (GLV);
• eliminating surrounding noises of the defect site;
• identifying a point of the image as the center of the defect wherein the center of the defect comprises
• one pixel or adjacent pixels having the highest GLV in a BVC defect site, or
• one pixel or adjacent pixels having the lowest GLV in a DVC defect site;
• performing a plurality of iterations to exclude outer edge pixels surrounding the center of the defect image;
• and
• categorizing the defect as a killer defect or a non-killer defect.

A system for monitoring defects comprises:

• means for providing a substrate containing at least a partially formed device thereon, wherein the device comprises at least one defect site;
• means for acquiring a pixilated image of the defect site selected, wherein each pixel comprises a grey level value (GLV);
• means for eliminating surrounding noises of the defect site;
• means for identifying a point of the image as the center of the defect;
• means for performing a plurality of iterations to exclude outer edge pixels surrounding the center of the defect image;
• and
• means for categorizing the defect as a killer defect or a non-killer defect.