System, a method and a computer program product for size estimation
AssigneeApplied Materials Israel Ltd.
InventorsMoshe Amzaleg, Nir Ben-David
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A computerized method for estimating a size of a nanometric part of an inspected article, the method including: (a) acquiring inspection results generated by processing an inspection image which was generated by collecting signals arriving from a portion of the article which includes the part by an inspection system; (b) fitting to the inspection results an approximation function from a group of functions which is related to a response pattern of the inspection system; and (c) determining an estimated size of the part, based on at least one parameter of the approximation function.
Claims20
A computerized method for estimating a size of a nanometric part of an inspected article, the method comprising:
- acquiring inspection results generated by processing an inspection image which was generated by collecting signals arriving from a portion of the article which includes the part by an inspection system;
- fitting to the inspection results an approximation function from a group of functions which is related to a response pattern of the inspection system;
- and
- determining an estimated size of the part, based on at least one parameter of the approximation function.
A system configured to estimate a size of a nanometric part of an inspected article, the system comprising a tangible processor which comprises:
- a results acquisition module, configured to acquire inspection results generated by processing an inspection image which was generated by collecting signals arriving from a portion of the article which includes the part;
- a fitting module configured to fit to the inspection results an approximation function from a group of functions which is related to a response pattern of the inspection system;
- and
- a size estimation module, configured to determine an estimated size of the part, based on at least one parameter of the approximation function.
A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method for estimating a size of a nanometric part of an inspected article, comprising the steps of:
- acquiring inspection results generated by processing an inspection image which was generated by collecting signals arriving from a portion of the article which includes the part by an inspection system;
- fitting to the inspection results an approximation function from a group of functions which is related to a response pattern of the inspection system;
- and
- determining an estimated size of the part, based on at least one parameter of the approximation function.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.