# US 2017/0286589 A1 · System and Method for Defining Care Areas in Repeating Structures of Design Data > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0286589 A1 - Document ID: US20170286589A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/351,813 - Filed: 2016-11-15 - Published: 2017-10-05 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-29 - Assignees: KLA-Tencor Corporation - Applicants: KLA-Tencor Corporation - Inventors: Junqing Huang; Soren Konecky; Hucheng Lee; Kenong Wu; Lisheng Gao - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170286589A1 ## CPC - G06F 30/398: Design verification or optimisation, e.g. using design rule check [DRC], layout versus schematics [LVS] or finite element methods [FEM] (optical proximity correction [OPC] design processes G03F1/36) - G01N 21/9501: {Semiconductor wafers (manufacturing processes per se of semiconductor devices implementing a measuring step H10P74/20)} - G03F 7/7065: {Defects, e.g. optical inspection of patterned layer for defects} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - G03F: PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; (phototypographic composing devices B41B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; electrophotography, sensitive layers or processes therefor G03G) ## Abstract A method includes identifying a first set of a first care area with a first sensitivity threshold, the first care area associated with a first design of interest within a block of repeating cells in design data; identifying an additional set of an additional care area with an additional sensitivity threshold, the additional care area associated with an additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells in design data; identifying one or more defects within the first set of the first care areas in one or more images of a selected region of a sample based on the first sensitivity threshold; and identifying one or more defects within the additional set of the additional care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the additional sensitivity threshold. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system, comprising: an inspection tool; a user interface; and a controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in memory, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to: receive design data, wherein the design data includes a block of repeating cells; present, on the user interface, a particular cell of the block of repeating cells; define a first care area associated with a first design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the first care area has a first sensitivity threshold; define an additional care area associated with an additional design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the additional care area has an additional sensitivity threshold; identify a set of first care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the first design of interest within the block of repeating cells; identify a set of additional care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells; receive one or more images of a selected region of a sample from the inspection tool; identify one or more defects within the first set of care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the first sensitivity threshold; and identify one or more defects within the additional set of care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the additional sensitivity threshold. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first care area and the additional care area are defined based on a selection received by the controller via the user interface. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the search function to identify additional occurrences of the first design of interest associated within the block of repeating cells includes a pixel-to-design alignment process. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the search function to identify additional occurrences of the additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells includes a pixel-to-design alignment process. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein at least one of the identified set of first care areas within the block of repeating cells and the identified set of additional care areas within the block of repeating cells are utilized to perform run-time context map rendering. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the first sensitivity threshold is determined by the number of comparison markers within the first care area, wherein a lower number of comparison markers within the first care area corresponds to a higher sensitivity threshold for the first care area. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the additional sensitivity threshold is determined by the number of comparison markers within the additional care area, wherein a lower number of comparison markers within the additional care area corresponds to a higher sensitivity threshold for the additional care area. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the first sensitivity threshold is higher than the additional sensitivity threshold. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the inspection tool comprises at least one of a darkfield inspection tool or a brightfield inspection tool. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the inspection system includes an illumination source. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system in claim 10, wherein the illumination source comprises: at least one of a narrowband source or a broadband source. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system in claim 1, wherein the inspection tool comprises: a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tool. ### Claim 13 A system, comprising: an inspection tool; a user interface; and a controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in memory, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to: receive design data, wherein the design data includes a block of repeating cells; present, on the user interface, a particular cell of the block of repeating cells; define a first care area associated with a first design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the first care area has a first sensitivity threshold; define an additional care area associated with an additional design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the additional care area has an additional sensitivity threshold; identify a set of first care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the first design of interest within the block of repeating cells; and identify a set of additional care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells. ### Claim 14 A system, comprising: an inspection tool; a user interface; and a controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in memory, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to: identify a first set of a first care area, wherein the first care area is associated with a first design of interest within a block of repeating cells in design data, wherein the first care area has a first sensitivity threshold; identify an additional set of an additional care area, wherein the additional care area is associated with an additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells in design data, wherein the additional care area has an additional sensitivity threshold; receive one or more images of a selected region of a sample from the inspection tool; identify one or more defects within the first set of the first care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the first sensitivity threshold; and identify one or more defects within the additional set of the additional care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the additional sensitivity threshold. ### Claim 15 A method comprising: receiving design data, wherein the design data includes a block of repeating cells; presenting, on a user interface, a particular cell of the block of repeating cells; defining a first care area associated with a first design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the first care area has a first sensitivity threshold; defining an additional care area associated with an additional design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the additional care area has an additional sensitivity threshold; identifying a set of first care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the first design of interest within the block of repeating cells; identifying a set of additional care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells; receiving one or more images of a selected region of a sample from the inspection tool; identifying one or more defects within the first set of care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the first sensitivity threshold; and identifying one or more defects within the additional set of care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the additional sensitivity threshold. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method in claim 15, wherein the first sensitivity threshold is determined by the number of comparison markers within the first care area, wherein a lower number of comparison markers within the first care area corresponds to a higher sensitivity threshold for the first care area. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method in claim 15, wherein the additional sensitivity threshold is determined by the number of comparison markers within the additional care area, wherein a lower number of comparison markers within the additional care area corresponds to a higher sensitivity threshold for the additional care area. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The method in claim 15, wherein the first sensitivity threshold is higher than the additional sensitivity threshold. ### Claim 19 A method comprising: receiving design data, wherein the design data includes a block of repeating cells; presenting, on a user interface, a particular cell of the block of repeating cells; defining a first care area associated with a first design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the first care area has a first sensitivity threshold; defining an additional care area associated with an additional design of interest in the particular cell, wherein the additional care area has an additional sensitivity threshold; identifying a set of first care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the first design of interest within the block of repeating cells; and identifying a set of additional care areas within the block of repeating cells by performing a search function to identify additional occurrences of the additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells. ### Claim 20 A method comprising: identifying a first set of a first care area, wherein the first care area is associated with a first design of interest within a block of repeating cells in design data, wherein the first care area has a first sensitivity threshold; identifying an additional set of an additional care area, wherein the additional care area is associated with an additional design of interest within the block of repeating cells in design data, wherein the additional care area has an additional sensitivity threshold; receiving one or more images of a selected region of a sample from the inspection tool; identifying one or more defects within the first set of the first care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the first sensitivity threshold; and identifying one or more defects within the additional set of the additional care areas in the one or more images of the selected region of the sample based on the additional sensitivity threshold.