Hybrid x-ray and optical metrology and navigation

A system for characterizing a substrate comprising:

• a broadband optical source configured to illuminate a region of the substrate with a broadband optical beam within an optical field of view (FOV);
• an optical detector having the optical FOV;
• an X-ray source configured to illuminate a portion of the region of the substrate with an X-ray beam within an X-ray FOV at the portion of the region;
• an X-ray detector having the X-ray FOV, the X-ray FOV being smaller than or equal to and overlapping the optical FOV;
• and
• wherein the system is configured to
• concurrently acquire an X-ray image of the X-ray FOV and an optical image of the optical FOV;
• and
• switch between a higher magnification and a lower magnification by switching between the X-ray FOV and the optical FOV.

A method of characterizing a substrate, the method comprising:

• illuminating a region of the substrate with a broadband optical beam within an optical field of view (FOV) at the region;
• illuminating a portion of the region of the substrate with an X-ray beam within an X-ray FOV at the portion of the region, the X-ray FOV being smaller than or equal to and overlapping the optical FOV;
• concurrently acquiring an X-ray image of the X-ray FOV and an optical image of the optical FOV;
• and
• comparing equivalent areas across different portions of the substrate using spectral matching and pixel binning to increase signal-to-noise ratio.