System and method for automatic analysis of defect material on semiconductors

A method for automatic material analysis of an object within a background, comprising the steps of:

• automatically determining a desired location on the object for spectrum acquisition;
• acquiring an object spectrum in accordance with said determining;
• obtaining count numbers from the object spectrum, corresponding to elements present in the object;
• obtaining count numbers from the background spectrum, corresponding to elements present in the background;
• comparing each count number of the object spectrum count to a list of elements in a material library;
• comparing each count number of the background spectrum count to a list of elements in a material library;
• and
• if none of the count numbers of the object or background spectrum count appears in the list of elements in the material library, then defining said object as a foreign object.

A method for automatic material analysis of an object within a background, comprising the steps of:

• automatically determining a desired location on the object for spectrum acquisition;
• acquiring an object spectrum in accordance with said determining;
• obtaining count numbers from the object spectrum, corresponding to elements present in the object;
• obtaining count numbers from the background spectrum, corresponding to elements present in the background;
• comparing each count number of the object spectrum count to a list of elements in a foreign object library;
• comparing each count number of the background spectrum count to a list of elements in an foreign object library;
• and
• if any of the count numbers of the object or background spectrum count appears in the list of elements in the foreign object library, then defining said count number as a foreign object.

A system for material analysis of defects on substrates, said system comprising:

• an energized beam for causing said substrate to emit X-rays from one or more automatically selected locations on the substrate;
• an X-ray detector collecting X-rays emitted from the substrate;
• a processor receiving and analyzing the output of the X-ray detector;
• a library containing substrate defect information;
• and
• a library containing materials information.