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US 7,505,125 B2Granted
System and method for signal processing for a workpiece surface inspection system
AssigneeKLA-Tencor Corporation
InventorsScott Andrews, Neil Judell, Bills Richard Earl, Timothy R. Tiemeyer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A surface inspection system, as well as related components and methods, are provided. The surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. The signal processing subsystem comprises a series of data acquisition nodes, each dedicated to a collection detection module and a plurality of data reduction nodes, made available on a peer to peer basis to each data acquisition nodes. Improved methods for detecting signal in the presence of noise are also provided.
Claims30
A surface inspection system for inspecting the surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system comprising:
- an optical collection and detection subsystem having a plurality of collection and detection modules for collecting light produced by impingement of an incident beam on the surface, and generating signals in response to the light;
- and
- a processing subsystem operatively coupled to the collection and detection subsystem for processing the signals, the processing system having
- a data acquisition system comprising a plurality of data acquisition nodes, each of said data acquisition nodes having associated therewith one of the collection and detection modules in the optical collection and detection subsystem;
- a data reduction system comprising a plurality of data reduction nodes;
- a communication network connecting the data acquisition system to the data reduction system so that each of said data reduction nodes is available on a peer to peer basis to each of the plurality of data acquisition nodes;
- wherein the plurality of collection and detection modules comprises:
- a front collection and detection module;
- a center collection and detection module;
- a pair of wing collection and detection modules;
- and
- a pair of back collection and detection modules.
9 more elements
A surface inspection system for inspecting the surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system comprising:
- an optical collection and detection subsystem having a plurality of collection and detection modules for collecting light produced by impingement of an incident beam on the surface, and generating signals in response to the light;
- and
- a processing subsystem operatively coupled to the collection and detection subsystem for processing the signals, the processing system having
- a data acquisition system comprising a plurality of data acquisition nodes, each of said data acquisition nodes having associated therewith one of the collection and detection modules in the optical collection and detection subsystem;
- a data reduction system comprising a plurality of data reduction nodes, each of said nodes constituting a potential computing destination for each of said data acquisitions nodes;
- and
- a communication network connecting the data acquisition system to the data reduction system to provide each of said data acquisition nodes with access to each of said data reduction nodes;
- wherein the plurality of collection and detection modules comprises:
- a front collection and detection module;
- a center collection and detection module;
- a pair of wing collection and detection modules;
- and
- a pair of back collection and detection modules.
10 more elements
A surface inspection system for inspecting the surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system comprising:
- an optical collection and detection subsystem having a plurality of collection and detection modules for collecting light produced by impingement of an incident beam on the surface, and generating signals in response to the light;
- and
- a processing subsystem operatively coupled to the collection and detection subsystem for processing the signals, the processing system having
- a data acquisition system comprising a plurality of data acquisition nodes, each of said data acquisition nodes having associated therewith one of the collection and detection modules in the optical collection and detection subsystem;
- a data reduction system comprising a plurality of data reduction nodes, each of said nodes constituting a potential computing destination for each of said data acquisitions nodes;
- and
- a communication network connecting the data acquisition system to the data reduction system to provide each of said data acquisition nodes with access to each of said data reduction nodes;
- wherein the plurality of collection and detection modules comprises:
- a front collection and detection module;
- a center collection and detection module;
- a pair of wing collection and detection modules;
- and
- a pair of back collection and detection modules.
10 more elements
A surface inspection system for inspecting the surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system comprising:
- an optical collection and detection subsystem having a plurality of collection and detection modules for collecting light produced by impingement of an incident beam on the surface, and generating signals in response to the light;
- and
- a processing subsystem operatively coupled to the collection and detection subsystem for processing the signals, the processing system having
- a data acquisition system comprising a plurality of data acquisition nodes, each of said data acquisition nodes having associated therewith one of the collection and detection modules in the optical collection and detection subsystem;
- a data reduction system comprising a plurality of data reduction nodes;
- a communication network connecting the data acquisition system to the data reduction system so that each of said data reduction nodes is available on a peer to peer basis to each of the plurality of data acquisition nodes,
- wherein the optical collection and detection subsystem comprises at least one light channel collection and detection module and at least one dark channel collection and detection module wherein the outputs from the at least one light channel collection and detection module and at least one dark channel collection and detection module are connected through an associated amplifier to the input of a filtering unit comprising an A/D and a processing unit data acquisition.
4 more elements
A surface inspection system for inspecting the surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system comprising:
- an optical collection and detection subsystem having a plurality of collection and detection modules for collecting light produced by impingement of an incident beam on the surface, and generating signals in response to the light;
- and
- a processing subsystem operatively coupled to the collection and detection subsystem for processing the signals, the processing system having
- a data acquisition system comprising a plurality of data acquisition nodes, each of said data acquisition nodes having associated therewith one of the collection and detection modules in the optical collection and detection subsystem;
- a data reduction system comprising a plurality of data reduction nodes, each of said nodes constituting a potential computing destination for each of said data acquisitions nodes;
- and
- a communication network connecting the data acquisition system to the data reduction system to provide each of said data acquisition nodes with access to each of said data reduction nodes;
- wherein the optical collection and detection subsystem comprises at least one light channel collection and detection module and at least one dark channel collection and detection module wherein the outputs from the at least one light channel collection and detection module and at least one dark channel collection and detection module are connected through an associated amplifier to the input of a filtering unit comprising an A/D and a processing unit data acquisition.
5 more elements
A surface inspection system for inspecting the surface of a workpiece, the surface inspection system comprising:
- an optical collection and detection subsystem having a plurality of collection and detection modules for collecting light produced by impingement of an incident beam on the surface, and generating signals in response to the light;
- and
- a processing subsystem operatively coupled to the collection and detection subsystem for processing the signals, the processing system having
- a data acquisition system comprising a plurality of data acquisition nodes, each of said data acquisition nodes having associated therewith one of the collection and detection modules in the optical collection and detection subsystem;
- a data reduction system comprising a plurality of data reduction nodes, each of said nodes constituting a potential computing destination for each of said data acquisitions nodes;
- and
- a communication network connecting the data acquisition system to the data reduction system to provide each of said data acquisition nodes with access to each of said data reduction nodes;
- wherein the optical collection and detection subsystem comprises at least one light channel collection and detection module and at least one dark channel collection and detection module wherein the outputs from the at least one light channel collection and detection module and at least one dark channel collection and detection module are connected through an associated amplifier to the input of a filtering unit comprising an A/D and a processing unit data acquisition.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.