Back to results
US 8,134,698 B1Granted
Dynamic range extension in surface inspection systems
AssigneeKLA-Tencor Corporation
InventorsChristian Wolters, Anatoly Romanovsky, Daniel Kavaldjiev, Bret Whiteside
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, a surface analyzer system comprises a radiation targeting assembly to target a radiation beam onto a surface; and a scattered radiation collecting assembly that collects radiation scattered from the surface. The radiation targeting assembly generates primary and secondary beams. Data collected from the reflections of the primary and secondary beams may be used in a dynamic range extension routine, alone or in combination with a power attenuation routine.
Claims26
A system to analyze a surface of an object, comprising:
- a first radiation source;
- a radiation targeting assembly to scan a first radiation beam from the first radiation source across a portion of a first surface of the object, wherein the first radiation beam impinges the first surface at a first intensity and a to scan a second radiation beam across a portion of the first surface of the object, wherein the second radiation beam impinges the first surface proximate the first beam and at a second intensity, greater than the first intensity;
- a scattered radiation collecting assembly to collect portions of a first scattered radiation beam scattered from the first surface, wherein the first scattered radiation beam results from a reflection of the first radiation beam, and to collect portions of a second scattered radiation beam scattered from the first surface, wherein the second scattered radiation beam results from a reflection of the second radiation beam;
- a detector assembly coupled to the scattered radiation collecting assembly to generate a first signal from the first scattered radiation beam rand a second signal from the second scattered radiation beam;
- a signal processing module to generate a data set from the first signal and the second signal as the first radiation beam and the second radiation beam scan a portion of the surface of the object;
- and
- a data processing module to use data in the data set to evaluate defects in the surface of the object.
4 more elements
A method to analyze a surface of an object, comprising:
- scanning a first radiation beam from the first radiation source across a portion of a first surface of the object, wherein the first radiation beam impinges the first surface at a first intensity, and scanning a second radiation beam across a portion of the first surface of the object, wherein the second radiation beam impinges the first surface proximate the first beam and at a second intensity, greater than the first intensity;
- collecting portions of a first scattered radiation beam scattered from the first surface, wherein the first scattered radiation beam results from a reflection of the first radiation beam, and portions of a second scattered radiation beam scattered from the first surface, wherein the second scattered radiation beam results from a reflection of the second radiation beam;
- generating a first signal from the first scattered radiation beam and a second signal from the second scattered radiation beam;
- generating a data set from the first signal and the second signal as the first radiation beam and the second radiation beam scan a portion of the surface of the object;
- and
- using data in the data set to evaluate defects in the surface of the object.
3 more elements
A system to analyze a surface of an object, comprising:
- a first radiation source;
- a radiation targeting assembly to scan a first radiation beam from the first radiation source across a portion of a first surface of the object, wherein the first radiation beam impinges the first surface at a first intensity and to scan a second radiation beam across a portion of the first surface of the object, wherein the second radiation beam impinges the first surface proximate the first beam and at a second intensity, greater than the first intensity;
- a scattered radiation collecting assembly to collect portions of a first scattered radiation beam scattered from the first surface, wherein the first scattered radiation beam results from a reflection of the first radiation beam, and to collect portions of a second scattered radiation beam scattered from the first surface, wherein the second scattered radiation beam results from a reflection of the second radiation beam;
- a detector assembly coupled to the scattered radiation collecting assembly to generate a first signal from the first scattered radiation beam rand a second signal from the second scattered radiation beam;
- and
- a power attenuation module, which:
- compares the first signal from the first scattered beam to a threshold;
- and
- attenuates the second radiation beam when signal from the first scattered beam exceeds the threshold.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.