Defect recognition system and defect recognition method
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorChun-Jung Huang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A defect recognition system and a defect recognition method are described. The method includes inspecting a wafer to generate a defect map and locating at least one defect on the wafer by using the defect map; measuring at least one light component of light reflected from one of the at least one defect; comparing the at least one light component measured from the light reflected from the defect with a characteristic curve of the corresponding light component of the defect; and estimating an occurrence time of the defect based on the comparison.
Claims18
A defect recognition system, comprising:
- a light source configured to project light on a wafer;
- an inspecting component configured to inspect the wafer to generate a defect map and locate at least one defect on the wafer by using the defect map;
- a light analyzing component configured to measure at least one light component of light reflected from one of the at least one defect;
- and
- a processing component operatively connected to the inspecting component and the light analyzing component, wherein the processing component is programmed to:
- compare the at least one light component measured from the light reflected from the defect with a characteristic curve of the corresponding light component of the defect;
- estimate an occurrence time of the defect based on the comparison;
- and
- subtract a time period corresponding to the measured light component in the characteristic curve from an inspection time of measuring the light component of the defect to obtain the occurrence time of the defect.
A defect recognition method, comprising:
- inspecting, by an inspecting component, a wafer to generate a defect map and locating at least one defect on the wafer by using the defect map;
- measuring, by a light analyzing component, at least one light component of light reflected from one of the at least one defect;
- comparing, by a processing component, the at least one light component measured from the light reflected from the defect with a characteristic curve of the corresponding light component of the defect;
- estimating, by the processing component, an occurrence time of the defect based on the comparison;
- and
- subtracting, by the processing component, a time period corresponding to the measured light component in the characteristic curve from an inspection time of measuring the light component of the defect to obtain the occurrence time of the defect.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor executable instructions that when executed perform a method for recognizing at least one defect on a wafer, the method comprising:
- inspecting, by an inspecting component, the wafer to generate a defect map and locating the at least one defect in the defect map;
- measuring, by a light analyzing component, at least one light component of light reflected from one of the at least one defect;
- comparing, by a processing component, the at least one light component measured from the light reflected from the defect with a characteristic curve of the corresponding light component of the defect;
- estimating, by the processing component, an occurrence time of the defect based on the comparison;
- and
- subtracting, by the processing component, a time period corresponding to the measured light component in the characteristic curve from an inspection time of measuring the light component of the defect to obtain the occurrence time of the defect.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.