QUALIFYING PATTERNS, PATTERNING PROCESSES, OR PATTERNING APPARATUS IN THE FABRICATION OF MICROLITHOGRAPHIC PATTERNS

Methods that include acquiring aerial images of a reticle for different values of a member of a set of lithographic variables are provided. One method also includes determining a presence of an anomaly in a design pattern of the reticle by comparing at least one pair of the aerial images correspondi...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: VONDENHOFF, MIKE, PETERSON, INGRID, B, WILEY, JIM
Format: Patent
Sprache:eng
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Methods that include acquiring aerial images of a reticle for different values of a member of a set of lithographic variables are provided. One method also includes determining a presence of an anomaly in a design pattern of the reticle by comparing at least one pair of the aerial images corresponding to at least two of the different values. A different method includes comparing at least one pair of the aerial images corresponding to at least two of the different values and determining an area on the reticle where a lithography process using the reticle is most susceptible to failure based on the results of the comparison. Another embodiment includes determining a presence of transient repeating defects on the reticle by subtracting non-transient defects from the aerial images and comparing at least one pair of the aerial images corresponding to at least two of the different values.