Alignment mark for e-beam inspection of a semiconductor wafer

An alignment mark to be used in conjunction with e-beam imaging to identify specific feature locations on a chip including a unique "L" shaped pattern of geometric features, which is easily detected by the recognition system of e-beam imaging equipment, and is located in close proximity to the specific circuit features under investigation at each level to be inspected. The requirements for an alignment mark design which is recognizable by state-of-the-art e-beam imaging systems are enumerated, as well as the methodology for application. The alignment marks which are included at each critical step add no cost to wafer processing, and any design cost is easily overcome by reduction in process development time by using defect learning.