IP Library Granted Patent US 12699824
Granted Patent B2
US 12699824 · App. 17/982,157 · Granted Aug 4, 2026

Determining substrate characteristics by virtual substrate measurement

Inventors: Dheeraj Kumar (San Jose, CA); Samit Barai (Chennai, IN); Pardeep Kumar (Greater Noida, IN); Sundar Narayanan (Cupertino, CA); Anantha Sethuraman (Palo Alto, CA)
Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
G06F30/31G01R31/2848G01R31/31912G05B23/0216G06F30/3308G05B2219/49029G06F2119/18
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12699824
App. No.
17/982,157
Granted
Aug 4, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method includes receiving feature data defining a plurality of features of a virtual substrate. The method further includes preparing the virtual substrate for display on a graphical user interface (GUI). The method further includes receiving one or more first inputs via the GUI. The one or more first inputs are associated with one or more locations of the virtual substrate. The method further includes defining a three-dimensional measurement probe based on the one or more first inputs. The method further includes outputting a measurement of the measurement probe. The measurement is associated with a characteristic of the virtual substrate measured by the three-dimensional measurement probe.

Claims (44)

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving feature data defining a plurality of features of a virtual substrate;

preparing the virtual substrate for display on a graphical user interface (GUI);

receiving one or more first inputs via the GUI, wherein the one or more first inputs comprise one or more selected locations of the virtual substrate which are selected by user interaction with the virtual substrate displayed in one or more views via the GUI;

defining a three-dimensional measurement probe based on the one or more first inputs; and

outputting a measurement of the measurement probe, wherein the measurement is associated with a characteristic of the virtual substrate measured by the three-dimensional measurement probe.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein preparing the virtual substrate for display on the GUI comprises preparing one or more of a top view of the virtual substrate, a first side view of the virtual substrate, a three-dimensional perspective view of the virtual substrate, or a cross-sectional view of the virtual substrate.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the measurement probe is defined in one or more of the top view, the first side view, the three-dimensional perspective view, or the cross-sectional view based on the one or more first inputs.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the measurement probe comprises a line measurement probe, wherein a first end of the line measurement probe is defined via interaction with a first view selected from the top view, the first side view, the three-dimensional perspective view, and the cross-sectional view, and wherein a second end of the line measurement probe is defined via interaction with a second view selected from the top view, the first side view, the three-dimensional perspective view, and the cross-sectional view, the second view being different from the first view.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the measurement probe comprises a point measurement probe, and wherein the point measurement probe is defined via interaction with a view selected from the top view, the side view, the three-dimensional perspective view, and the cross-sectional view.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining one or more parameters of the measurement probe, the one or more parameters comprising coordinates of one or more points associated with the measurement probe; and

preparing a table for display on the GUI, wherein the table contains at least one of the one or more parameters of the measurement probe.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving one or more second inputs in the table, the one or more second inputs adjusting values of the one or more parameters; and

altering one or more endpoints of the measurement probe based on the one or more second inputs.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first inputs comprise one or more indications associated with the one or more selected locations of the virtual substrate, wherein the one or more selected locations each comprise an X coordinate, a Y coordinate, and a Z coordinate.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein a first endpoint of the measurement probe is defined by a first indication of the one or more indications, wherein a second endpoint of the measurement probe is defined by a second indication of the one or more indications, and wherein the measurement of the measurement probe comprises a distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual substrate is prepared for display on the GUI via a geometric modeling kernel.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual substrate comprises a digital twin of a substrate processed or to be processed by a substrate processing system according to a recipe.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining an adjustment to the recipe based on the measurement of the measurement probe.

13 . A system, comprising memory and a processing device coupled to the memory, wherein the processing device is to:

receive feature data defining a plurality of features of a virtual substrate;

prepare the virtual substrate for display on a graphical user interface (GUI);

receive one or more first inputs via the GUI, wherein the one or more first inputs comprise one or more selected locations of the virtual substrate which are selected by user interaction with the virtual substrate displayed in one or more views via the GUI;

define a three-dimensional measurement probe based on the one or more first inputs; and

output a measurement of the measurement probe, wherein the measurement is associated with a characteristic of the virtual substrate measured by the three-dimensional measurement probe.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the measurement probe comprises a line measurement probe, wherein a first end of the line measurement probe is defined via interaction with a first view selected from a top view, a first side view, and a three-dimensional perspective view, and wherein a second end of the line measurement probe is defined via interaction with a second view selected from the top view, the first side view, and the three-dimensional perspective view.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processing device is further to:

determine one or more parameters of the measurement probe, the one or more parameters comprising coordinates of one or more points associated with the measurement probe;

prepare a table for display on the GUI, wherein the table contains at least one of the one or more parameters of the measurement probe;

receive one or more second inputs in the table, the one or more second inputs adjusting values of the one or more parameters; and

alter one or more endpoints of the measurement probe based on the one or more second inputs.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more first inputs comprise one or more indications associated with the one or more selected locations of the virtual substrate, wherein the one or more selected locations each comprise an X coordinate, a Y coordinate, and a Z coordinate.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein a first endpoint of the measurement probe is defined by a first indication of the one or more indications, wherein a second endpoint of the measurement probe is defined by a second indication of the one or more indications, and wherein the measurement of the measurement probe comprises a distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

18 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving feature data defining a plurality of features of a virtual substrate;

preparing the virtual substrate for display on a graphical user interface (GUI);

receiving one or more first inputs via the GUI, wherein the one or more first inputs comprise one or more selected locations of the virtual substrate which are selected by user interaction with the virtual substrate displayed in one or more views via the GUI;

defining a three-dimensional measurement probe based on the one or more first inputs; and

outputting a measurement of the measurement probe, wherein the measurement is associated with characteristic of the virtual substrate measured by the three-dimensional measurement probe.

19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the one or more first inputs comprise one or more indications associated with the one or more selected locations of the virtual substrate, wherein the one or more selected locations each comprise an X coordinate, a Y coordinate, and a Z coordinate.

20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the virtual substrate comprises a digital twin of a substrate processed or to be processed by a substrate processing system according to a recipe.