Method and apparatus for implementing a universal coordinate system for metrology data

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a metrology report including metrology data collected by a metrology tool, position data associated with the metrology data, and context data associated with the metrology tool and identifying a type of metrology process employed by the metrology tool;

determining a first coordinate system employed by the metrology tool based on the context data by accessing a database storing a plurality of coordinate systems indexed by the type of metrology process;

transforming the position data from the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system to generate transformed position data; and

storing the transformed position data and the metrology data in a data store and associating the transformed position data with the metrology data.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling a process tool based on the metrology data and the associated transformed position data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context data includes a metrology tool identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context data includes a recipe identifier associated with a recipe used by the metrology tool to collect the metrology data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first coordinate system further comprising identifying parameters of the first coordinate system, the parameters comprising at least one of a notch direction parameter, a rotation parameter, a flip parameter, a transpose parameter, and an offset parameter.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metrology report is associated with a semiconductor wafer, further comprising:

identifying a mask set associated with the semiconductor wafer;

determining a wafer map associated with the mask set, the wafer map defining a plurality of flash sites and a plurality die locations within each flash sites;

determining a flash site from the plurality of flash sites including the transformed position data; and

determining a die location from the plurality of die locations including the transformed position data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming the position data further comprises transposing X and Y coordinates of the first coordinate system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming the position data further comprises adding an offset to at least one of an X coordinate and a Y coordinate of the first coordinate system.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming the position data further comprises flipping at least one of an X coordinate and a Y coordinate of the first coordinate system.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming the position data further comprises rotating the first coordinate system.

11. A system, comprising:

a metrology tool operable to collect metrology data;

a coordinate translation unit operable to receive a metrology report including the metrology data, position data associated with the metrology data, and context data associated with the metrology tool and identifying a type of metrology process employed by the metrology tool, determine a first coordinate system employed by the metrology tool based on the context data by accessing a database storing a plurality of coordinate systems indexed by the type of metrology process, transform the position data from the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system to generate transformed position data, and associate the transformed position data with the metrology data; and

a data store operable to store the metrology data and the associated transformed position data.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising an equipment interface operable to receive the metrology data from the metrology tool and generate the metrology report.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a process controller operable to control a process based on the metrology data and the associated transformed position data.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the context data includes a metrology tool identifier.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the context data includes a recipe identifier associated with a recipe used by the metrology tool to collect the metrology data.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the coordinate transformation unit is operable to identify parameters of the first coordinate system, the parameters comprising at least one of a notch direction parameter, a rotation parameter, a flip parameter, a transpose parameter, and an offset parameter.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the metrology report is associated with a semiconductor wafer, and the coordinate transformation unit is operable to identify a mask set associated with the semiconductor wafer, determine a wafer map associated with the mask set, the wafer map defining a plurality of flash sites and a plurality die locations within each flash sites, determine a flash site from the plurality of flash sites including the transformed position data, and determine a die location from the plurality of die locations including the transformed position data.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the coordinate transformation unit is operable to transpose X and Y coordinates of the first coordinate system.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the coordinate transformation unit is operable to add an offset to at least one of an X coordinate and a Y coordinate of the first coordinate system.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the coordinate transformation unit is operable to flip at least one of an X coordinate and a Y coordinate of the first coordinate system.

21. The system of claim 11 , wherein the coordinate transformation unit is operable to rotate the first coordinate system.

22. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a metrology report including metrology data collected by a metrology tool, position data associated with the metrology data, and context data associated with the metrology tool and identifying a type of metrology process employed by the metrology tool;

means for determining a first coordinate system employed by the metrology tool based on the context data by accessing a database storing a plurality of coordinate systems indexed by the type of metrology process;

means for transforming the position data from the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system to generate transformed position data; and

means for storing the transformed position data and the metrology data in a data store and associating the transformed position data with the metrology data.