Method of extracting defects

1. A method, comprising:

providing a design layout;

transferring the design layout onto a first semiconductor substrate using a mask;

determining one or more scanning parameters including a scanning pixel size based on the design layout;

generating an image contour including at least one closed curve from the first semiconductor substrate using the determined one or more scanning parameters including the scanning pixel size; and

performing a defect inspection by comparing a first number of closed curves in a region of the image contour and a second number of polygons in a corresponding region of the design layout.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the one or more scanning parameters including the scanning pixel size based on the design layout includes:

computing a pitch size of the design layout by adding a minimum spacing size of the design layout and a minimum feature size of the design layout; and

providing the scanning pixel size based on the pitch size.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the scanning pixel size is equal to about one fourth of the pitch size.

4. The method of claim 1 , further includes:

identifying a first substrate defect in the first semiconductor substrate by performing the defect inspection,

detecting a second substrate defect in a second semiconductor substrate patterned using the mask; and

determining a mask defect on the mask by comparing the first substrate defect and the second substrate defect.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a first location of the first substrate defect matches the second location of the second substrate defect.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mask is an EUVL mask, and

wherein the mask defect is a phase defect.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the defect inspection further includes: identifying an interconnect bridge defect disposed between the polygons,

wherein the first number is equal to one, and

wherein the second number is greater than one.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the defect inspection further includes:

identifying an interconnect open defect disposed between the closed curves,

wherein the first number is greater than one, and

wherein the second number is equal to one.

9. A method comprising:

obtaining a design layout;

determining a scanning parameter based on the design layout;

patterning a first substrate and a second substrate using a mask fabricated using the design layout;

generating a first image of the first patterned substrate and a second image of the second patterned substrate using the determined scanning parameter;

identifying a first substrate defect in the first patterned substrate by comparing a first number of closed curves in a first region of the first image and a second number of polygons in a first corresponding region of the design layout;

identifying a second substrate defect in the second patterned substrate by comparing a third number of closed curves in a second region of the second image and a fourth number of polygons in a second corresponding region of the design layout; and

determining a mask defect on the mask by comparing the first substrate defect and the second substrate defect.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the generating the first image further includes:

using a scanning electron microscope to generate the first image using the determined scanning parameter.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining the scanning parameter based on the design layout includes:

computing a pitch size of the design layout by combining a minimum spacing size of the design layout and a minimum feature size of the design layout; and

providing a pixel size based on the pitch size.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the pixel size is equal to about one fourth of the pitch size.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein one of the first number and the second number is equal to one, and wherein the other of the first number and the second number is equal to zero or greater than one; and

wherein one of the third number and the fourth number is equal to one, and wherein the other of the third number and the fourth number is equal to zero or greater than one.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein a first location of the first substrate defect matches the second location of the second substrate defect.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

aligning the first image with the design layout by separately aligning a first plurality of image segments of the first image with the design layout; and

aligning the second image with the design layout by separately aligning a second plurality of image segments of the second image with the design layout.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the mask is an EUVL mask, and

wherein the mask defect is a phase defect.

17. A system comprising:

one or more processors operably coupled to a scanning tool, the one or more processors configured to perform the operations of:

determining a scanning parameter according to a design layout and a threshold defect size associated with a defect inspection;

providing the scanning parameter to the scanning tool;

receiving a substrate image of a semiconductor substrate generated by the scanning tool using the scanning parameter, wherein the design layout is transferred onto the semiconductor substrate using a mask;

extracting closed curves in the substrate image; and

performing the defect inspection by comparing a first number of closed curves in a region of the substrate image and a second number of polygons in a corresponding region of the design layout.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the determining the scanning parameter based on the design layout and a threshold defect size includes:

computing a pitch size of the design layout by combining a minimum spacing size of the design layout and a minimum feature size of the design layout; and

providing a pixel size based on the pitch size.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein one of the first number and the second number is equal to one, and wherein the other of the first number and the second number is equal to zero or greater than one.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform the operations of:

aligning the substrate image with the design layout by separately aligning a plurality of image segments of the substrate image with the design layout.