IP Library Granted Patent US 12,553,834
Granted Patent B2
US 12,553,834 · App. 18/219,494 · Granted Feb 17, 2026

Substrate inspection method

Inventors: Kihong Chung (Suwon-si, KR); Kiwook Song (Suwon-si, KR); Seungryeol Oh (Suwon-si, KR); Chungsam Jun (Suwon-si, KR)
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
G01N21/9501G01B15/02G01N21/211G01N21/29G01N21/8851G01N23/2251G01B2210/56G01N2021/213G01N2021/8864G01N2223/6116H01L22/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,553,834
App. No.
18/219,494
Granted
Feb 17, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A substrate inspection method includes radiating light onto a substrate, extracting a spectrum representing an intensity of light according to a wavelength from a light reflected from the substrate, analyzing the extracted spectrum in units of each of an entire substrate, a shot, a chip, and a block, generating a spectrum distribution map indicating reflectivity for each wavelength band by using the analyzed spectrum, and extracting a weak point in the substrate based on the spectrum distribution map.

Claims (57)

1 . A substrate inspection method comprising:

radiating light onto a substrate;

extracting a spectrum representing an intensity of light according to a wavelength from a reflected light that is reflected from the substrate;

analyzing the extracted spectrum in units of each of an entire substrate, a shot, a chip, and a block;

generating a spectrum distribution map indicating reflectivity for each wavelength by using the analyzed spectrum; and

extracting a weak point in the substrate based on the spectrum distribution map, wherein the extracting the weak point comprises:

extracting one or more outliers from the spectrum distribution map;

generating a plurality of weak point maps in which the one or more outliers are marked with respect to one of the entire substrate, the shot, the chip, or the block;

generating a composite map by overlapping the plurality of weak point maps; and

extracting the weak point based, at least in part, on the composite map.

2 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the extracting of the spectrum comprises extracting the spectrum using at least one of a distance between the spectra, an average reflectivity of the spectrum for each wavelength band, or Fourier transform information.

3 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the extracting of the spectrum comprises extracting a plurality of wavelength bands in the spectrum of each of a short wavelength range, a medium wavelength range, and a long wavelength range.

4 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the extracting of the weak point in the substrate based on the spectrum distribution map comprises analyzing the spectrum with respect to a distance compared to a preset threshold value.

5 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the analyzing of the extracted spectrum in a unit of the entire substrate comprises obtaining an average value of the extracted spectrum for each of a plurality of shot units.

6 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the analyzing of the extracted spectrum in a unit of the shot comprises obtaining an average value of the extracted spectrum for each of a plurality of chip units.

7 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the analyzing of the extracted spectrum in a unit of the block comprises obtaining an average value of the extracted spectrum for each of a plurality of cell units.

8 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

when a number of the one or more outliers overlapped on the composite map is equal to or more than 30 percent of a number of the overlapped weak point maps, a point where the one or more outliers overlap is extracted as the weak point.

9 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein

the extracting of the one or more outliers comprises extracting the one or more outliers by using a minimum covariance determinant method within the spectrum distribution map.

10 . The substrate inspection method of claim 9 , wherein

the extracting of the one or more outliers comprises calculating a robust distance for each intensity of light within the spectrum distribution map, and selecting the robust distance as the one or more outliers when the robust distance is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value.

11 . The substrate inspection method of claim 8 , wherein

the weak point is marked on the composite map.

12 . The substrate inspection method of claim 11 , wherein a color of the weak point marked on the composite map is based on a number of the one or more outliers that overlap.

13 . The substrate inspection method of claim 12 , wherein

when a number of the one or more outliers overlapped on the composite map is equal to or more than 50 percent of a number of the overlapped weak point maps, a point where the one or more outliers overlap is extracted as a weak point.

14 . The substrate inspection method of claim 1 , wherein the spectrum is extracted by spectroscopic ellipsometry.

15 . A substrate inspection method comprising:

radiating light onto a substrate;

extracting a spectrum representing an intensity of light according to a wavelength from a light reflected from the substrate;

generating a spectrum distribution map by using the extracted spectrum in units of any one of, or more than one of: an entire substrate, a shot, a chip, and a block;

extracting a weak point in the substrate based on the spectrum distribution map, wherein the extracting the weak point comprises generating a plurality of weak point maps in which one or more outliers are marked with respect to two or more of: the entire substrate, the shot, the chip, or the block and the extracting the weak point comprises overlapping the plurality of weak point maps to generate composite map; and

further inspecting the weak point.

16 . The substrate inspection method of claim 15 , wherein

the further inspecting is performed by using any one of an electron beam (E-Beam) device and a critical dimension scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM).

17 . The substrate inspection method of claim 15 , wherein

the plurality of weak point maps include a first weak point map in which one or more outliers are marked with respect to the entire substrate, a second weak point map in which one or more outliers are marked with respect to the shot, a third weak point map in which one or more outliers are marked with respect to the chip, and a fourth weak point map in which one or more outliers are marked with respect to the block; and wherein the extracting of the weak point comprises:

extracting, as a final weak point, a point where the one or more outliers overlapped in the composite map is 50 percent or more of a number of the overlapped weak point maps.

18 . A substrate inspection method comprising:

obtaining a spectrum of a substrate by using an oblique optical system and a vertical optical system;

analyzing the spectrum in a unit of each of an entire substrate, a shot, a chip, and a block;

extracting a weak point in the substrate using the analyzed spectrum comprising:

generating a weak point map in which one or more outliers in the substrate are marked by using the spectrum;

generating a composite map including the weak point map overlapped with other weak point maps; and

wherein when a number of the one or more outliers overlapped on the composite map is equal to or more than 30 percent of a number of the overlapped weak point maps, a point where the one or more outliers overlap is extracted as the weak point;

performing a further, targeted inspection on the weak point of the substrate based on the extracted weak point.

19 . The substrate inspection method of claim 18 , wherein

when the number of one or more outliers overlapped on the composite map is equal to or more than 50 percent of the number of the overlapped weak point maps, a point where the one or more outliers overlap is extracted as a weak point.

20 . The substrate inspection method of claim 18 , wherein

the further inspection is performed on the weak point by using the weak point by using an electron beam (E-Beam) device or a critical dimension scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM).

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 26, 2023
From: CHUNG, KIHONG; SONG, KIWOOK; OH, SEUNGRYEOL; JUN, CHUNGSAM
To: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 064386/0272 →
Priority Claims (1)
KR 10-2022-0088580 · Jul 18, 2022 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240019380A1 · Jan 18, 2024
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