Method and system for mixed mode wafer inspection

Abstract

Mixed-mode includes receiving inspection results including one or more images of a selected region of the wafer, the one or more images include one or more wafer die including a set of repeating blocks, the set of repeating blocks a set of repeating cells. In addition, mixed-mode inspection includes adjusting a pixel size of the one or more images to map each cell, block and die to an integer number of pixels. Further, mixed-mode inspection includes comparing a first wafer die to a second wafer die to identify an occurrence of one or more defects in the first or second wafer die, comparing a first block to a second block to identify an occurrence of one or more defects in the first or second blocks and comparing a first cell to a second cell to identify an occurrence of one or more defects in the first or second cells.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method for design guided wafer inspection of repeating blocks comprising:
 receiving one or more sets of design data at least associated with a region of interest of a wafer;   identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data;   selecting a portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks for inspection based on one or more selected attributes of the one or more repeating blocks; and   performing one or more inspection processes with an inspection tool on the selected portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the inspection tool comprises:
 at least one of an optical inspection tool and an electron beam inspection tool.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the region of interest comprises:
 at least a portion of a die of a wafer.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sets of design data is received in a design layout file. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more repeating blocks comprise:
 one or more sets of repeating cells.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more repeating blocks comprise:
 one or more sets of repeating polygons.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to identifying the one or more repeating blocks, generating at least one DCA by analyzing one or more localized element variations inside the region of interest.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data comprises:
 identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data with a design cell hierarchy.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data comprises:
 processing one or more non-spatially repeating and non-aligned portions of the region of interest; and   storing one or more non-spatially repeating and non-aligned portions of the region of interest.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data comprises:
 identifying a first repeating block; and   identifying at least a second repeating block flipped relative to the first repeating block utilizing the received design data.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data comprises:
 identifying a first repeating block; and   identifying at least a second repeating block rotated relative to the first repeating utilizing the received design data.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying one or more repeating blocks in the received design data comprises:
 identifying one or more repeating blocks based on image processing of received design data.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a cell level hierarchy for inspection repeating blocks based on design data.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more selected attributes comprise:
 a pattern density of the one or more repeating blocks.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more selected attributes comprise:
 a criticality factor of the one or more repeating blocks.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to selecting a portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks for inspection based on one or more selected attributes, analyzing an inspection feasibility metric of the one or more repeating block.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing one or more inspection processes on the selected portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks comprise:
 performing one or more mixed mode inspection processes on the selected portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing one or more inspection processes on the selected portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks comprise:
 performing one or more field-to-field inspection processes on the selected portion of the identified one or more repeating blocks.   
     
     
         19 . A method for wafer inspection of fields of repeating pattern structures comprising:
 receiving one or more inspection results of a wafer including one or more images of a portion of a die of a wafer;   presenting one or more portions of the received inspection results on a display;   receiving a first signal indicative of a user identification of a first field of repeating pattern structures within the die of the presented one or more portions of the received inspection results;   receiving at least a second signal indicative of a user identification of a second field of repeating pattern structures within the die of the presented one or more portions of the received inspection results, the at least a second field of repeating pattern structures differing from the first field of repeating pattern structure by one or more symmetry operations; and   comparing corresponding portions of the first repeating pattern structure to the at least a second repeating pattern structure in order to identify an occurrence of one or more defects in at least one of the first field of repeating pattern structures and the at least a second repeating pattern structure.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein at least one of the first field of repeating pattern structures and the at least a second field of repeating pattern structures comprise:
 a field of repeating cells.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein at least one of the first field of repeating pattern structures and the at least a second field of repeating pattern structures comprise:
 a field of repeating polygons.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein at least one of the first field of repeating pattern structures and the at least a second field of repeating pattern structures are spaced regularly along at least a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein at least one of the first field of repeating pattern structures and the at least a second field of repeating pattern structures are spaced irregularly along at least a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.