Abstract:
Disclosed herein is a computer-implemented defect prediction method for a device manufacturing process involving processing a portion of a design layout onto a substrate, the method comprising: identifying a hot spot from the portion of the design layout; determining a range of values of a processing parameter of the device manufacturing process for the hot spot, wherein when the processing parameter has a value outside the range, a defect is produced from the hot spot with the device manufacturing process; determining an actual value of the processing parameter; determining or predicting, using the actual value, existence, probability of existence, a characteristic, or a combination thereof, of a defect produced from the hot spot with the device manufacturing process.
Abstract:
A method including obtaining a measurement and/or simulation result of a pattern after being processed by an etch tool of a patterning system, determining a patterning error due to an etch loading effect based on the measurement and/or simulation result, and creating, by a computer system, modification information for modifying a patterning device and/or for adjusting a modification apparatus upstream in the patterning system from the etch tool based on the patterning error, wherein the patterning error is converted to a correctable error and/or reduced to a certain range, when the patterning device is modified according to the modification information and/or the modification apparatus is adjusted according to the modification information.
Abstract:
An electron beam inspection apparatus, the apparatus including a plurality of electron beam columns (600), each electron beam column configured to provide an electron beam and detect scattered or secondary electrons from an object, and an actuator system (600, 610) configured to move (640, 630) one or more of the electron beam columns relative to another one or more of the electron beam columns. The actuator system may include a plurality of first movable structures at least partly overlapping a plurality of second movable structures, the first and second movable structures supporting the plurality of electron beam columns.
Abstract:
A method including identifying that an area of a first substrate includes a hotspot (710) based on a measurement and/or simulation result pertaining to a patterning device in a patterning system, determining first error information (720) at the hotspot, and creating (730), by a computer system, first modification information for modifying the patterning device (said information to be transmitted with the patterning device to the patterning modification tool at 740) based on the first error information to obtain a modified patterning device.