Template-Set Approach to VLSI Pattern Inspection

Abstract

A new approach is described for the automatic detection of defects in VLSI circuit patterns such as photomasks and wafers. It is based on morphological feature extraction using templates that represent a set of local pixel configurations within a specified window. These templates are stored in content-addressable memories (CAMs) to facilitate parallel comparisons of window-pattern scanning over a tested image. Maskable CAMs reduce the size of a template set substantially. Two error-detection algorithms are implemented to detect both random defects and dimensional errors.© (1987) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.