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NanoScope-HPA™
NanoScope™ HPA (Hotspot Pattern Analyzer) provides powerful solutions for filtering, grouping, and risk ranking of defects (or hotspots) found from design verifications to manufacturing process characterization and monitoring. Integrated in NanoScope™ pattern-centric platform, HPA takes defect reports from wafer and mask inspections, as well as hotspot reports from OPC verification or layout process sensitivity checking for design based comprehensive analysis. It allows its users extracting useful information from large amount of data quickly. Through sorting, filtering, design based regrouping and re-classification, HPA provides the effective guide for defect review sampling and future inspection. The user-friendly GUI interface provides a common communication platform between different users and clients.
Features and Benefits:
- Easy input data format conversion from any defect reports and import with original groups or classifications, if exists
- User friendly GUI operation and multi-format, histogram based viewing, sorting and filtering
- Exact pattern grouping with user-defined pattern size
- Increased pattern grouping efficiency with user-defined pattern matching tolerances
- Unique similar pattern grouping with proprietary grouping algorithm
- Defect pattern grouping on design related pattern significance in separating killer and nuisance defects
- Multi-level filtering, plotting and statistical analysis
- Advanced analysis functions capable of handling large amount of defect counts
- Individual and group defect disposition and tracking
- Can be easily integrated with other NanoScope products
Multiple views of hotspot groups: wafer and chip view on left and hotspot grouping in histogram view on right. Analysis functions on top.
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Hotspot pattern tile view: the corresponding 5 representative patterns in a Tile view. The patterns can be easily input into a library.
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NanoScope™ HPA operates in 64 bit Linux platform.
Application cases:
- Pattern based hotspot binning/grouping
Combining a hotspot list (can be any check/inspection report) and its corresponding design layout, HPA puts those hotspots with similar background patterns into one group. HPA user defines hotspot pattern size and similarity. It is an effective way in design based hotspot classification and disposition. Furthermore, HPA is capable of hotspot pattern grouping based on any pattern characteristics (or signatures) that offers customized hotspot disposition and sampling guide.
Typical HPA hotspot pattern signature and hotspot pattern grouping flow.
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- Defect risk ranking using local CAA analysis and multiple criteria filtering
To determine a defect is a killer or a nuisance depends directly on defect size and its location (where it locates relative to its background circuitry). For optical defect inspection, no circuitry background information is available. SEM review does; but due to time limitation, only small numbers of defects get reviewed by SEM. HPA can bring both design layout and defect list together; with the help of local CAA, it can provide defect risk ranking and filter out nuisance defects step by step.
HPA local CAA flow and the examples of low and high risk defects based on local CAA analysis.
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