Patents by Inventor David M. W. Evans

David M. W. Evans has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7218768
    Abstract: The present invention is a hybrid technique for finding defects on digitized device images using a combination of spatial domain and frequency domain techniques. The two dimensional spectra of two images are found using Fourier like transforms. Any strong harmonics in the spectra are removed, using the same spectral filter on both spectra. The images are then aligned, transformed back to the spatial domain, and subtracted. The resulting spectrally-filtered difference image is thresholded and analyzed for defects. Use of the hybrid technique of the present invention to process digitized images results in the highest-performance and most flexible defect detection system. It is the best performer on both array and random devices, and it can cope with problems such as shading variations and the dark-bright problem that no other technique can address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: David M. W. Evans, Bin-Ming Ben Tsai, Jason Z. Lin
  • Publication number: 20040202361
    Abstract: The present invention is a hybrid technique for finding defects on digitized device images using a combination of spatial domain and frequency domain techniques. The two dimensional spectra of two images are found using Fourier like transforms. Any strong harmonics in the spectra are removed, using the same spectral filter on both spectra. The images are then aligned, transformed back to the spatial domain, and subtracted. The resulting spectrally-filtered difference image is thresholded and analyzed for defects. Use of the hybrid technique of the present invention to process digitized images results in the highest-performance and most flexible defect detection system. It is the best performer on both array and random devices, and it can cope with problems such as shading variations and the dark-bright problem that no other technique can address.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2003
    Publication date: October 14, 2004
    Inventors: David M.W. Evans, Bin-Ming Ben Tsai, Jason Z. Lin
  • Patent number: 6665432
    Abstract: The present invention is a hybrid technique for finding defects on digitized device images using a combination of spatial domain and frequency domain techniques. The two dimensional spectra of two images are found using Fourier like transforms. Any strong harmonics in the spectra are removed, using the same spectral filter on both spectra. The images are then aligned, transformed back to the spatial domain, and subtracted. The resulting spectrally-filtered difference image is thresholded and analyzed for defects. Use of the hybrid technique of the present invention to process digitized images results in the highest-performance and most flexible defect detection system. It is the best performer on both array and random devices, and it can cope with problems such as shading variations and the dark-bright problem that no other technique can address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2003
    Inventors: David M. W. Evans, Bin-Ming Ben Tsai, Jason Z. Lin
  • Patent number: 6021214
    Abstract: The present invention is a hybrid technique for finding defects on digitized device images using a combination of spatial domain and frequency domain techniques. The two dimensional spectra of two images are found using Fourier like transforms. Any strong harmonics in the spectra are removed, using the same spectral filter on both spectra. The images are then aligned, transformed back to the spatial domain, and subtracted. The resulting spectrally-filtered difference image is thresholded and analyzed for defects. Use of the hybrid technique of the present invention to process digitized images results in the highest-performance and most flexible defect detection system. It is the best performer on both array and random devices, and it can cope with problems such as shading variations and the dark-bright problem that no other technique can address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2000
    Assignee: KLA Instruments Corp.
    Inventors: David M. W. Evans, Bin-Ming Ben Tsai, Jason Z. Lin
  • Patent number: 5537669
    Abstract: The present invention is a hybrid technique for finding defects on digitized device images using a combination of spatial domain and frequency domain techniques. The two dimensional spectra of two images are found using Fourier like transforms. Any strong harmonics in the spectra are removed, using the same spectral filter on both spectra. The images are then aligned, transformed back to the spatial domain, and subtracted. The resulting spectrally-filtered difference image is thresholded and analyzed for defects. Use of the hybrid technique of the present invention to process digitized images results in the highest-performance and most flexible defect detection system. It is the best performer on both array and random devices, and it can cope with problems such as shading variations and the dark-bright problem that no other technique can address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1993
    Date of Patent: July 16, 1996
    Assignee: KLA Instruments Corporation
    Inventors: David M. W. Evans, Bin-Ming B. Tsai, Jason Z. Lin
  • Patent number: 4823297
    Abstract: A computer method and apparatus for permuting data values in fast transforms recognizing patterns in the relationship between indicies i and j to avoid calculating j when i equals j and avoid calculating j when j is less than i. The indicie j is calculated from i in a single multiplication by a power of B and a single addition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 18, 1989
    Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
    Inventor: David M. W. Evans