Abstract: A system, method and computer readable medium for examining a specimen, the method comprising: obtaining defects of interest (DOIs) and false alarms (FAs) from a review subset selected from a group of potential defects received from an inspection tool, each potential defect is associated with attribute values defining a location of the potential defect in an attribute space; generating a representative subset of the group, comprising potential defects selected in accordance with a distribution of the potential defects within the attribute space, and indicating the potential defects in the representative subset as FA; and training a classifier using data informative of the attribute values of the DOIs, the potential defects of the representative subset, and respective indications thereof as DOIs or FAs, wherein the trained classifier is to be applied to at least some of the potential defects to obtain an estimation of a number of expected DOIs.

Abstract: There are provided systems and methods of obtaining a segmented image of a semiconductor specimen, the image comprising first structural elements, obtaining a reference image of the semiconductor specimen, the reference image being based on design data and comprising second structural elements, determining, for at least one pair of elements including a first structural element and a corresponding second structural element, data Dspat informative of a spatial transformation required in order to match the elements of the pair in accordance with a matching criterion, and determining at least one of data informative of a defect in the first structural element and data informative of edge roughness of the first structural element using at least Dspat.

Abstract: There is provided a system and method of runtime examination of a semiconductor specimen. The method includes obtaining a runtime image representative of an inspection area of the specimen, the runtime image having a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); and processing the runtime image using a machine learning (ML) model to obtain examination data specific for a given examination application, wherein the ML model is previously trained for the given examination application using one or more training samples, each training sample representative of a respective reference area sharing the same design pattern as the inspection area and comprising: a first training image of the respective reference area having a relatively low SNR; and label data indicative of ground truth in the respective reference area pertaining to the given examination application, the label data obtained by annotating a second training image of the respective reference area having a relatively high SNR.

Abstract: There is provided a system and method of segmenting an image of a fabricated semiconductor specimen. The method includes: obtaining a first probability map corresponding to the image representative of at least a portion of the fabricated semiconductor specimen and indicative of predicted probabilities of pixels in the image to correspond to one or more first structural elements presented in the image, obtaining a first label map informative of one or more segments representative of second structural elements and labels associated with the segments, performing simulation on the first label map to obtain a second probability map indicative of simulated probabilities of pixels in the first label map to correspond to the one or more segments, and generating a second label map based on the first probability map and the second probability map, the second label map being usable for segmentation of the image with enhanced repeatability.

Abstract: There are provided systems and methods of obtaining a segmented image of a semiconductor specimen, the image comprising first structural elements, obtaining a reference image of the semiconductor specimen, the reference image being based on design data and comprising second structural elements, determining, for at least one pair of elements including a first structural element and a corresponding second structural element, data Dspat informative of a spatial transformation required in order to match the elements of the pair in accordance with a matching criterion, and determining at least one of data informative of a defect in the first structural element and data informative of edge roughness of the first structural element using at least Dspat.

Abstract: There is provided a system and method of generating a training set for training a Deep Neural Network usable for examination of a specimen. The method includes: for each given training image in a group: i) generating a first batch of training patches, including cropping the given training image into a first plurality of original patches; and augmenting at least part of the first plurality of original patches in order to simulate variations caused by a physical process of the specimen; and ii) generating a second batch of training patches, including: shifting the plurality of first positions on the given training image to obtain a second plurality of original patches, and repeating the augmenting to the second plurality of original patches to generate a second plurality of augmented patches; and including at least the first second batches of training patches corresponding to each given training image in the training set.

Abstract: There is provided a system and method of generating a training set for training a Deep Neural Network usable for examination of a specimen. The method includes: for each given training image in a group: i) generating a first batch of training patches, including cropping the given training image into a first plurality of original patches; and augmenting at least part of the first plurality of original patches in order to simulate variations caused by a physical process of the specimen; and ii) generating a second batch of training patches, including: shifting the plurality of first positions on the given training image to obtain a second plurality of original patches, and repeating the augmenting to the second plurality of original patches to generate a second plurality of augmented patches; and including at least the first second batches of training patches corresponding to each given training image in the training set.

Abstract: There is provided a system and method of segmenting an image of a fabricated semiconductor specimen. The method includes: obtaining a first probability map corresponding to the image representative of at least a portion of the fabricated semiconductor specimen and indicative of predicted probabilities of pixels in the image to correspond to one or more first structural elements presented in the image, obtaining a first label map informative of one or more segments representative of second structural elements and labels associated with the segments, performing simulation on the first label map to obtain a second probability map indicative of simulated probabilities of pixels in the first label map to correspond to the one or more segments, and generating a second label map based on the first probability map and the second probability map, the second label map being usable for segmentation of the image with enhanced repeatability.

Abstract: There is provided a system and method of examination of a semiconductor specimen using an examination recipe. The method includes obtaining a registered image pair, for each design-based structural element associated with a given layer, calculating an edge attribute, using a trained classifier to determine a class of the design-based structural element, and generating a layer score usable to determine validity of the registered image pair. There is also provided a system and method of generating the examination recipe usable for examination of a semiconductor specimen.

Abstract: An apparatus, method and non-transitory computer readable storage medium for registering between an image and a description of a multi-layer object, the apparatus comprising: a memory for storing an image of the object and at least part of the description, the part comprising a first description of a first layer and a second description of a second layer of the object; and a processor operatively connected to the memory for: matching the first description to a first part of the image, the first part informative of a part of the first layer, thereby determining a first matching offset; matching the second description to a second part of the image, the second part informative of a part of the second layer, thereby determining a second matching offset; and registering between the image and the description of the multi-layer object based on the at least on the first and second matching offsets.

Abstract: One or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations may be identified. A design-based representation of a first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects may be received. Furthermore, an image-based representation of the first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects may be received where the one or more metrology operations include a first metrology operation associated with the first metrology object that is to be performed on the image-based representation of the first metrology object. The design-based representation of the first metrology object may be mapped with the image-based representation of the first metrology object. The first metrology operation may be performed based on the mapping.

Abstract: A method for evaluating an object, the method may include acquiring, by a charged particle beam system, an image of an area of a reference object, wherein the area includes multiple instances of a structure of interest, and the structure of interest is of a nanometric scale; determining multiple types of attributes from the image; reducing a number of the attributes to provide reduced attribute information; generating guidelines, based on the reduced attribute information and on reference data, for evaluating the reduced attribute information; and evaluating an actual object by implementing the guidelines.

Abstract: There are provided system and method of performing metrology operations related to a specimen. The method comprises: generating an examination recipe in accordance with a metrology application, the examination recipe specifying one or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations related to the metrology application; obtaining an image-based representation of the specimen and a design-based representation of the specimen; mapping between the design-based representation of at least first metrology object and the image-based representation of at least first metrology object; and performing at least first metrology operation of the one or more metrology operations according to the examination recipe using the mapping, the at least first metrology operation specified as related to the at least first metrology object and to be performed on at least the image-based representation of the specimen.

Abstract: One or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations may be identified. A design-based representation of a first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects may be received. Furthermore, an image-based representation of the first metrology object of the one or more metrology objects may be received where the one or more metrology operations include a first metrology operation associated with the first metrology object that is to be performed on the image-based representation of the first metrology object. The design-based representation of the first metrology object may be mapped with the image-based representation of the first metrology object. The first metrology operation may be performed based on the mapping.

Abstract: A method for evaluating an object, the method may include acquiring, by a charged particle beam system, an image of an area of a reference object, wherein the area includes multiple instances of a structure of interest, and the structure of interest is of a nanometric scale; determining multiple types of attributes from the image; reducing a number of the attributes to provide reduced attribute information; generating guidelines, based on the reduced attribute information and on reference data, for evaluating the reduced attribute information; and evaluating an actual object by implementing the guidelines.

Abstract: There are provided system and method of performing metrology operations related to a specimen.

Abstract: There are provided system and method of performing metrology operations related to a specimen.

Abstract: There are provided system and method of performing metrology operations related to a specimen. The method comprises: generating an examination recipe in accordance with a metrology application, the examination recipe specifying one or more metrology objects and one or more metrology operations related to the metrology application; obtaining an image-based representation of the specimen and a design-based representation of the specimen; mapping between the design-based representation of at least first metrology object and the image-based representation of at least first metrology object; and performing at least first metrology operation of the one or more metrology operations according to the examination recipe using the mapping, the at least first metrology operation specified as related to the at least first metrology object and to be performed on at least the image-based representation of the specimen.

Abstract: A nasal mask assembly including a nasal mask with a dome shaped body. The dome shaped body has an inner rim and an outer surface. The inner rim has a rounded triangular shape and a tube connector extends from the outer surface. The inner rim is configured such that a bottom portion thereof sits on or above the patient's upper lip while an upper portion thereof extends across the bridge of the patient's nose.