Abstract: A method for inspecting a surface of a workpiece for asymmetric defects, by scanning an incident beam on the surface of the workpiece to impinge thereon to create reflected light extending along a light channel axis in a front quartersphere and scattered light, the incident beam and the light channel axis defining an incident plane, collecting the scattered light at a plurality of collectors disposed above the surface at defined locations such that scatter from asymmetric defects is collectable by at least one collector, detecting collector output and generating signals in response, and processing the signals associated with each collector individually to obtain information about asymmetric defects.

Abstract: A method for inspecting a surface of a workpiece for asymmetric defects, by scanning an incident beam on the surface of the workpiece to impinge thereon to create reflected light extending along a light channel axis in a front quartersphere and scattered light, the incident beam and the light channel axis defining an incident plane, collecting the scattered light at a plurality of collectors disposed above the surface at defined locations such that scatter from asymmetric defects is collectable by at least one collector, detecting collector output and generating signals in response, and processing the signals associated with each collector individually to obtain information about asymmetric defects.

Abstract: A surface inspection system, as well as related components and methods, are provided. The surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. Certain of these components, most notably the beam source subsystem, the beam scanning subsystem and the optical collection and detection subsystem are modular for ready field replacement and/or maintenance. The optical collection and detection system features wing collectors in the front quartersphere and back collectors in the back quartersphere for collected light scattered from the surface of the workpiece. This can greatly improve the measurement capabilities of the system. Also included is a method for detecting asymmetric defects using the wing collectors and back collectors.

Abstract: A surface inspection system, as well as related components and methods, are provided. The surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. The signal processing subsystem comprises a series of data acquisition nodes, each dedicated to a collection detection module and a plurality of data reduction nodes, made available on a peer to peer basis to each data acquisition nodes. Improved methods for detecting signal in the presence of noise are also provided.

Abstract: A method for inspecting a surface of a workpiece comprises scanning an incident beam on the surface of the workpiece to impinge thereon to create reflected light and scattered light comprising light that is scattered from the surface upon impingement thereon by the incident beam; and determining an extent of a contribution to surface roughness from a component of the surface, with the component having a surface roughness spatial frequency range.

Abstract: A system and method of inspecting a semiconductor wafer that may be employed to detect and to characterize defects occurring on an edge of the wafer. The wafer inspection system includes an optical module for providing a light source to scan the wafer edge, a light channel detector for detecting light reflected from the wafer edge, and a processor and memory for converting detected signals to digital form, and for filtering and processing the digital data. The module includes a wafer edge scanning mechanism for projecting a collimated laser beam toward the wafer edge at a predetermined angle of incidence to scan the wafer edge for defects. The light channel detector detects light reflected from the wafer edge to obtain wafer edge data, which are applied to thresholds to determine the location of defects in the wafer edge.

Abstract: A population of data points each having three or more parameters associated therewith, such as multi-channel defect data from an optical scanner, are plotted in three dimensions, and groupings of data points are identified. Boundary surfaces are defined in the three-dimensional space for delineating groupings of data points. The different groupings correspond to different data classifications or types. Classification algorithms based on the boundary surfaces are defined. When applied to defect classification, the algorithms can be exported to an optical scanner for runtime classification of defects. An algorithm for identifying a particular grouping of data points can be defined as a Boolean combination of grouping rules from two or more different n-dimensional representations, where n can be either 2 or 3 for each representation.

Abstract: A population of data points each having three or more parameters associated therewith, such as multi-channel defect data from an optical scanner, are plotted in three dimensions, and groupings of data points are identified. Boundary surfaces are defined in the three-dimensional space for delineating groupings of data points. The different groupings correspond to different data classifications or types. Classification algorithms based on the boundary surfaces are defined. When applied to defect classification, the algorithms can be exported to an optical scanner for runtime classification of defects. An algorithm for identifying a particular grouping of data points can be defined as a Boolean combination of grouping rules from two or more different n-dimensional representations, where n can be either 2 or 3 for each representation.