A method and alignment system for minimizing errors in the deposition of films of tailored thickness. A first position on a stage is identified for optimal placement of a downward looking microscope (DLM) and an upward looking microscope (ULM) when alignment marks on the DLM and ULM are aligned, where the DLM is attached to a bridge and the ULM is attached to the stage. A second position on the stage is identified when the ULM on the stage is aligned with the alignment marks on a metrology tool. A surface of a chucked substrate affixed to the stage is then measured. A map between a substrate coordinate system and a metrology coordinate system may then be obtained using the measured surface of the chucked substrate with the first and second positions.

A sensor system (1) for inspecting oil, which comprises a micromechanical cell (10) defining a cavity (12), the micromechanical cell (10) being configured for allowing the entrance of oil (5) within said cavity (12) and the outcome of oil (5) from said cavity (12) through respective inlet (11a) and outlet (11b). The sensor system (1) comprises inside said micromechanical cell (10): a first transparent protective means (13a) configured to isolate the inner part of said first member (101) from said oil (5); a second transparent protective means (13b) configured to isolate the inner part of said second member (102) from said oil (5); a light source (14) disposed in said first member (101) and configured to emit incoherent light towards said oil (5) disposed within said cavity (12); an opaque plate (16) disposed between said light source (14) and said first transparent protective means (13a), said plate (16) having a pin-hole (165) configured to permit the passage of illumination towards said oil (5), said pin-hole (165) being located at a first distance (z1) from a focussing plane (F) defined by said oil (5) in cavity (12); and an image sensor (17) disposed in said second member (102) situated on the opposite side of the space (12) with respect to said first member (102) and configured to capture a sequence of images of the oil disposed within said cavity (12), said image sensor (17) being located at a second distance (z2) from said focussing plane (F) defined by said oil (5) in cavity (12).

System for state monitoring of a microscope the system having at least one measuring sensor in each case for capturing at least one time-variable chemical and/or physical quantity, a camera for recording an image in a field of view and a processing unit. The at least one measuring sensor has a display area and displays thereon a measured value for the captured time-variable chemical and/or physical quantity. The camera is arranged so that the display areas of at least one measuring sensor are located in the field of view and the processing unit is configured to evaluate the image and to extract the display areas contained in the image therefrom. Also, a method for state monitoring of a microscope is disclosed, wherein at least one measuring sensor with a display area is provided in order to capture in each case at least one time-variable chemical and/or physical quantity, and an image is recorded. The image is recorded so that it contains the display areas of at least one measuring sensor. The display areas are identified in the image, the image is evaluated and the measured values contained in the image are extracted.

A method for inspecting a three dimensional structure of a microscopic scale of a sample, the method may include obtaining an image of the three dimensional structure; obtaining a reference image of a reference three dimensional structure, the reference three dimensional structure and the three dimensional structure are ideally identical to each other; wherein each one of the image and the reference image was generated using optics that includes a phase mask, wherein the phase mask virtually expands a depth of field of the optics by encoding depth information over a depth range that exceeds the depth of field; generating a difference image that represents a difference between the image and the reference image; determining, based on the difference image, whether there is at least one defect in the three dimensional structure; wherein when determining that there is the at least one defect then providing a depth of the at least one defect

Methods of acquiring a through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) image and inspecting a semiconductor device are provided. A method of acquiring the TSOM image includes: acquiring a plurality of actual images of different focal positions and out-of-focus degrees (distances) of the actual images with respect to an inspection object through an optical tool; acquiring a plurality of virtual images having different focal positions from the actual images and the focal positions thereof, based on the actual images and the out-of-focus degrees of the actual images; and acquiring a TSOM image of the inspection object by using the actual images and the virtual images. According to a method of acquiring the TSOM image and the method of inspecting the semiconductor device, it is possible to acquire high-precision TSOM images of the object with less effort and time and to inspect the semiconductor device efficiently and at low cost.

An optical microscope system for 3D surface deformation and morphology measurement that can serve as a powerful tool in quality engineering and control, as well as in biological and materials research is described. The system was developed in part by combining the DAIC technique with optical microscopy. Decoding algorithms were derived for calculating the 3D displacement or profile of a micro-sized test sample from the in-plane displacement components of it first-order diffracted views.

The present application relates to a scanning probe microscope comprising a probe arrangement for analyzing at least one defect of a photolithographic mask or of a wafer, wherein the scanning probe microscope comprises: (a) at least one first probe embodied to analyze the at least one defect; (b) means for producing at least one mark, by use of which the position of the at least one defect is indicated on the mask or on the wafer; and (c) wherein the mark is embodied in such a way that it may be detected by a scanning particle beam microscope.

A device may use a camera to capture an image of an end face of an optical fiber in a field of view of the camera. The device may monitor a focus metric associated with the image while the image is manually focused using an opto-mechanical assembly. The device may automatically initiate a test to inspect the image of the end face of the optical fiber for compliance with a set of criteria related to cleanliness and damage based on the focus metric satisfying a condition. The device may output a result from the test indicating whether the end face of the optical fiber satisfies the set of criteria related to cleanliness and damage.

A slit m is projected onto an object surface in which reference point X.sub.1 is in a horizontal axis x closest to in focus point P. One image of a field of view area F is acquired after reflection of light comprising said reference point X.sub.1. Position Z.sub.1 of the object in a vertical axis z is determined. Images of respective field of view areas F are acquired after reflection of light having reference points X.sub.2, X.sub.3 . . . X.sub.n by simultaneously moving the object along axis z to maintain reference points X.sub.2, X.sub.3 . . . X.sub.n closest to in focus point P. Positions Z.sub.2, Z.sub.3 . . . Z.sub.n in which images were acquired are determined. The in focus point P along horizontal axis x is determined for each image. A correction differential Δ.sub.1, Δ.sub.2 . . . Δ.sub.n between in focus point P and reference points X.sub.1, X.sub.2 . . . X.sub.n is calculated.

A defect observation apparatus includes a storage unit configured to store defect information about defects detected by an external inspection apparatus; a first imaging unit configured to capture an image of a defect using a first imaging condition and a second imaging condition; a control unit configured to correct positional information on the defect using the image captured with the first imaging unit; and a second imaging unit configured to capture an image of the defect based on the corrected positional information.