A method for detecting deposited particles (P) on a surface (11) of an object (3, 14) includes: irradiating a partial region of the surface (11) of the object (3, 14) with measurement radiation; detecting measurement radiation scattered on the irradiated partial region, and detecting particles in the partial region of the surface of the object (3, 14) based on the detected measurement radiation. In the steps of irradiating and detecting, the surface (11) of the object (3, 14) has an anti-reflective coating (13) and/or a surface structure (15) for reducing the reflectivity of the surface (11) for the measurement radiation (9), wherein the particle detection limit is lowered due to the anti-reflective coating (13) and/or the surface structure (15). Also disclosed are a wafer (3) and a mask blank for carrying out the method.

There is provided a film thickness measurement method which measures a film thickness of a specific film to be measured in a multilayer film in situ in a film formation system that forms the multilayer film on a substrate, the method comprising: regarding a plurality of films located under the film to be measured as one underlayer film, measuring a film thickness of the underlayer film, and deriving an optical constant of the underlayer film by spectroscopic interferometry; and after the film to be measured is formed, deriving a film thickness of the film to be measured by spectroscopic interferometry using the film thickness and the optical constant of the underlayer film.

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for detecting defects or reviewing defects in a semiconductor sample. The system has a brightfield (BF) module for directing a BF illumination beam onto a sample and detecting an output beam reflected from the sample in response to the BF illumination beam. The system has a modulated optical reflectance (MOR) module for directing a pump and probe beam to the sample and detecting a MOR output beam from the probe spot in response to the pump beam and the probe beam. The system includes a processor for analyzing the BF output beam from a plurality of BF spots to detect defects on a surface or near the surface of the sample and analyzing the MOR output beam from a plurality of probe spots to detect defects that are below the surface of the sample.

A metrology target includes: a first structure arranged to be created by a first patterning process; and a second structure arranged to be created by a second patterning process, wherein the first structure and/or second structure is not used to create a functional aspect of a device pattern, and wherein the first and second structures together form one or more instances of a unit cell, the unit cell having geometric symmetry at a nominal physical configuration and wherein the unit cell has a feature that causes, at a different physical configuration than the nominal physical configuration due to a relative shift in pattern placement in the first patterning process, the second patterning process and/or another patterning process, an asymmetry in the unit cell.

Quality control of a periodic structure is performed using the damping rate of acoustic waves generated in the periodic structure. In this technique, an excitation light beam illuminates the first layer in the periodic structure to excite an acoustic wave. Possible irregularities in the periodic structure can scatter the acoustic wave, thereby increasing the damping rate of the acoustic wave. A sequence of probe light beams illuminates the periodic structure to measure the acoustic wave as a function of time to generated a temporal signal representing the damping rate of the acoustic signal. The acquired damping rate is employed to evaluate the quality of the periodic structure.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, an inspection method of a photomask includes performing a first inspection process, unloading the photomask from the inspection system, and performing a second inspection process. In the first inspection process, a common Z calibration map of an objective lens of an optical module with respect to the photomask is generated and stored, and a first image of the photomask is captured by using an image sensor while focusing the objective lens of the optical module based on the common Z calibration map. The photomask is unloaded from the inspection system. In the second inspection process, the photomask is loaded on the inspection system and a second image of the photomask is captured by using an image sensor while focusing an objective lens of an optical module based on the common Z calibration map generated in the first inspection process.

There is provided a method of examination of a semiconductor specimen and a system thereof. The method comprises: using a trained Deep Neural Network (DNN) to process a fabrication process (FP) sample, wherein the FP sample comprises first FP image(s) received from first examination modality(s) and second FP image(s) received from second examination modality(s) which differs from the first examination modality(s), and wherein the trained DNN processes the first FP image(s) separately from the second FP image(s); and further processing by the trained DNN the results of such separate processing to obtain examination-related data specific for the given application and characterizing at least one of the processed FP images. When the FP sample further comprises numeric data associated with the FP image(s), the method further comprises processing by the trained DNN at least part of the numeric data separately from processing the first and the second FP images.

One or more images of a portion of a wafer with fabricated devices are acquired using an imaging tool. A pattern of repeating features in an input image of a wafer is identified using various methods, such as correlation and clustering of neighboring vectors. A template is generated based on the found pattern of repeating features. The template is aligned with the acquired image to identify target locations. The target locations are then isolated from the original image for performing detailed metrology.

Systems and methods for determining a diagnosis of a screening system are disclosed. Such systems and methods include identifying defect results based on inline characterization tool data, identifying electrical test results based on electrical test data, generating one or more correlation metrics based on the defect results and the electrical test results, and determining at least one diagnosis of the screening system based on the one or more correlation metrics, the diagnosis corresponding to a performance of the screening system.

A photoluminescent material can be applied to part of a substrate as part of substrate inspection. The photoluminescent material includes a conjugated polymer having a coiled macroscopic molecular shape and a meta-linkage or an ortho-linkage. The substrate is imaged using an inspection system. The conjugated polymer can be, for example, poly(m-phenylene ethynylene) (PPE) or poly(para-phenylene vinylene) (PPV).