An Automated Thresholding Approach for Segmenting Deteriorated SEM Images in X-Ray Mask Visual Inspection

• ITO Minoru

  Department of Electronic Engineering, Kogakuin University

抄録

The most troublesome problem in automated X-ray mask inspection is how to exactly determine the threshold level for extracting the pattern portions of each scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image. An exact determination is difficult because the histogram Shows, in most cases; a complicated multi-modal pattern and the true threshold level often Varies with each successive image. This paper presents a novel thresholding approach for segmenting SEM images of X-ray masks. In this approach, the. shape of the histogram of each image is iteratively analyzed until a threshold value minimizing the cost of the correspondence with a reference histogram and satisfying Criteria for determining thresholds is obtained. This new approach is used in an automated inspection system. When the input image resolution is set to 0.05 μm/pixel, experiments confirm 0.1 μm defects are unfailingly detected.

収録刊行物

• IEICE transactions on information and systems

  IEICE transactions on information and systems 79 (6), 866-872, 1996-06-25

  一般社団法人電子情報通信学会

キーワード

• visual inspection
• threshold
• SEM
• LSI pattern

詳細情報

• CRID: 1574231877099475840
• NII論文ID: 110003209721
• NII書誌ID: AA10826272
• ISSN: 09168532
• 本文言語コード: en
• データソース種別:
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