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SamsungGranted patentChips & hardwareInterest 4/10

Samsung patents chip inspection tool that adjusts camera speed for different light colors

This device inspects semiconductor wafers by shining light of different colors (wavelengths) onto the chip. It automatically adjusts how long the camera stays open for each color to ensure the sensor receives a consistent amount of light, preventing some images from being too bright or too dark.

Why it mattersThis improves the accuracy of quality checks during chip manufacturing by ensuring the camera captures clear images across all light settings.

In the filing’s own words

A semiconductor measurement apparatus includes an illuminator configured to output light having a first wavelength band and light having a second wavelength band, different from the first wavelength band, a stage on which a test object is positioned, a camera configured to receive light reflected or scattered from the test object or transmitted through the test object, and a controller configured to control the illuminator and the camera, and to measure, based on information indicated by the light received by the camera, a plurality of structures included in the test object. The controller is configured to set an exposure time of the camera to a first exposure time while the illuminator outputs the light having the first wavelength band, and to set the exposure time of the camera to a second exposure time, different from the first exposure time, while the illuminator outputs the light having the second wavelength band.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A semiconductor measurement apparatus comprising: an illuminator configured to emit output light; a stage configured to position a semiconductor test object such that the output light from the illuminator is incident thereon; a camera configured to receive light that is reflected or scattered from the semiconductor test object or is transmitted through the semiconductor test object; and a controller configured to measure an intensity of a signal output by the camera, in response to setting an exposure time of the camera to a reference exposure time and setting a wavelength band of the output light from the illuminator to each of a plurality of wavelength bands, wherein the controller is configured to compare intensity of respective signals output by the camera in each of the plurality of wavelength bands with a predetermined target intensity and determine respective exposure times of the camera responsive thereto, wherein the respective exposure times for at least some of the plurality of wavelength bands are different from each other such that the plurality of wavelength bands produced by the illuminator each have substantially a same intensity to the camera.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Semiconductor measurement apparatus
Patent number
US12736479B2
Application number
18317387
Filed
May 15, 2023
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
20

Classified under

G01N 21/8806 Physics & computingG01N 21/47 Physics & computingG01N 21/55 Physics & computingG01N 21/9501 Physics & computingG01N 2021/8845 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.