Samsung patents chip inspection method that finds light exposure errors
Samsung has patented a method for checking the precise width of tiny patterns on computer chips. The process involves exposing a light-sensitive coating to different amounts of light, etching the material, and measuring the resulting lines to identify if the light exposure was too high or too low.
In the filing’s own words
A method for inspecting a critical dimension may include providing a substrate, applying a photoresist on the substrate, variably irradiating a dose of light onto the photoresist, performing a photo process to develop the photoresist to form a photoresist pattern, performing an etching process using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask to form a plurality of patterns, measuring a width of each of the plurality of patterns and a spacing between adjacent ones of the plurality of patterns, and identifying a cause of a defect in the photo process based on the measured width and the measured spacing.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method for inspecting a critical dimension, the method comprising: applying a photoresist on a substrate; variably irradiating a dose of light onto the photoresist; performing a photo process on the photoresist, the photo process including developing the photoresist to form a photoresist pattern; forming a plurality of patterns on the substrate, the forming the plurality of patterns including performing an etching process using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask; measuring a width of each of the plurality of patterns and a spacing between adjacent ones of the plurality of patterns to obtain a measured width and a measured spacing; and identifying a cause of a defect in the photo process based on the measured width and the measured spacing.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- Critical dimension inspection method and semiconductor device manufacturing method using the same
- Patent number
- US12743026B2
- Application number
- 18302375
- Filed
- Apr 18, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G03F 7/70625 Physics & computingG03F 7/0025 Physics & computingG03F 7/0392 Physics & computingG03F 7/2002 Physics & computingG03F 7/70466 Physics & computingMore from Samsung in Chips & hardware
- Samsung patents chip that combines camera and screen Oct 13, 2026
- Samsung patents faster chip testing using machine learning Sep 1, 2026
- Samsung patents radar method to pinpoint target direction more accurately Sep 1, 2026
- Samsung patents memory chip that searches data by content, not address Sep 1, 2026
- Samsung patents chip design that skips empty data to speed up AI Sep 1, 2026
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.