Paper Title:

Classification of Defects on Semiconductor Wafers Using Priority Rules

Periodical Defect and Diffusion Forum (Volumes 230 - 232)
Main Theme Defects and Diffusion in Semiconductors - An Annual Retrospective VII
Edited by David J. Fisher
Pages 135-148
DOI 10.4028/www.scientific.net/DDF.230-232.135
Citation N.G. Shankar et al., 2004, Defect and Diffusion Forum, 230-232, 135
Online since November, 2004
Authors N.G. Shankar, Z.W. Zhong, N. Ravi
Keywords Defect Type, Defects Inspection, Machine Vision, Referential Inspection, Wafer
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Abstract

This paper presents a template-based vision system to detect and classify the nonuniformaties that appear on the semiconductor wafer surfaces. Design goals include detection of flaws and correlation of defect features based on semiconductor industry expert’s knowledge. The die pattern is generated and kept as the reference beforehand from the experts in the semiconductor industry. The system is capable of identifying the defects on the wafers after die sawing. Each unique defect structure is defined as an object. Objects are grouped into user-defined categories such as chipping, metallization peel off, silicon dust contamination, etc., after die sawing and micro-crack, scratch, ink dot being washed off, bridging, etc., from the wafer. This paper also describes the vision system in terms of its hardware modules, as well as the image processing algorithms utilized to perform the functions.