Method and apparatus for high-throughput inspection of large...

Radiant energy – Photocells; circuits and apparatus – With circuit for evaluating a web – strand – strip – or sheet

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C250S216000, C356S237400

Reexamination Certificate

active

11377080

ABSTRACT:
In an inspection system for planar objects having periodic structures, programmable optical Fourier filtering in the focal plane of a telecentric lens system is used to directly identify physical phenomena indicative of non-periodic defects. Lens assemblies and a coherent optical source are used to generate and observe a spatial Fourier transform of a periodic structure in the Fourier plane. Optical Fourier filtering (OFF) is performed in the focal plane using an electrically programmable and electrically alignable spatial light modulator. The spatial light modulator with high signal to noise ratio is electrically reconfigurable according to a feedback-driven, filter construction and alignment algorithm. The OFF enhances any non-periodic components present in the Fourier plane and final image plane of the object. A system having a plurality of inspection channels provides high-throughput inspection of objects with small non-periodic defects while maintaining high detection sensitivity.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3743423 (1973-07-01), Heinz et al.
patent: 4000949 (1977-01-01), Watkins
patent: 4579455 (1986-04-01), Levy et al.
patent: 4805123 (1989-02-01), Specht et al.
patent: 4806774 (1989-02-01), Lin et al.
patent: 4993837 (1991-02-01), Oshida et al.
patent: 5276498 (1994-01-01), Galbraith et al.
patent: 5383056 (1995-01-01), Nishii et al.
patent: 5506676 (1996-04-01), Hendler et al.
patent: 5546181 (1996-08-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 5617203 (1997-04-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 5627678 (1997-05-01), Nishii et al.
patent: 5742422 (1998-04-01), Drake
patent: 5822055 (1998-10-01), Tsai et al.
patent: 5907628 (1999-05-01), Yolles et al.
patent: 5966212 (1999-10-01), Hendler et al.
patent: 5970168 (1999-10-01), Montesanto et al.
patent: 6046808 (2000-04-01), Fateley
patent: 6061126 (2000-05-01), Yoshimura et al.
patent: 6084671 (2000-07-01), Holcomb
patent: 6128078 (2000-10-01), Fateley
patent: 6137570 (2000-10-01), Chuang et al.
patent: 6490393 (2002-12-01), Zhou
patent: 2003/0128416 (2003-07-01), Caracci et al.
Watkins, “Inspection of integrated circuit photo masks with intensity spatial filters”Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 57, No. 9, pp. 1634-1639 (Sep. 1969).

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Method and apparatus for high-throughput inspection of large... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for high-throughput inspection of large..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for high-throughput inspection of large... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3830557

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.