Applied Materials, Inc.
Method for detecting voids and an inspection system

Abstract:

A method for detecting voids in a metal line of a semiconductor device die includes: scanning an electron beam upon a selected location on the die containing the metal line; determine gray levels in an image produced by collected electrons of the electron beam backscattered from the selected location on the die; and identifying one or more voids in the metal line based on differences between the gray levels in the image.