	US 12,148,148 B2
	Thickness measurement of substrate using color metrology
Dominic J. Benvegnu, La Honda, CA (US)
Assigned to Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on May 16, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/198,053.
Application 17/242,158 is a division of application No. 16/435,291, filed on Jun. 7, 2019, granted, now 11,017,524, issued on May 25, 2021.
Application 18/198,053 is a continuation of application No. 17/242,158, filed on Apr. 27, 2021, granted, now 11,682,114.
Application 16/435,291 is a continuation of application No. 15/686,785, filed on Aug. 25, 2017, granted, now 10,325,364, issued on Jun. 18, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/379,920, filed on Aug. 26, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2023/0281801 A1, Sep. 7, 2023
Int. Cl. G06T 7/00 (2017.01); B24B 37/013 (2012.01); G06T 7/90 (2017.01); H01L 21/67 (2006.01); H01L 21/677 (2006.01); H04N 23/12 (2023.01); H04N 23/56 (2023.01)

CPC G06T 7/001 (2013.01) [B24B 37/013 (2013.01); G06T 7/0006 (2013.01); G06T 7/90 (2017.01); H01L 21/67253 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10024 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30148 (2013.01); H01L 21/67742 (2013.01); H04N 23/12 (2023.01); H04N 23/56 (2023.01)]

18 Claims

1. A computer program product for obtaining values representative of a plurality of thicknesses of a plurality of locations on a substrate, the computer program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a processor to:

receive a color image of the substrate from a color camera;

for each pixel of a plurality of pixels in the color image at a different locations in the color image

determine a coordinate of the pixel in a coordinate space of at least two dimensions including a first color channel and a second color channel from color data in the color image for the pixel; and

determine a value representative of a thickness of a layer on the substrate based on the coordinate of the pixel in the coordinate space by interpolation between a first value for a first location in the coordinate space and second value for a second location in the coordinate space; and

store a function that provides a value representative of a thickness as a function of a position on a predetermined path in the coordinate space; and

for each pixel of the plurality of pixels,

determine a position of a point on the predetermined path that is closest to the coordinate of the pixel; and

calculate the value representative of the thickness of the layer on the substrate from the function and the position of the point on the predetermined path.