Detection of defects in stripe-patterned mask aerial images

In the semiconductor industry, detecting defects in mask patterns is very important, because even a single defect may lead to failure. Thus, controlling and detecting defects are necessary steps in the manufacturing process. Since there are numerous types of mask patterns, a universal automatic method for defect recognition has not been developed. In this paper, we deal with regular stripe pattern image, which is one of the most frequently occurring patterns in the dynamic random-access memory industry. This paper suggests an image processing method that manipulates the given images to reveal the ambiguous defects and determine the exact position of the defects. The experiments have revealed that this method finds defects efficiently and quickly.