In-line Inspection of DRC Generated Hotspots

Design Hotspots are features on a silicon chip, which are susceptible to pattern failures. While multiple methods like DRC, ORC and CFM inspection are used to identify these Hotspots, in-line monitoring of these design Hotspots has remained a challenge. Existing methods of Hotspot inspection, which include API and EBI are not suited for large scale inspection due to system limitations and throughput limitations respectively. NanoPoint inspection, which is a recent advance in BBP inspection, has enabled in-line inspection of Design Hotspots at very high throughput. In this paper, a methodology for in-line inspection of Design Hotspots using NanoPoint BBP inspection is presented.