US Patent 10514685 Automatic recipe stability monitoring and reporting

Systems and methods for monitoring stability of a wafer inspection recipe over time are provided. One method includes collecting inspection results over time. The inspection results are generated by at least one wafer inspection tool while performing the wafer inspection recipe on wafers at different points in time. The method also includes identifying abnormal variation in the inspection results by comparing the inspection results generated at different times to each other. In addition, the method includes determining if the abnormal variation is attributable to the wafers, the wafer inspection recipe, or one or more of the at least one wafer inspection tool thereby determining if the wafer inspection recipe is stable over time.