Provided is a method of designing an optical metrology system for
measuring structures on a workpiece wherein the optical metrology system
is configured to meet one or more signal criteria. The design of the
optical metrology system is optimized by using collected signal data in
comparison to the one or more signal criteria. In one embodiment, the
optical metrology system is used for stand alone systems. In another
embodiment, the optical metrology system is integrated with a fabrication
cluster in semiconductor manufacturing.