DUAL-PHASE VIRTUAL METROLOGY METHOD

A dual-phase virtual metrology method is disclosed for considering both promptness and accuracy by generating dual-phase virtual metrology (VM) values, wherein a Phase-I conjecture step emphasizes promptness by immediately calculating the Phase-I virtual metrology value (VMI) of a workpiece once the entire process data of the workpiece are completely collected; and a Phase-II conjecture step intensifies accuracy, which does not re-calculate the Phase-II virtual metrology values (VMII) of all the workpieces in the cassette until an actual metrology value (required for tuning or re-training purposes) of a selected workpiece in the same cassette is collected. Besides, the accompanying reliance index (RI) and global similarity index (GSI) of each VMI and VMII are also generated.