Hitachi, Ltd.

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hiroshi Tooyama

Shunji Maeda

Yutaka Kaneko

Maki Tanaka

Takashi Hiroi

Hiroyuki Shinada

Yusuke Yajima

Mari Nozoe

Hitoshi Kubota

Haruo Yoda

Yasutsugu Usami

Katsuhiro Kuroda

Aritoshi Sugimoto

Atsuko Takafuji

Katsuya Sugiyama

Kimiaki Ando

Kazushi Yoshimura

Tadao Ino

Sumio Hosaka

Seiji Yonezawa

Toshiaki Tsuyoshi

Yasuhiro Someda

Shigeyuki Hosoki

Masatoshi Ohtake

Masakazu Sugaya

Sayaka Tanimoto

Keiji Takata

Tatsuo Horikoshi

Masatoshi Otake

Yasunari Soda

Takeshi Tsutsumi

Hitoshi Kondou

A circuit pattern inspection method and an apparatus therefore, in which the whole of a portion to be inspected of a sample to be inspected is made to be in a predetermined changed state, the portion to be inspected is irradiated with an image-forming high-density electron beam while scanning the electron beam, secondary charged particles are detected at a portion irradiated with the electron beam after a predetermined period of time from an instance when the electron beam is irradiated, an image is formed on the basis of the thus detected secondary charged particle signal, and the portion to be inspected is inspected by using the thus formed image.

Method and apparatus for inspecting integrated circuit pattern

A circuit pattern inspection method and an apparatus therefor, in which the whole of a portion to be inspected of a sample to be inspected is made to be in a predetermined charged state, the portion to be inspected is irradiated with an image-forming high-density electron beam while scanning the electron beam, secondary charged particles are detected at a portion irradiated with the electron beam after a predetermined period of time from an instance when the electron beam is irradiated, an image is formed on the basis of the thus detected secondary charged particle signal, and the portion to be inspected is inspected by using the thus formed image.

During the writing operation, the wafer potential is dynamically detected and corrected. By doing so, the positional accuracy of the circuit patterns written on a wafer can be improved. After a contact resistance between a wafer and a earth pin is measured, the current flowing from the wafer to the ground potential via the earth pin is measured. Then, based on the measurement result, the potential difference is given between the wafer and the ground potential.

Charged particle beam application system

To make possible the in-line inspection of a pattern of an insulating material. A patterned waferformed with a pattern by a resist film is placed on a specimen tableof a patterned wafer inspection apparatusin opposed relation to a SEM. An electron beamof a large current is emitted from an electron gunand the pattern of the patterned wafer is scanned only once at a high scanning rate. The secondary electrons generated by this scanning from the patterned wafer are detected by a secondary electron detectorthereby to acquire an electron beam image. Using this electron beam image, the comparative inspection is conducted on the patterned wafer through an arithmetic operation unitand a defect determining unitSince an electron beam image of high contrast can be obtained by scanning an electron beam only once, a patterned wafer inspection method using a SEM can be implemented in the IC fabrication method.

A circuit pattern inspection method and an apparatus therefor, in which the whole of a portion to be inspected of a sample to be inspected is made to be in a predetermined charged state, the portion to be inspected is irradiated with an image-forming high-density electron beam while scanning the electron beam, secondary charged particles are detected at a portion irradiated with: the electron beam after a predetermined period of time from an instance when the electron beam is irradiated, an image is formed on the basis of the thus detected secondary charged particle signal, and the portion to be inspected is inspected by using the thus formed image.

Surface metrological apparatus

A device for optically tracking information recorded on an optical disc wherein a photodetector is disposed on the optical axis of an optical system for guiding diffracted waves to the photodetector. The origin of a fictitious X-Y coordinate system at the photodetector is placed on the above-mentioned optical axis, X- and Y-axes of the coordinate system are made parallel to and perpendicular to an information track having the information pits on the rotating recording medium, and the photodetector is divided into four equal parts. A first summation signal indicating the sum of output signals from the four parts of the photodetector is converted into a binary signal, and a difference signal between second summation signals each indicating the sum of output signals from a pair of photodetector parts facing each other with the origin of the coordinate system therebetween is converted into another binary signal. A signal indicating a direction in which the light beam deviates from the information track, is formed on the basis of the above-mentioned binary signals, and a tracking signal indicating the deviation of the light beam from the information track is formed by full-wave rectifying the difference signal and modifying the rectified signal with the above-mentioned direction indicating signal.

Device for optically tracking information

Growing community of inventors

Hachioji, Japan

Hiroshi Tooyama