Ebara Corporation

Nec Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Kenji Terao

Masahiro Hatakeyama

Yoshihiko Naito

Kenji Watanabe

Takeshi Murakami

Norio Kimura

Nobuharu Noji

Kiwamu Tsukamoto

Hirosi Sobukawa

Kenichi Suematsu

Ryo Tajima

Shoji Yoshikawa

Hiroshi Sobukawa

Tatsuya Kohama

Takehide Hayashi

Katsuya Okumura

Hideyuki Isozaki

Mamoru Nakasuji

Tohru Satake

Masamitsu Itoh

Takao Kato

Taro Takahashi

Tatsuhiko Higashiki

Yasushi Toma

Shinichi Okada

Motohiro Niijima

Kentaro Fujita

Toru Kaga

Iwao Satoh

Provided is a method of adjusting an electron-beam irradiated area in an electron beam irradiation apparatus that deflects an electron beam with a deflector to irradiate an object with the electron beam, the method including: emitting an electron beam while changing an irradiation position on an adjustment plate by controlling the deflector in accordance with an electron beam irradiation recipe, the adjustment plate detecting a current corresponding to the emitted electron beam; acquiring a current value detected from the adjustment plate; forming image data corresponding to the acquired current value; determining whether the electron-beam irradiated area is appropriate based on the formed image data; and updating the electron beam irradiation recipe when the electron-beam irradiated area is determined not to be appropriate.

Electron-beam irradiated area adjustment method and adjustment system, electron-beam irradiated region correction method, and electron beam irradiation apparatus

An electron beam inspection device includes: a primary electron optical system that irradiates the surface of a sample with an electron beam; and a secondary electron optical system that gathers secondary electrons emitted from the sample and forms an image on the sensor surface of a detector. An electron image of the surface of the sample is obtained from a signal detected by the detector, and the sample is inspected. A cylindrical member that is formed with conductors stacked as an inner layer and an outer layer, and an insulator stacked as an intermediate layer is provided inside a lens tube into which the secondary electron optical system is incorporated. An electron orbital path is formed inside the cylindrical member, and the members constituting the secondary electron optical system are arranged outside the cylindrical member.

Inspection device

A technique capable of improving the ability to observe a specimen using an electron beam in an energy region which has not been conventionally given attention is provided. This specimen observation method comprises: irradiating the specimen with an electron beam; detecting electrons to be observed which have been generated and have obtained information on the specimen by the electron beam irradiation; and generating an image of the specimen from the detected electrons to be observed. The electron beam irradiation comprises irradiating the specimen with the electron beam with a landing energy set in a transition region between a secondary emission electron region in which secondary emission electrons are detected and a mirror electron region in which mirror electrons are detected, thereby causing the secondary emission electrons and the mirror electrons to be mixed as the electrons to be observed. The detection of the electrons to be observed comprises performing the detection in a state where the secondary emission electrons and the mirror electrons are mixed. Observation and inspection can be quickly carried out for a fine foreign material and pattern of 100 nm or less.

Specimen observation method and device using secondary emission electron and mirror electron detection

A surface processing apparatus is an apparatus which performs surface processing on an inspection objectby irradiating the inspection object with an electron beam. A surface processing apparatus includes: an electron source(including lens system that controls beam shape of electron beam) which generates an electron beam; a stageon which an inspection objectto be irradiated with the electron beam is set; and an optical microscopefor checking a position to be irradiated with the electron beam. The current value of the electron beam which irradiates the inspection objectis set at 10 nA to 100 A.

Surface processing apparatus

The electron beam apparatus is provided with a stage for mounting a sample thereon, a primary optical system for generating an electron beam having an irradiation area and irradiating the electron beam onto the sample, a secondary optical system for detecting electrons which have been generated through the irradiation of the electron beam onto the sample and have acquired structural information of the sample and acquiring an image of the sample about a viewing area and an irradiation area changing section for changing the position of the irradiation area with respect to the viewing area.

Electron beam apparatus and sample observation method using the same

An electro-optical inspection apparatus is provided that is capable of preventing adhesion of dust or particles to the sample surface as much as possible. A stage () on which a sample () is placed is disposed inside a vacuum chamber () that can be evacuated to vacuum, and a dust collecting electrode () is disposed to surround a periphery of the sample (). The dust collecting electrode () is applied with a voltage having the same polarity as a voltage applied to the sample () and an absolute value that is the same or larger than an absolute value of the voltage. Thus, because dust or particles such as particles adhere to the dust collecting electrode (), adhesion of the dust or particles to the sample surface can be reduced. Instead of using the dust collecting electrode, it is possible to form a recess on a wall of the vacuum chamber containing the stage, or to dispose on the wall a metal plate having a mesh structure to which a predetermined voltage is applied. In addition, adhesion of dust or particles can be further reduced by disposing a gap control plate () having a through hole () at the center above the sample () and the dust collecting electrode ().

Electro-optical inspection apparatus and method with dust or particle collection function

Provided is a method and an apparatus for inspecting a sample surface with high accuracy. Provided is a method for inspecting a sample surface by using an electron beam method sample surface inspection apparatus, in which an electron beam generated by an electron gun of the electron beam method sample surface inspection apparatus is irradiated onto the sample surface, and secondary electrons emanating from the sample surface are formed into an image toward an electron detection plane of a detector for inspecting the sample surface, the method characterized in that a condition for forming the secondary electrons into an image on a detection plane of the detector is controlled such that a potential in the sample surface varies in dependence on an amount of the electron beam irradiated onto the sample surface.

Method and apparatus for inspecting sample surface

An electro-optical inspection apparatus prevents adhesion of dust or particles to a sample surface, wherein a stage on which a sample is placed is disposed inside a vacuum chamber that can be evacuated, and a dust collecting electrode is disposed to surround a periphery of the sample. The dust collecting electrode is applied with a voltage having the same polarity as a voltage applied to the sample and an absolute value that is the same or larger than an absolute value of the voltage. Because dust or particles adhere to the dust collecting electrode, adhesion of the dust or particles to the sample surface can be reduced. Instead of using the dust collecting electrode, it is possible to form a recess on a wall of the vacuum chamber, or to dispose on the wall a metal plate having a mesh structure to which a predetermined voltage is applied.

A substrate surface inspection method inspects for a defect on a substrate including a plurality of materials on a surface thereof. The inspection method comprises: irradiating the surface of the substrate with an electron beam, a landing energy of the electron beam set such that a contrast between at least two types of materials of the plurality of materials is within a predetermined range; detecting electrons generated by the substrate to acquire a surface image of the substrate, with a pattern formed thereon from the at least two types of materials eliminated or weakened; and detecting the defect from the acquired surface image by detecting as the defect an object image having a contrast by which the object image can be distinguished from a background image in the surface image. Defects present on the substrate surface can be detected easily and precisely by using a cell inspection.

Substrate surface inspection method and inspection apparatus

Provided is a defect inspection apparatus and an inspection (or evaluation) method with highly improved accuracy, which would not be provided by the prior art, in the defect inspection apparatus used in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device. Provided is a method for inspecting a sample surface with a projection type electron beam inspection apparatus, comprising the steps of: forming such an irradiation area on the sample surface by an electron beam generated from an electron gunthat has approximately a circular or elliptical shape of a size larger than a pattern on the sample surface; irradiating the electron beam substantially onto a center of the pattern on the sample surface; and forming an image on an electron detection plane of a detector from secondary electrons emanating from the sample surface in response to the irradiation of the electron beam for inspecting the sample surface.

Apparatus and method for inspecting sample surface

A surface of a sample is observed by acquiring an image of the surface of the sample. An electron beam I irradiated onto the surface of the sample in which wiring including an insulation material and an electrically conductive material is formed. Electrons that acquired structure information regarding a structure of the surface of the sample are detected. An image of the surface of the sample is acquired by a result of the detection of electrons. The surface of the sample is observed using the acquired image of the surface of the sample. The electron beam is irradiated onto the surface of the sample in a state where a brightness of the insulation material and a brightness of the electrically conductive material in the image of the surface of the sample are set equal to each other.

Sample surface observation method

In a slot format of a received signal, AGC gain update timings (tto t) are shifted every time to disperse and reduce an influence of a noise attributable to a direct current component specific to direct conversion which is accompanied by AGC gain update. In particular, in the case where each of slots in the received signal includes an information portion (data) having a larger code correcting capability and an information portion having a smaller code correcting capability (TPC (transmission power control), TFCI (transport format combination indicator), PILOT), the AGC gain update timing is generated while being shifted in the former information portion, thereby reduce the influence of the noise. When the amount of shift of the AGC gain update timing is set to be larger than that of one symbol of the received signal, the influence of the noise accompanied by the AGC gain update is further reduced.

AGC system, AGC method, and receiver using the AGC system

When a radio communication terminal including an AGC receiver starts, a set gain of the AGC receiver is switched in a short updating period. At this time, the terminal switches among antennas, and calculates and stores a received power of a received radio signal through each antennal. This calculation is performed a predetermined number of times for each antenna. After that, the terminal compares the calculated received powers of the radio signal through each antenna, and fixedly uses, as a receiving antenna, one of the antennas which receives a signal with the largest power.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kenji Terao