Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hitachi High-tech Corporation

Naoma Ban

Kenji Obara

Takehiro Hirai

Akira Ikegami

Naomasa Suzuki

Yasushi Ebizuka

Yuta Kawamoto

Manabu Yano

Hiroshi Tsuji

Kohei Yamaguchi

Satoshi Tadaka

Tatsuichi Kato

The present disclosure aims at proposing a multi-beam irradiation device capable of correcting off-axis aberrations. In order to achieve the above object, a beam irradiation device is proposed, which includes a beam source which emits a plurality of beams; an objective lens () which focuses a beam on a sample; a first lens () which is arranged such that a lens main surface is positioned at an object point of the objective lens and deflects a plurality of incident beams toward an intersection point of a lens main surface of the objective lens and an optical axis; a second lens () which is arranged closer to a beam source side than the first lens and focuses the plurality of beams on a lens main surface of the first lens; and a third lens () which is arranged closer to the beam source side than the second lens and deflects the plurality of beams toward an intersection point of a lens main surface of the second lens and the optical axis.

Beam irradiation device

The objective of the present invention is to provide a charged-particle beam device capable of moving a field-of-view to an exact position even when moving the field-of-view above an actual sample. In order to attain this objective, a charged-particle beam device is proposed comprising an objective lens whereby a charged-particle beam is focused and irradiated onto a sample; a field-of-view moving deflector for deflecting the charged-particle beam; and a stage onto which the sample is placed. The charged-particle beam device is equipped with a control device which controls the lens conditions for the objective lens in such a manner that the charged-particle been focuses on the sample which is to be measured; moves the field-of-view via the field-of-view moving deflector while maintaining the lens conditions; acquires a plurality of images at each position among a reference pattern extending in a specified direction; and uses the plurality of acquired images to adjust the signal supplied to the field-of-view moving deflector.

Charged-particle beam device

The present invention relates to a defect inspection apparatus based on the fact that contrasts of a grain and a void of a semiconductor copper interconnect in a scanning electron microscope are changed depending on electron beam irradiation accelerating voltages. A charged particle beam apparatus of the present invention irradiates the same portion of a specimen with electron beams at a plurality of accelerating voltages, and differentiates a grain () from a void () on the basis of a contrast change amount of the same portion in a plurality of images () acquired so as to respectively correspond to the plurality of accelerating voltages. Consequently, it is possible to automatically detect a grain and a void in a differentiation manner at a high speed without destructing a specimen.

Charged particle beam apparatus

A surface observation apparatus is achieved, which enables even a beginner to easily select an optimal evaluation indicator for each of various patterns to be evaluated without a trial and error approach. A plurality of images to be evaluated are input from an image processing unit () to an evaluation image input unit () (in step). The input images to be evaluated are displayed on a display (). A user rearranges the images in accordance with an evaluation criterion of the user while referencing the display (), and defines an evaluation criterion (in step). Evaluation values are calculated for the input images (to be evaluated) using a plurality of evaluation indicators (in step). The evaluation values for each of the evaluation indicators are compared with the evaluation criterion defined by the user, and correlation coefficients are then calculated (in step). An evaluation indicator having the maximum absolute value of a correlation coefficient is automatically selected as an evaluation criterion that is closest to the evaluation criterion defined by the user (in step). The images are rearranged in order of correlation coefficient and a list of the images is displayed on the display () so that the images are arranged in order of evaluation value (in step).

Surface observation apparatus and surface observation method

With respect to a charged particle beam device, the step size of focal point measure for executing autofocusing is optimized to a value that is optimal with respect to the spread of an approximation curve for a focal point measure distribution. The step size of focal point measure for executing autofocusing is corrected using an image feature obtained based on a layout image derived from an image obtained at a first magnification or from design data. Autofocusing is executed based on the obtained step size to carry out observation, measurement, or to image the sample under inspection.

Observation method and observation device

The present invention provides a contact hole observation technology for avoiding a situation in which it is difficult to observe a contact hole as a nonuniform charge is formed in the contact hole due to a tilted electron beam during a process for forming a preliminary charge on a sample. The present invention also provides a scanning electron microscope based on such a contact hole observation technology. During a preliminary charge process, an electron beam is allowed to become incident in a plurality of directions to perform a precharge, thereby reducing a region within the contact hole that is not irradiated with the electron beam. This reduces the number of secondary electrons that become lost on the wall surface of the contact hole, thereby making it possible to acquire information about the bottom of the contact hole. Further, the precharge is processed by dividing a precharge irradiation region into a plurality of ring-shaped regions concentric with an observation region and precharging each of the ring-shaped regions in a plurality of scanning directions.

Scanning electron microscope and sample observation method

An object of this invention is to provide a charged particle beam apparatus that can easily evaluate the stability of a position that is irradiated with a charged particle beam. To achieve the above object, this invention includes a detector that scans a charged particle beam and detects secondary particles that originate from a substrate, and an image processer that displays an image of the substrate on a display based on the secondary particles that are detected by the detector. The image processer is configured to display on the display any two or more members of the group consisting of a scanning image produced by the charged particle beam of the substrate, a wave in time domain showing fluctuations of the irradiation position of the charged particle beam on the substrate, and a power spectrum of the wave in time domain.

Charged particle beam apparatus and displacement detecting circuit

A defect review method and a defect review device using an electron microscope, reduce the number of user processes necessary to set automatic focal adjustment of an electron beam to provide easier sample observation. The review method comprises the steps of: performing focal adjustment for a plurality of coordinate positions pre-registered on the coordinate on an object under observation; creating a criterion for focal adjustment based on a focal position at each of the plurality of coordinate positions; setting a focal probe range based on a deviation between the criterion and the focal position; and determining an automatic focal adjustment range for defect detection on the object under observation based on the set focal probe range.

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Hitachinaka, Japan

Naoma Ban