Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Peter Fazekas

Hans-Peter Feuerbaum

Johann Otto

Ulrich Knauer

Rolf Von Criegern

Reiner Lassmann

Albert Krupp

Johannes Fottner

A method and an apparatus for storing measured data from a sputter crater which is generated and analyzed in a secondary ion mass spectrometer is considerably more simple and cost-effective than techniques requiring complete data storage and is an improvement over the known standard integral method. The region swept by the ion beam of a secondary ion mass spectrometer is subdivided into a plurality of sub-areas, one location in a memory is assigned to each of the sub-areas, the signal components occurring from the individual sub-areas are stored in the assigned memory locations during a sweep of the sputter crater with the ion beam, and the measured data are evaluated after the end of at least one scan of the sputter crater.

Method and apparatus for storing measured data from sub-regions of a

A method for measuring electrical signals according to a sampling principle with the assistance of an electron probe, whereby the signal is respectively repeatedly sampled in succession at different phase points, enables a fast registration of an electrical signal at a circuit node of an integrated circuit and simultaneously permits registration when at least one noise signal appears between two clock edges of a basic pulse rate of the integrated circuit. Between two successive phase points at which the signal is repeatedly sampled in succession for potential measurement, only a check is executed at phase points by sampling as to whether a noise signal exists in this intermediate region.

Method and apparatus for rapid measurements of electrical signals at

A method for setting voltage resolution in particle beam measuring devices wherein band width of a measured signal processing is modified. In order to set a desired voltage resolution simply, reliably, and with high precision, a signal noise of the measured signal is measured. This signal noise is compared to a desired value for the measured signal resolution, and the band width of the measured signal processing is modified such that the signal noise of the measured signal is less than or equal to the desired value for the measured signal resolution.

Method for automatically setting the voltage resolution in particle beam

Time-critical events are localized within a clocked electronic circuit without requiring cyclical operation By way of measuring at the outputs of the circuit, the limit frequency of the circuit is identified. A test pattern sequence is then applied to this circuit. The number n of that test pattern at which errors are perceived at the outputs is identified, in particular with a clock frequency higher than the identified limit frequency of the circuit. The test patterns having the numbers n-m are applied to the circuit with a clock frequency greater than the identified limit frequency of the circuit and the remaining n test patterns are applied to the circuit with a clock frequency lower than the identified limit frequency of the circuit, being applied thereto in succession step-by-step with m=1,2,3 . . . in at least one run of n test patterns. A check is carried out after every run of a test pattern sequence of n test patterns as to whether an error still exist at the output until an error can no longer be documented at the output and a determination is thus made with respect to which test pattern having the number n-m the error is generated within the -circuit. An error tracking technique is carried out in order to localize the cause of error within the electronic circuit.

Method for the localization of time-critical events within a clock

A method for automatically setting an operating point in signal curve measurements with particle beam measuring apparatus. An automatic setting of the operating point is provided when no specific point in time is known at which a reference potential is present at a measuring location. Given stroboscopically keyed primary particles, a periodic signal curve, which also comprises a specific reference potential in addition to other potentials, is applied to the measuring location. The keying phase of the keyed primary particles is varied with respect to the periodic signal curve. The periodic signal curve is quantitatively registered in this fashion. The phase point of the qualitatively registered signal curve which corresponds to the specific reference potential at the measuring location is identified. A keying phase of the primary particles is kept constant during the setting of the operating point, and is kept constant to phase points at which the reference potential is present at the measuring location.

Method for automatically setting an operating point given signal curve

A respective threshold circuit is provided for defining upper and lower thresholds representing logic levels of signals occuring within integrated circuits. The chronological position of a signal edge and the steepness of the signal edge are defined with the assistance of the two thresholds.

Method for the registration and representation of signals in the

A method for measuring a low-frequency signal progression at a measuring point of a specimen by use of an electron probe. A load on the circuit is kept as low as possible by employing a pulsed electron probe during a search of the measuring points. The pulsed electron probe may also be employed for actual measurement. By providing a pulse repitition frequency of the electron probe which is independant of the operating frequency of the circuit specimen, a phase shift of the primary electron pulses relative to the low-frequency signal progression is not necessary for real time measurement of the low-frequency signal progression.

Method for measuring low-frequency signal progressions with an electron

A method for emphasizing a portion of an area of a subject being scanned by a scanning microscope wherein a subject is scanned with a particle probe of the microscope moving at a given scanning speed along a line with a given space between lines and wherein the image is reproduced on the image recording device having a given scanning speed along each image line and a given spacing between the image lines characterized by enlarging selected portions of the image by selectively varying the scanning speed and spacing between the lines of at least one of the particle probe and image recording devices. The method enables producing an enlarged portion of an area of the subject being observed with the surrounding portions of the area being simultaneously produced to enable a significantly faster and more reliable discovery of the portion of the area of the subject which is of interest.

Method of emphasizing a subject area in a scanning microscope

A method and apparatus for conducting a fast internal logic check of integrated circuits whereby the operations on all data lines of a data bus can be simultaneously represented employ a pulsed electron beam as a measuring probe, a scan generator for changing the position of the measuring probe, an evaluator for the potential-contrast signal, a computer or logic analyzer for evaluating the measured values, and a sequence control device for controlling the sequence of operation of the method and device. Given a fixed phase relation of the program cycle of the integrated circuit to be checked, the pulsed electron beam is successively directed to different test locations and the potential-contrast signal for each test location is registered and logically evaluated. The test results gained at the various phase relations are relayed to the logic analyzer and evaluated therein.

Method and apparatus for a fast internal logic check of integrated

A method for representing logic changes of state occurring at a plurality of adjacent circuit nodes in an integrated circuit in the form of a logic image employs a pulsed electron probe which always scans a same path in the x-direction on the integrated circuit and the phase of the electron pulses comprising the pulsed electron probe is continuously shifted for each new scanning operation. The integrated circuit can be imaged up to the edge of a recording or field of view limit and it is only at this limit that the y-deflection of the pulsed electron probe is fixed. Very small spacings, such as those occurring between adjacent integrated circuit tracks, can thus be reliably imaged on the picture screen of the scanning electron microscope.

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Munich, Germany

Peter Fazekas