Asml Netherlands B.v.

Hermes Microvision Inc.

Kla Instruments Corporation

Hermes Microvision, Inc. (taiwan)

Zhong-wei Chen

Xuedong Liu

Weiming Ren

Xuerang Hu

Wei Fang

Xu Zhang

Joe Wang

Juying Dou

Jack Jau

Alan D Brodie

Zhonghua Dong

Yan Zhao

Lingling Pu

Frank Nan Zhang

Dan Meisburger

Martinus Gerardus Johannes Maria Maassen

Chang-Chun Yeh

Weimin Zhou

Jan-Gerard Cornelis Van Der Toorn

Yixiang Wang

Yongxin Wang

Kenichi Kanai

Xiaoyu Ji

Xiaoxue Chen

Jack Y Jau

Yi-Xiang Wang

Van-Duc Nguyen

Yi Xiang Wang

Zheng Fan

Brian J Grenon

Qingpo Xi

Tzu-Yi Kuo

Kuo-Feng Tseng

Chi-Hua Tseng

Zizhou Gong

Wei-Ming Ren

Xue-Dong Liu

Systems and methods of mitigating Coulomb effect in a multi-beam apparatus are disclosed. The multi-beam apparatus may include a charged-particle source configured to generate a primary charged-particle beam along a primary optical axis, a first aperture array comprising a first plurality of apertures having shapes and configured to generate a plurality of primary beamlets derived from the primary charged-particle beam, a condenser lens comprising a plane adjustable along the primary optical axis, and a second aperture array comprising a second plurality of apertures configured to generate probing beamlets corresponding to the plurality of beamlets, wherein each of the plurality of probing beamlets comprises a portion of charged particles of a corresponding primary beamlet based on at least a position of the plane of the condenser lens and a characteristic of the second aperture array.

Multiple charged-particle beam apparatus and methods

A charged particle inspection system may include a shielding plate having an aperture or more than one aperture, for example, to permit additional inspection by an additional instrument requiring a line of sight to the area of interest. A field shaping element, such as a window element or a raised rim, is placed at the aperture to prevent or reduce a component of an electric field.

Apparatus for obtaining optical measurements in a charged particle apparatus

Inspection systems and methods are disclosed. An inspection system may include a first energy source configured to provide a first landing energy beam and a second energy source configured to provide a second landing energy beam. The inspection system may also include a beam controller configured to selectively deliver one of the first and second landing energy beams towards a same field of view, and to switch between delivery of the first and second landing energy beams according to a mode of operation of the inspection system.

Multiple landing energy scanning electron microscopy systems and methods

Systems and methods of reducing the Coulomb interaction effects in a charged particle beam apparatus are disclosed. The charged particle beam apparatus may comprise a charged particle source and a source conversion unit comprising an aperture-lens forming electrode plate configured to be at a first voltage, an aperture lens plate configured to be at a second voltage that is different from the first voltage for generating a first electric field, which enables the aperture-lens forming electrode plate and the aperture lens plate to form aperture lenses of an aperture lens array to respectively focus a plurality of beamlets of the charged particle beam, and an imaging lens configured to focus the plurality of beamlets on an image plane. The charged particle beam apparatus may comprise an objective lens configured to focus the plurality of beamlets onto a surface of the sample and form a plurality of probe spots thereon.

Multiple charged-particle beam apparatus and methods of operating the same using movable lenses

Apparatuses, methods, and systems for ultra-fast beam current adjustment for a charged-particle inspection system include an charged-particle source configured to emit charged particles for scanning a sample; and an emission booster configured to configured to irradiate electromagnetic radiation onto the charged-particle source for boosting charged-particle emission in a first cycle of a scanning operation of the charged-particle inspection system, and to stop irradiating the electromagnetic radiation in a second cycle of the scanning operation.

Beam current adjustment for charged-particle inspection system

A multi-beam inspection apparatus including an adjustable beam separator is disclosed. The adjustable beam separator is configured to change a path of a secondary particle beam. The adjustable beam separator comprises a first Wien filter and a second Wien filter. Both Wien filters are aligned with a primary optical axis. The first Wien filter and the second Wien filter are independently controllable via a first excitation input and a second excitation input, respectively. The adjustable beam separator is configured move the effective bending point of the adjustable beam separator along the primary optical axis based on the first excitation input and the second excitation input.

System and method for alignment of secondary beams in multi-beam inspection apparatus

The present disclosure proposes an anti-rotation lens and using it as an anti-rotation condenser lens in a multi-beam apparatus with a pre-beamlet-forming mechanism. The anti-rotation condenser lens keeps rotation angles of beamlets unchanged when changing currents thereof, and thereby enabling the pre-beamlet-forming mechanism to cut off electrons not in use as much as possible. In this way, the multi-beam apparatus can observe a sample with high resolution and high throughput, and is competent as a yield management tool to inspect and/or review defects on wafers/masks in semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Apparatus using multiple charged particle beams

Disclosed herein is an apparatus comprising: a first electrically conductive layer, a second electrically conductive layer; a plurality of optics element s between the first electrically conductive layer and the second electrically conductive layer, wherein the plurality of optics elements are configured to influence a plurality of beams of charged particles; a third electrically conductive layer between the first electrically conductive layer and the second electrically conductive layer; and an electrically insulating layer physically connected to the optics elements, wherein the eclectically insulating layer is configured to electrically insulate the optics elements from the first electrically conductive layer, and the second electrically conductive layer.

Apparatus using multiple beams of charged particles

Systems and methods of forming images of a sample using a multi-beam apparatus are disclosed. The method may include generating a plurality of secondary electron beams from a plurality of probe spots on the sample upon interaction with a plurality of primary electron beams. The method may further include adjusting an orientation of the plurality of primary electron beams interacting with the sample, directing the plurality of secondary electron beams away from the plurality of primary electron beams, compensating astigmatism aberrations of the plurality of directed secondary electron beams, focusing the plurality of directed secondary electron beams onto a focus plane, detecting the plurality of focused secondary electron beams by a charged-particle detector, and positioning a detection plane of the charged-particle detector at or close to the focus plane.

Multiple charged-particle beam apparatus with low crosstalk

Systems and methods of providing a probe spot in multiple modes of operation of a charged-particle beam apparatus are disclosed. The method may comprise activating a charged-particle source to generate a primary charged-particle beam and selecting between a first mode and a second mode of operation of the charged-particle beam apparatus. In the flooding mode, the condenser lens may focus at least a first portion of the primary charged-particle beam passing through an aperture of the aperture plate to form a second portion of the primary charged-particle beam, and substantially all of the second portion is used to flood a surface of a sample. In the inspection mode, the condenser lens may focus a first portion of the primary charged-particle beam such that the aperture of the aperture plate blocks off peripheral charged-particles to form the second portion of the primary charged-particle beam used to inspect the sample surface.

Systems and methods for voltage contrast defect detection

Systems and methods for in-die metrology using target design patterns are provided. These systems and methods include selecting a target design pattern based on design data representing the design of an integrated circuit, providing design data indicative of the target design pattern to enable design data derived from the target design pattern to be added to second design data, wherein the second design data is based on the first design data. Systems and methods can further include causing structures derived from the second design data to be printed on a wafer, inspecting the structures on the wafer using a charged-particle beam tool, and identifying metrology data or process defects based on the inspection. In some embodiments the systems and methods further include causing the charged-particle beam tool, the second design data, a scanner, or photolithography equipment to be adjusted based on the identified metrology data or process defects.

In-die metrology methods and systems for process control

A multi-beam apparatus for multi-beam inspection with an improved source conversion unit providing more beamlets with high electric safety, mechanical availability and mechanical stabilization has been disclosed. The source-conversion unit comprises an image-forming element array having a plurality of image-forming elements, an aberration compensator array having a plurality of micro-compensators, and a pre-bending element array with a plurality of pre-bending micro-deflectors. In each of the arrays, adjacent elements are placed in different layers, and one element may comprise two or more sub-elements placed in different layers. The sub-elements of a micro-compensator may have different functions such as micro-lens and micro-stigmators.

Apparatus using charged particle beams

A new multi-beam apparatus with a total FOV variable in size, orientation and incident angle, is proposed. The new apparatus provides more flexibility to speed the sample observation and enable more samples observable. More specifically, as a yield management tool to inspect and/or review defects on wafers/masks in semiconductor manufacturing industry, the new apparatus provide more possibilities to achieve a high throughput and detect more kinds of defects.

Apparatus of plural charged-particle beams

Disclosed herein is an apparatus comprising: a source configured to emit charged particles, an optical system and a stage; wherein the stage is configured to support a sample thereon and configured to move the sample by a first distance in a first direction; wherein the optical system is configured to form probe spots on the sample with the charged particles; wherein the optical system is configured to move the probe spots by the first distance in the first direction and by a second distance in a second direction, simultaneously, while the stage moves the sample by the first distance in the first direction; wherein the optical system is configured to move the probe spots by the first distance less a width of one of the probe spots in an opposite direction of the first direction, after the stage moves the sample by the first distance in the first direction.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Zhong-wei Chen