The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 07, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 30, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
JEOL Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/304 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 2/304 ;
Abstract
This disclosure is directed to a method of inspecting how contact holes or via holes are formed in a sample, such as a wafer. An electron beam is directed to the contact holes in succession. An absorbed current flowing through the sample is detected by a current amplifier. Data about the obtained absorbed current is stored in a memory. The electric current flowing through a reference sample and ground is measured, and the relation of the current to the etch depths of contact holes into the substrate is previously found. A control unit compares data about the measured current with the previously found relation and determines the depths of holes of interest into the substrate (i.e., inspects how they are etched).