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:
Jan. 22, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 16, 2009
Defect inspection apparatus, defect inspection method, and semiconductor device manufacturing method
Osamu Nagano, Yokohama, JP;
Osamu Nagano, Yokohama, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A defect inspection method includes generating and applies a charged beam to a sample with patterns; controlling a shape of the charged beam so that a beam width in a first direction perpendicular to an optical axis differs from a beam width in a second direction perpendicular to the optical axis and the first direction, while substantially maintaining a cross-sectional area of the beam; scanning the sample with the charged beam having the controlled shape; and detecting charged particles from the sample by irradiation of the charged beam and detects a defect of the patterns. Assuming that the beam width of the charged beam in the first direction is smaller than that in the second direction, the first direction is set to a direction in which an interval between adjacent patterns becomes a minimum value and the sample is scanned in the second direction.