Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080308725 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE INSPECTION APPARATUS - A semiconductor device inspection apparatus having a noise subtraction function includes an electron gun, a stage for holding a sample, a main detector for detecting a signal discharged from the sample, and at least one or more sub detector for detecting noise generated from the sample or apparatus so that there can be obtained an image in which the noise caused by discharge generated on the sample or in the apparatus is removed from the signal. The noise subtraction function subtracts the noise detected by the sub detector from the signal detected by the main detector to remove or reduce the noise from the signal. | 12-18-2008 |
20090026369 | Electron Beam Inspection System and an Image Generation Method for an Electron Beam Inspection System - An object of the present invention is to provide an inspection system using a scanning electron microscope that detects a high-precision electron beam image and at the same time, removes restrictions for a low sampling rate, which presents a problem at this point, of an AD converter element and an inspection method. | 01-29-2009 |
20090123059 | INSPECTION APPARATUS AND INSPECTION METHOD USING ELECTRON BEAM - A visual inspection apparatus and method using the scanning electron microscope are disclosed. An electron beam is scanned repeatedly on a sample, and an inspection and a reference image are generated by the secondary electrons generated from the sample or reflected electrons. From the differential image between the inspection image and the reference image, a defect is determined. The number of pixels in the generated image along the direction of repetitive scanning by the electron beam can be changed. | 05-14-2009 |
20090134340 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS, AND IMAGE GENERATION METHOD WITH CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS - The present invention has a subject to provide an apparatus that optimizes scanning in accordance with circumstances or purposes, reduces distortion of images, and improves throughput, image quality, and defect detection rate by controlling deflection of a charged particle beam in a stage tracking system. To solve this subject, an apparatus according to the present invention is an inspection apparatus for detecting abnormal conditions of an inspection target by irradiating the inspection target with the charged particle beam and detecting generated secondary electrons, including both a stage that moves continuously with the inspection target placed thereon and a deflection control circuit for providing a deflector with a scanning signal that causes the charged particle beam to scan repeatedly in a direction substantially perpendicular to a stage movement axis direction while the charged particle beam being deflected in the stage movement axis direction in accordance with a change in movement speed of the stage during movement of the stage. | 05-28-2009 |
20090206257 | PATTERN INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION APPARATUS - An object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus and an inspection method excellent in that high-sensitivity defect detection performance is achieved without causing throughput degradation even if an adequate contrast of a defective region cannot be obtained due to characteristics of an inspected sample. To achieve the object, according to the present invention, an SEM pattern inspection apparatus for determining defective portions from an image generated based on secondary electrons or reflected electrons generated from the sample after causing an electron beam to repeatedly scan the inspected sample reciprocatingly on a line has a function to use a retrace of the electron beam for image acquisition, precharging, or discharging. | 08-20-2009 |
20090208092 | APPERANCE INSPECTION APPARATUS WITH SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE AND IMAGE DATA PROCESSING METHOD USING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE - The present invention provides an appearance inspection apparatus that allows a user to give precedence to either defect detection performance or throughput. The appearance inspection apparatus allows a user to select the frequency of a digital image signal or the ratio of the frequency of the digital image signal to a sampling rate. Further, a user is allowed to select either throughput improvement or S/N improvement to prioritize. | 08-20-2009 |
20090309022 | APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING A SUBSTRATE, A METHOD OF INSPECTING A SUBSTRATE, A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE, AND A METHOD OF PRODUCING AN IMAGE USING A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE - An object of the present invention provides an inspection apparatus and an inspection method which use an electron beam image to accurately detect a defect that is difficult to detect in an optical image, the apparatus and method also enabling prevention of a possible decrease in focus accuracy of an inspection image which affect the defect detection. To accomplish the object, the present invention includes a height measurement section which measures height of the electron beam irradiation position on the substrate after the substrate is loaded onto a movable stage, a height correction processing section which corrects the measured height, and a control section which adjusts a focus of the electron beam according to the height corrected by the height correction processing section, wherein a stage position set when the height measurement section measures the height differs from a stage position set when the substrate is irradiated with the electron beam, and the height correction processing section corrects a possible deviation in height resulting from movement from the stage position for the height measurement to the stage position for the electron beam irradiation. | 12-17-2009 |
20100051806 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS - A charged particle beam apparatus is provided which has high resolving power and a wide scanning region (observation field of view). The apparatus has a unit for adjusting the focus, a unit for adjusting astigmatism, a unit for controlling and detecting scanning positions and a controller operative to control the focus adjustment and astigmatism adjustment at a time in interlocked relation to the scanning positions, thereby assuring compatibility between the high resolving power and the observation view field of a wide area. | 03-04-2010 |
20100314542 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE INSPECTION APPARATUS - A semiconductor device inspection apparatus having a noise subtraction function includes an electron gun, a stage for holding a sample, a main detector for detecting a signal discharged from the sample, and at least one or more sub detector for detecting noise generated from the sample or apparatus so that there can be obtained an image in which the noise caused by discharge generated on the sample or in the apparatus is removed from the signal. The noise subtraction function subtracts the noise detected by the sub detector from the signal detected by the main detector to remove or reduce the noise from the signal. | 12-16-2010 |
20110163230 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE - There is provided a substrate inspection device which uses a charged particle beam and is capable of more quickly extracting a defect candidate than ever before. The configuration of the substrate inspection device is such that a substrate having a circuit pattern is irradiated with a primary charged particle beam, the substrate is moved at a constant speed or at an increasing or a decreasing speed, a position resulting from the movement is monitored, the position of irradiation with the primary charged particle beam is controlled according to the coordinates of the substrate, an image in a partial region on the substrate is captured at a speed lower than the velocity of the movement, a defect candidate is detected based on the captured image, and the detected defect candidate is displayed in a map format. | 07-07-2011 |
20110255773 | CIRCUIT PATTERN INSPECTING APPARATUS, MANAGEMENT SYSTEM INCLUDING CIRCUIT PATTERN INSPECTING APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR INSPECTING CIRCUIT PATTERN - The operation rate of a circuit pattern inspecting apparatus is prevented from deteriorating by measuring image noise of the circuit pattern inspecting apparatus and detecting the sign that the apparatus is to be in an abnormal state. Provided is the circuit pattern inspecting apparatus wherein circuit pattern abnormalities are detected by irradiating a substrate having a circuit pattern formed thereon with an electron beam and detecting generated secondary electrons or reflected electrons. The circuit pattern inspecting apparatus is provided with: an image processing section wherein an image is generated based on the signal intensities of the detected secondary electrons or those of the reflected electrons and the image is displayed for a display apparatus of the interface; and a control section which analyzes the frequency of noise included in the image. | 10-20-2011 |
20120091339 | CHARGED-PARTICLE MICROSCOPE DEVICE, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAMS - A charged-particle microscope device and a method of controlling charged-particle beams are provided, which are capable of signal detection at the time when the charged state of an observation sample or a defect portion becomes optimum. Charge accumulation-waiting time T from an initial irradiation with an electron beam | 04-19-2012 |