Delay time measurement method and system
AssigneeASML Netherlands B.V.
InventorsBenoit Herve Gaury, Jasper Frans Mathijs Van Rens
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of measuring a delay time of a propagation of a signal in a line in a circuit structure, the method comprises irradiating the line by pulses of a charged particle beam, wherein a pulse repetition frequency of the pulses of the charged particle beam is varied. The method further comprises measuring, for each of the pulse repetition frequencies, a secondary charged particle emission responsive to the irradiating the line by the pulses of the charged particle beam at the respective pulse repetition frequency, and deriving the delay time of the line based on the secondary charged particle emission responsive to the varying of the pulse repetition frequency.
Claims15
A computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
- irradiating a line by pulses of a charged particle beam, wherein a pulse repetition frequency of the pulses of the charged particle beam is varied,
- measuring, for each of the pulse repetition frequencies, a secondary charged particle emission responsive to the irradiating the line by the pulses of the charged particle beam at the respective pulse repetition frequency, and
- deriving a delay time of the line based on the secondary charged particle emission responsive to the varying of the pulse repetition frequency.
A system for measuring a delay time of propagation of a signal in a line in a circuit structure, the system comprising:
- a charged particle beam source configured to irradiate the line by pulses of a charged particle beam, wherein a pulse repetition frequency of the pulses of the charged particle beam is varied,
- a secondary charge particle emission detector to measure, for each of the pulse repetition frequencies, a secondary charged particle emission responsive to the irradiating the line by the pulses of the charged particle beam at the respective pulse repetition frequency, and
- a data processing device configured to derive the delay time of the line based on the secondary charged particle emission responsive to the varying of the pulse repetition frequency.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.