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AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsHiroyuki Shinada, Yusuke Yajima, Hisaya Murakoshi, Masaki Hasegawa, Mari Nozoe, Atsuko Takafuji, Katsuya Sugiyama, Katsuhiro Kuroda, Kaoru Umemura, Yasutsugu Usami
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An electron beam (area beam) having a fixed area is irradiated onto the surface of a semiconductor sample, and reflected electrons from the sample surface are imaged by the imaging lens, and images of a plurality of regions of the surface of the semiconductor sample are obtained and stored in the image storage unit, and the stored images of the plurality of regions are compared with each other, and the existence of a defect in the regions and the defect position are measured. By doing this, in an apparatus for testing a pattern defect of the same design, foreign substances, and residuals on a wafer in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor apparatus by an electron beam, speeding-up of the test can be realized.
A patterned wafer inspection apparatus, comprising an electron beam irradiation apparatus for spreading and irradiating an electron beam from an electron source to a fixed area region on a sample surface at the same time, an image forming apparatus for imaging backscattering electrons obtained from said area region or secondary electrons and forming an enlarged image of said area region, a sample moving stage for moving said sample so as to irradiate said electron beam at a desired location of said sample surface, an image signal obtaining apparatus for converting said enlarged image of said area region formed by said image forming means to an image signal, and a defect detection apparatus for comparing said image signal of one area region on said sample surface obtained by said image signal obtaining means with an image signal of another area region and detecting a pattern defect in said one area region.
A patterned wafer inspection method including at least a first electron beam irradiation stage for spreading and irradiating an electron beam from an electron source to a first area region on a sample surface at the same time, a first electron image forming stage for imaging backscattering electrons emitted from said first area region or secondary electrons and forming a first electron image of said first area region, a first image signal obtaining stage for obtaining an image signal of said first electron image of said first area region, an irradiation position moving stage for moving the irradiation position of said electron beam from said first area region on said sample surface to a second area region, a second electron beam irradiation stage for spreading and irradiating said electron beam from said electron source to said second area region on said sample surface at the same time, a second electron image forming stage for imaging backscattering electrons emitted from said second area region or secondary electrons and forming a second electron image of said second area region, a second image signal obtaining stage for obtaining an image signal of said second electron image of said second area region, and a defect detection stage for comparing said image signal of said first electron image of said first area region obtained at said first image signal obtaining stage with said image signal of said second electron image of said second area region obtained at said second image signal obtaining stage and detecting a pattern defect in said first area region or said second area region.
A patterned wafer inspection method according to claim 23, wherein said electron beam is decelerated by applying a negative potential to said sample surface.
A patterned wafer inspection method including at least a first electron beam irradiation stage for spreading and irradiating an electron beam from an electron source to a first area region on a sample surface at the same time, a first reverse space image forming stage for imaging backscattering electrons emitted from said first area region or secondary electrons and forming a reverse space image of said first area region, a first image signal obtaining stage for obtaining an image signal of said first reverse space image of said first area region, an irradiation position moving stage for moving the irradiation position of said electron beam from said first area region on said sample surface to a second area region, a second electron beam irradiation stage for spreading and irradiating said electron beam from said electron source to said second area region on said sample surface at the same time, a second reverse space image forming stage for imaging backscattering electrons emitted from said second area region or secondary electrons and forming a second reverse space image of said second area region, a second image signal obtaining stage for obtaining an image signal of said second reverse space image of said second area region, and a defect detection stage for comparing said image signal of said first reverse space image of said first area region obtained at said first image signal obtaining stage with said image signal of said second reverse space image of said second area region obtained at said second image signal obtaining stage and detecting a pattern defect in said first area region or said second area region.
A patterned substrate inspection apparatus, comprising an electron beam irradiation apparatus for spreading and irradiating an electron beam from an electron source to a fixed area region on a sample surface at the same time, an image forming apparatus for imaging backscattering electrons obtained from said area region or secondary electrons and forming an enlarged image of said area region, a sample moving stage for moving said sample so as to irradiate said electron beam at a desired location of said sample surface, an image signal obtaining apparatus for converting said enlarged image of said area region formed by said image forming means to an image signal, and a defect detection apparatus for comparing said image signal of one area region on said sample surface obtained by said image signal obtaining means with an image signal of another area region and detecting a pattern defect in said one area region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.