Charged Particle Beam Device and Method for Producing and Observing Sample Piece

A charged particle beam device that creates a sample piece from a wafer by using a charged particle beam, the device comprising:

• a charged particle beam column configured to emit the charged particle beam;
• a wafer stage configured to move with the wafer placed thereon;
• a sample piece transfer mechanism configured to hold the sample piece separated and extracted from the wafer and transport the sample piece to a plurality of carriers mounted on a sample piece holder;
• and
• a sample piece holder stage provided on the wafer stage configured to allow the sample piece holder to be detachably mounted thereon and to move independently of the wafer stage.

A method for producing and observing a sample piece, the method comprising:

• irradiating a wafer placed on a wafer stage with an ion beam to process the sample piece having a plane or a cross section of the wafer as an observation surface;
• attaching a sample piece transfer mechanism to the processed sample piece to extract and separate the sample piece from the wafer;
• attaching the sample piece to a carrier on a sample piece holder detachably mounted on a sample piece holder stage that is provided on the wafer stage and is tiltable and rotatable with respect to the wafer stage, such that the observation surface is parallel to a surface of the carrier;
• rotating the sample piece holder stage such that the observation surface of the sample piece is observable with an electron beam;
• and
• rotating the sample piece holder stage such that a back surface of the observation surface of the sample piece is observable with the electron beam.

A method for producing and observing a sample piece, the method comprising:

• irradiating a wafer placed on a wafer stage with an ion beam to process the sample piece having a plane or a cross section of the wafer as an observation surface;
• attaching a sample piece transfer mechanism to the processed sample piece to extract and separate the sample piece from the wafer;
• attaching the sample piece to a carrier on a sample piece holder detachably mounted on a sample piece holder stage that is provided on the wafer stage and is tiltable and rotatable with respect to the wafer stage, such that the observation surface is parallel to a surface of the carrier;
• tilting the sample piece holder stage such that the observation surface is parallel to an optical axis of the ion beam;
• rotating the sample piece holder stage such that the observation surface or a back surface of the observation surface is observable with an electron beam;
• processing the observation surface or the back surface of the sample piece by irradiation with the ion beam to thin the sample piece;
• changing a tilt of the sample piece holder stage to adjust an incident angle of the ion beam on the observation surface or the back surface such that the observation surface and the back surface are processed in parallel;
• and
• irradiating, with the electron beam, the observation surface or the back surface processed by the ion beam to observe a processing state of the observation surface or the back surface.

A method for producing and observing a sample piece, the method comprising:

• irradiating a wafer placed on a wafer stage with an ion beam to process the sample piece having a plane or a cross section of the wafer as an observation surface;
• attaching a sample piece transfer mechanism to the processed sample piece to extract and separate the sample piece from the wafer;
• attaching the sample piece to a carrier on a sample piece holder detachably mounted on a sample piece holder stage that is provided on the wafer stage and is tiltable and rotatable with respect to the wafer stage, such that the observation surface is parallel to a surface of the carrier;
• tilting the sample piece holder stage such that the observation surface is parallel to an optical axis of the ion beam;
• rotating the sample piece holder stage such that the observation surface intersects a tilt axis of a stage on which the sample piece holder stage is mounted;
• tilting the stage around the tilt axis such that an incident angle of the ion beam on the observation surface varies;
• processing the observation surface of the sample piece or a back surface of the observation surface by irradiation with the ion beam to thin the sample piece;
• changing a tilt of the sample piece holder stage to adjust an incident angle of the ion beam on the observation surface or the back surface such that the observation surface and the back surface are processed in parallel;
• and
• rotating the sample piece holder stage such that the observation surface or the back surface processed by the ion beam is observable by irradiation with an electron beam, and observing a processing state of the observation surface or the back surface.