Pattern inspection apparatus and electron beam apparatus

A pattern inspection apparatus comprising:

• an electron beam generator including a plurality of electron guns formed on one or more semiconductor substrates, each said gun being provided with an electron emitter having a sharp headed tip end, a converging electrode and a deflection electrode formed as successive substrate laminations, said generator being operable for irradiating beams emitted from the guns onto an inspection sample;
• a movable support for supporting said inspection sample;
• a detector including a plurality of electron detecting elements, corresponding to each of said plurality of electron guns, arranged on a plane for detecting electrons containing construction information related to said inspection sample;
• and
• a signal processor for processing information output from said respective electron detecting elements simultaneously or in parallel formation,
• said electron emitters being arranged on a common substrate or on a plurality of individual substrates arranged on the same plane,
• each of said electron emitters being provided with an extracting electrode for extracting charged particle beams having a beam current corresponding to an electrode voltage from said electron emitter,
• said converging electrode providing a converging ratio for said charged particle beam corresponding to an electrode voltage or an energization current,
• said deflection electrode providing a deflection angle to said charged particle beam corresponding to an electrode voltage or an energization current,
• said detecting elements being operable for detecting all of or part of respective secondary or backscattered electrons from the surface of an inspection sample exposed to a converged and deflected charged particle beam or transmitted electrons passing through said inspection sample,
• said apparatus including an adjustment unit for adjusting all of or part of respective electrode voltages or energization voltages to be applied to said extraction electrode, said converging electrode, and said deflection electrode.

A pattern inspection apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters, each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end, said electron emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix;
• a converging electrode, a deflection electrode and a detector for each of said electron emitters,
• said electron emitters simultaneously irradiating parallel electron beams onto an inspection sample,
• said detectors catching backscattered or secondary electrons from the surface of said inspection sample with respect to each of said electron beams at respective detection surfaces,
• the condition of the surface of said inspection sample being determined on the basis of the amount of backscattered or secondary electrons which are caught by said detectors;
• and
• a mask having openings with predetermined internal diameters, said mask being arranged so as to align the centers of openings with the axes of respective electron beams at a predetermined position between the surface of said inspection sample and said detection surfaces, said mask being placed at a distance from said surface of said inspection sample that is calculated utilizing a distance between said surface of said inspection sample and said detecting surfaces and the size of said detecting surface.

A pattern inspection apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters, each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end, said electron emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix;
• a converging electrode, a deflection electrode and a detector for each of said electron emitters,
• said electron emitters simultaneously irradiating parallel electron beams onto an inspection sample,
• said detectors catching backscattered or secondary electrons moving from the surface of said inspection sample as a result of impingement of said electron beams thereon at respective detection surfaces,
• the condition of the surface of said inspection sample being determined on the basis of the amount of backscattered or secondary electrons which are caught by said detectors;
• and
• a plurality of thin tubes respectively having a predetermined length and being arranged so that the longitudinal axes of said thin tubes extend parallel to the beam axes of said electron beams.

An electron beam apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters, each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end, said electron emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix;
• a converging electrode, a deflection electrode and detector for each of said electron emitters,
• said electron emitters simultaneously irradiating parallel electron beams onto an inspection sample,
• said detectors catching backscattered or secondary electrons from the surface of said inspection sample with respect to each of said electron beams at respective detection surfaces,
• the condition of the surface of said inspection sample being determined on the basis of the amount of backscattered or secondary electrons which are caught by said detectors;
• and
• a mask having openings with predetermined internal diameters, said mask being arranged so as to align the centers of the openings with the axes of said electron beams at a predetermined position between the surface of said inspection sample and said detection surfaces, said mark being placed at a distance from said surface of said inspection sample which is calculated utilizing a distance between said surface of said inspection sample and said detecting surface, and the size of said detecting surface.

An electron beam apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters, each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end, said electron emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix;
• a converging electrode, a deflection electrode and a detector for each of said electron emitters,
• said electron emitters simultaneously irradiating parallel electron beams onto an inspection sample,
• said detectors catching backscattered or secondary electrons moving from the surface of said inspection sample as a result of impingement of said electron beams thereon at respective detection surfaces,
• the condition of the surface of said inspection sample being determined on the basis of the amount of backscattered or secondary electrons which are caught by said detectors;
• and
• a plurality of thin tubes respectively having predetermined lengths and being arranged so that the longitudinal axes of said thin tubes extend parallel to the beam axes of said electron beams.

An electron beam inspection apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters, each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end, said electron emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix;
• and
• a converging electrode, a deflection electrode and a detector for each of said electron emitters,
• said electron emitters simultaneously irradiating parallel electron beams onto an inspection sample,
• said detectors catching backscattered or secondary electrons moving from the surface of said inspection sample as a result of impingement of said electron beams thereon at respective detection surfaces,
• the condition of the surface of said inspection sample being determined on the basis of the amount of backscattered or secondary electrons which are caught by said detectors,
• said detectors being arranged between said converging and deflecting electrodes and said electron emitters.

An electron beam apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters, each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end, said electron emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix;
• and
• a converging electrode, a deflection electrode and a detector for each of said electron emitters,
• said electron emitters simultaneously irradiating parallel electron beams onto an inspection sample,
• said detectors catching backscattered or secondary electrons moving from the surface of said inspection sample as a result of impingement of said electron beams thereon at respective detection surfaces,
• the condition of the surface of said inspection sample being determined on the basis of the amount of backscattered or secondary electrons that are caught by said detectors,
• the detection value of one of the detectors being corrected by subtracting a total value from the output of said one detector, said total value being formed by summing up a plurality of values, each said value being derived by multiplying a corresponding signal by a predetermined coefficient to thereby eliminate information based upon electrons moving from an adjacently-arranged surface of said inspection sample.

An electron beam apparatus for inspecting integral circuit patterns formed on an inspection sample comprising a semiconductor wafer, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of electron emitters for generating electron beams, said emitters being arranged in the form of a matrix and each including a fine electrode having a sharp headed tip end and a gate surrounding said tip end;
• accelerating electrodes for accelerating said electron beams to a predetermined energy;
• converging electrodes for converging each of said electron beams into a predetermined diameter;
• detectors for detecting backscattered or secondary electrons with respect to each of said electron beams;
• a collimating unit for collimating backscattered or secondary electrons generated from a specific region of said inspection sample to a respective specific detector, and preventing each specific detector from being interfered with by other backscattered or secondary electrons generated from separate sample regions arranged adjacent said specific region,
• said electron emitters, said accelerating electrodes, said converging electrodes, said detectors and said collimating unit being formed as laminations in a semiconductor substrate;
• and
• a signal processing unit for processing information output from respective detectors, simultaneously or in parallel formation.