Inspection method and inspection system using charged particle beam

An inspection system using a charged particle beam comprising:

• a specimen stage for mounting a specimen;
• a beam source for generating a primary charged particle beam;
• an objective lens for focusing and irradiating said primary charged particle beam on the specimen mounted on said specimen stage;
• an electrode for generating an electric field adapted to accelerate, toward said beam source, secondary electrons generated from said specimen under the irradiation of said primary charged particle beam;
• a detection system including a plurality of detection unit for separating said secondary electrons into a plurality of azimuth components and detecting these components;
• and
• secondary electron alignment means for making the center trajectory of said secondary electrons substantially coincident with the center axis of said detection system independently of the optical axis of said primary charged particle beam.

An inspection method using a charged particle beam, comprising the steps of:

• scanning a specimen with a primary charged particle beam;
• forming, near said specimen, an electric field for accelerating upwards secondary electrons and backscattering electrons generated from said specimen under irradiation of said primary charged particle beam;
• separating the secondary electrons and backscattering electrons generated from said specimen into a plurality of azimuth components and detecting these components;
• separating the secondary electrons and backscattering electrons into a plurality of elevation components and detecting these components;
• and
• deflecting the center axis of secondary electrons generated from said specimen so as to get clear of the optical axis of said primary charged particle beam in advance of said elevation angle separation detection step.

An inspection system using a charged particle beam comprising:

• a specimen stage for mounting a specimen;
• a beam source for generating a primary charged particle beam;
• an objective lens for focusing and irradiating said primary charged particle beam on the specimen mounted on said specimen stage;
• an electrode for generating an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons generated from the specimen under irradiation of said primary charged particle beam towards said beam source;
• a detection system including a plurality of detection unit for separating said secondary electrons and backscattering electrons into a plurality of azimuth components and detecting these components;
• a detection system including one or more additional detection unit for separating said secondary electrons and backscattering electrons into a plurality of elevation components and detecting these components;
• and
• secondary electron deflection means, interposed between said detection system for elevation component separation detection of said secondary electrons and backscattering electrons and said specimen, for deflecting said secondary electrons and backscattering electrons so as to get clear of the optical axis of said charged particle beam.

An inspection method using a charged particle beam comprising the steps of:

• scanning a specimen with a primary charged particle beam;
• accelerating said primary charged particle beam with simultaneously focusing on said specimen;
• forming, near said specimen, an electric field for accelerating upwards secondary electrons and backscattering electrons generated from said specimen under irradiation of said primary charged particle beam;
• separating secondary electrons and backscattering electrons generated from said specimen into a plurality of azimuth components and detecting these components;
• separating secondary electrons and backscattering electrons generated from said specimen into a plurality of elevation components and detecting these components;
• and
• deflecting secondary electrons generated from said specimen or said primary charged particle beam by means of two stages of E×B deflector, adapted to superimpose an electric field on a magnetic field for forming a deflection field, such that optical axes of said primary charged particle beam and said secondary electrons do not coincide with each other.

An inspection system using a charged particle beam comprising:

• a specimen stage for mounting a specimen;
• a beam source for generating a primary charged particle beam;
• an objective lens for focusing and irradiating said primary charged particle beam on the specimen mounted on said specimen stage;
• an electrode for generating an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons generated from said specimen under irradiation of said primary charged particle beam towards said beam source;
• an electrode for accelerating said primary charged particle beam near said objective lens;
• a detection system including a plurality of detection unit for separating said secondary electrons and backscattering electrons into a plurality of azimuth components and detecting these components;
• a detection system including additional one or more detection unit for separating said secondary electrons and backscattering electrons into a plurality of elevation components and detecting these components;
• and
• two stages of E×B deflector for superimposing an electric field on a magnetic field for forming a deflection field, so as to deflect any one of optical axes of said secondary electrons and said primary charged particle beam such that these optical axes do not coincide with each other.