Generating three dimensional information regarding structural elements of a specimen

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11264202-B2
Application number	US-202016876637-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2020
Priority date	May 18, 2020
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

A method, a non-transitory computer readable medium and a three-dimensional evaluation system for providing three dimensional information regarding structural elements of a specimen. The method can include illuminating the structural elements with electron beams of different incidence angles, where the electron beams pass through the structural elements and the structural elements are of nanometric dimensions; detecting forward scattered electrons that are scattered from the structural elements to provide detected forward scattered electrons; and generating the three dimensional information regarding structural elements based at least on the detected forward scattered electrons.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing three dimensional information regarding a structural element of a specimen having nanometric dimensions, the method comprising:
(a) illuminating the structural element with an electron beam generated by a column such that a central axis of the electron beam impinges the specimen at a first incident angle while detecting forward scattered electrons scattered from the structural element with a detector positioned above the specimen;
(b) changing the incident angle at which the central axis of the electron beam impinges the specimen by mechanically tilting one or both of the specimen and electron optics of the ebeam column;
(c) illuminating the structural element with an electron beam generated by the column at the changed incident angle while detecting forward scattered electrons scattered from the structural element with the detector;
(d) repeating the steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times; and
(e) generating the three dimensional information regarding the structural element based at least on the detected forward scattered electrons from each of the illuminating steps.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the detecting of the forward scattered electron beams comprises performing spatial filtering for reducing a detection of backscattered electrons scattered from the specimen.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the spatial filtering comprises positioning at least one forward scattered electrons detector within an expected path of the forward scattered electrons.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the detecting of the forward scattered electron beams comprises performing energy filtering for reducing a detection of backscattered electrons scattered from the specimen.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the spatial filtering comprises passing electrons that have energy levels that represent electron paths that include up to a few scattering events and rejecting electrons that have energy levels that represent electron paths that include more than the few scattering events.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the detecting comprises performing both spatial filtering and energy filtering for reducing a detection of backscattered electrons scattered from the specimen.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein structural elements are located within a distance of few nanometers from an upper surface of the specimen.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein a penetration depth of the electron beams exceeds a size of the structural element in the dimension normal to electron beam propagation direction by at least five times.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the illuminating of the structural elements comprises generating the electron beams of different incidence angles by different columns.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the illuminating comprises tilting and/or rotating at least one of the specimen and electron optics to generate the electron beams of different incidence angles.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein an area of a spot formed on a portion of a structural element by an electron beam of each of the electron beams is smaller than an area of the portion of the structural element.

12. A three-dimensional evaluation system, comprising:
electron optics configured to (a) illuminate the structural element of a specimen with an electron beam generated by a column such that a central axis of the electron beam impinges the specimen at a first incident angle while detecting forward scattered electrons scattered from the structural element with a detector positioned above the specimen, where the electron beams pass through the structural elements and the structural elements are of nanometric dimensions; and (b) change the incident angle at which the central axis of the electron beam impinges the specimen by mechanically tilting one or both of the specimen and electron optics of the ebeam column; (c) illuminate the structural element with an electron beam generated by the column at the changed incident angle while detecting forward scattered electrons scattered from the structural element with the detector; and (d) repeat the steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times; and
a processing circuit configured to generate three dimensional information regarding the structural element based at least on the detected forward scattered electrons from each of the illuminating steps.

13. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein the three-dimensional evaluation system is configured to perform spatial filtering for reducing a detection of backscattered electrons scattered from the specimen.

14. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein the three-dimensional evaluation system is configured to perform energy filtering for reducing a detection of backscattered electrons scattered from the specimen.

15. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein the three-dimensional evaluation system is configured to perform both spatial filtering and energy filtering for reducing a detection of backscattered electrons scattered from the specimen.

16. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein a penetration depth of the electron beams exceeds a height of the structural element by at least five times.

17. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein the electron optics comprises different columns.

18. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein the three-dimensional evaluation system comprises at least one tilting units for tilting at least one of the specimen and electron optics to generate the electron beams of different incidence angles.

19. The three-dimensional evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein the electron optics are configured to generate electron beams that exhibit an area of a spot formed on a portion of a structural element by an electron beam of each of the electron beams is smaller than an area of the portion of the structural element.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium for providing three dimensional information regarding structural elements of a specimen, the non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions for:
(a) illuminating the structural element with an electron beam generated by a column such that a central axis of the electron beam impinges the specimen at a first incident angle while detecting forward scattered electrons scattered from the structural element with a detector positioned above the specimen;
(b) changing the incident angle at which the central axis of the electron beam impinges the specimen by mechanically tilting one or both of the specimen and electron optics of the ebeam column;
(c) illuminating the structural element with an electron beam generated by the column at the changed incident angle while detecting forward scattered electrons scattered from the structural element with the detector;
(d) repeating the steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times; and
generating the three dimensional information regarding structural element based at least on the detected forward scattered electrons from each of the illuminating steps.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Israel Ltd

Inventors

• Chirko Konstantin
• Shani Itamar
• Karabekov Albert
• Eytan Guy
• Yaron Lior
• Litman Alon

Classifications

• G01N23/2251

  using incident electron beams, e.g. scanning electron microscopy [SEM] · CPC title

• H01J2237/2814

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• H01J2237/2611

  Stereoscopic measurements and/or imaging · CPC title

• H01J2237/24475

  Scattered electron detectors · CPC title

• H01J2237/226

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