Charged particle beam apparatus and control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11610756-B2
Application number	US-202117497384-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2021
Priority date	Oct 9, 2020
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

Abstract

A charged particle beam apparatus acquires an image that is not affected by movement of a stage at a high speed. The apparatus includes: a charged particle source for irradiating a sample with a charged particle beam; a stage on which the sample is placed; a measurement unit for measuring a movement amount of the stage; a deflector; a deflector offset control unit, which is a feedback control unit for adjusting a deflection amount of the deflector according to the movement amount of the stage; a plurality of detectors for detecting secondary charged particles emitted from the sample by irradiation of the charged particle beam; a composition ratio calculation unit that calculates composition ratios of signals output from the detectors based on the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit; and an image generation unit for generating a composite image by compositing the signals using the composition ratio.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A charged particle beam apparatus, comprising:
a charged particle source configured to irradiate a sample with a charged particle beam;
a stage on which the sample is placed;
a deflector configured to deflect the charged particle beam;
a plurality of detectors configured to detect secondary charged particles emitted from the sample by irradiation of the charged particle beam;
a feedback control unit configured to adjust a deflection amount of the charged particle beam specified by the deflector; and
an image generation unit configured to calculate composition ratios of signals of the plurality of detectors based on the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit, and generate a composite image by compositing the signals based on the composition ratios.

2. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a measurement unit configured to measure a movement amount of the stage, wherein
the feedback control unit adjusts the deflection amount of the charged particle beam according to the movement amount of the stage.

3. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a storage unit, wherein
a relationship between the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit and the composition ratios is determined in advance using a calibration sample, and is stored in the storage unit.

4. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
the deflection amount and the composition radios of the signals at a time of generation of the composite image are recorded in the storage unit as additional information of the composite image.

5. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
processing of generating the composite image in the image generation unit is performed every one-line scan or one-frame scan of the charged particle beam by the deflector.

6. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a sensor configured to measure at least one of a height of the sample, an inclination of the sample, an incident energy of the charged particle beam on the sample, an incident angle of the charged particle beam on the sample, a temperature of an environment where the charged particle beam apparatus is installed, and an atmospheric pressure of the environment where the charged particle beam apparatus is installed, wherein
composition ratios of the signals output from the plurality of detectors are calculated based on a result measured by the at least one of the sensors, in addition to the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit.

7. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a secondary charged particle deflector configured to deflect secondary charged particles emitted from the sample by the irradiation of the charged particle beam or a converging lens configured to converge the charged particle beam installed between the plurality of detectors and the charged particle source; and
a time measurement unit configured to measure time, wherein
elapsed time, which is a difference between a reference time and a current time, is measured by the time measurement unit, and
the deflection amount of the charged particle beam specified by the deflector is adjusted by the feedback control unit according to the elapsed time.

8. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein
the reference time is a time when an operating condition of the secondary charged particle deflector or an operating condition of the converging lens is determined, or a time when a deflection field generated by the secondary charged particle deflector or a deflection field generated by the converging lens is changed.

9. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a detector control unit configured to adjust an amount of a gain and an offset in the plurality of detectors; and
a detector gain calculation unit configured to calculate the amount of the gain and the offset set by the detector control unit based on the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit, wherein
the image generation unit composites the signals output from the plurality of detectors at constant composition ratios.

10. A control method of a charged particle beam apparatus,
the charged particle beam apparatus including:
a charged particle source configured to irradiate a sample with a charged particle beam;
a stage on which the sample is placed;
a measurement unit configured to measure a movement amount of the stage;
a deflector configured to deflect the charged particle beam;
a plurality of detectors configured to detect secondary charged particles emitted from the sample by irradiation of the charged particle beam;
a feedback control unit configured to adjust a deflection amount of the charged particle beam specified by the deflector; and
an image generation unit,

the control method comprising:
adjusting the deflection amount of the charged particle beam according to the movement amount of the stage by the feedback control unit; and
calculating composition ratios of signals of the plurality of detectors based on the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit, and generating a composite image by compositing the signals based on the composition ratios by the image generation unit.

11. The control method of a charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising:
determining in advance a relationship between the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit and the composition ratios using a calibration sample.

12. The control method of a charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein
the charged particle beam apparatus further includes:
a sensor configured to measure at least one of a height of the sample, an inclination of the sample, an incident energy of the charged particle beam on the sample, an incident angle of the charged particle beam to the sample, a temperature of an environment where the charged particle beam apparatus is installed, and an atmospheric pressure of the environment where the charged particle beam apparatus is installed, and

the control method includes:
calculating composition ratios of the signals output from the plurality of detectors based on a result measured by the at least one of the sensors, in addition to the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit.

Assignees

• Hitachi High Tech Corp

Inventors

• BIZEN Kaori
• Watanabe Ryota
• Mizuhara Yuzuru
• Bizen Daisuke

Classifications

• H01J37/1472

  Deflecting along given lines · CPC title

• H01J2237/24585

  Other variables, e.g. energy, mass, velocity, time, temperature · CPC title

• H01J37/20

  Means for supporting or positioning the object or the material; Means for adjusting diaphragms or lenses associated with the support · CPC title

• H01J37/28

  with scanning beams {(H01J37/268, H01J37/292, H01J37/2955 take precedence)} · CPC title

• H01J2237/2826

  Calibration · CPC title