Methods and systems for inclusion analysis

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11921053-B2
Application number	US-202117496605-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2021
Priority date	Mar 26, 2019
Publication date	Mar 5, 2024
Grant date	Mar 5, 2024

Abstract

Various methods and systems are provided for analyzing sample inclusions. As one example, a correction factor may be generated based on inclusion properties of a first sample determined using both an optical emission spectrometry (OES) system and a charged-particle microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (CPM/EDX) system. The OES system may be calibrated with the correction factor. The inclusion properties of a second, different, sample may be determined using the calibrated OES system.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for analyzing sample inclusions, comprising;
calibrating an optical emission spectrometry (OES) system using a calibration factor, wherein the calibration factor is generated based on inclusion properties of a first sample determined using both the OES system and a charged-particle microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (CPM/EDX) system; and
determining, with the calibrated OES system, an inclusion property of a second, different sample.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the correction factor based on inclusion properties of the first sample determined using both the OES system and the CPM/EDX system includes generating the correction factor based on an inclusion volume number density determined using the OES system and an inclusion area number density determined using the CPM/EDX system.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the correction factor based on the inclusion volume number density determined using the OES system and the inclusion area number density determined using CPM/EDX system includes converting the inclusion area number density determined using the CPM/EDX system to a second inclusion volume number density, and generating the correction factor based on the second inclusion volume number density and the inclusion volume number density determined using the CPM/EDX system.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the inclusion property of the second sample using the calibrated OES system includes determining an inclusion volume number density of the second sample using the calibrated OES system.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein calibrating the OES system using the correction factor includes multiplying an inclusion volume number density output of the OES system with the correction factor.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inclusion property of the second sample is not determined using the CPM/EDX system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating an inclusion type classifier of the OES system based on an inclusion composition of the first sample determined using the CPM/EDX system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein calibrating the OES system with the correction factor includes calibrating an inclusion mass density output of the OES system based on the correction factor.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining the first sample at a stage of production process at a first time point, obtaining the second sample at the stage of production process at a second, later, time point, and adjusting the production process based on the inclusion property of the second sample.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first sample is a reference sample, and the method further comprising obtaining the second sample at a stage of production process, and adjusting the production process based on the inclusion property of the second sample.

11. A charged-particle microscope, comprising:
a detector for acquiring energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) data, and
a controller with computer readable instructions stored on a non-transitory memory, by executing the computer readable instructions, the charged-particle microscope is configured to:
receive inclusion properties of a first sample determined using an OES system;
acquire EDX data of the first sample via the detector;
determine inclusion properties of the first sample based on the EDX data;
generate a correction factor based on both the received inclusion properties from the OES system and the determined inclusion properties based on the EDX data; and
output the correction factor to the OES system for calibrating the OES system.

12. The charged-particle microscope of claim 11 , wherein the charged-particle microscope is further configured to: update the charged-particle microscope based on the received inclusion properties determined using the OES system.

13. The charged-particle microscope of claim 11 , wherein the received inclusion properties include an inclusion size.

14. The charged-particle microscope of claim 11 , wherein the received inclusion properties include an inclusion type.

15. The charged-particle microscope of claim 11 , wherein the received inclusion properties include an inclusion volume number density, and the determined inclusion properties of the first sample based on the EDX data include an inclusion area number density, and generating the correction factor includes generating the correction factor based on both the inclusion volume number density and the inclusion area number density.

16. An OES system, comprising:
a controller with computer readable instructions stored on a non-transitory memory, wherein by executing the computer readable instructions, the OES system is configured to:
determine inclusion properties of a first sample;
receive inclusion properties of the first sample determined using a CPM/EDX system;
generate a correction factor based on both of the measured inclusion properties and the received inclusion properties of the first sample;
calibrate the OES system based on the correction factor; and
determine inclusion properties of a second sample with the calibrated OES system.

Assignees

• Fei Co

Inventors

• Bohlen Jean-Marc
• Van Beek Cornelis

Classifications

• G01N21/892 Primary

  characterised by the flaw, defect or object feature examined · CPC title

• G01N21/67

  using electric arcs or discharges · CPC title

• G01N23/2252

  Measuring emitted X-rays, e.g. electron probe microanalysis [EPMA] · CPC title

• G01N2021/8925

  Inclusions · CPC title

• G01N21/63 Primary

  optically excited · CPC title