IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,558,193
Granted Patent B2
US 8,558,193 · App. 13/382,396 · Granted Oct 15, 2013

Charged particle beam device

Inventors: Shusaku Maeda (Mito, JP); Kouji Ishiguro (Hitachinaka, JP)
Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,558,193
App. No.
13/382,396
Granted
Oct 15, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present invention provides a charged particle beam device in which the change of expansion/contraction of a specimen which is an observing object is restricted thereby eliminating position deviation of the observing object and significantly increasing its throughput. The present invention includes specimen holding means for holding a specimen, temperature regulation means which can regulate the temperature of the specimen, and temperature regulation means control means which can control the temperature regulation means based on various conditions.

Claims (36)

1. A charged particle beam device, comprising:

a specimen holding unit for holding a semiconductor wafer;

a specimen stage for moving the specimen holding unit;

a charged beam column having a function to scan a primary charged particle beam onto a semiconductor wafer placed on the specimen stage and to detect generated secondary charged particles to output secondary charged particle signal; and

a unit for forming an image of the semiconductor wafer from the secondary charged particle signal,

wherein the charged particle beam device further comprises:

a temperature regulation unit for controlling a temperature of the semiconductor wafer, and

a measurement unit for acquiring, in a contactless manner, an observation indication of the wafer that is necessary for controlling the temperature regulation unit,

wherein the measurement unit includes an information processing unit for performing predetermined processing on pixel data constituting an image of the wafer,

wherein a position deviation at a specific reference position on the wafer is calculated from the pixel data by the information processing unit, and

wherein the temperature regulation unit is controlled by using information of the calculated deviation.

2. The charged particle beam device according to claim 1 , wherein

the measurement unit includes a contactless temperature sensor.

3. The charged particle beam device according to claim 2 , wherein

the specimen holding unit includes an electrostatic chuck including an electrostatic adsorption plate, and

the temperature sensor includes an infrared sensor which is disposed in a through hole formed in the electrostatic adsorption plate.

4. The charged particle beam device according to claim 1 , wherein

the measurement unit includes a unit for measuring a diameter of the semiconductor wafer.

5. The charged particle beam device according to claim 4 , wherein

the charged particle beam device calculates a variation amount of a diameter of the semiconductor wafer from the measured diameter of the wafer, and controls the temperature regulation unit based on the variation amount.

6. The charged particle beam device according to claim 4 , wherein

the unit for measuring the diameter of the wafer includes a pair of optical displacement sensors disposed on the specimen holding unit.

7. The charged particle beam device according to claim 6 , further comprising:

an optical height sensor for measuring a height of the wafer, wherein

the pair of optical displacement sensors are disposed in a location where an optical axis of a laser beam that is radiated and detected between the pair of sensors does not overlap an optical axis of a laser beam that is radiated and detected by the optical height sensor on the specimen holding unit.

8. The charged particle beam device according to claim 6 , wherein

a laser beam radiated from the optical displacement sensor is turned off in a region on the wafer where an optical axis of the primary charged particle beam crosses an optical path of laser beam irradiated from the optical displacement sensor.

9. The charged particle beam device according to claim 6 , wherein

the pair of optical displacement sensors are adapted to radiate and detect two laser beams, and

only one of the two laser beams is turned off in a region where an optical axis of the primary charged particle beam crosses an optical path of a laser beam radiated from the optical displacement sensor.

10. The charged particle beam device according to claim 1 , wherein

the reference position is a position of a defect which is present on the wafer, or an alignment position.

11. The charged particle beam device according to claim 1 , wherein

the temperature regulation unit includes a Peltier element which is disposed on the specimen holding unit.

12. The charged particle beam device according to claim 11 , wherein

the Peltier element is disposed radially from a center of the specimen holding unit to an outer periphery thereof.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 6, 2012
From: MAEDA, SHUSAKU; ISHIGURO, KOUJI
To: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 027489/0752 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2009-161383 · Jul 8, 2009 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20120112068A1 · May 10, 2012