Abstract: A pore- or particle-size distribution measurement apparatus is provided. When the size of a pore existing in a porous insulator film or the size of a particle in a thin film is measured, a specimen having the insulator film on the surface of a substrate is irradiated, from the surface side thereof, with X-rays at a specified incident angle larger than the total reflection critical angle of the insulator film but less than 1.3 times the total reflection critical angle of the substrate. In the irradiated X-rays, among components exiting from the insulator film without entering the pore and scattering of reflection component of the X-rays reflected on the surface of the substrate after having entered the insulator film, the scattered component whose exit angle is larger than that of a component of the reflection component which exits from the insulator film without entering the pore is detected.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for accurately analyzing transition metal such as iron and copper contained as impurities in a hafnium-containing film on a semiconductor substrate, which is a sample, is provided. Ir-L? rays selected and split by a monochromator from X rays generated from an X-ray tube having an anode containing iridium, is applied to the sample so as to totally reflect on a hafnium film of the sample, and the fluorescent X rays generated in a direction other than the total reflection direction are detected by a detector. This makes it possible not only to detect Fe—K? rays, but also to suppress generation of Hf-L? rays which interferes with detection of Cu—K rays, and to shift the upper limit energy of the Raman scattering to be small so as to cancel overlapping with Cu—K rays.

Abstract: A surface defect evaluating apparatus comprises an X-ray generator having a non-winding type cathode, a first slit device for shaping the X-ray flux from the X-ray generator, a diffraction crystal for obliquely receiving a slit-form X-ray flux passing through the slit device and diffracting the X-ray flux on a specific crystal plane, a second slit device for shaping the X-ray flux from the diffraction crystal, a photographic plate for detecting the intensity distribution of the flux diffracted on the specific crystal plane of a sample such as a semiconductor wafer after a slit-form X-ray flux passing through the second slit device obliquely irradiates the sample, a slit device, and a scintillator, installed at the back side of the photographic plate for detecting the intensity of the X-ray flux.

Abstract: A total reflection X-ray fluorescence apparatus comprises a base material having an optically flat surface for totally reflecting X-rays radiated at a small glancing angle, a first detector such as an SSD for detecting fluorescent X-rays emerging from a specimen located near the optically flat surface of the base material and a second detector such as a scintillation counter for detecting an intensity of an X-rays coming from the base material.