Patents by Inventor Atsuko Fukada
Atsuko Fukada has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 8431893Abstract: An electron beam apparatus which includes a sample stage on which a sample is placed, and an electron optical system. The electron optical system includes an electron gun that generates a primary electron beam, an immersion objective lens that converges the primary electron beam on the sample, an E×B deflector that separates a secondary particle, which is generated from irradiation of the primary beam to the sample, from an optical axis of the primary beam, a reflecting member to which the secondary particle collides, an assist electrode which is located under the reflecting member, a plurality of incidental particle detectors that selectively detect a velocity component and an azimuth component of a ternary particle which is generated by the secondary particle colliding to the reflecting member, and a center detector that is located above the reflecting member.Type: GrantFiled: June 22, 2012Date of Patent: April 30, 2013Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Ichiro Tachibana
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Publication number: 20120261574Abstract: An electron beam apparatus which includes a sample stage on which a sample is placed, and an electron optical system. The electron optical system includes an electron gun that generates a primary electron beam, an immersion objective lens that converges the primary electron beam on the sample, an E×B deflector that separates a secondary particle, which is generated from irradiation of the primary beam to the sample, from an optical axis of the primary beam, a reflecting member to which the secondary particle collides, an assist electrode which is located under the reflecting member, a plurality of incidental particle detectors that selectively detect a velocity component and an azimuth component of a ternary particle which is generated by the secondary particle colliding to the reflecting member, and a center detector that is located above the reflecting member.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 22, 2012Publication date: October 18, 2012Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Ichiro Tachibana
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Patent number: 8207498Abstract: An electron beam apparatus which includes a sample stage on which a sample is placed, and an electron optical system. The electron optical system includes an electron gun that generates a primary electron beam, an immersion objective lens that converges the primary electron beam on the sample, an ExB deflector that separates a secondary particle, which is generated from irradiation of the primary beam to the sample, from an optical axis of the primary beam, a reflecting member to which the secondary particle collides, an assist electrode which is located under the reflecting member, a plurality of incidental particle detectors that selectively detect a velocity component and an azimuth component of a ternary particle which is generated by the secondary particle colliding to the reflecting member, and a center detector that is located above the reflecting member.Type: GrantFiled: January 6, 2011Date of Patent: June 26, 2012Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Ichiro Tachibana
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Patent number: 8153969Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 2008Date of Patent: April 10, 2012Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Atsuko Fukada, Mitsugu Sato, Naomasa Suzuki, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukuda, Noritsugu Takahashi
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Publication number: 20120004879Abstract: An object of the invention is to be able to select easily and quickly inspection recipes which are appropriate to samples from any number of inspection recipes. A calculating device displays a plurality of inspection recipes on the GUI. An inspection recipe includes settings for controlling charged particle columns which irradiate charged particles on samples with a plurality of characteristics. Plural inspection recipes are arranged and displayed on a coordinate system which is specified by a plurality of axes having characteristic values (robustness variable of charge up, throughput of defect inspection, and accuracy of defect inspection) which have mutually trade-off relationships.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 16, 2011Publication date: January 5, 2012Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATIONInventors: Muneyuki FUKUDA, Tomoyasu SHOJO, Atsuko FUKADA, Noritsugu TAKAHASHI
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Patent number: 8026481Abstract: An object of the invention is to be able to select easily and quickly inspection recipes which are appropriate to samples from any number of inspection recipes. A calculating device displays a plurality of inspection recipes on the GUI. An inspection recipe includes settings for controlling charged particle columns which irradiate charged particles on samples with a plurality of characteristics. Plural inspection recipes are arranged and displayed on a coordinate system which is specified by a plurality of axes having characteristic values (robustness variable of charge up, throughput of defect inspection, and accuracy of defect inspection) which have mutually trade-off relationships.Type: GrantFiled: February 1, 2007Date of Patent: September 27, 2011Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Atsuko Fukada, Noritsugu Takahashi
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Publication number: 20110101223Abstract: An electron beam apparatus which includes a sample stage on which a sample is placed, and an electron optical system. The electron optical system includes an electron gun that generates a primary electron beam, an immersion objective lens that converges the primary electron beam on the sample, an ExB deflector that separates a secondary particle, which is generated from irradiation of the primary beam to the sample, from an optical axis of the primary beam, a reflecting member to which the secondary particle collides, an assist electrode which is located under the reflecting member, a plurality of incidental particle detectors that selectively detect a velocity component and an azimuth component of a ternary particle which is generated by the secondary particle colliding to the reflecting member, and a center detector that is located above the reflecting member.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 6, 2011Publication date: May 5, 2011Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Ichiro Tachibana
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Patent number: 7875849Abstract: The present invention provides a charged-particle beam inspection technology that enables to acquire a shadow contrast enhanced image, and to detect a shallow roughness with sufficient sensitively, which is caused by a micro-scale or nano-scale foreign matter in an inspection of a semiconductor device having a circuit pattern or the like. Immersion objective lens is employed as an objective lens for the high-resolution observation. A converged electron beam is obtained due to the objective lens. An assist electrode, a right detector and a left detector are provided in the objective lens. A velocity component of a secondary electron caused by the irradiation of the sample with an electron beam is discriminated. An azimuth component is further discriminated.Type: GrantFiled: October 24, 2007Date of Patent: January 25, 2011Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Ichiro Tachibana
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Patent number: 7847249Abstract: A technology whereby removal of magnetic hysteresis is enabled in short time in parallel with a process for stage transfer, and so forth. There is executed a magnetic hysteresis removal sequence whereby current for exciting an electromagnetic coil prior to acquisition of an image is always set to a predetermined variation value against a target value, thereby obtaining information on an image, and so forth, when a diameter of a primary electron beam, converged on the specimen, becomes smaller than dimensions displayed by one pixel of an image to be acquired.Type: GrantFiled: February 6, 2008Date of Patent: December 7, 2010Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Noritsugu Takahashi, Muneyuki Fukuda, Hiroyuki Ito, Atsuko Fukada, Masashi Sakamoto, Satoshi Takada
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Publication number: 20090184255Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 25, 2008Publication date: July 23, 2009Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATIONInventors: Atsuko FUKADA, Mitsugu Sato, Naomasa Suzuki, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukada, Noritsugu Takahashi
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Patent number: 7504626Abstract: A scanning electron microscope, by which an image of unevennesses on the surface of a sample may be obtained in a high-resolution manner and a high contrast one, is provided according to the present invention. A sample image is obtained by use of the scanning electron microscope with a configuration in which a positive voltage is applied in order to accelerate a primary electron beam, and an electric field shielding plate, a magnetic field shielding plate, or an electromagnetic field shielding plate is arranged on the upper side of an object lens.Type: GrantFiled: January 19, 2007Date of Patent: March 17, 2009Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Ichiro Tachibana, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Muneyuki Fukuda
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Patent number: 7462828Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2006Date of Patent: December 9, 2008Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Atsuko Fukada, Mitsugu Sato, Naomasa Suzuki, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukuda, Noritsugu Takahashi
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Patent number: 7449690Abstract: To establish a technique that enables sorting of the elevation and azimuth angle in the direction of emitting secondary electrons and obtaining images with emphasized contrast, in order to perform the review and analysis of shallow asperities and microscopic foreign particles in a wafer inspection during the manufacture of semiconductor devices, an electromagnetic overlapping objective lens is used to achieve high resolution, an electron beam is narrowly focused using the objective lens, an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons in the vicinity of a wafer in order to suppress the dependence on secondary electron energy of the rotation of secondary electrons generated by irradiation of the electron beam, a ring-shaped detector plate is disposed between an electron source and the objective lens, and the low angle components of the elevation angle of the secondary electrons, as viewed from the place of generation, and the high angle components are separated and also the azimuth components are separaType: GrantFiled: February 9, 2006Date of Patent: November 11, 2008Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukuda, Noritsugu Takahashi, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki
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Publication number: 20080185519Abstract: A technology whereby removal of magnetic hysteresis is enabled in short time in parallel with a process for stage transfer, and so forth. There is executed a magnetic hysteresis removal sequence whereby current for exciting an electromagnetic coil prior to acquisition of an image is always set to a predetermined variation value against a target value, thereby obtaining information on an image, and so forth, when a diameter of a primary electron beam, converged on the specimen, becomes smaller than dimensions displayed by one pixel of an image to be acquired.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 6, 2008Publication date: August 7, 2008Inventors: Noritsugu Takahashi, Muneyuki Fukuda, Hiroyuki Ito, Atsuko Fukada, Masashi Sakamoto, Satoshi Takada
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Publication number: 20080099673Abstract: The present invention provides a charged-particle beam inspection technology that enables to acquire a shadow contrast enhanced image, and to detect a shallow roughness with sufficient sensitively, which is caused by a micro-scale or nano-scale foreign matter in an inspection of a semiconductor device having a circuit pattern or the like. Immersion objective lens is employed as an objective lens for the high-resolution observation. A converged electron beam is obtained due to the objective lens. An assist electrode, a right detector and a left detector are provided in the objective lens. A velocity component of a secondary electron caused by the irradiation of the sample with an electron beam is discriminated. An azimuth component is further discriminated.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 24, 2007Publication date: May 1, 2008Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Ichiro Tachibana
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Publication number: 20070187598Abstract: A scanning electron microscope, by which an image of unevennesses on the surface of a sample may be obtained in a high-resolution manner and a high contrast one, is provided according to the present invention. A sample image is obtained by use of the scanning electron microscope with a configuration in which a positive voltage is applied in order to accelerate a primary electron beam, and an electric field shielding plate, a magnetic field shielding plate, or an electromagnetic field shielding plate is arranged on the upper side of an object lens.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 19, 2007Publication date: August 16, 2007Inventors: Ichiro Tachibana, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki, Muneyuki Fukuda
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Publication number: 20070181807Abstract: An object of the invention is to be able to select easily and quickly inspection recipes which are appropriate to samples from any number of inspection recipes. A calculating device displays a plurality of inspection recipes on the GUI. An inspection recipe includes settings for controlling charged particle columns which irradiate charged particles on samples with a plurality of characteristics. Plural inspection recipes are arranged and displayed on a coordinate system which is specified by a plurality of axes having characteristic values (robustness variable of charge up, throughput of defect inspection, and accuracy of defect inspection) which have mutually trade-off relationships.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 1, 2007Publication date: August 9, 2007Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Tomoyasu Shojo, Atsuko Fukada, Noritsugu Takahashi
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Publication number: 20060243906Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 28, 2006Publication date: November 2, 2006Inventors: Atsuko Fukada, Mitsugu Sato, Naomasa Suzuki, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukuda, Noritsugu Takahashi
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Publication number: 20060186351Abstract: To establish a technique that enables sorting of the elevation and azimuth angle in the direction of emitting secondary electrons and obtaining images with emphasized contrast, in order to perform the review and analysis of shallow asperities and microscopic foreign particles in a wafer inspection during the manufacture of semiconductor devices, an electromagnetic overlapping objective lens is used to achieve high resolution, an electron beam is narrowly focused using the objective lens, an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons in the vicinity of a wafer in order to suppress the dependence on secondary electron energy of the rotation of secondary electrons generated by irradiation of the electron beam, a ring-shaped detector plate is disposed between an electron source and the objective lens, and the low angle components of the elevation angle of the secondary electrons, as viewed from the place of generation, and the high angle components are separated and also the azimuth components are separaType: ApplicationFiled: February 9, 2006Publication date: August 24, 2006Inventors: Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukuda, Noritsugu Takahashi, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki