Patents by Inventor Atsuko SHINTANI

Atsuko SHINTANI 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).

  • Patent number: 11713963
    Abstract: Line-edge roughness or line width roughness is evaluated while preventing influence of noise caused by a device or an environment. Therefore, an averaged signal profile 405 in which a moving average of S pixels (S is an integer greater than 1) is taken in a Y direction is obtained from a signal profile showing a secondary electron signal amount distribution in an X direction with respect to a predetermined Y coordinate obtained from a top-down image, an edge position 406 of a line pattern is extracted based on the averaged signal profile, and a noise floor height is calculated based on a first power spectral density 407 of LER data or LWR data based on the extracted edge position and a second power spectral density 409 of a rectangular window function corresponding to the moving average of the S pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Atsuko Shintani, Takahiro Kawasaki, Kazuhisa Hasumi, Masami Ikota, Hiroki Kawada
  • Patent number: 11430106
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to quantitatively evaluate crystal growth amount in a wide range from an undergrowth state to an overgrowth state with nondestructive inspection. By using a plenty of image feature values such as pattern brightness, a pattern area and a pattern shape which are extracted from an SEM image, and depending on whether brightness inside a pattern is lower than brightness outside the pattern (401), undergrowth and overgrowth is determined (402, 405). Based on a brightness difference or the pattern area, a growth amount index or a normality index of crystal growth in a concave pattern such as a hole pattern or a trench pattern is calculated (404, 407).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeyoshi Ohashi, Atsuko Shintani, Masami Ikota, Kazuhisa Hasumi
  • Patent number: 11380518
    Abstract: A measurement system comprising: a measurement apparatus observing a sample based on an observation condition including parameters; and an observation condition database storing data in which a search key related to the sample and the observation condition, a control unit calculating information on an observation condition of a sample is configured to: receive an observation condition search request including a search key related to a target sample; refer the observation condition database to search for the first data matching or similar to the search key related to the target sample included in the observation condition search request, calculate, based on the searched first data, a candidate observation condition of the measurement apparatus for observing the target sample, and output display data for presenting the candidate observation condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takafumi Miwa, Hirokazu Tamaki, Momoyo Enyama, Makoto Sakakibara, Sayaka Kurata, Atsuko Shintani, Takashi Dobashi, Kotoko Urano, Akiko Kagatsume, Minseok Park, Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Thantip Krasienapibal
  • Patent number: 11276551
    Abstract: An inspection device includes a charged particle optical system that includes a charged particle beam source emitting a charged particle beam and plural lenses focusing the charged particle beam on a sample, a detector that detects secondary charged particles emitted by an interaction of the charged particle beam and the sample, and a calculation unit that executes auto-focusing at a time a field of view of the charged particle optical system moves over plural inspection spots, the calculation unit irradiates the charged particle beam to the sample under an optical condition that is obtained by introducing astigmatism of a predetermined specification to an optical condition that is for observing a pattern by the charged particle optical system, and executes the auto-focusing using an image formed from a signal outputted by the detector in detecting the secondary charged particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Atsuko Shintani, Yasunari Sohda, Noritsugu Takahashi, Hikaru Koyama
  • Publication number: 20220034653
    Abstract: Line-edge roughness or line width roughness is evaluated while preventing influence of noise caused by a device or an environment. Therefore, an averaged signal profile 405 in which a moving average of S pixels (S is an integer greater than 1) is taken in a Y direction is obtained from a signal profile showing a secondary electron signal amount distribution in an X direction with respect to a predetermined Y coordinate obtained from a top-down image, an edge position 406 of a line pattern is extracted based on the averaged signal profile, and a noise floor height is calculated based on a first power spectral density 407 of LER data or LWR data based on the extracted edge position and a second power spectral density 409 of a rectangular window function corresponding to the moving average of the S pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2019
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventors: Atsuko Shintani, Takahiro Kawasaki, Kazuhisa Hasumi, Masami Ikota, Hiroki Kawada
  • Publication number: 20210407763
    Abstract: A measurement system comprising: a measurement apparatus observing a sample based on an observation condition including parameters; and an observation condition database storing data in which a search key related to the sample and the observation condition, a control unit calculating information on an observation condition of a sample is configured to: receive an observation condition search request including a search key related to a target sample; refer the observation condition database to search for the first data matching or similar to the search key related to the target sample included in the observation condition search request, calculate, based on the searched first data, a candidate observation condition of the measurement apparatus for observing the target sample, and output display data for presenting the candidate observation condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2019
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Inventors: Takafumi MIWA, Hirokazu TAMAKI, Momoyo ENYAMA, Makoto SAKAKIBARA, Sayaka KURATA, Atsuko SHINTANI, Takashi DOBASHI, Kotoko URANO, Akiko KAGATSUME, Minseok PARK, Yasuhiro SHIRASAKI, Thantip KRASIENAPIBAL
  • Publication number: 20200365364
    Abstract: An inspection device includes a charged particle optical system that includes a charged particle beam source emitting a charged particle beam and plural lenses focusing the charged particle beam on a sample, a detector that detects secondary charged particles emitted by an interaction of the charged particle beam and the sample, and a calculation unit that executes auto-focusing at a time a field of view of the charged particle optical system moves over plural inspection spots, the calculation unit irradiates the charged particle beam to the sample under an optical condition that is obtained by introducing astigmatism of a predetermined specification to an optical condition that is for observing a pattern by the charged particle optical system, and executes the auto-focusing using an image formed from a signal outputted by the detector in detecting the secondary charged particles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Inventors: Atsuko SHINTANI, Yasunari SOHDA, Noritsugu TAKAHASHI, Hikaru KOYAMA
  • Publication number: 20200219243
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to quantitatively evaluate crystal growth amount in a wide range from an undergrowth state to an overgrowth state with nondestructive inspection. By using a plenty of image feature values such as pattern brightness, a pattern area and a pattern shape which are extracted from an SEM image, and depending on whether brightness inside a pattern is lower than brightness outside the pattern (401), undergrowth and overgrowth is determined (402, 405). Based on a brightness difference or the pattern area, a growth amount index or a normality index of crystal growth in a concave pattern such as a hole pattern or a trench pattern is calculated (404, 407).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2017
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Takeyoshi OHASHI, Atsuko SHINTANI, Masami IKOTA, Kazuhisa HASUMI