Patents by Inventor Hiroaki Mito

Hiroaki Mito 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: 10714304
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device is provided that performs proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like. The charged particle beam device includes: an optical element which adjusts a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; an adjustment element which adjusts an incidence condition of the charged particle beam with respect to the optical element; and a control device which controls the adjustment element, wherein the control device determines a difference between a first feature amount indicating a state of the optical element based on the condition setting of the optical element, and a second feature amount indicating a state where the optical element reaches based on the condition setting and executes adjustment by the adjustment element when the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Yoshinori Momonoi, Akihiro Miura, Fumihiro Sasajima, Hiroaki Mito
  • Publication number: 20190304740
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device is provided that performs proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like. The charged particle beam device includes: an optical element which adjusts a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; an adjustment element which adjusts an incidence condition of the charged particle beam with respect to the optical element; and a control device which controls the adjustment element, wherein the control device determines a difference between a first feature amount indicating a state of the optical element based on the condition setting of the optical element, and a second feature amount indicating a state where the optical element reaches based on the condition setting and executes adjustment by the adjustment element when the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Inventors: Muneyuki FUKUDA, Yoshinori MOMONOI, Akihiro MIURA, Fumihiro SASAJIMA, Hiroaki MITO
  • Patent number: 10340115
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device is provided that performs proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like. The charged particle beam device includes: an optical element which adjusts a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; an adjustment element which adjusts an incidence condition of the charged particle beam with respect to the optical element; and a control device which controls the adjustment element, wherein the control device determines a difference between a first feature amount indicating a state of the optical element based on the condition setting of the optical element, and a second feature amount indicating a state where the optical element reaches based on the condition setting and executes adjustment by the adjustment element when the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Yoshinori Momonoi, Akihiro Miura, Fumihiro Sasajima, Hiroaki Mito
  • Publication number: 20180138010
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device is provided that performs proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like. The charged particle beam device includes: an optical element which adjusts a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; an adjustment element which adjusts an incidence condition of the charged particle beam with respect to the optical element; and a control device which controls the adjustment element, wherein the control device determines a difference between a first feature amount indicating a state of the optical element based on the condition setting of the optical element, and a second feature amount indicating a state where the optical element reaches based on the condition setting and executes adjustment by the adjustment element when the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2018
    Publication date: May 17, 2018
    Inventors: Muneyuki FUKUDA, Yoshinori MOMONOI, Akihiro MIURA, Fumihiro SASAJIMA, Hiroaki MITO
  • Patent number: 9892887
    Abstract: The invention has an object to provide a charged particle beam device in which it is possible to perform proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Muneyuki Fukuda, Yoshinori Momonoi, Akihiro Miura, Fumihiro Sasajima, Hiroaki Mito
  • Publication number: 20170110285
    Abstract: The invention has an object to provide a charged particle beam device in which it is possible to perform proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2016
    Publication date: April 20, 2017
    Inventors: Muneyuki FUKUDA, Yoshinori MOMONOI, Akihiro MIURA, Fumihiro SASAJIMA, Hiroaki MITO
  • Patent number: 8994815
    Abstract: The present invention is intended to provide a contour extraction method and a contour extraction device with an objective of either suppression of unnecessary contouring processings or selective contouring of necessary portions. To attain the objective, provided are a contour extraction method, and a device, with which contours of pattern edges on an image formed based on charged particles emitted from a sample are extracted and, when contouring of a pattern located in an overlapping region provided in connecting images of plural image-capturing regions to form a synthesized image is performed, either areas of the pattern in the plurality of image-capturing regions, or a pre-set measurement portion is found, and selective contour extraction of the pattern with respect to an image of an image-capturing region is carried out either on a side where the area is large, or on a side where a measurement portion regarding the pattern is located.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi High—Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Ryoichi Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 8972911
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing device for allowing an actual-image-closer pattern to be formed based on the design data, or its simulation image. In order to accomplish the above-described object, the proposal is made concerning an image processing device which includes an image processing unit which sets the operation condition of a charged-particle beam device on the basis of the design data on a semiconductor element. Here, the image processing device accesses a library for storing device-condition information on the charged-particle beam device, pattern types, and a plurality of combinations of pattern information on each pattern-region basis. Moreover, the image processing device forms a composite image of each pattern region, using the pattern information on each pattern-region basis, and based on the device-condition information and the selection of a pattern type from the pattern types.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoichi Matsuoka, Hiroaki Mito
  • Publication number: 20130326439
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing device for allowing an actual-image-closer pattern to be formed based on the design data, or its simulation image. In order to accomplish the above-described object, the proposal is made concerning an image processing device which includes an image processing unit which sets the operation condition of a charged-particle beam device on the basis of the design data on a semiconductor element. Here, the image processing device accesses a library for storing device-condition information on the charged-particle beam device, pattern types, and a plurality of combinations of pattern information on each pattern-region basis. Moreover, the image processing device forms a composite image of each pattern region, using the pattern information on each pattern-region basis, and based on the device-condition information and the selection of a pattern type from the pattern types.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Publication date: December 5, 2013
    Applicant: Hitachi High Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoichi Matsuoka, Hiroaki Mito
  • Publication number: 20130239663
    Abstract: An apparatus having a vacuum vessel that has a mechanism using a lubricant therein and not causing defects and faults to samples introduced into the vacuum vessel even it is an apparatus where lubricating oil or grease is applied is provided. An apparatus having a vacuum vessel that has a mechanism using a lubricant therein such as CD-SEM, in which a lubricant (oil, grease) whose adsorption amount per minute to a surface of a material introduced into the vacuum vessel of an apparatus for evaluating a lubricant after the start of vacuum evacuation and after reaches a quasi-equilibrium state is below 0.09 ng/cm2 is employed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2013
    Publication date: September 19, 2013
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuo YAHAGI, Masayuki KOBAYASHI, Hiroaki MITO, Tomohiro KUDO, Tomonori SAEKI
  • Publication number: 20130150998
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a managing apparatus of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a computer program capable of performing an accurate process monitoring based on the obtained pattern image and the like. To accomplish the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there are proposed a managing apparatus of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a library which stores an association between shape information of a pattern of a plurality of positions and an exposure condition of an exposing device and a calculation device which compares the shape information of the plurality of positions extracted from image information with the shape information stored in the library, and extracts the exposure condition based on a logical product of a range of a plurality of exposure conditions corresponding to the shape information of the plurality of patterns extracted from the image information, and a computer program which executes the above processes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2011
    Publication date: June 13, 2013
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryoichi Matsuoka, Norio Hasegawa, Hiroaki Mito
  • Publication number: 20120300054
    Abstract: The present invention is intended to provide a contour extraction method and a contour extraction device with an objective of either suppression of unnecessary contouring processings or selective contouring of necessary portions. To attain the objective, provided are a contour extraction method, and a device, with which contours of pattern edges on an image formed based on charged particles emitted from a sample are extracted and, when contouring of a pattern located in an overlapping region provided in connecting images of plural image-capturing regions to form a synthesized image is performed, either areas of the pattern in the plurality of image-capturing regions, or a pre-set measurement portion is found, and selective contour extraction of the pattern with respect to an image of an image-capturing region is carried out either on a side where the area is large, or on a side where a measurement portion regarding the pattern is located.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2011
    Publication date: November 29, 2012
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Ryoichi Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 8071961
    Abstract: A sample measuring method and a charged particle beam apparatus are provided which remove contaminants, that have adhered to a sample in a sample chamber of an electron microscope, to eliminate adverse effects on the subsequent manufacturing processes. To achieve this objective, after the sample measurement or inspection is made by using a charged particle beam, contaminants on the sample are removed before the next semiconductor manufacturing process. This allows the contaminants adhering to the sample in the sample chamber to be removed and therefore failures or defects that may occur in a semiconductor fabrication process following the measurement and inspection can be minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki
  • Publication number: 20100258739
    Abstract: A sample measuring method and a charged particle beam apparatus are provided which remove contaminants, that have adhered to a sample in a sample chamber of an electron microscope, to eliminate adverse effects on the subsequent manufacturing processes. To achieve this objective, after the sample measurement or inspection is made by using a charged particle beam, contaminants on the sample are removed before the next semiconductor manufacturing process. This allows the contaminants adhering to the sample in the sample chamber to be removed and therefore failures or defects that may occur in a semiconductor fabrication process following the measurement and inspection can be minimized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki
  • Patent number: 7601974
    Abstract: An object of this invention is to provide a charged particle beam apparatus that is capable of handling samples without adhering impurities onto the samples. In a scanning electron microscope in which a lubricant was coated on a sliding portion of a movable member that moves inside a vacuum chamber, a substance from which low molecular components were removed is used as the lubricant. It is thus possible to inhibit sample contamination and suppress the occurrence of defects in a process following measurement of the samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2009
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki, Yasuo Yahagi, Masayuki Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20080190928
    Abstract: An apparatus having a vacuum vessel that has a mechanism using a lubricant therein and not causing defects and faults to samples introduced into the vacuum vessel even it is an apparatus where lubricating oil or grease is applied is provided. An apparatus having a vacuum vessel that has a mechanism using a lubricant therein such as CD-SEM, in which a lubricant (oil, grease) whose adsorption amount per minute to a surface of a material introduced into the vacuum vessel of an apparatus for evaluating a lubricant after the start of vacuum evacuation and after reaches a quasi-equilibrium state is below 0.09 ng/cm2 is employed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Publication date: August 14, 2008
    Inventors: Yasuo Yahagi, Masayuki Kobayashi, Hiroaki Mito, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki
  • Publication number: 20070187601
    Abstract: An object of this invention is to provide a charged particle beam apparatus that is capable of handling samples without adhering impurities onto the samples. In a scanning electron microscope in which a lubricant was coated on a sliding portion of a movable member that moves inside a vacuum chamber, a substance from which low molecular components were removed is used as the lubricant. It is thus possible to inhibit sample contamination and suppress the occurrence of defects in a process following measurement of the samples.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2007
    Publication date: August 16, 2007
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki, Yasuo Yahagi, Masayuki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7247864
    Abstract: A sample measuring method and a charged particle beam apparatus are provided which remove contaminants, that have adhered to a sample in a sample chamber of an electron microscope, to eliminate adverse effects on the subsequent manufacturing processes. To achieve this objective, after the sample measurement or inspection is made by using a charged particle beam, contaminants on the sample are removed before the next semiconductor manufacturing process. This allows the contaminants adhering to the sample in the sample chamber to be removed and therefore failures or defects that may occur in a semiconductor fabrication process following the measurement and inspection can be minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2007
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki
  • Publication number: 20070120068
    Abstract: A sample measuring method and a charged particle beam apparatus are provided which remove contaminants, that have adhered to a sample in a sample chamber of an electron microscope, to eliminate adverse effects on the subsequent manufacturing processes. To achieve this objective, after the sample measurement or inspection is made by using a charged particle beam, contaminants on the sample are removed before the next semiconductor manufacturing process. This allows the contaminants adhering to the sample in the sample chamber to be removed and therefore failures or defects that may occur in a semiconductor fabrication process following the measurement and inspection can be minimized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2005
    Publication date: May 31, 2007
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki
  • Patent number: 7205541
    Abstract: An object of this invention is to provide a charged particle beam apparatus that is capable of handling samples without adhering impurities onto the samples. In a scanning electron microscope in which a lubricant was coated on a sliding portion of a movable member that moves inside a vacuum chamber, a substance from which low molecular components were removed is used as the lubricant. It is thus possible to inhibit sample contamination and suppress the occurrence of defects in a process following measurement of the samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2007
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Mito, Katsuhiro Sasada, Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Kudo, Tomonori Saeki, Yasuo Yahagi, Masayuki Kobayashi