Abstract: An electron beam apparatus for capturing images by deflecting a primary electron beam by a deflector to irradiate each of sub-visual fields which are formed by dividing an evaluation area on a sample surface, and detecting secondary electrons containing information on the sample surface in each of the sub-visual fields by a detecting device. The detecting device includes a plurality of unit detectors each including an area sensor, a bundle of optical fibers having one end coupled to a detection plane of the area sensor, and an FOP coated on the other end of the bundle of optical fibers and formed with a scintillator, on which a secondary electron beam emitted from the respective sub-visual field is focused. An electromagnetic deflector deflects the secondary electron beam each time the electron beam is irradiated to the next sub-visual field to move the secondary electron beams over the surfaces of the FOPs.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical systems; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.

Abstract: There is provided a substrate inspection method. The method includes: maintaining a vacuum in said inspection chamber; isolating said inspection chamber from a vibration; positioning the substrate on a stage in the inspection chamber; selecting an evaluation parameter according to a kind of said processing apparatus; and determining inspection regions of the substrate so that an inspection time required per a lot of the substrate is equal to a processing time spent for said processing step required per a lot of the substrate. The method also includes radiating a primary electron beam from an electron gun; deflecting the primary electron beam with an E*B unit; irradiating said inspection regions of the substrate with the deflected primary electron beam; and projecting secondary electrons emitted from said substrate through the E*B unit onto a detector with a secondary optical system.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical systems; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.

Abstract: A substrate inspection apparatus 1-1 (FIG.

Abstract: Problems to be solved: To obtain higher brightness than Langmuir limit. Adjust brightness to the optimum value. Method of resolution: To obtain such beams, the following means and methods are effective. A charged particles beam apparatus consisting of a charged particle source, a beam drawing electrode, and a beam control electrode, wherein; after the charged particles beam source a condenser lens is designed, and brightness of the charged particles beam is adjusted by adjusting a magnification factor of said condenser lens.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical system; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting to the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.

Abstract: Problems to be solved: To obtain higher brightness than Langmuir limit. Adjust brightness to the optimum value. Method of resolution: To obtain such beams, the following means and methods are effective. A charged particles beam apparatus consisting of a charged particle source, a beam drawing electrode, and a beam control electrode, wherein; after the charged particles beam source a condenser lens is designed, and brightness of the charged particles beam is adjusted by adjusting a magnification factor of said condenser lens.

Abstract: An electron beam apparatus, in which an electron beam emitted from an electron gun having a cathode and an anode is focused and irradiated onto a sample, and secondary electrons emanated from the sample are directed into a detector, the apparatus further comprising means for optimizing irradiation of the electron beam emitted from the electron gun onto the sample, the optimizing means may be two-stage deflectors disposed in proximity to the electron gun which deflects and directs the electron beam emitted in a specific direction so as to be in alignment with the optical axis direction of the electron beam apparatus, the electron beam emitted in the specific direction being at a certain angle with respect to the optical axis due to the fact that, among the crystal orientations of said cathode, a specific crystal orientation allowing a higher level of electron beam emission out of alignment with the optical axis direction.

Abstract: An electron beam apparatus, in which an electron beam emitted from an electron gun having a cathode and an anode is focused and irradiated onto a sample, and secondary electrons emanated from the sample are directed into a detector, the apparatus further comprising means for optimizing irradiation of the electron beam emitted from the electron gun onto the sample, the optimizing means may be two-stage deflectors disposed in proximity to the electron gun which deflects and directs the electron beam emitted in a specific direction so as to be in alignment with the optical axis direction of the electron beam apparatus, the electron beam emitted in the specific direction being at a certain angle with respect to the optical axis due to the fact that, among the crystal orientations of said cathode, a specific crystal orientation allowing a higher level of electron beam emission out of alignment with the optical axis direction.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical system; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting to the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical system; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting to the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.

Abstract: An electron beam emitted from an electron gun (G) forms a reduced image on a sample (S) through a non-dispersion Wien-filter (5-1), an electromagnetic deflector (11-1), a beam separator (12-1), and a tablet lens (17-1) as an objective lens. The beam separator (12-1) is configured such that a distance by which a secondary electron beam passes through the beam separator is approximately three times longer than a distance by which a primary electron beam passes through the beam separator. Therefore, even if a magnetic field in the beam separator is set to deflect the primary electron beam by a small angle equal to or less than approximately 10 degrees, the secondary electron beam can be deflected by approximately 30 degrees, so that the primary and secondary electron beams are sufficiently separated. Also, since the primary electron beam is deflected by a small angle, less aberration occurs in the primary electron beam.

Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical system; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting to the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.

Abstract: A substrate inspection apparatus 1-1 (FIG.

Abstract: A substrate inspection apparatus 1-1 (FIG.

Abstract: The present invention provides an electron beam apparatus for irradiating a sample with primary electron beams to detect secondary electron beams generated from a surface of the sample by the irradiation for evaluating the sample surface. In the electron beam apparatus, an electron gun has a cathode for emitting primary electron beams. The cathode includes a plurality of emitters for emitting primary electron beams, arranged apart from one another on a circle centered at an optical axis of a primary electro-optical system. The plurality of emitters are arranged such that when the plurality of emitters are projected onto a straight line parallel with a direction in which the primary electron beams are scanned, resulting points on the straight line are spaced at equal intervals.

Abstract: An electron beam apparatus for providing an evaluation of a sample, such as a semiconductor wafer, that includes a micro-pattern with a minimum line width not greater than 0.1 ?m with high throughput. A primary electron beam generated by an electron gun is irradiated onto a sample and secondary electrons emanating from the sample are formed into an image on a detector by an image projection optical system. An electron gun 61 has a cathode 1 and a drawing electrode 3, and an electron emission surface 1a of the cathode defines a concave surface. The drawing electrode 3 has a convex surface 3a composed of a partial outer surface of a second sphere facing the electron emission surface 1a of the cathode and an aperture 73 formed through the convex surface for passage of the electrons.

Abstract: An electron beam apparatus such as a sheet beam based testing apparatus has an electron-optical system for irradiating an object under testing with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and projecting an image of a secondary electron beam emitted by the irradiation of the primary electron beam, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron beam image projected by the electron-optical system; specifically, the electron beam apparatus comprises beam generating means 2004 for irradiating an electron beam having a particular width, a primary electron-optical system 2001 for leading the beam to reach the surface of a substrate 2006 under testing, a secondary electron-optical system 2002 for trapping secondary electrons generated from the substrate 2006 and introducing them into an image processing system 2015, a stage 2003 for transportably holding the substrate 2006 with a continuous degree of freedom equal to at least one, a testing chamber for the substrate 2006, a substrate transport mech

Abstract: The present invention provides an electron beam apparatus which can capture images at high speeds even using an area sensor which senses a small number of frames per second, by deflecting a primary electron beam by a deflector to irradiate each of sub-visual fields which are formed by dividing an evaluation area on a sample surface, and detecting secondary electrons containing information on the sample surface in each of the sub-visual fields by a detecting device. For this purpose, the detecting device 26 of the electron beam apparatus comprises a plurality of unit detectors 24-1 each including an area sensor CCD 1 (˜CCD 14), a bundle of optical fibers 25 having one end coupled to a detection plane of the area sensor, an FOP coated on the other end of the bundle of optical fibers and formed with a scintillator, on which a secondary electron beam emitted from the sub-visual fields are focused.