Patents by Inventor Minami SHOUJI

Minami SHOUJI 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).

  • Publication number: 20240029994
    Abstract: This inspection system 100 comprises: an electron source 102 which irradiates a sample 200 with an inspection beam; a detector 105 which detects secondary electrons obtained by irradiating the sample 200 with the inspection beam and outputs a detection signal; a laser device 107 which emits an action laser that changes the amount of secondary electrons; an electron gun 106 which emits an action electron beam that changes the amount of secondary electrons; and a computer system 140 which generates an image of the sample 200 on the basis of the detection signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: Natsuki TSUNO, Yasuhiro SHIRASAKI, Minami SHOUJI, Daisuke BIZEN, Makoto SUZUKI, Satoshi TAKADA, Yohei NAKAMURA
  • Patent number: 11869745
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a charged particle beam device capable of increasing the contrast of an observation image of a sample as much as possible in accordance with light absorption characteristics that change for each optical parameter. The charged particle beam device according to the invention changes an optical parameter such as a polarization plane of light emitted to the sample, and generates the observation image having a contrast corresponding to the changed optical parameter. An optical parameter that maximizes a light absorption coefficient of the sample is specified according to a feature amount of a shape pattern of the sample (refer to FIG. 5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minami Shouji, Natsuki Tsuno, Hiroya Ohta, Daisuke Bizen
  • Publication number: 20230377837
    Abstract: Charged particle beam apparatus includes: a charged particle optical system to irradiate a sample with a pulsed charged particle beam; an optical system to irradiate the sample with light; a detector configured to detect a secondary charged particle emitted by irradiating the sample with the pulsed charged particle beam; a control unit configured to control the charged particle optical system to irradiate the sample with the pulsed charged particle beam under a predetermined electron beam pulse condition, and control the optical system to irradiate the sample with the light under a predetermined light irradiation condition; and a computation device configured to set the predetermined light irradiation condition based on a difference between a secondary charged particle signal amount detected under a first electron beam pulse condition and a secondary charged particle signal amount detected under a second electron beam pulse condition different from the first electron beam pulse condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2020
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Inventors: Yohei NAKAMURA, Natsuki TSUNO, Yasuhiro SHIRASAKI, Minami SHOUJI, Shota MITSUGI, Yuko SASAKI
  • Publication number: 20230274909
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to obtain an observation image in which a plurality of pieces of feature data of a sample are emphasized in a charged particle beam device that acquires an observation image of the sample by irradiating the sample with a charged particle beam and light. The charged particle beam device according to the invention calculates a sequence for modulating a light irradiation condition according to an irradiation condition of a charged particle beam, and controls the light irradiation condition according to the sequence (see FIG. 2).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Minami SHOUJI, Yasuhiro SHIRASAKI, Natsuki TSUNO, Hirohiko KITSUKI, Hiroya OHTA
  • Publication number: 20230273253
    Abstract: A semiconductor inspection device 1 having a first measurement mode and a second measurement mode includes: an electron optical system configured to irradiate a sample with an electron beam; an optical system configured to irradiate the sample with light; an electron detector configured to detect a signal electron; a photodetector 29 configured to detect signal light; a control unit 11 configured to control the electron optical system and the optical system such that an electron beam and light are emitted under a first irradiation condition in the first measurement mode, and to control the electron optical system and the optical system such that an electron beam and light are emitted under a second irradiation condition in the second measurement mode; and a computer configured to process a detection signal from the electron detector or the photodetector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Yasuhiro SHIRASAKI, Natsuki TSUNO, Minami SHOUJI, Makoto SAKAKIBARA, Satoshi TAKADA
  • Patent number: 11631568
    Abstract: A method of detecting a defect in a device using a charged particle beam includes inputting a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, controlling a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, controlling light applied to the sample based on the light condition, detecting second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light, and generating a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generating a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimating a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and comparing the first irradiation result with a second irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are actually applied to the sample based on the electron beam
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Natsuki Tsuno, Minami Shouji, Yohei Nakamura, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11393657
    Abstract: An electron beam device obtains contrast reflecting an electronic state of a sample with high sensitivity. The device includes an electron optical system which emits an electron beam to a sample and detects electrons emitted from the sample; a light pulse emission system that emits a light pulse to the sample; a synchronization processing unit that samples the emitted electrons; an image signal processing unit which forms an image by a detection signal output based upon the emitted electrons detected by the electron optical system; and a device control unit for setting a control condition of the electron optical system. The device control unit sets a sampling frequency for detection sampling of the emitted electrons to be greater than a value obtained by dividing the number of emissions of the light pulse per unit pixel time by the unit pixel time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minami Shouji, Natsuki Tsuno, Toshihide Agemura
  • Publication number: 20220216032
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a charged particle beam apparatus capable of acquiring an observation image having a high contrast in a sample whose light absorption characteristic depends on a light wavelength. The charged particle beam apparatus according to the invention irradiates the sample with light, generates an observation image of the sample, changes an irradiation intensity per unit time of the light, and then generates a plurality of the observation images having different contrasts (see FIG. 4).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minami SHOUJI, Natsuki TSUNO, Hiroya OHTA, Daisuke BIZEN, Hajime KAWANO
  • Patent number: 11355308
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes an input and output device that receives, as inputs, a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, a charged particle beam control system that controls a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, a light control system that controls light applied to the sample based on the light condition, a detector that detects second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light and outputs a detection signal, and a calculator that generates a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generates a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimates a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and compares the first irradiation result with a second
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Natsuki Tsuno, Minami Shouji, Yohei Nakamura, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11328897
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device according to the present invention changes a signal amount of emitted charged particles by irradiating the sample with light due to irradiation under a plurality of light irradiation conditions, and determines at least any one of a material of the sample or a shape of the sample according to the changed signal amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minami Shouji, Natsuki Tsuno, Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Muneyuki Fukuda, Satoshi Takada
  • Publication number: 20220139667
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a charged particle beam device capable of increasing the contrast of an observation image of a sample as much as possible in accordance with light absorption characteristics that change for each optical parameter. The charged particle beam device according to the invention changes an optical parameter such as a polarization plane of light emitted to the sample, and generates the observation image having a contrast corresponding to the changed optical parameter. An optical parameter that maximizes a light absorption coefficient of the sample is specified according to a feature amount of a shape pattern of the sample (refer to FIG. 5).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Minami Shouji, Natsuki Tsuno, Hiroya Ohta, Daisuke Bizen
  • Publication number: 20220108866
    Abstract: A method of detecting a defect in a device using a charged particle beam includes inputting a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, controlling a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, controlling light applied to the sample based on the light condition, detecting second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light, and generating a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generating a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimating a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and comparing the first irradiation result with a second irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are actually applied to the sample based on the electron beam
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Publication date: April 7, 2022
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Natsuki Tsuno, Minami Shouji, Yohei Nakamura, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • Publication number: 20220059317
    Abstract: An electron beam device obtains contrast reflecting an electronic state of a sample with high sensitivity. The device includes an electron optical system which emits an electron beam to a sample and detects electrons emitted from the sample; a light pulse emission system that emits a light pulse to the sample; a synchronization processing unit that samples the emitted electrons; an image signal processing unit which forms an image by a detection signal output based upon the emitted electrons detected by the electron optical system; and a device control unit for setting a control condition of the electron optical system. The device control unit sets a sampling frequency for detection sampling of the emitted electrons to be greater than a value obtained by dividing the number of emissions of the light pulse per unit pixel time by the unit pixel time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Publication date: February 24, 2022
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Minami SHOUJI, Natsuki TSUNO, Toshihide AGEMURA
  • Publication number: 20210233740
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electron microscope and an observation method capable of observing secondary electrons in the atmosphere. In detail, a charged particle microscope of the invention includes: a partition wall that separates a non-vacuum space in which a sample is loaded from a vacuum space inside a charged particle optical lens barrel; an upper electrode; a lower electrode on which the sample is loaded; a power supply for applying a voltage to at least one of the upper electrode and the lower electrode; a sample gap adjusting mechanism for adjusting a gap between the sample and the partition wall; and an image forming unit for forming an image of the sample based on the current absorbed by the lower electrode. The secondary electrons are selectively measured by using an amplification effect due to ionization collision between electrons and gas molecules generated when a voltage is applied between the upper electrode and the lower electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2016
    Publication date: July 29, 2021
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Minami SHOUJI, Natsuki TSUNO, Yuusuke OOMINAMI
  • Publication number: 20210066029
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device according to the present invention changes a signal amount of emitted charged particles by irradiating the sample with light due to irradiation under a plurality of light irradiation conditions, and determines at least any one of a material of the sample or a shape of the sample according to the changed signal amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2020
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Inventors: Minami Shouji, Natsuki Tsuno, Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Muneyuki Fukuda, Satoshi Takada
  • Publication number: 20210066028
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes an input and output device that receives, as inputs, a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, a charged particle beam control system that controls a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, a light control system that controls light applied to the sample based on the light condition, a detector that detects second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light and outputs a detection signal, and a calculator that generates a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generates a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimates a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and compares the first irradiation result with a second
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Shirasaki, Natsuki Tsuno, Minami Shouji, Yohei Nakamura, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 10134564
    Abstract: Provided is a charged particle beam device including a charged particle optical column that irradiates a specimen with a primary charged particle beam, and a specimen base rotating unit that is capable of rotating the specimen base in a state of an angle formed by a surface of the specimen base and an optical axis of the primary charged particle beam being inclined to a non-perpendicular angle, in which the specimen base is configured to include a detecting element that detects a charged particle scattered or transmitted inside the specimen, and transmitted charged particle images of the specimen corresponding to each angle is acquired by irradiating the specimen in a state of the specimen base rotating unit being rotated at a plurality of different angles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Taiga Okumura, Takashi Ohshima, Yuusuke Oominami, Minami Shouji, Akiko Hisada, Akio Yoneyama
  • Publication number: 20170330724
    Abstract: An electronic microscope has a great depth of focus compared with an optical microscope. Thus, information is superimposed in the depth direction in one image. Thus, observation of a three-dimensional structure inside a specimen with use of the electronic microscope requires accurate specification of a three-dimensional position or density of a structure inside the specimen. Furthermore, the specimen on a slide glass that is observed with the optical microscope may not be put in a TEM device in the related art. Thus, a very complicated preparation of the specimen is required for performing three-dimensional internal structure observation, with the electronic microscope, of a location that is observed with the optical microscope.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2015
    Publication date: November 16, 2017
    Inventors: Taiga OKUMURA, Takashi OHSHIMA, Yuusuke OOMINAMI, Minami SHOUJI, Akiko HISADA, Akio YONEYAMA
  • Patent number: 9812288
    Abstract: The objective of the present invention is to simply perform image observation through transmitted charged particles. A sample irradiated by a charged particle beam is disposed directly or via a predetermined member on a light-emitting element (23) whereinto charged particles that have traversed or scattered inside the sample enter, causing a light to be emitted therefrom, which is collected and detected efficiently using a light transmission means (203) to generate a transmission charged particle image of the sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Minami Shouji, Takashi Ohshima, Yuusuke Oominami, Hideo Morishita, Kunio Harada
  • Publication number: 20170069458
    Abstract: The objective of the present invention is to simply perform image observation through transmitted charged particles. A sample irradiated by a charged particle beam is disposed directly or via a predetermined member on a light-emitting element (23) whereinto charged particles that have traversed or scattered inside the sample enter, causing a light to be emitted therefrom, which is collected and detected efficiently using a light transmission means (203) to generate a transmission charged particle image of the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Publication date: March 9, 2017
    Inventors: Minami SHOUJI, Takashi OHSHIMA, Yuusuke OOMINAMI, Hideo MORISHITA, Kunio HARADA