Abstract: The adhesion between metal foil serving as a current collector and a negative electrode active material is increased to enable long-term reliability. An electrode active material layer (including a negative electrode active material or a positive electrode active material) is formed over a base, a metal film is formed over the electrode active material layer by sputtering, and then the base and the electrode active material layer are separated at the interface therebetween; thus, an electrode is formed. The electrode active material particles in contact with the metal film are bonded by being covered with the metal film formed by the sputtering. The electrode active material is used for at least one of a pair of electrodes (a negative electrode or a positive electrode) in a lithium-ion secondary battery.

Abstract: The invention provides an electron beam apparatus that reduces a time required for an electron gun chamber to which a sputter ion pump and a non-evaporable getter pump are connected to reach an extreme high vacuum state. The electron beam apparatus includes an electron gun configured to emit an electron beam and the electron gun chamber to which the sputter ion pump and the non-evaporable getter pump are connected. The electron beam apparatus further includes a gas supply unit configured to supply at least one of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide to the electron gun chamber.

Abstract: Roughness measurement corrects a machine difference utilizing first PSD data indicating power spectral density of a line pattern measured for a line pattern formed on a wafer for machine difference management by a reference machine in roughness index calculation and second PSD data indicating power spectral density of a line pattern measured for the line pattern formed on the wafer for machine difference management by a correction target machine are used to obtain a correction method for correcting the power spectral density of the second PSD data to the power spectral density of the first PSD data, power spectral density of a line pattern is measured as third PSD data from a scanning image of the line pattern, and corrected power spectral density obtained by correcting the power spectral density of the third PSD data by the obtained correction method is calculated.

Abstract: The invention provides an electron beam apparatus that reduces a time required for an electron gun chamber to which a sputter ion pump and a non-evaporable getter pump are connected to reach an extreme high vacuum state. The electron beam apparatus includes an electron gun configured to emit an electron beam and the electron gun chamber to which the sputter ion pump and the non-evaporable getter pump are connected. The electron beam apparatus further includes a gas supply unit configured to supply at least one of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide to the electron gun chamber.

Abstract: A charged particle beam device capable of generating an image having uniform image quality in a field of view is provided.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to correct an aberration or a defocus of an electron beam for irradiation, and control an influence on a deflector by a fluctuation in an electric field of an electrostatic lens. The invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus including a deflector that deflects a charged particle beam with which a specimen is irradiated, an objective lens that focuses the charged particle beam on the specimen, an electrostatic lens that includes a part of the objective lens and to which a voltage for correcting the aberration or the defocus of the charged particle beam is applied, and an constant electric field applying electrode that is provided between the deflector and the electrostatic lens and to which a constant voltage having a same sign with the voltage applied to the electrostatic lens is applied.

Abstract: An object of the present disclosure is to propose a charged particle beam device capable of appropriately evaluating and setting a beam aperture angle. As one aspect for achieving the above-described object, provided is a charged particle beam device which includes a plurality of lenses and controls the plurality of lenses so as to set a focus at a predetermined height of a sample and to adjust the beam aperture angle. The charged particle beam device generates a first signal waveform based on a detection signal obtained by scanning with the beam in a state where the focus is set at a first height that is a bottom portion of a pattern formed on the sample, calculates a feature amount of a signal waveform on a bottom edge of the pattern based on the first signal waveform, and calculates the beam aperture angle based on the calculated feature amount.

Abstract: A charged particle beam device capable of generating an image having uniform image quality in a field of view is provided.

Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam device which adjusts brightness and contrast or adjusts focus and the like appropriately in a short time even if there are few detected signals. Proposed as an aspect for achieving this purpose is a charged particle beam device provided with: a detector for detecting charged particles obtained on the basis of irradiation of a specimen with a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; and a control unit for processing a signal obtained on the basis of the output of the detector, wherein the control unit performs statistical processing on gray level values in a predetermined region of an image generated on the basis of the output of the detector, and executes signal processing for correcting a difference between a statistical value obtained by the statistical processing and reference data relating to the gray level values of the image.

Abstract: The present disclosure is to provide a charged particle beam device capable of achieving both high resolution by setting of a short WD and improvement of detection efficiency when setting a long WD. According to an aspect for achieving the above-described object, there is suggested a charged particle beam device including: an objective lens for converging a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; a sample stage having a first driving mechanism for moving a sample to be irradiated with the charged particle beam between a first position and a second position more separated from the objective lens than the first position; a detection surface for detecting charged particles emitted from the sample; and a second driving mechanism for moving the detection surface between within a movable range of the sample between the first position and the second position and out of the movable range of the sample.

Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes an electron source which generates an electron beam, an objective lens which is applied with a coil current to converge the electron beam on a sample, a control unit which controls the current to be applied to the objective lens, a hysteresis characteristic storage unit which stores hysteresis characteristic information of the objective lens, a history information storage unit which stores history information related to the coil current, and an estimation unit which estimates a magnetic field generated by the objective lens on the basis of the coil current, the history information, and the hysteresis characteristic information.

Abstract: A low noise blanking unit corresponds to a wide range of acceleration voltages (from several times higher than related voltages to low acceleration voltages) of an electron beam. A blanking unit of the measurement and inspection device includes a blanking control circuit, in which (i) an upper and a lower blanking electrodes are arranged in the irradiation direction of an electron beam; electrodes on the reverse sides of two opposing electrodes in each of the blanking electrodes arranged in the same direction are connected with the ground, (ii) when blanking is ON, positive voltages are output to remaining electrodes of the upper blanking electrode and negative voltages are output to remaining electrodes of the lower blanking electrode, and (iii) when the blanking is OFF, the same ground reference signal is output to the remaining electrodes of the upper blanking electrode and to the remaining electrodes of the lower blanking electrode.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to correct an aberration or a defocus of an electron beam for irradiation, and control an influence on a deflector by a fluctuation in an electric field of an electrostatic lens. The invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus including a deflector that deflects a charged particle beam with which a specimen is irradiated, an objective lens that focuses the charged particle beam on the specimen, an electrostatic lens that includes a part of the objective lens and to which a voltage for correcting the aberration or the defocus of the charged particle beam is applied, and an constant electric field applying electrode that is provided between the deflector and the electrostatic lens and to which a constant voltage having a same sign with the voltage applied to the electrostatic lens is applied.

Abstract: A charged particle beam apparatus with reduced frequency of lens resetting operations and thus with improved throughput. The apparatus includes an electron source configured to generate an electron beam, an objective lens to which coil current is adapted to be applied to converge the electron beam on a sample, a focal position adjustment device configured to adjust the focal position of the electron beam, a detector configured to detect electrons from the sample, a display unit configured to display an image of the sample in accordance with a signal from the detector, a storage unit configured to store information on the hysteresis characteristics of the objective lens, and an estimation unit configured to estimate a magnetic field generated by the objective lens on the basis of the coil current, the amount of adjustment of the focal position by the focal position adjustment device, and the information on the hysteresis characteristics.

Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes an electron source which generates an electron beam, an objective lens which is applied with a coil current to converge the electron beam on a sample, a control unit which controls the current to be applied to the objective lens, a hysteresis characteristic storage unit which stores hysteresis characteristic information of the objective lens, a history information storage unit which stores history information related to the coil current, and an estimation unit which estimates a magnetic field generated by the objective lens on the basis of the coil current, the history information, and the hysteresis characteristic information.

Abstract: The present disclosure is to provide a charged particle beam device capable of achieving both high resolution by setting of a short WD and improvement of detection efficiency when setting a long WD. According to an aspect for achieving the above-described object, there is suggested a charged particle beam device including: an objective lens for converging a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; a sample stage having a first driving mechanism for moving a sample to be irradiated with the charged particle beam between a first position and a second position more separated from the objective lens than the first position; a detection surface for detecting charged particles emitted from the sample; and a second driving mechanism for moving the detection surface between within a movable range of the sample between the first position and the second position and out of the movable range of the sample.

Abstract: The objective of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam device wherein scanning is performed through a scanning pattern that may suppress the influence from charge accumulation without having to perform blanking. In order to achieve this objective, a charged particle beam device is proposed wherein a first scan line is scanned by deflecting a charged particle beam in a first direction. The charged particle beam is deflected in a manner where the ending point of the first scan line is connected to the scan starting point of a second scan line which is arranged to be parallel to the first scan line so as to draw a scanning trajectory, thereby modifying the scan line position. The second scan line is scanned by scanning the charged particle beam from the scan starting point of the second scan line toward a second direction that is opposite to the first direction.

Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam device which adjusts brightness and contrast or adjusts focus and the like appropriately in a short time even if there are few detected signals. Proposed as an aspect for achieving this purpose is a charged particle beam device provided with: a detector for detecting charged particles obtained on the basis of irradiation of a specimen with a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; and a control unit for processing a signal obtained on the basis of the output of the detector, wherein the control unit performs statistical processing on gray level values in a predetermined region of an image generated on the basis of the output of the detector, and executes signal processing for correcting a difference between a statistical value obtained by the statistical processing and reference data relating to the gray level values of the image.

Abstract: A low noise blanking unit corresponds to a wide range of acceleration voltages (from several times higher than related voltages to low acceleration voltages) of an electron beam. A blanking unit of the measurement and inspection device includes a blanking control circuit, in which (i) an upper and a lower blanking electrodes are arranged in the irradiation direction of an electron beam; electrodes on the reverse sides of two opposing electrodes in each of the blanking electrodes arranged in the same direction are connected with the ground, (ii) when blanking is ON, positive voltages are output to remaining electrodes of the upper blanking electrode and negative voltages are output to remaining electrodes of the lower blanking electrode, and (iii) when the blanking is OFF, the same ground reference signal is output to the remaining electrodes of the upper blanking electrode and to the remaining electrodes of the lower blanking electrode.

Abstract: An object of the present disclosure is to propose a charged particle beam device capable of appropriately evaluating and setting a beam aperture angle. As one aspect for achieving the above-described object, provided is a charged particle beam device which includes a plurality of lenses and controls the plurality of lenses so as to set a focus at a predetermined height of a sample and to adjust the beam aperture angle. The charged particle beam device generates a first signal waveform based on a detection signal obtained by scanning with the beam in a state where the focus is set at a first height that is a bottom portion of a pattern formed on the sample, calculates a feature amount of a signal waveform on a bottom edge of the pattern based on the first signal waveform, and calculates the beam aperture angle based on the calculated feature amount.