Patents by Inventor Natsuki Tsuno

Natsuki Tsuno 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
  • Publication number: 20240020816
    Abstract: A system is provided in which electrical characteristics of an element formed on a sample can be evaluated. In order to achieve the above-described object, disclosed is a system including: an image acquisition tool; and a computer system that includes one or more processors and is configured to be communicable with the image acquisition tool, in which electrical characteristic are derived by receiving information regarding two or more characteristics of a specific pattern that is included in a plurality of images acquired from the image acquisition tool under at least two different image acquisition conditions and by referring to, for the information, relation information between information regarding two or more characteristics and electrical characteristics of an element formed on a sample, the characteristics being extracted from at least two pieces of image data acquired from the image acquisition tool under at least two image acquisition conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2023
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Inventors: Heita KIMIZUKA, Natsuki TSUNO
  • 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: 20230369012
    Abstract: Provided is a technique and the like capable of specifying irradiation areas or irradiation positions of a beam and a light as clearly as possible. A charged particle beam apparatus 1 includes: a position adjustment mark 10 provided on a stage 6 and irradiated with a beam b1 and a light a1; and a mechanism setting an irradiation position of the beam b1 and an irradiation position of the light a1 with respect to the stage 6 and changing a relative positional relationship including a distance between the irradiation position of the light a1 and the stage 6.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Publication date: November 16, 2023
    Inventors: Naoko TAKEDA, Natsuki TSUNO, Satoshi TAKADA, Yuto HATTORI
  • Patent number: 11776103
    Abstract: A system in which electrical characteristics of an element formed on a sample can be evaluated. The system includes an image acquisition tool and a computer system that includes one or more processors and is configured to be communicable with the image acquisition tool. Electrical characteristic are derived by the image acquisition tool by receiving information regarding two or more characteristics of a specific pattern that is included in a plurality of images acquired from the image acquisition tool under at least two different image acquisition conditions and by referring to, for the information, relation information between information regarding two or more characteristics and electrical characteristics of an element formed on a sample, the characteristics being extracted from at least two pieces of image data acquired from the image acquisition tool under at least two image acquisition conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Heita Kimizuka, Natsuki Tsuno
  • Patent number: 11749494
    Abstract: A computing unit generates a to-be-used-in-computation netlist on the basis of a to-be-used-in-calculation device model corresponding to a correction sample, estimates a first application result, on the basis of the to-be-used-in-computation netlist and an optical condition, when a charged particle beam is applied to the correction sample under the optical condition, compares the first application result and a second application result based on a detection signal when the charged particle beam is applied to the correction sample under the optical condition, and corrects the optical condition when the first application result and the second application result differ from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Miwa, Yohei Nakamura, Natsuki Tsuno, Heita Kimizuka, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • 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
  • Publication number: 20230273254
    Abstract: A control device controls a contact probe in synchronization with a pulse-controlled light having a predetermined wavelength, a measurement instrument measures a characteristic of a sample to be inspected or an analysis sample, and a circuit constant or a defect structure of the sample to be inspected is estimated based on a circuit model created by an electric characteristic analysis device configured to generate the circuit model based on a value measured by the measurement instrument and a detection signal of secondary electrons detected by the charged particle beam device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Shota MITSUGI, Yohei NAKAMURA, Daisuke BIZEN, Junichi FUSE, Satoshi TAKADA, Natsuki TSUNO
  • 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: 20230274417
    Abstract: An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for deriving a type of defect of a semiconductor element and a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The system receives, from the image acquisition tool, image data obtained by sequentially irradiating a plurality of patterns provided on the semiconductor wafer with a beam and extracts characteristics of the plurality of patterns sequentially irradiated with a beam from the received image data, the characteristics being included in the image data, or receives characteristics of the plurality of patterns sequentially irradiated with a beam from the image acquisition tool, the characteristics being extracted from the image data (Step 603), and derives (Step 605) a type of a defect by referring to (Step 604) related information for the characteristics of the plurality of patterns, the related information storing the characteristics of the plurality of patterns and types of defects in association with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2023
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Heita KIMIZUKA, Yohei NAKAMURA, Natsuki TSUNO, Muneyuki FUKUDA
  • Publication number: 20230253180
    Abstract: A charged particle optical system scans a sample with a pulsed charged particle beam and detects secondary charged particles; and a scan image is formed. Control is carried out so that a deflection signal for deflecting the charged particle beam in a first direction, a first timing for pulsed irradiation, a second timing for pulsed irradiation, and a third timing for detection of the secondary charged particles are synchronized. When the deflection amount of the charged particle beam in the time period of the first timing corresponds to the coordinates of n pixels in the scan image, the same line is scanned m times (m < n) while shifting the first timing with respect to the deflection signal so that a location irradiated with the charged particle beam by each scanning has different pixel coordinates. The pixel values at pixel coordinates where a signal is defective are restored.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Daisuke BIZEN, Natsuki TSUNO, Yasuhiro SHIRASAKI, Yohei NAKAMURA, Satoshi TAKADA
  • Patent number: 11694325
    Abstract: An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for deriving a type of a defect of a semiconductor element and a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The system receives, from the image acquisition tool, image data obtained by sequentially irradiating a plurality of patterns provided on the semiconductor wafer with a beam and extracts characteristics of the plurality of patterns sequentially irradiated with a beam from the received image data, the characteristics being included in the image data, or receives characteristics of the plurality of patterns sequentially irradiated with a beam from the image acquisition tool, the characteristics being extracted from the image data (Step 603), and derives (Step 605) a type of a defect by referring to (Step 604) related information for the characteristics of the plurality of patterns, the related information storing the characteristics of the plurality of patterns and types of defects in association with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Heita Kimizuka, Yohei Nakamura, Natsuki Tsuno, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11646172
    Abstract: A charged particle beam apparatus includes a database that stores a to-be-used-in-calculation device model for use in estimation of a circuit of a sample and an optical condition under which a charged particle beam is applied to the sample, a charged particle beam optical system that controls the beam applied to the sample under the optical condition, a detector that detects secondary electrons emitted from the sample excited by the application of the beam and outputs a detection signal based on the secondary electrons, and a computing unit that generates a to-be-used-in-computation netlist based on the to-be-used-in-calculation device model, estimates a first application result when the beam is applied to the sample based on the to-be-used-in-computation netlist and the optical condition, and compares the first application result with a second application result when the beam is applied to the sample based on the optical condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Miwa, Yohei Nakamura, Natsuki Tsuno, Heita Kimizuka, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • 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: 11610754
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a charged particle beam device capable of specifying an irradiation position of light on a sample when there is no mechanism for forming an image of backscattered electrons. The charged particle beam device according to the invention determines whether an irradiation position of a primary charged particle beam and an irradiation position of light match based on a difference between a first observation image acquired when the sample is irradiated with only the primary charged particle beam and a second observation image acquired when sample is irradiated with the light in addition to the primary charged particle beam. It is determined whether the irradiation position of the primary charged particle beam and the irradiation position of the light match using the first observation image and a measurement result by a light amount measuring device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsura Takaguchi, Yohei Nakamura, Masahiro Sasajima, Toshihide Agemura, Natsuki Tsuno
  • Patent number: 11398367
    Abstract: A charged particle beam apparatus includes a database that stores a to-be-used-in-calculation device model for use in estimation of a circuit of a sample and an optical condition under which a charged particle beam is applied to the sample, a charged particle beam optical system that controls the beam applied to the sample under the optical condition, a detector that detects secondary electrons emitted from the sample excited by the application of the beam and outputs a detection signal based on the secondary electrons, and a computing unit that generates a to-be-used-in-computation netlist based on the to-be-used-in-calculation device model, estimates a first application result when the beam is applied to the sample based on the to-be-used-in-computation netlist and the optical condition, and compares the first application result with a second application result when the beam is applied to the sample based on the optical condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Miwa, Yohei Nakamura, Natsuki Tsuno, Heita Kimizuka, Muneyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11398366
    Abstract: A computing unit generates a to-be-used-in-computation netlist on the basis of a to-be-used-in-calculation device model corresponding to a correction sample, estimates a first application result, on the basis of the to-be-used-in-computation netlist and an optical condition, when a charged particle beam is applied to the correction sample under the optical condition, compares the first application result and a second application result based on a detection signal when the charged particle beam is applied to the correction sample under the optical condition, and corrects the optical condition when the first application result and the second application result differ from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Miwa, Yohei Nakamura, Natsuki Tsuno, Heita Kimizuka, 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