Abstract: An object of the invention is to be able to select easily and quickly inspection recipes which are appropriate to samples from any number of inspection recipes. A calculating device displays a plurality of inspection recipes on the GUI. An inspection recipe includes settings for controlling charged particle columns which irradiate charged particles on samples with a plurality of characteristics. Plural inspection recipes are arranged and displayed on a coordinate system which is specified by a plurality of axes having characteristic values (robustness variable of charge up, throughput of defect inspection, and accuracy of defect inspection) which have mutually trade-off relationships.

Abstract: A defect detected by a wafer inspection tool is reliably captured by a defect review tool. A defect review condition in the defect review tool is varied depending on defect attributes provided by the wafer inspection tool so as to optimize the review process. For example, review magnification is varied depending on the size of the defect, or the frame addition number is varied depending on the maximum gray level difference.

Abstract: The invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus capable of preventing image errors in a display image and capturing a clear display image. A display image displayed on a display unit has a rectangular shape having sides that are substantially parallel to coordinate axes of a rectangular coordinate system determined by wafer alignment. A charged particle beam is radiated onto an area including a display image in a direction that is not parallel to the coordinate axes of the reference rectangular coordinate system to scan the area. Then, among image information obtained by scanning, only information of a position within the display image is displayed on the image display unit. In this way, a clear display image without brightness variation is obtained.

Abstract: A system is provided that realizes both reduction in coordinate error and improvement in throughput and allows observation of a micro-defect. The system includes: a function of measuring an amount of displacement between preliminarily calculated coordinates and an actual specimen position; a function of optimizing a coordinate correction formula so as to minimize the amount of displacement from the measured amount of displacement; and a function of calculating variation of displacement between the preliminarily calculated coordinates and the actual specimen position by statistical processing. When a value of coordinate variation is sufficiently small with respect to the field of view of an image for observation, which is to be a defect observation image, the system acquires only the image for observation without performing acquisition of an image for search, which is to be a defect search image.

Abstract: A technology whereby removal of magnetic hysteresis is enabled in short time in parallel with a process for stage transfer, and so forth. There is executed a magnetic hysteresis removal sequence whereby current for exciting an electromagnetic coil prior to acquisition of an image is always set to a predetermined variation value against a target value, thereby obtaining information on an image, and so forth, when a diameter of a primary electron beam, converged on the specimen, becomes smaller than dimensions displayed by one pixel of an image to be acquired.

Abstract: Disclosed herewith is a charged particle beam apparatus capable of controlling each of the probe current and the objective divergence angle to obtain a desired probe current and a desired objective divergence angle in accordance with the diameter of the subject objective aperture. The apparatus is configured to include an objective aperture between first and second condenser lenses to calculate and set a control value of a first condenser lens in accordance with the diameter of the hole of the objective aperture so as to obtain a desired probe current and calculate a control value of a second condenser lens setting device in accordance with the diameter of the hole of the objective divergence angle and the control value of the second condenser lens setting device, thereby setting the calculated control value for the second condenser lens setting device to control the objective divergence angle.

Abstract: A lower pole piece of an electromagnetic superposition type objective lens is divided into an upper magnetic path and a lower magnetic path. A voltage nearly equal to a retarding voltage is applied to the lower magnetic path. An objective lens capable of acquiring an image with a higher resolution and a higher contrast than a conventional image is provided. An electromagnetic superposition type objective lens includes a magnetic path that encloses a coil, a cylindrical or conical booster magnetic path that surrounds an electron beam, a control magnetic path that is interposed between the coil and sample, an accelerating electric field control unit that accelerates the electron beam using a booster power supply, a decelerating electric field control unit that decelerates the electron beam using a stage power supply, and a suppression unit that suppresses electric discharge of the sample using a control magnetic path power supply.

Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.

Abstract: The invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus capable of preventing image errors in a display image and capturing a clear display image. A display image displayed on a display unit has a rectangular shape having sides that are substantially parallel to coordinate axes of a rectangular coordinate system determined by wafer alignment. A charged particle beam is radiated onto an area including a display image in a direction that is not parallel to the coordinate axes of the reference rectangular coordinate system to scan the area. Then, among image information obtained by scanning, only information of a position within the display image is displayed on the image display unit. In this way, a clear display image without brightness variation is obtained.

Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.

Abstract: To establish a technique that enables sorting of the elevation and azimuth angle in the direction of emitting secondary electrons and obtaining images with emphasized contrast, in order to perform the review and analysis of shallow asperities and microscopic foreign particles in a wafer inspection during the manufacture of semiconductor devices, an electromagnetic overlapping objective lens is used to achieve high resolution, an electron beam is narrowly focused using the objective lens, an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons in the vicinity of a wafer in order to suppress the dependence on secondary electron energy of the rotation of secondary electrons generated by irradiation of the electron beam, a ring-shaped detector plate is disposed between an electron source and the objective lens, and the low angle components of the elevation angle of the secondary electrons, as viewed from the place of generation, and the high angle components are separated and also the azimuth components are separa

Abstract: A technology whereby removal of magnetic hysteresis is enabled in short time in parallel with a process for stage transfer, and so forth. There is executed a magnetic hysteresis removal sequence whereby current for exciting an electromagnetic coil prior to acquisition of an image is always set to a predetermined variation value against a target value, thereby obtaining information on an image, and so forth, when a diameter of a primary electron beam, converged on the specimen, becomes smaller than dimensions displayed by one pixel of an image to be acquired.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to be able to select easily and quickly inspection recipes which are appropriate to samples from any number of inspection recipes. A calculating device displays a plurality of inspection recipes on the GUI. An inspection recipe includes settings for controlling charged particle columns which irradiate charged particles on samples with a plurality of characteristics. Plural inspection recipes are arranged and displayed on a coordinate system which is specified by a plurality of axes having characteristic values (robustness variable of charge up, throughput of defect inspection, and accuracy of defect inspection) which have mutually trade-off relationships.

Abstract: A defect detected by a wafer inspection tool is reliably captured by a defect review tool. A defect review condition in the defect review tool is varied depending on defect attributes provided by the wafer inspection tool so as to optimize the review process. For example, review magnification is varied depending on the size of the defect, or the frame addition number is varied depending on the maximum gray level difference.

Abstract: In an electric immersion lens having high resolution capability, secondary electrons generated from a specimen are accelerated to suppress the dependency of rotational action of the secondary electrons applied thereto by an objective lens upon energy levels of the secondary electrons and when selectively detecting low and high angle components of elevation and azimuth as viewed from a secondary electron generation site by means of an annular detector interposed between an electron source and the objective lens, the secondary electrons are adjusted and deflected by means of an E×B deflector such that the center axis of secondary electrons converged finely under acceleration is made to be coincident with the center axis of a low elevation signal detection system and the secondary electrons are deviated from an aperture of a high elevation signal detection system.

Abstract: To establish a technique that enables sorting of the elevation and azimuth angle in the direction of emitting secondary electrons and obtaining images with emphasized contrast, in order to perform the review and analysis of shallow asperities and microscopic foreign particles in a wafer inspection during the manufacture of semiconductor devices, an electromagnetic overlapping objective lens is used to achieve high resolution, an electron beam is narrowly focused using the objective lens, an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons in the vicinity of a wafer in order to suppress the dependence on secondary electron energy of the rotation of secondary electrons generated by irradiation of the electron beam, a ring-shaped detector plate is disposed between an electron source and the objective lens, and the low angle components of the elevation angle of the secondary electrons, as viewed from the place of generation, and the high angle components are separated and also the azimuth components are separa

Abstract: The invention provides a manufacturing method of a laser diode having buried grown layer with less crystal defects and with low consumption power and having high reliability in a buried heterostructure laser diode using an InGaAlAs type material as an active layer, by preventing the inhibition of burying and regrowing of the active layer caused by oxidation of Al contained in the active layer. A manufacturing method of a semiconductor laser diode and the active layer comprises a material at least containing Al and having a buried hetero-cross sectional structure, formation of the buried heterostructure, comprising the steps of fabricating the active layer into a stripe shape or mesa shape by etching including at least wet etching, cleaning the stripe-shape sidewall of the core layer with a gas containing chlorine or other halogen element in a crystal growing apparatus and burying the active layer in the semiconductor.