Patents by Inventor Tomonori Nakano

Tomonori Nakano 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).

  • Patent number: 8581190
    Abstract: Disclosed is a scanning charged particle microscope provided with an aberration measuring means that measures high-order geometrical aberration at high precision and high speed. An image obtained by a single-hole aperture and an image obtained by a multiple-hole aperture arranged in a region larger than that for the single-hole aperture are deconvoluted, an aberration quantity is determined based on the profiles of beams tilted in a plurality of directions and the obtained quantity is fed back to an aberration corrector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tomonori Nakano, Takeshi Kawasaki, Kotoko Hirose, Hiroyuki Ito
  • Patent number: 8558171
    Abstract: A focused charged particle beam apparatus including an aberration corrector, capable of finding the absolute value of the aberration coefficient at high speed, and capable of making high-accuracy adjustments at high speed. A deflection coil tilts the input beam relative to the object point, and measures the defocus data and aberration quantity at high speed while the beam is tilted from one image, and perform least squares fitting on these results to find the absolute value of the aberration coefficient prior to tilting the beam, and to adjust the aberration corrector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kotoko Hirose, Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano
  • Patent number: 8436899
    Abstract: A tilted illumination observation method and observation device with easy adjustment, high speed, good reproducibility and low cost is provided. A high resolution tilt image of a specimen is obtained by extracting the blurring on the scanning spot occurring during beam tilt from the image (step 6) captured by the tilted beam, and the image (step 4) captured from directly above the standard specimen; and then deconvoluting (step 11, 12) the tilted image of the target specimen (step 10) using the extracted scanning spot from the oblique beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano, Kotoko Hirose
  • Publication number: 20130068949
    Abstract: Disclosed is an aberration measurement method of a charged particle beam device provided with an aberration corrector (4). The method is characterized by: when measuring aberration, (A) the number of pixels or the resolution is changed of a first image and a second image that are benchmarks when measuring field of view offset, and after determining the destination of movement resulting from a rough field of view offset, the number of pixels or the resolution of the first image and the second image are set to the same conditions, and the amount of field of view offset is measured precisely, or (B) a sample having lines in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction is one-dimensionally scanned, and the amount of movement is measured from the signal position offset. As a result, in a charged particle beam device provided mounted with an aberration corrector, it becomes possible to provide a highly precise aberration measurement method that is not to the detriment of measurement time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Publication date: March 21, 2013
    Inventors: Kotoko Urano, Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano, Hiroyuki Ito
  • Patent number: 8258475
    Abstract: There is provided a charged particle radiation device provided with an aberration corrector capable of correcting aberration with high precision in a short time by automatically setting an aberration coefficient measuring condition to thereby realize measurement with high precision. The charged particle radiation device has a feature that a value of defocus and a value of astigma, occurring owing to aberration at the time of the beam tilting, are estimated on the basis of results of aberration measurement, thereby adjusting an electron optical system on the basis of these values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kotoko Hirose, Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano
  • Publication number: 20120199739
    Abstract: Disclosed is a scanning charged particle beam apparatus equipped with an aberration corrector, contrived to eliminate resolution degradation in tilt observation by a chromatic third-order aperture aberration without relying on a specific optical system. A controller of the scanning charged particle beam apparatus provides a chromatic third-order aperture aberration measurement method relevant to tilt observation of a specimen. Further, the controller has a chromatic aberration control function relevant to tilt observation of a specimen. By means of the chromatic aberration control function, the controller controls a chromatic aberration to be positive or negative, rather than remaining at 0, in order to eliminate an image blur which occurs in a direction parallel to the specimen surface due to a chromatic third-order aperture aberration and a chromatic aberration at a tilt angle (t1) under observation and another tilt angle (?t1) axially opposite to the tilt angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2010
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomonori Nakano, Takeshi Kawasaki, Kotoko Hirose
  • Publication number: 20120153146
    Abstract: A focused charged particle beam apparatus including an aberration corrector, capable of finding the absolute value of the aberration coefficient at high speed, and capable of making high-accuracy adjustments at high speed. A deflection coil tilts the input beam relative to the object point, and measures the defocus data and aberration quantity at high speed while the beam is tilted from one image, and perform least squares fitting on these results to find the absolute value of the aberration coefficient prior to tilting the beam, and to adjust the aberration corrector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kotoko HIROSE, Takeshi KAWASAKI, Tomonori NAKANO
  • Patent number: 8168951
    Abstract: A charged particle beam apparatus having an aberration correction capability at high acceleration voltages. The charged particle beam apparatus comprises a charged particle beam source; an extraction electrode to extract charged particles from the charged particle beam source; a charged particle beam gun including a means for converging a charged particle beam; an acceleration means for accelerating a charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle beam gun; and an aberration correction means disposed between the charged particle beam gun and the acceleration means, in which an aberration enough to cancel out an aberration of a charged particle beam on the specimen surface is provided to an extraction electrical potential or an equivalent beam at the initial acceleration stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano
  • Patent number: 8129680
    Abstract: A focused charged particle beam apparatus including an aberration corrector, capable of finding the absolute value of the aberration coefficient at high speed, and capable of making high-accuracy adjustments at high speed. A deflection coil tilts the input beam relative to the object point, and measures the defocus data and aberration quantity at high speed while the beam is tilted from one image, and perform least squares fitting on these results to find the absolute value of the aberration coefficient prior to tilting the beam, and to adjust the aberration corrector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kotoko Hirose, Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano
  • Publication number: 20110272578
    Abstract: There is provided a charged particle radiation device provided with an aberration corrector capable of correcting aberration with high precision in a short time by automatically setting an aberration coefficient measuring condition to thereby realize measurement with high precision. The charged particle radiation device has a feature that a value of defocus and a value of astigma, occurring owing to aberration at the time of the beam tilting, are estimated on the basis of results of aberration measurement, thereby adjusting an electron optical system on the basis of these values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2010
    Publication date: November 10, 2011
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kotoko Hirose, Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano
  • Publication number: 20110210248
    Abstract: A method for estimation of a probe shape, in a scanning electron microscope provided with an aberration corrector, and the method is designed so as to obtain a probe image, by inputting to a computer an image taken in a just-focused state and an image taken in a de-focused state, as an image data; preparing a correlation window by automatically determining a size of a correlation window image, based on an input data size and an output data size; executing cross-correlation calculation between the correlation window and a reference area; and repeating this calculation while shifting the reference area, so as to obtain a cross-correlation matrix, in order to stably obtain the probe image, without receiving effects of use conditions or noises.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kotoko HIROSE, Takeshi KAWASAKI, Haruo YODA, Tomonori NAKANO
  • Publication number: 20110139980
    Abstract: Disclosed is a scanning charged particle microscope provided with an aberration measuring means that measures high-order geometrical aberration at high precision and high speed. An image obtained by a single-hole aperture and an image obtained by a multiple-hole aperture arranged in a region larger than that for the single-hole aperture are deconvoluted, an aberration quantity is determined based on the profiles of beams tilted in a plurality of directions and the obtained quantity is fed back to an aberration corrector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2009
    Publication date: June 16, 2011
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomonori Nakano, Takeshi Kawasaki, Kotoko Hirose, Hiroyuki Ito
  • Patent number: 7915582
    Abstract: A method for estimation of a probe shape, in a scanning electron microscope provided with an aberration corrector, and the method is designed so as to obtain a probe image, by inputting to a computer an image taken in a just-focused state and an image taken in a de-focused state, as an image data; preparing a correlation window by automatically determining a size of a correlation window image, based on an input data size and an output data size; executing cross-correlation calculation between the correlation window and a reference area; and repeating this calculation while shifting the reference area, so as to obtain a cross-correlation matrix, in order to stably obtain the probe image, without receiving effects of use conditions or noises.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kotoko Hirose, Takeshi Kawasaki, Haruo Yoda, Tomonori Nakano
  • Patent number: 7834326
    Abstract: The present invention provides an aberration corrector giving excellent assembly accuracy but having fewer parts and fewer adjustment locations in number. In order to achieve it, a multistage multipole is formed by arranging plural combinations of electrodes around an optical axis using alignment blocks, each combination of electrodes being made by brazing-integrating plural electrodes with a ceramic material interposed therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Kawasaki, Noboru Moriya, Tomonori Nakano, Kotoko Hirose
  • Publication number: 20100264309
    Abstract: A method for estimation of a probe shape, in a scanning electron microscope provided with an aberration corrector, and the method is designed so as to obtain a probe image, by inputting to a computer an image taken in a just-focused state and an image taken in a de-focused state, as an image data; preparing a correlation window by automatically determining a size of a correlation window image, based on an input data size and an output data size; executing cross-correlation calculation between the correlation window and a reference area; and repeating this calculation while shifting the reference area, so as to obtain a cross-correlation matrix, in order to stably obtain the probe image, without receiving effects of use conditions or noises.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2007
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Inventors: Kotoko HIROSE, Takeshi Kawasaki, Haruo Yoda, Tomonori Nakano
  • Publication number: 20100194676
    Abstract: A KVM switch that is connected between servers, and at least one set of a keyboard, a mouse and a monitor, comprising: an acquiring portion that acquires information showing a screen resolution to which the monitor is capable of adapting, from the monitor, an analysis portion that analyzes a screen resolution of a video signal output from a corresponding server, based on a horizontal synchronizing signal and a vertical synchronizing signal received from each of the servers; a determination portion that determines whether the analyzed screen resolution exceeds the screen resolution shown by the acquired information; a conversion portion that, when the analyzed screen resolution exceeds the screen resolution shown by the acquired information, converts the analyzed screen resolution into the screen resolution shown by the acquired information; and an output portion that outputs the video signal having the converted screen resolution to the monitor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Applicant: FUJITSU COMPONENT LIMITED
    Inventor: Tomonori Nakano
  • Patent number: 7718976
    Abstract: The present invention provides a stable charged particle beam apparatus to enable high-resolution observation by reducing the influence of the noise of a large number of power supplies used in an aberration corrector. The charged particle beam apparatus that has: an SEM column for irradiating an electron beam onto a specimen and making the electron beam scan it; a specimen chamber for housing a specimen stage on which the specimen is placed and held; a detector for detecting secondary electrons generated by the scanning of the electron beam; display means for displaying an output signal of the detector as an SEM image; and a control unit for controlling component parts including the SEM column, the specimen chamber, and the display means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Kawasaki, Mitsugu Sato, Makoto Ezumi, Tomonori Nakano
  • Patent number: 7714286
    Abstract: A charged particle beam apparatus includes: a correction image acquisition part 52 for making a detector 20 acquire items of two-dimensional image data at different focal positions; a directional differentiation operation part 53 for obtaining directional derivative values in a plurality of directions for each of the items of two-dimensional image data at different focal positions; an aberration parameter calculation part 54 for obtaining aberration parameters according to previously determined methods by using the directional derivative values in a plurality of directions for each of the items of two-dimensional image data; an aberration correction value calculation part 55 for obtaining correction values for aberrations by using the aberration parameters; and a control part 56 for setting the correction values in a correction optical system control means to make an aberration corrector 16 correct the aberrations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tomonori Nakano, Takeshi Kawasaki, Kotoko Hirose, Makoto Ezumi
  • Publication number: 20100033560
    Abstract: A tilted illumination observation method and observation device with easy adjustment, high speed, good reproducibility and low cost is provided. A high resolution tilt image of a specimen is obtained by extracting the blurring on the scanning spot occurring during beam tilt from the image (step 6) captured by the tilted beam, and the image (step 4) captured from directly above the standard specimen; and then deconvoluting (step 11, 12) the tilted image of the target specimen (step 10) using the extracted scanning spot from the oblique beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2009
    Publication date: February 11, 2010
    Inventors: Takeshi Kawasaki, Tomonori Nakano, Kotoko Hirose
  • Patent number: 7619218
    Abstract: When an accelerating voltage and operating distance are changed, an excitation current and a pole voltage of an aberration corrector must also be changed. Moreover, different multipole voltages or currents must be added individually for each pole in order to superpose multipoles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2009
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tomonori Nakano, Takaho Yoshida