Patents by Inventor Tsunenori Nomaguchi

Tsunenori Nomaguchi 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: 11107656
    Abstract: Signal electrons with high energy that pass near an optical axis, for example, backscattered electrons or secondary electrons in a booster optical system, can be detected. Therefore, there is provided a charged particle beam device including: a charged particle beam source configured to generate a charged particle beam; an objective lens configured to focus the charged particle beam to a sample; and a first charged particle detecting element disposed between the charged particle beam source and the objective lens and configured to detect charged particles generated by an interaction between the charged particle beam and the sample, in which a detection surface of the first charged particle detecting element is disposed on a center axis of the objective lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Tsunenori Nomaguchi, Shunichi Motomura, Kenichi Nishinaka, Toshihide Agemura
  • Patent number: 11067391
    Abstract: Provided is a charged particle beam device which includes a storage unit that stores relationship information indicating a relationship between intensity or an intensity ratio of a charged particle signal obtained when a layer disposed on the sample is irradiated with the charged particle beam and a thickness of the layer; and a calculation unit that calculates the thickness of the layer as a thickness of the sample by using the relationship information and the intensity or the intensity ratio of the charged particle signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiro Sato, Tsunenori Nomaguchi
  • Publication number: 20210217580
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes: a charged particle beam source configured to generate a charged particle beam with which a sample is irradiated; a charged particle detection unit configured to detect a charged particle generated when the sample is irradiated with the charged particle beam; an intensity data generation unit configured to generate intensity data of the charged particle detected by the charged particle detection unit; a pulse-height value data generation unit configured to generate pulse-height value data of the charged particle detected by the charged particle detection unit; and an output unit configured to output a first image of the sample based on the intensity data and a second image of the sample based on the pulse-height value data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2018
    Publication date: July 15, 2021
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuo OOTSUGA, Yuta IMAI, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20210190703
    Abstract: To provide, in observation of a sample that requires a movement between various devices, a charged particle beam device, a method for processing the sample, and an observation method which facilitate the movement between the devices. The charged particle beam device that processes an observation target on the sample using a charged particle beam includes: a sample stage on which the sample is placed; an observation unit configured to observe the observation target; and a writing unit configured to write information of the observation target in a writing position of the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2018
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Inventors: Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Hiromi MISE
  • Publication number: 20210118641
    Abstract: As a device for correcting positive spherical aberration of an electromagnetic lens for a charged particle beam, a spherical aberration correction device combining a hole electrode and a ring electrode is known. In this spherical aberration correction device, when a voltage is applied between the hole electrode and the ring electrode, the focus of the charged particle beam device changes due to the convex lens effect generated in the hole electrode. Therefore, in a charged particle beam device including a charged particle beam source which generates a charged particle beam, a charged particle beam aperture having a ring shape, and a charged particle beam aperture power supply which applies a voltage to the charged particle beam aperture, the charged particle beam aperture power supply is configured to apply, to the charged particle beam aperture, a voltage having a polarity opposite to a polarity of charges of the charged particle beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Publication date: April 22, 2021
    Inventors: Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Shunichi MOTOMURA, Tadahiro KAWASAKI, Takeharu KATO, Ryuji YOSHIDA
  • Publication number: 20210035770
    Abstract: When a charged particle beam aperture having an annular shape is used, since a charged particle beam directly above the optical axis having the highest current density in the charged particle beam is blocked, it is difficult to dispose the charged particle beam aperture at an optimal mounting position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Kenichi NISHINAKA, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20210027977
    Abstract: When using a charged particle beam aperture having a ring shape in a charged particle beam device, the charged particle beam with the highest current density immediately above the optical axis, among the charged particle beams is blocked, so that it is difficult to dispose the charged particle beam aperture at the optimal mounting position. Therefore, in addition to the ring-shaped charged particle beam aperture, a hole-shaped charged particle beam aperture is provided, and it is possible to switch between the case where the ring-shaped charged particle beam aperture is disposed on the optical axis of the charged particle beam and the case where the hole-shaped charged particle beam aperture is disposed on the optical axis of the charged particle beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Publication date: January 28, 2021
    Inventors: Shunichi MOTOMURA, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Tadahiro KAWASAKI, Takeharu KATO, Ryuji YOSHIDA
  • Patent number: 10886101
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes: a charged particle source that emits a charged particle beam; a boosting electrode disposed between the charged particle source and a sample to form a path of the charged particle beam and to accelerate and decelerate the charged particle beam; a first pole piece that covers the boosting electrode; a second pole piece that covers the first pole piece; a first lens coil disposed outside the first pole piece and inside the second pole piece to form a first lens; a second lens coil disposed outside the second pole piece to form a second lens; and a control electrode formed between a distal end portion of the first pole piece and a distal end portion of the second pole piece to control an electric field formed between the sample and the distal end portion of the second pole piece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Ryo Hirano, Hideo Morishita, Toshihide Agemura, Junichi Katane, Tsunenori Nomaguchi
  • Publication number: 20200371050
    Abstract: To enable evaluation of a shape of a fine particle and a fine particle type, a substrate is set as a substrate on which an isolated fine particle to be measured and an isolated standard fine particle in the vicinity of the isolated fine particle to be measured are disposed, and a scanning electron microscope body including a detector configured to detect secondary charged particles obtained by scanning a surface of the substrate with an electron beam probe, and a computer that processes a detection signal and generates an image of the isolated fine particle to be measured and the isolated standard fine particle are provided. The computer corrects a shape of the isolated fine particle to be measured by using a measurement result of the isolated standard fine particle disposed in the vicinity of the isolated fine particle to be measured.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2018
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Inventors: Tomihiro Hashizume, Masatoshi Yasutake, Tsunenori Nomaguchi, Takafumi Miwa
  • Publication number: 20200251304
    Abstract: The present invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus capable of efficiently reducing the effect of a residual magnetic field when SEM observation is performed. The charged particle beam apparatus according to the present invention includes a first mode for passing a direct current to a second coil after turning off a first coil, and a second mode for passing an alternating current to the second coil after turning off the first coil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2017
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Inventors: Ryo HIRANO, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Chisato KAMIYA, Junichi KATANE
  • Publication number: 20200219697
    Abstract: The present invention realizes a composite charged particle beam apparatus capable of suppressing a leakage magnetic field from a pole piece forming an objective lens of an SEM with a simple structure. The charged particle beam apparatus according to the present invention obtains an ion beam observation image while passing a current to a first coil constituting the objective lens, and performs an operation of reducing the image shift by passing a current to a second coil with a plurality of current values, and determines a current to be passed to the second coil based on a difference between the operations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2017
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Ryo HIRANO, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Chisato KAMIYA, Junichi KATANE
  • Publication number: 20200211815
    Abstract: Signal electrons with high energy that pass near an optical axis, for example, backscattered electrons or secondary electrons in a booster optical system, can be detected. Therefore, there is provided a charged particle beam device including: a charged particle beam source configured to generate a charged particle beam; an objective lens configured to focus the charged particle beam to a sample; and a first charged particle detecting element disposed between the charged particle beam source and the objective lens and configured to detect charged particles generated by an interaction between the charged particle beam and the sample, in which a detection surface of the first charged particle detecting element is disposed on a center axis of the objective lens.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Inventors: Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Shunichi MOTOMURA, Kenichi NISHINAKA, Toshihide AGEMURA
  • Publication number: 20200132448
    Abstract: Provided is a charged particle beam device which includes a storage unit that stores relationship information indicating a relationship between intensity or an intensity ratio of a charged particle signal obtained when a layer disposed on the sample is irradiated with the charged particle beam and a thickness of the layer; and a calculation unit that calculates the thickness of the layer as a thickness of the sample by using the relationship information and the intensity or the intensity ratio of the charged particle signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventors: Takahiro SATO, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20200090903
    Abstract: A charged particle beam device includes: a charged particle source that emits a charged particle beam; a boosting electrode disposed between the charged particle source and a sample to form a path of the charged particle beam and to accelerate and decelerate the charged particle beam; a first pole piece that covers the boosting electrode; a second pole piece that covers the first pole piece; a first lens coil disposed outside the first pole piece and inside the second pole piece to form a first lens; a second lens coil disposed outside the second pole piece to form a second lens; and a control electrode formed between a distal end portion of the first pole piece and a distal end portion of the second pole piece to control an electric field formed between the sample and the distal end portion of the second pole piece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Publication date: March 19, 2020
    Inventors: Ryo HIRANO, Hideo MORISHITA, Toshihide AGEMURA, Junichi KATANE, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20190385810
    Abstract: The charged particle beam device includes a charged particle beam source which emits a primary charged particle beam, an objective lens which focuses the primary charged particle beam on a sample, a passage electrode which is formed of a metal material and is disposed between the charged particle beam source and a tip end of the objective lens, a detector which detects a secondary charged particle emitted from the sample, and an electrostatic field electrode which is electrically insulated from the passage electrode. The passage electrode is formed such that the primary charged particle beam passes through the inside of the passage electrode. The electrostatic field electrode is formed to cover an outer periphery of the passage electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Publication date: December 19, 2019
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ryuju SATO, Toshihide AGEMURA, Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI
  • Patent number: 10128081
    Abstract: A composite charged particle beam apparatus modulates an irradiation condition of a charged particle beam at high speed and detects a signal in synchronization with a modulation period to extract a signal arising from a particular charged particle beam when a sample is irradiated with a plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously. Light emitted from two or more kinds of scintillators having different light emitting properties is dispersed, signal strength is detected, and a signal is processed based on a ratio of first signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a first charged particle beam alone to second signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a second charged particle beam alone. The apparatus can extract only a signal arising from a desired charged particle beam even when the sample is irradiated with the plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tsunenori Nomaguchi, Toshihide Agemura
  • Patent number: 9966218
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electron beam device that achieves high spatial resolution and high luminance, while remaining insusceptible to the effects of external disturbance. The present invention relates to an electron beam device, wherein, between, e.g., an electron source for generating an electron beam and an objective lens for focusing the electron beam onto a sample, a high voltage beam tube is disposed close to the electron source and a low voltage beam tube is disposed close to the objective lens. This makes it possible to achieve high luminance while maintaining spatial resolution, even with an SEM that is provided with a type of objective lens that actively leaks a magnetic field onto a sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tsunenori Nomaguchi, Toshihide Agemura
  • Publication number: 20170358421
    Abstract: A composite charged particle beam apparatus modulates an irradiation condition of a charged particle beam at high speed and detects a signal in synchronization with a modulation period to extract a signal arising from a particular charged particle beam when a sample is irradiated with a plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously. Light emitted from two or more kinds of scintillators having different light emitting properties is dispersed, signal strength is detected, and a signal is processed based on a ratio of first signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a first charged particle beam alone to second signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a second charged particle beam alone. The apparatus can extract only a signal arising from a desired charged particle beam even when the sample is irradiated with the plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Publication date: December 14, 2017
    Inventors: Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Toshihide AGEMURA
  • Patent number: 9761409
    Abstract: The present invention relates to modulating an irradiation condition of a charged particle beam at high speed and detecting a signal in synchronization with a modulation period for the purpose of extracting a signal arising from a certain charged particle beam when a sample is irradiated with a plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously or, for example, for the purpose of separating a secondary electron signal arising from ion beam irradiation and a secondary electron signal arising from electron beam irradiation in an FIB-SEM system. The present invention further relates to dispersing light emitted from two or more kinds of scintillators having different light emitting properties, detecting each signal strength, and processing a signal on the basis of a ratio of first signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a first charged particle beam alone to second signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a second charged particle beam alone, the ratio being set by a mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tsunenori Nomaguchi, Toshihide Agemura
  • Publication number: 20170040139
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electron beam device that achieves high spatial resolution and high luminance, while remaining insusceptible to the effects of external disturbance. The present invention relates to an electron beam device, wherein, between, e.g., an electron source for generating an electron beam and an objective lens for focusing the electron beam onto a sample, a high voltage beam tube is disposed close to the electron source and a low voltage beam tube is disposed close to the objective lens. This makes it possible to achieve high luminance while maintaining spatial resolution, even with an SEM that is provided with a type of objective lens that actively leaks a magnetic field onto a sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2015
    Publication date: February 9, 2017
    Inventors: Tsunenori NOMAGUCHI, Toshihide AGEMURA