Patent · US Expired

Electron beam apparatus and device fabrication method using the electron beam apparatus

US7244932B2 · kind B2 · utility

43Cited by
22References
51Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 2, 2001
Grant dateJul 17, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 9, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01J2237/2817
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The purpose of the invention is to provide an improved electron beam apparatus with improvements in throughput, accuracy, etc. One of the characterizing features of the electron beam apparatus of the present invention is that it has a plurality of optical systems, each of which comprises a primary electron optical system for scanning and irradiating a sample with a plurality of primary electron beams; a detector device for detecting a plurality of secondary beams emitted by irradiating the sample with the primary electron beams; and a secondary electron optical system for guiding the secondary electron beams from the sample to the detector device; all configured so that the plurality of optical systems scan different regions of the sample with their primary electron beams, and detect the respective secondary electron beams emitted from each of the respective regions. This is what makes higher throughput possible. To provide high accuracy, the apparatus is configured such that the axes of its optical systems can be aligned, and aberrations corrected, by a variety of methods.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.