Sample shape measuring method and sample shape measuring apparatus

• US 10,458,785 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2017
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Evident Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Yoshimasa, Ode, Hisashi, Odaira, Mayumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, II, Jerome
• Application Number:
  US15/815,867
• Publication Number:
  US 20180073865A1
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 382128
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/24 for measuring contours or curvatures
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/2513 with several lines being projected in more than one direction, e.g. grids, patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/26 for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/0016 Technical microscopes, e.g. for inspection or measuring in industrial production processes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/0088 Inverse microscopes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/082 for incident illumination only
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/084 having annular illumination around the objective
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/26 Stages; Adjusting means therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/364 Projection microscopes

Abstract

A sample shape measuring method includes a step of preparing illumination light passing through a predetermined illumination region, a step of applying the illumination light to a sample, and a predetermined processing step. The predetermined illumination region is set so as not to include the optical axis at a pupil position of the illumination optical system and is set such that the illumination light is applied to part of the inside of the pupil and the outside of the pupil at a pupil position of the observation optical system. The predetermined processing step includes a step of receiving light, a step of obtaining the quantity of light, a step of calculating the difference or the ratio between the quantity of light and a reference quantity of light, and a step of calculating the amount of tilt in the surface of the sample from the difference or the ratio.

Claims

1. A sample shape measuring method comprising:

a step of preparing illumination light passing through a predetermined illumination region;

a step of applying the illumination light to a sample; and

a predetermined processing step, wherein

the predetermined illumination region is set so as not to include an optical axis at a pupil position of an illumination optical system and is set such that the illumination light is applied to part of inside of a pupil and outside of the pupil at a pupil position of an observation optical system,

the illumination light is transmitted through the sample,

light emitted from the sample is incident on the observation optical system, and

the predetermined processing step includes;

a step of receiving light emitted from the observation optical system;

a step of obtaining a quantity of light of the received light;

a step of calculating a difference or a ratio between the quantity of light and a reference quantity of light; and

a step of calculating an amount of tilt in a surface of the sample from the difference or the ratio.

2. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of calculating a shape of a sample based on the amount of tilt.

3. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein

in the predetermined illumination region, a surface light source is disposed or an image of the surface light source is formed, and

in the step of receiving light, light emitted from the observation optical system is received by a plurality of minute regions.

4. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 3, wherein, for each of the minute regions, the step of obtaining a quantity of light, the step of calculating a difference or a ratio, and a step of calculating an amount of tilt are executed.

5. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of setting a range wider than one of the minute regions as a predetermined region, wherein

in the step of obtaining a quantity of light, the quantity of light obtained based on the minute regions included in the predetermined region is obtained as the quantity of light in the predetermined region,

in the step of calculating a difference or a ratio, the difference or the ratio between the quantity of light in the predetermined region and the reference quantity of light is calculated,

in the step of calculating a tilt, the amount of tilt in the surface of the sample corresponding to the predetermined region is calculated,

the predetermined region corresponds to one region when the surface of the sample is divided into a grid pattern, and

the amount of tilt in the surface of the sample is calculated using the predetermined region as a unit.

6. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein the illumination light passing through the predetermined illumination region is parallel light flux.

7. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 6, wherein the illumination light and the sample are relatively moved in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis.

8. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of calculating a shape of a sample from the amount of tilt and visualizing a shape of the sample from the calculated shape.

9. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein the reference quantity of light is a quantity of light in a state in which no sample is present.

10. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 9, further comprising a step of setting the reference quantity of light between the step of preparing illumination light and the step of applying the illumination light to a sample.

11. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 10, wherein

in the step of setting the reference quantity of light, the quantity of light is measured by applying the illumination light emitted from the illumination optical system to the observation optical system, and

the reference quantity of light is set based on the measured quantity of light.

12. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 11, wherein measurement of the quantity of light is performed before initial measurement of a sample.

13. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 11, wherein

the measured quantity of light is stored, and

the reference quantity of light is set by reading the quantity of light stored before the initial measurement of a sample.

14. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein in the step of calculating an amount of tilt, the amount of tilt is calculated based on a correspondence relation obtained in advance.

15. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 14, wherein the correspondence relation is represented by a lookup table including the quantity of light and the amount of tilt as parameters.

16. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 14, wherein the correspondence relation is represented by an expression including the quantity of light and the amount of tilt as parameters.

17. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined illumination region is set such that an image of the predetermined illumination region includes part of an edge of the pupil.

18. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 17, further comprising a step of changing a position of the predetermined illumination region, wherein

the step of changing a position is executed after the predetermined processing step for the first time is finished,

by execution of the step of changing a position, the position of the predetermined illumination region moves to a position different from a position when the processing step for the first time is executed, and

the predetermined processing step for the second time is executed after the step of changing a position is finished.

19. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined illumination region is set such that an image of the predetermined illumination region includes the entire edge of the pupil.

20. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of relatively moving the observation optical system and the sample along the optical axis.

21. The sample shape measuring method according to claim 2, wherein

a pupil magnification is a ratio between a diameter of the pupil in the illumination optical system and a diameter of the pupil in the observation optical system,

a change in the pupil magnification is caused by a sample, and

the sample measuring method further comprises a step of correcting an error that occurs with the change in pupil magnification.

22. A sample shape measuring apparatus comprising:

an illumination optical system;

an observation optical system;

a stage;

a sensor; and

a processor comprising hardware, wherein

the illumination optical system includes a light source, a condenser lens, and an aperture,

the observation optical system includes an objective lens and an imaging lens,

the stage holds a sample and is disposed between the illumination optical system and the observation optical system,

illumination light applied to the sample by the illumination optical system is transmitted through the sample,

light emitted from the sample is incident on the observation optical system,

the sensor receives light emitted from the observation optical system, and

the processor is configured to;

obtain a quantity of light based on the received light,

calculate a difference or a ratio between the quantity of light and a reference quantity of light, and

calculate an amount of tilt in a surface of the sample based on the difference or the ratio.

23. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a shape of a sample based on the amount of tilt.

24. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

the sensor has light-detecting pixels arranged in two dimensions,

a range wider than the light-detecting pixel is set as a predetermined region,

the quantity of light obtained based on the light-detecting pixels included in the predetermined region is obtained as the quantity of light in the predetermined region,

a difference or a ratio between the quantity of light in the predetermined region and a reference quantity of light is calculated,

the processor is further configured to calculate an amount of tilt in a surface of the sample corresponding to the predetermined region, from a result of the calculation of the difference or the ratio,

the predetermined region corresponds to one region when the surface of the sample is divided into a grid pattern, and

the amount of tilt in a surface position of the sample is calculated using the predetermined region as a unit.

25. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a shape of a sample from a plurality of the amounts of tilt and visualize a shape of the sample from the calculated shape.

26. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to access a lookup table, wherein the lookup table comprises the quantity of light and the amount of tilt and calculate the amount of tilt using the lookup table.

27. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising a first aperture and a second aperture member to be inserted to and removed from an optical path, wherein the first aperture, a portion including an optical axis of the condenser lens is a light-shielding part, the first aperture having a first opening at a position eccentric with respect to the optical axis,

in the second aperture, a portion including the optical axis of the condenser lens is a light-shielding part, the second aperture having a second opening at a position eccentric with respect to the optical axis,

a direction connecting the optical axis with a centroid of the first opening when the first aperture is inserted to the optical path intersects a direction connecting the optical axis with a centroid of the second opening when the second aperture is inserted to the optical path.

28. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

in the aperture, a portion including an optical axis of the condenser lens is a light-shielding part, the aperture having a first opening and a second opening at a position eccentric with respect to the optical axis, and

a direction connecting the optical axis with a centroid of the first opening when the aperture is inserted to the optical path intersects a direction connecting the optical axis with a centroid of the second opening.

29. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

in the aperture, a portion including an optical axis of the condenser lens is a light-shielding part, the aperture has an opening at a position eccentric with respect to the optical axis, and

a direction connecting the optical axis with a centroid of the opening is changeable.

30. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to access a lookup table, wherein the lookup table represents a relation between the quantity of light and the amount of tilt in a plurality of directions connecting the optical axis with the centroid of the opening, and calculate the amount of tilt and a tilt direction using the lookup table.

31. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the opening is provided such that illumination light of the illumination optical system is applied to part of a pupil and outside of the pupil at a pupil position of the observation optical system.

32. A sample shape measuring apparatus comprising:

an illumination optical system;

an observation optical system;

a stage;

a sensor; and

a processor comprising hardware, wherein the illumination optical system includes a light source, a condenser lens, and an aperture,

the observation optical system includes an objective lens and an imaging lens,

the stage holds a sample and is disposed between the illumination optical system and the observation optical system,

the aperture has a light-shielding part and an opening,

the light-shielding part is provided so as to include an optical axis of the condenser lens,

the opening is provided at a position eccentric with respect to the optical axis,

an image of the opening is formed in vicinity of a pupil position of the observation optical system and is formed so as to overlap part of an outer edge of a pupil of the observation optical system,

illumination light applied to the sample by the illumination optical system is transmitted through the sample,

light emitted from the sample is incident on the observation optical system,

the sensor receives light emitted from the observation optical system, and

the processor is configured to;

obtain a quantity of light based on the received light,

calculate a difference or a ratio between the quantity of light and a reference quantity of light, and

calculate an amount of tilt in a surface of the sample from the difference or the ratio.

33. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a shape of a sample based on the amount of tilt.

34. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 33, wherein

the aperture has a boundary line that separates the light-shielding part from the opening, and

the boundary line is formed of a line parallel to one straight line orthogonal to the optical axis.

35. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 33, wherein

the aperture is a first aperture,

the first aperture has a boundary line that separates a light-shielding part from an opening, and

a straight line connecting predetermined two points is positioned between the boundary line and the optical axis,

where the predetermined two points are two points where the boundary line intersects an outer edge of a pupil of the illumination optical system when the pupil of the illumination optical system is superimposed on the first aperture.

36. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 33, wherein

the aperture is a second aperture,

the second aperture has a boundary line that separates a light-shielding part from an opening, and

the boundary line is positioned between a straight line connecting predetermined two points and the optical axis,

where the predetermined two points are two points where the boundary line intersects an outer edge of a pupil of the illumination optical system when the pupil of the illumination optical system is superimposed on the second aperture.

37. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 33, wherein

the sample shape measuring apparatus comprises the stage and a transparent parallel flat plate,

the stage has a holding part to hold liquid, and

the transparent parallel flat plate is disposed in contact with a liquid surface of the liquid.

38. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 33, wherein at least one of a size of the light-shielding part and a sample-side numerical aperture of the objective lens is changeable.

39. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the sample-side numerical aperture of the objective lens is changed with one objective lens.

40. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the sample-side numerical aperture of the objective lens is changed by switching a plurality of objective lenses.

41. The sample shape measuring apparatus according to claim 33, wherein light intensity of illumination light passing through the opening is approximately equal at all positions in the opening.