Electron beam apparatus and device manufacturing method using same

• US 7,098,457 B2
• Filed: 05/23/2005
• Issued: 08/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kioxia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Yuichiro, Watanabe, Kenji, Noji, Nobuharu, Hatakeyama, Masahiro, Satake, Tohru, Nagahama, Ichirota
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kiet T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, JOHNNIE L
• Application Number:
  US11/134,330
• Publication Number:
  US 20050205783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: 250/310, 250/309, 250/306, 250/307, 250/397
• US Class Current: 250/310
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/0044 of objects being observed or treated
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/2817 Pattern inspection
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/28 with scanning beams H01J37/268, H01J37/292, H01J37/2955 take precedence

Abstract

A defect inspecting apparatus is provided for generating a less distorted test image to reliably observe a surface of a sample for detecting defects thereon. The defect detecting apparatus comprises a primary electron beam source for irradiating a sample, electrostatic lenses for focusing secondary electrons emitted from the surface of the sample irradiated with the primary electron beam, a detector for detecting the secondary electrons, and an image processing unit for processing a signal from the detector. Further, a second electron source may be provided for emitting an electron beam irradiated to the sample, wherein the sample may be irradiated with the electron beam from the second electron source before it is irradiated with the primary electron beam from the first electron source for observing the sample. A device manufacturing method is also provided for inspecting devices under processing with high throughput using the defect detecting apparatus.

Claims

1. An electron beam apparatus comprising:

an electron beam source for irradiating a sample with a primary electron beam, said sample including a pattern structure on the surface consisting of complex materials including a mixture of a metal and an insulating material;

a detector for detecting secondary electrons emitted from the surface of said sample irradiated with the primary electron beam; and

an image processing system for processing a signal from said detector to compare an image with adjacent image and form an electron image, thereby detecting defects;

wherein said primary electron beam is optimized to have a beam energy in a range of 2 to 4 keV, thereby reducing a secondary electron emission efficiency from the sample to less than one and causing the sample to be negatively charged, and wherein said electron beam source illuminates the sample to reduce potential difference between said metal material and insulating material.

2. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said primary electron beam has the beam energy in the range of 2 to 4 keV to negatively charge an insulating material on the surface of said sample to reduce overcharging.

12. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a second electron source for irradiating the surface of the sample with an electron beam whose irradiating energy can be controlled in a range of 0 to 4 keV.

15. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said optical system includes at least one electrostatic lens to which a parametric voltage for correcting a distortion is fed back, said parametric voltage being calculated by comparing a reference image with images obtained from said sample.

16. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image processing system selects a representative point from a pattern edge to correct distortion by comparing an image obtained from the representative point with a reference image.

3. An electron beam apparatus comprising:

an electron beam source for irradiating a sample with a primary electron beam, said sample including a pattern structure on the surface consisting of complex materials including a mixture of a metal and an insulating material;

a detector for detecting secondary electrons emitted from the surface of said sample irradiated with the primary electron beam; and

an image processing system for processing a signal from said detector to compare an image with adjacent image and form an electron image, thereby detecting defects;

wherein said primary electron beam is optimized to have a beam energy in a range of 2 to 4 KeV to negatively charge an insulating material on the surface of said sample to reduce overcharging, and wherein said electron beam source illuminates the sample to reduce potential difference between samples on a wafer.

4. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a separating device for separating said primary electron beam from said secondary electrons.

5. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said separating device is an ExB filter.

6. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said detector includes a line sensor.

7. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said line sensor is such a line sensor having a function of signal averaging by electron charge accumulation as a TDI.

8. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a coherent or incoherent light source lamp for irradiating said sample, said light source lamp including a laser for increasing the conductivity effect on the surface of the sample to improve the difference in surface potential between the metal and insulating material.

9. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said coherent light from said light source lamp has a wavelength band of 300 to 600 nm or less.

10. An electron beam apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said coherent light from said light source lamp has an irradiation density equal to or larger than 1 W/cm².

11. A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising the step of inspecting a wafer under processing in order to detect defects using an electron beam apparatus according to claim 3.

13. A method of detecting defects on a sample for classification and discrimination, comprising the steps of:

irradiating said sample with an electron beam emitted from an electron beam source, said sample including a pattern structure on the surface consisting of complex materials such as a mixture of a metal and an insulating material;

imaging secondary electrons emitted from the surface of said sample irradiated with the primary electron beam;

detecting said secondary electrons by a detector; and

processing a signal from said detector to compare an image with adjacent one and form an electron image, thereby detecting defects;

wherein said primary electron beam is optimized to have a beam energy in a range of 2 to 4 keV, thereby reducing a secondary electron emission efficiency from the sample to less than one and causing the sample to be negatively charged, and wherein said electron beam source illuminates the sample to reduce potential difference between said metal material and insulating material.

14. A method of detecting defects on a sample, comprising the steps of:

irradiating said sample with a primary electron beam emitted from an electron beam source, said sample including a pattern structure on the surface consisting of complex materials including a mixture of a metal and an insulating material;

focusing secondary electrons emitted from the surface of said sample irradiated with the primary electron beam;

detecting said secondary electrons by a detector; and

processing a signal from said detector to compare an image with adjacent one and form an electron image, thereby detecting defects;

wherein said primary electron beam is optimized to have a beam energy in a range of 2 to 4 KeV to negatively charge an insulating material on the surface of said sample to reduce overcharging, and wherein said electron beam source illuminates the sample to reduce potential difference between said metal material and insulating material.