The present disclosure relates to a beam deflection device, as well as an aberration corrector, a monochromator, and a charged particle beam device including the beam deflection device, such as a beam deflection device in which an electrode and a magnetic pole can be arranged close to a beam trajectory, as well as an aberration corrector, a monochromator, and a charged particle beam device including the referenced beam deflection device.
A lens used in a charged particle beam device such as an electron microscope focuses a beam by generating an electrostatic field or a magnetic field. A trajectory of an electron or the like in an electron lens actually does not form a perfect image and offsets from a trajectory assuming a perfect image formation. Particularly, a spherical aberration and a chromatic aberration are factors of reducing a resolution of the electron microscope and the like. To suppress such an aberration, an aberration corrector including an electron mirror is known.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an aberration corrector in which a first electron mirror and a second electron mirror are arranged with an intermediate space between them. The referenced aberration corrector includes a Wien filter that deflects an electron beam deflected away from an optical axis of an electron microscope toward the first mirror, the referenced Wien filter being configured to guide the electron beam to the second mirror so that a trajectory of the beam reaching the second mirror is positioned on an extension line of the trajectory of the beam reflected by the first mirror, and to deflect the electron beam reflected by the second mirror back to the optical axis of the electron microscope. Since the first mirror and the second mirror are configured to provide the electron beam with an aberration that offsets the aberration, it is possible to suppress the aberration generated in the electron microscope.
Patent Literature 2 describes providing two pairs of electrodes and a pair of magnetic poles for guiding secondary electrons to a detector side without deflecting the electron beam and generating an electric field and a magnetic field for guiding the secondary electrons to the detector installed between the two pairs of electrodes.
As disclosed in Patent Literature 1, it is possible to control the trajectory of the electron beam after entering an aberration corrector and before exiting it by arranging the Wien filter in the aberration corrector. With the configuration disclosed in Patent Literature 1, however, it is difficult to bring the electrodes and the magnetic poles for generating the electric field and the magnetic field close to the beam trajectory. This is because both of the electrodes and the magnetic poles need to be spaced away from the beam trajectory so as not to interfere with each other since surfaces of the electrodes and the magnetic poles facing the beam trajectory have a predetermined size. To install the deflector that deflects the beam trajectory in a limited space, it is desired to arrange the electrodes and the magnetic poles close to the beam trajectory.
Moreover, Patent Literature 2 discloses a beam separator having two pairs of electrodes and a pair of magnetic poles arranged so that the electric field is orthogonal to the magnetic field. However, no discussion is made as to a means of arranging the electrodes and magnetic poles close to the beam trajectory.
In the light of such a situation, the present disclosure proposes a configuration of a beam deflection device in which an electrode and a magnetic pole are arranged close to a beam trajectory, as well as an aberration corrector, a monochromator, and a charged particle beam device including the referenced beam deflection device.
As one aspect to solve the above-described problem, the present disclosure proposes a beam deflection device for deflecting abeam in a charged particle beam device, including: one or more electrostatic deflectors including a pair of electrodes arranged to sandwich therebetween a beam trajectory in a first direction orthogonal to the trajectory of the beam; and one or more magnetic field deflectors including a pair of magnetic poles arranged to sandwich therebetween the beam trajectory in a second direction orthogonal to the trajectory of the beam and the first direction, in which the one or more electrostatic deflectors and the one or more magnetic field deflector are stacked along the trajectory of the beam so that at least a portion of the pair of electrodes overlap the pair of magnetic poles as seen from an incident direction of the beam, as well as an aberration corrector, a monochromator, and a charged particle beam device including the referenced beam deflection device.
Additional features associated with the present disclosure will be apparent from the present description and accompanying drawings. Moreover, aspects of the present disclosure can be achieved and implemented according to modes of elements and various combinations elements, as well as the detailed description and the scope of the claims that follow.
The description herein is merely a typical example, and does not limit the scope of the claims or application examples in any meanings.
According to the present disclosure, it is made possible to provide a beam deflection device in which an electrode and a magnetic pole can be arranged close to a trajectory of a beam, as well as an aberration corrector, a monochromator, and a charged particle beam device including the referenced beam deflection device.
In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the functionally same elements may be denoted by the same reference numerals. It is to be noted that the accompanying drawings present specific embodiments in accordance with the principle of the present disclosure, which are for the purpose of understanding of the present disclosure and not to be used to translate the present disclosure in a limiting manner.
Moreover, it should be understood that, while the present embodiment describes the present disclosure in enough detail for those skilled in the art to implement the present disclosure, other implementations/embodiments are also possible, and it is possible to modify the configuration/structure and replace various elements without departing from the scope and the spirit of the technical concept of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the following description should not be understood to be limited thereto.
<Configuration Example of Scanning Electron Microscope>
The electron beam entering the sample 109 is decelerated by negative voltage applied to an electrode built in a sample stage 108, focused by the lens effect of an objective lens 106, and irradiates a surface of the sample 109. The sample stage 108 is arranged in a vacuum sample chamber 107.
Electrons 110 (secondary electrons, backscattered electrons, and the like) are emitted from the irradiated site on the sample 109. The emitted electrons 110 are accelerated in the direction of the tip (electron source) 101 by the acceleration effect based on the negative voltage applied to the electrode built in the sample stage 108.
The accelerated electrons 110 impinge on a conversion electrode 112 and generate secondary electrons 111. The secondary electrons 111 emitted from the conversion electrode 112 are captured by a detector 113, and an output I of the detector 113 changes depending on an amount of the captured secondary electrons. Luminance of a display apparatus changes in accordance with the change of the output I. For example, in a case of forming a two-dimensional image, an image of a scanning region is formed by synchronizing a deflected signal to the scanning deflector 105 with the output I of the detector 113. It is to be noted that, although the SEM illustrated in
A control device 114 supplies to a necessary control signal each optical element in the above-described SEM according to an operation program referred to as an imaging recipe for controlling the SEM.
The signal detected by the detector 113 is then converted to a digital signal by an A/D converter 117 and transmitted to an image processing part 118. The image processing part 118 generates an integrated image by integrating signals obtained by a plurality of scans with respect to each frame.
Now, an image obtained by a single scan on the scanning region is referred to as one frame of image. For example, when integrating eight frames of image, the integrated image is generated by addition averaging the signals obtained from eight secondary scans with respect to each pixel. It is also possible to scan an identical scanning region for more than once and generate a plurality of single-frame images with respect to each scan to be stored.
Furthermore, the image processing part 118 includes an image memory 120 that is an image storage medium for temporarily storing the digital image and a CPU 119 that calculates a feature amount (e.g., a dimension value of a line or a hole, a roughness index value, an index value indicative of a pattern shape, an area value of the pattern, a pixel position to be an edge position) from the image stored in the image memory 120.
The image processing part 118 also includes a storage medium that stores therein measured values of each pattern, luminance values of each pixel, and the like. The total control is performed by a workstation 122. Necessary operations of the device, check of detection results, and the like can be performed using a graphical user interface. The image memory 120 is configured to synchronize a scanning signal supplied to the scanning deflector 105 and store an output signal from the detector (signal proportional to a quantity of electrons emitted from the sample) on an address (x, y) on a corresponding memory. Moreover, the image processing part 118 functions as an arithmetic processing unit that generates a line profile from the luminance value stored in the image memory 120, identify the edge position using the threshold scheme or the like, and measure a dimension between the edges.
Such an SEM that performs dimensional measurement on the basis of line profile acquisition is referred to as a CD-SEM, and used to measure various feature amounts in addition to measurement of a line width on a semiconductor circuit. For example, there is a roughness referred to as a line edge roughness on an edge of the above-described circuit pattern, which is a factor of changing the circuit performance. The CD-SEM can be used for measurement of the above-described LER.
It is to be noted that, although the scanning electron microscope that is one type of the charged particle beam device is mentioned in the present embodiment, the aberration corrector described below is also applicable to a charged particle beam device such as an ion microscope or a focused ion beam (FIB: Focused Ion Beam) that emits hydrogen ion, helium ion, or liquid metal such as gallium other than the scanning electron microscope.
<Configuration Example and Operation Outline of Aberration Corrector>
A scanning electron microscope 1 illustrated in
The electron beam entering the magnetic field deflector 124 arranged in the aberration corrector 123 is deflected to a direction a by a magnetic field B1 of the magnetic field deflector 124 and enters an orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201. The electron beam having entered the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 is deflected in a direction b by a deflected electromagnetic field generated by the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 and travels toward the first electron mirror 202.
The first electron mirror 202 is biased with a voltage equal to the energy reached by the incident electron beam. Therefore, the electrons are decelerated by the electron mirror and reflected by an equipotential surface on which kinetic energy of the electrons reaches zero. Hence, the equipotential surface on which the kinetic energy of the individual electrons reaches zero provides a reflection surface for these electrons. By curving the equipotential surface, it is possible to introduce a negative spherical aberration and a negative chromatic aberration to the reflected electron beam arranged at least partially to compensate for the aberration of the electron microscope lens.
The reflected electron beam reflected in a direction c by the first electron mirror 202 passes through the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 and travels toward the second electron mirror 203. It is to be noted that a deflection condition is adjusted so that the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 may not deflect the trajectory of the reflected electron beam reflected by the first electron mirror 202. Specifically, in the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 illustrated in
The electron beam having passed through the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 is reflected toward a direction e by the second electron mirror 20, and enters the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 again. The aberration correction unit 126 functions as the aberration corrector by generating an aberration that compensates for the aberration of the electron beam with at least one of the first electron mirror 202 and the second electron mirror 203.
The electron beam reflected by the second electron mirror 203 and entering the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 is deflected in a direction f by the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 and travels toward the ideal optical axis 103 of the scanning electron microscope. The magnetic field deflector 125 is arranged at an intersection of the electron beam trajectory and the ideal optical axis 103. A magnetic field B3 generated by the magnetic field deflector 125 has predetermined energy, and is adjusted to deflect the electron beam traveling toward the direction f to the direction of the ideal optical axis 103, and the magnetic field deflector 125 functions to return the electron beam with its aberration compensated by the aberration correction unit 126 to the ideal optical axis 103 of the scanning electron microscope.
Lenses 204 and 205 are adjusted to collimate the beam entering each electron mirror to a parallel beam and so that the beam reflected by each electron mirror focuses on the magnetic field deflector 209. The beam having entered each electron mirror has its aberration compensated by being reflected by an electric field having a voltage distribution that offsets the aberration on the electron mirror.
It is to be noted that the orthogonal electromagnetic field generation unit 201 includes an aperture 210 through which the electron beam passes when the aberration correction is performed using the aberration correction unit 126 and an aperture 211 through which the electron beam passes when the aberration correction unit 126 is not used (the aberration correction is not performed). The control device 114 uses either of the two apertures appropriately by switching between “on” of the aberration correction function by supplying the magnetic field deflectors 124 and 125 and the aberration correction unit 126 with predetermined voltage and current and “off” of the aberration correction function by not supplying current to the magnetic field deflectors 124, 125. Moreover, although
<Specific Structure Example of Orthogonal Electromagnetic Field Generation Unit 201>
The magnetic pole plate 303 is made of a magnetic material, has a gap 401 as illustrated in
The pair of electrodes 302 and 308, an intermediate electrode 311, the magnetic pole plate 303, the pair of electrodes 304 and 309, and the intermediate electrode 312 are guided by an unshown jig and stacked as illustrated in the upper part of
The spacers 306 are also arranged between the magnetic pole plate 303 and the intermediate electrode 312 and the pair of electrodes 304 and 309. This configures a three-stage deflector (E-B-E unit) including an electric field (E), a magnetic field (B), and an electric field (E), the two deflected electrostatic fields and one deflected magnetic field not superimposing one another in the z direction.
Furthermore, as illustrated in the lower part of
The E-B-E unit as illustrated in
<Relation Between Electric Field and Magnetic Field and Beam Trajectory when Aberration Correction is Performed>
The beam passing through the trajectory 502′ is then deflected (toward the right side of the page) so as to pass through a trajectory 502″ by the magnetic field B2 (magnetic field generated by the magnetic field deflector). The beam through the trajectory 502″ is further deflected (toward the right side of the page) so as to pass through a trajectory 502″′ (the beam trajectory 307 between two mirrors) by the electric field E2 (electric field generated by a second electrostatic deflector).
As described above, the beam deflected from the ideal optical axis 103 by the three deflection fields of E, B, and E is deflected to align with the beam trajectory 307 in the aberration corrector. The beam deflected to pass through the beam trajectory 307 is reflected by the electron mirror 202 illustrated in
Voltage applied to and current supplied to the E-B-E unit are adjusted to deflect the beam entering through the trajectory 502 so as to pass through the beam trajectory 307. Moreover, the referenced voltage and current are adjusted so that the beam reflected by the first electron mirror 202 and entering the E-B-E unit through the beam trajectory 307 passes through the beam trajectory 307 and reaches the second electron mirror 203 regardless of the deflected electric field or deflected magnetic field.
The beam reflected by the second electron mirror 203 and entering the E-B-E unit again after passing through a trajectory 503 is deflected (toward the right side of the page) by the electric field E1 out of the beam trajectory 307 so as to pass through a trajectory 503′. The beam passing through the trajectory 503′ is then deflected (toward the right side of the page) by the magnetic field B2 so as to pass through the trajectory 503″. The beam passing through the trajectory 503″ is further deflected (toward the right side of the page) by the electric field E2 so as to pass through a trajectory 503′″.
The beam passing through the trajectory 503′″ is deflected toward the left side of the page by the magnetic field B3 generated by the magnetic field deflector 125. The magnetic field B3 is adjusted to an intensity that allows the beam passing through the trajectory 503′″ to pass through the ideal optical axis 103.
<Relation Between Electric Field and Magnetic Field and Beam Trajectory when Aberration Correction is not Performed>
The beam passing through the trajectory 601 is then deflected (toward the right side of the page) by the magnetic field B2 so as to pass through a trajectory 601′. The beam passing through the trajectory 601′ is deflected (toward the left side of the page) by the electric field E2 so as to pass through the ideal optical axis 103 and passes through the E-B-E unit. According to the E-B-E unit as illustrated in
It is to be noted that the Wien filter deflects a beam traveling in a predetermined direction, whereas the Wien filter does not deflect other beams traveling in a direction opposite from the predetermined direction. Therefore, it is necessary to have the electric field and the magnetic field cross each other at aright angle and adjust the electric field and the magnetic field appropriately, but it is difficult to arrange the electrodes and the magnetic poles in a limited space at the same height.
On the other hand, as illustrated in
<Positional Relation Between Beam Passage Aperture and Electric Field and Magnetic Field>
<Other Configuration Examples of E-B-E Unit>
With the referenced configuration, by applying voltage to the magnetic pole 701 and the magnetic pole 702 so as to form an electric field between the magnetic poles, it is possible to generate the electric field E3 in the same direction as the magnetic field B2. Moreover, the E-B-E unit illustrated in
As described above and illustrated in
Moreover, with the configuration as illustrated in
<Configuration Example of Electron Gun Including E-B-E Unit>
There is described an example of adopting the E-B-E unit that is the deflector of the beam described above as another optical element of the electron microscope.
The electron gun illustrated in
In the electron gun illustrated in
Electrons having passed through the slit are accelerated by the acceleration tube 903 (or acceleration electrode or electron microscope column at ground potential) and impinge on the sample as an electron beam. The tip 101 is applied with a voltage Vtip for heating the tip 101. Moreover, the extraction electrode 102 is applied with a voltage Vext according to an extraction quantity of electrons.
Furthermore, the E-B-E unit 901 is biased with a voltage VM, and an electrostatic lens is configured by a potential difference from Vext. In a case of the present embodiment, the electrostatic lens formed between the extraction electrode 102 and the E-B-E unit 901 is used as a deceleration lens by setting Vext>VM. It is to be noted that another electrode may be arranged between the extraction electrode 102 and the E-B-E unit 901 for applying voltage to form the electrostatic lens between itself and the E-B-E unit 901. The electron 905 selected by the slit 902 is accelerated by the acceleration tube 903 provided with the potential difference by a voltage Vo with respect to the tip, and impinged on the sample.
By adjusting the electrostatic lens formed on the E-B-E unit 901 to focus on the slit 902, it is possible to achieve high monochromatization.
<Configuration Example of Monochromator Including E-B-E Unit>
As illustrated in
<Positional Relation Between a Pair of Electrodes 302 and 308 Constituting Electrostatic Deflector (First Electrostatic Deflector) and a Pair of Magnetic Poles 701 and 702 Constituting Magnetic Field Deflector>
The pair of electrodes 302 and 308 is arranged facing each other with a beam optical axis between them (arranged in an x direction in the example shown in
On the other hand, the pair of magnetic poles 701 and 702 is arranged facing each other with a beam optical axis between them (arranged in a y direction in the example shown in
By arranging an array direction of the electrodes (opposite direction) and an array direction of the magnetic pole to be orthogonal to each other, the E-B-E unit can generate an orthogonal electromagnetic field. Moreover, the pair of electrodes 302 and 308 and the pair of magnetic poles 701 and 702 are stacked along the beam trajectory so as to partially overlap as seen from the z direction (incident direction of the beam). Furthermore, the pair of electrodes 302 and 308 is installed to overlap the gap between the pair of magnetic poles 701 and 702 as well. The pair of magnetic poles 701 and 702 is also installed to overlap the gap between the pair of electrodes 302 and 308.
Furthermore, the electrodes 302 and 308 are installed so that Egap is narrower (smaller) than a width Bwidth of the magnetic poles 701 and 702 (a dimension (dimension of an opposite surface 1101 in the x direction) in a direction (x direction) orthogonal to the opposite direction of the two magnet poles (y direction) and the passing direction of the beam (z direction)).
Moreover, the magnetic poles 701 and 702 are installed so that Bgap is narrower (smaller) than a width Ewidth of the electrodes 302 and 308 (a dimension (dimension of an opposite surface 1102 in the y direction) in a direction (y direction) orthogonal to the opposite direction of the two magnet poles (x direction) and the z direction).
As described above, the gap is formed between the electrodes and between the magnetic poles while allowing overlaps between the electrodes and the magnetic poles as seen from the z direction, and a portion superimposed by the gap between the electrodes and the gap between the magnetic poles is a beam pas sage aperture 701. This makes it possible to bring the electrodes and the magnetic poles close to the beam trajectory with a relatively simple configuration.
If ever attempting to bring the electrodes and the magnetic poles closer to the beam trajectory while providing the electrodes and the magnetic poles at the same height, it would be required to arrange a pair of electrodes and a pair of magnetic poles around the beam passage aperture 701 in a non-contact and axisymmetric manner. That is, the closer the electrodes and the magnetic poles are brought to the beam trajectory, the smaller the electrodes and the magnetic poles must be made, which consequently requires a high processing accuracy.
On the other hand, the configuration illustrated in
Moreover, as illustrated in
The configuration including the electrodes and the magnetic poles partially overlapping one another as illustrated in
<Charged Particle Beam Device Including a Plurality of E-B-E Units>
Now, there is described a charged particle beam device including a plurality of E-B-E units.
The first E-B-E unit 901 disperses energy of the beam by two deflections and selectively passes an electron 1401 having predetermined energy using the slit 902.
On the other hand, electrons having passed through the slit 902 may include an electron having energy of Vc±α (e.g., α is 0.1 eV-0.5 eV).
Since the second E-B-E unit 1201 deflects the electron 1402 emitted from a virtual light source 1403 and having a relative angle θ to ideal optical axis 103 under the same condition as that of the first E-B-E unit 901, a relative angle of an electron 1404 deflected by the second E-B-E unit 1201 to the ideal optical axis 10 is 2θ. By adjusting the deflection condition (deflection angle θ) of the two E-B-E units to be as shown in
It is to be noted that, although the above-described example illustrates the configuration in which the two E-B-E units are plane-symmetric with respect to the slit, it is possible to align an originating point of the chromatic dispersion with the crossover by adjusting voltage and current supplied to the E-B-E unit without arranging them in plane symmetry. That is, it is possible to achieve advanced aberration correction by an adjustment to align the originating point of the chromatic dispersion (an apparent emission point common to the electrons 1401, 1404) with the objective lens object point.
<Other Configuration Examples of Charged Particle Beam Device Including a Plurality of E-B-E Unit>
Now, the charged particle beam device illustrated in
In the configuration illustrated in
However, since a region 1506 is located between the deceleration electrode 1502 and the electron microscope column 1202, the electrostatic lens is formed by the potential difference between the negative voltage applied to the deceleration electrode 1502 and the ground potential of the electron microscope column 1202. Since the beam trajectory is focused by the electrostatic lens, the position of the object point as seen from the objective lens 106 is offset from the crossover 1302 to a position 1505 (virtual object point 1505). Therefore, the objective lens 106 must be provided with voltage and current to form an image on the sample 109 with electrons emitted from the virtual object point 1505.
Moreover, although the objective lens 106 is arranged at a latter stage of the two-stage E-B-E unit in the example shown in
<Configuration Example of E-B-E Unit that Suppresses Magnetic Field Leakage>
With reference to
The magnetic bodies 1602 and 1606 per se are electrodes that constitute the E-B-E unit. In this case, as shown in
It is to be noted that the magnetic bodies 1602 and 1606 per se may not be configured as electrodes. In this case, a pair of electrodes may be arranged away from the magnetic bodies 1602 and 1606 as components of the E-B-E unit. For example, the electrodes may be arranged using a predetermined support member between the magnetic bodies 1602 and 1606 and the magnetic pole 1601, or an insulating material may be attached (applied) to side faces of the magnetic bodies 1602 and 1606 via which the electrodes may be installed. At this time, since the magnetic bodies 1602 and 1606 per se are not used as the electrodes, the above-described insulating material 1604 is not required.
By configuring the closed magnetic circuit in this manner, it is possible to suppress leakage of the magnetic field (magnetic field) to the outside of the E-B-E unit.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2019/021843 | 5/31/2019 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2020/240861 | 12/3/2020 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
8035082 | Yamazaki et al. | Oct 2011 | B2 |
20010052744 | Tsuno | Dec 2001 | A1 |
20090039281 | Kawasaki | Feb 2009 | A1 |
20120261565 | Tuggle et al. | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20130256530 | Jiang | Oct 2013 | A1 |
20160329189 | Sears | Nov 2016 | A1 |
20180040452 | Hatakeyama et al. | Feb 2018 | A1 |
20190259564 | Kruit | Aug 2019 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2 587 515 | May 2013 | EP |
2003-187730 | Jul 2003 | JP |
2012-227140 | Nov 2012 | JP |
201640554 | Nov 2016 | TW |
WO 2018016961 | Jan 2018 | WO |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report (PCT/ISA/210) issued in PCT Application No. PCT/JP2019/021843 dated Jul. 9, 2019 with English translation (three (3) pages). |
Japanese-language Written Opinion (PCT/ISA/237) issued in PCT Application No. PCT/JP2019/021843 dated Jul. 9, 2019 (three (3) pages). |
Taiwanese-language Office Action issued in Taiwanese Application No. 109117459 dated Mar. 25, 2021 (three (3) pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20220172920 A1 | Jun 2022 | US |