Charged particle beam column and method of its operation

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US007067807B2

(12;

United States Patent

Petrov et al.

(io) Patent No.: (45) Date of Patent:

US 7,067,807 B2 Jun. 27, 2006

(54) CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM COLUMN AND METHOD OF ITS OPERATION

(75) Inventors: Igor Petrov, Holon (IL); Pavel

Adamec, Haar (DE); Zvika Rosenberg,

Mevasseret Zion (IL)

(73) Assignee: Applied Materials, Israel, Ltd.,

Rehovot (IL)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 10/937,802

(22) Filed: Sep. 8, 2004

(65) Prior Publication Data

US 2006/0049348 Al Mar. 9, 2006

(51) Int. CI.

H01J 37/28 (2006.01)
H01J 37/145 (2006.01)

(52) U.S. CI 250/307; 250/306; 250/309;

250/310; 250/311; 250/398; 250/440.11

(58) Field of Classification Search None

See application file for complete search history.

(56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

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6,472,662 Bl * 10/2002 Archie 250/307

6,559,459 Bl * 5/2003 Tanaka et al 250/491.1

6,566,897 Bl * 5/2003 Lo et al 324/751

6,721,052 Bl * 4/2004 Zhao et al 356/369

6,797,953 Bl* 9/2004 Gerlach et al 250/310

6,842,251 Bl * 1/2005 Holden 356/445

6,897,442 Bl* 5/2005 Petrov 250/310

2002/0033449 Al * 3/2002 Nakasuji et al 250/306

2002/0117967 Al * 8/2002 Gerlach et al 315/13.1

2002/0148961 Al * 10/2002 Nakasuji et al 250/311

2003/0132382 Al * 7/2003 Sogard 250/311

2004/0173746 Al* 9/2004 Petrov et al 250/310

2004/0211913 Al* 10/2004 Petrov 250/396 R

2005/0045821 Al * 3/2005 Noji et al 250/311

2006/0016988 Al* 1/2006 Petrov et al 250/310

* cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—John R. Lee

Assistant Examiner—Bernard E. Souw

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Patterson & Sheridan LLP

A method and system are presented for controlling inspection of a sample with a charged particle beam. A certain given voltage is supplied to an anode of the column to provide a required accelerating voltage for a charged particle beam. A certain negative voltage is supplied to the sample selected so as to provide a desirably high effective voltage of the column at said given voltage of the anode. A certain voltage is supplied an electrode of a lens arrangement located closer to the sample, this voltage being selected to satisfy one of the following conditions: the electrode voltage is either equal to or slightly lower than that of the sample; and the electrode voltage is significantly higher than that of the sample.

33 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets