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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7211797 | Inspection method and inspection system using charged particle beam The present invention provides an inspection technique using a charged particle beam by which a method of setting a condition for optimally charging an object to be inspected without relying on an operator's experience is established and a voltage contrast image wit... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7210330 | Methods of fabricating structures for characterizing tip shape of scanning probe microscope probes and structures fabricated thereby A characterizer for determining the shape of a probe tip for an atomic force microscope and methods of fabricating and using the characterizer. The characterizer includes a micromachined crystalline structure with opposed edges separated by a width suitable for char... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7211795 | Method for manufacturing single wall carbon nanotube tips A method for fabricating assembled structures. The method includes providing a tip structure, which has a first end, a second end, and a length defined between the first end and the second end. The second end is a free end. The method includes attaching a nano-sized... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7208965 | Planar view TEM sample preparation from circuit layer structures A method of preparing a planar view TEM sample of a planar portion of a circuit layer structure formed on a substrate. The method includes polishing the substrate circuit layer structure until a cross-sectional polishing face has substantially reached a first side f... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7207119 | Controller The present invention relates to a controller comprising: at least two input terminals, each of which is configured to receive one of at least two input signals comprising information on a positioning of a scanner relative to a reference medium, and an output termin... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7205555 | Defect inspection apparatus and defect inspection method An apparatus and a method for automatically inspecting a defect by an electron beam using an X-ray detector. The composition of a defective portion is analyzed with higher rapidity and the cause of the defect is easily and accurately determined based on an X-ray spe... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7205560 | Method and apparatus for processing a micro sample An object of the invention is to realize a method and an apparatus for processing and observing a minute sample which can observe a section of a wafer in horizontal to vertical directions with high resolution, high accuracy and high throughput without splitting any ... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7205539 | Sample charging control in charged-particle systems One embodiment disclosed relates to a charged-particle beam apparatus configured with sample charging control. A stage is configured to hold a sample, and a column for generating a charged-particle beam and for directing the beam to an area of the sample. A light be... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7205542 | Scanning electron microscope with curved axes One embodiment relates to a scanning electron beam apparatus having curved electron-optical axes. An electron gun and illumination electron optics are configured to generate a primary electron beam along a first axis. Objective electron optics is configured about a ... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7205540 | Electron beam apparatus and device manufacturing method using same An electron beam apparatus is provided for reliably measuring a potential contrast and the like at a high throughput in a simple structure. The electron beam apparatus for irradiating a sample, such as a wafer, formed with a pattern with an electron beam to evaluate... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7205549 | Pattern defect inspection method and its apparatus The pattern defect inspection apparatus and its method of the present invention comprises: a recipe setting unit for setting an inspection recipe and/or a review recipe; an illumination optical system including: a laser light source for emitting ultraviolet laser li... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7205554 | Method and apparatus for processing a micro sample An object of the invention is to realize a method and an apparatus for processing and observing a minute sample which can observe a section of a wafer in horizontal to vertical directions with high resolution, high accuracy and high throughput without splitting any ... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7202475 | Rapid defect composition mapping using multiple X-ray emission perspective detection scheme Disclosed are methods and apparatus for characterizing defects by using X-ray emission analysis techniques. The X-rays are emitted in response to an impinging beam, such as an electron beam, directed towards the sample surface where a defect resides. It may also be ... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7202476 | Charged-particle beam instrument A charged-particle beam instrument is offered which can inspect side and rear surfaces of a sample. Two electron optical microscope columns are mounted in a vacuum chamber. Each of the microscope columns has an electron gun, a condenser lens system, a deflector, and... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7200950 | Process for monitoring measuring device performance The disclosed embodiments relate to calibrating a measuring device by comparing a set of master measurement data against a set of current measurement data. Adjustments are made to the measuring device based on the difference between the current measurement data and ... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7196338 | Ultra-thin sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy In accordance with the invention, there is a method of fabricating a material for transmission electron microscopy comprising removing a first portion from a material having a thickness of (d1) to form a thinned material having a thickness of (d2 | 03/27/2007 |
| 7197726 | Test structures for estimating dishing and erosion effects in copper damascene technology A test structure combines a first structure (1010) for erosion evaluation with a second structure (1000) for extraction of defect size distributions. The first structure (1010) is a loop structure usable determine a resistance value that varies ... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7189968 | Sample measurement method and measurement sample base material A sample measurement method is a sample measurement method by an electron microscope and includes the film formation step of forming a sample on a projection on the major surface of a substrate, the electron beam irradiation step of irradiating the sample with an el... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7189969 | Methods and systems for controlling motion of and tracking a mechanically unattached probe Methods and systems for controlling motion of and tracking a mechanically unattached magnetic probe are disclosed. One system for controlling motion of mechanically unattached magnetic probe may include a magnetic coil and pole assembly. The magnetic coil and pole a... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7186977 | Method for non-destructive trench depth measurement using electron beam source and X-ray detection A method (and system) for non-destructive measurement of a depth of a feature in a structure, includes using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image to navigate to find the feature in an X-ray image, using an electron beam to produce a fluorescent emission in the... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7186991 | Mixed irradiation evaluation support system A mixed irradiation evaluation support system for supporting judgment and determination of allocation of contribution in mixed irradiation using proton beams and X-rays. According to a composition ratio designated by a composition ratio scroll bar 107, a dose... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7186975 | Scanning charged-particle microscope In orer to supply a scanning charged-particle microscope that can achieve both the improvement of resolution and that of focal depth at the same time, a scanning charged-particle microscope is supplied which is characterized in that a passage aperture for limiting t... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7183546 | System and method for voltage contrast analysis of a wafer System and a method for electrically testing a semiconductor wafer, the method including: (a) scanning a charged particle beam along at least one scan line while maintaining an electrode located at a vicinity of the wafer at a first voltage that differs from a volta... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7183548 | Apparatus for modifying and measuring diamond and other workpiece surfaces with nanoscale precision Apparatus and techniques are provided for modifying and measuring surfaces of diamond workpieces and other workpieces with nanoscale precision. The apparatus and techniques exploit scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) at a wide range of ... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7183123 | Method of surface preparation and imaging for integrated circuits The present invention is a method of surface preparation and imaging for integrated circuits. First, a substrate is selected and an opening is cut in the substrate of a sufficient size to fit an integrated circuit to be analyzed. A second substrate is then selected.... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7180586 | System for detection of wafer defects Fast on-line electro-optical detection of wafer defects by illuminating with a short light pulse from a repetitively pulsed laser, a section of the wafer while it is moved across the field of view of an imaging system, and imaging the moving wafer onto a focal plane... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7181060 | Defect inspection method An image picked up by a detection system capable of actualizing a three-dimensional inclination is usually poor in the signal-to-noise ratio, and it is difficult to stably detect minute defects. Images that actualize a three-dimensional inclination are picked up fro... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7180061 | Method for electron beam-initiated coating for application of transmission electron microscopy A method for preparing a specimen for application of microanalysis thereto includes forming an initial conductive layer over a defined area of interest on a semiconductor substrate, the initial conductive layer formed through an electron beam deposition process. A v... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7176458 | Method and apparatus for specimen fabrication A specimen fabrication apparatus including: an ion source, an optical system for irradiating a projection ion beam to a sample, wherein the optical system includes a patterning mask to form a ion beam emitted from the ion source into the projection ion beam, a sampl... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7173259 | Automatically aligning objective aperture for a scanning electron microscope An automatically aligning objective aperture assembly for a CDSEM includes a plate that is moveable in X and Y directions relative to an electron beam generated by the SEM. The plate defines one or more objective apertures. Encoders and motors are provided for affec... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7173243 | Non-feature-dependent focusing One embodiment disclosed relates to an automated process for focusing a charged-particle beam in an apparatus onto an area of a substrate. A focusing parameter of the apparatus is set to a value, and intensity data is acquired from the area. The foregoing setting an... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7170056 | Methodology and apparatus for leakage detection A method for measuring leakage through a dielectric layer of a semiconductor device on a wafer, including irradiating the dielectric layer with a charged particle beam having a beam current. The irradiation generates a wafer current having a relation to the beam cur... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7170055 | Nanotube arrangements and methods therefor Nanotubes and nanotube-based devices are implemented in a variety of applications. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, nanotube tips are coated with metal. In some applications, the metal coating facilitates the resolution of nano-scale magn... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7171038 | Method and apparatus for inspecting a substrate A method and apparatus for inspection and review of defects is disclosed wherein data gathering is improved. In one embodiment, multiple or segmented detectors are used in a particle beam system. ... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7170842 | Methods for conducting current between a scanned-probe and storage medium Certain embodiments of the present invention are directed at data storage devices capable of storing, reading and writing data to storage areas of nanometer dimensions. Certain embodiments are directed at devices wherein a fluid medium and particles are provided bet... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7169627 | Method for inspecting a connecting surface of a flip chip The present invention provides a method for inspecting a connecting surface of a flip chip to solve problems that the grinding, polishing and chemical etching method is used for making a sample. The present invention utilizes ion beam etching technology for making a... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7170068 | Method and system for discharging a sample A method for discharging a sample, the method includes: determining whether to discharge a negatively charged area of a sample or to discharge a positively charged area of the sample; and injecting gas, via an electrode and gas supply component, or setting a first e... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7170593 | Method of reviewing detected defects A method to solve the problem of a technique generally used to detect a defect of a semiconductor by calculating the differential image based on pattern matching, which requires that a reference image must be picked up to pick up an image of the inspection position ... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7166839 | Apparatus for measuring a three-dimensional shape Conventionally, there is no method for quantitatively evaluating the three-dimensional shape of an etched pattern in a non-destructive manner and it takes much time and costs to determine etching conditions. With the conventional length measuring method only, it has... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7164129 | Method and device for observing a specimen in a field of view of an electron microscope The present invention provides a method of observing a specimen in a field of view of an electron microscope comprising the acts of illuminating the specimen with an electron beam having a first angle and forming a first transmission image of the specimen in the fie... | 01/16/2007 |
