Initialization by erasing the surface potential of negatively charged insulators in scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation

Aoyagi, Sadao; Ura, Katsumi

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jmicro.a023715

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The SEEC of the nondoped Si layer, which had been used as the capping layer, shows a significant decrease with the increasing beam current, because the emitted SEs return back to the sample surface due to the strong positive charges involved. 16,17 These results indicate that the charging effect attributed to the B 4 C-capped ML is negligibly small as is the case with Ru-capped ML; the SE signal from the B 4 C-capped ML is not changed regardless of the electron dosage. Figure 4 shows the difference image between simulated PEM image with extrusion defects and that without defects.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Impact of B₄C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Iida¹,

Hirano²,

Amano³

et al. 2014

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

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Abstract. The inspection sensitivity of a patterned extreme ultraviolet mask with B 4 C-capped multilayer (ML) was investigated using a simulated projection electron microscope (PEM) image. Extrusion and intrusion defects with 16-nm size were detected with their intensity of >10 times the standard deviation of the background level on a half-pitch 64-nm line-and-space pattern. The defect detection sensitivity in this case was higher than that of a Ru-capped ML sample and has a potential to meet the requirement for beyond 16-nm node generation from the standpoint of patterned mask inspection using the PEM technique. These results indicate that the B 4 C capping layer, besides its good durability, has an advantage for high sensitivity of patterned mask inspection. The optimal condition of the incident beam energy was found to be 500 and 1,000 eV for the samples of B 4 C-capped ML and B 4 C-buffered Ru-capped ML, respectively. The sensitivity of defect detection was strongly affected by the difference of secondary electron emission coefficients (SEECs) between the absorber layer and capping layer. However, the small incident beam energy was found to be preferable when the SEEC difference was relatively high. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Impact of B₄C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Iida¹,

Hirano²,

Amano³

et al. 2014

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

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show abstract

“…Whereas the SEEC of the non-doped Si layer, which had been used as the capping layer, shows a significant decrease with the increasing beam current, because the emitted SEs return back to the sample surface due to the strong positive charges involved. [15][16] These results indicate that the charging effect attributed to the B 4 C capped ML is negligibly small as is the case with Ru capped ML; and the SE signal from the B 4 C capped ML is not changed regardless of the electron dosage. Figure 4 shows the difference image between simulated PEM image with extrusion defects and that without defects.…”

Section: Investigation Of B 4 C Capped Mlmentioning

confidence: 80%

Impact of B₄C capping layer for EUV mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using projection electron microscope

Iida¹,

Hirano²,

Amano³

et al. 2014

SPIE Proceedings

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The inspection sensitivity of a patterned extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask with B 4 C capped multilayer (ML) was investigated using a simulated projection electron microscope (PEM) image. Extrusion and intrusion defects with 16 nm in size were detected with their intensity of > 10 times the standard deviation of the background level on a half-pitch (hp) 64 nm line and space pattern. The defect detection sensitivity in this case was higher than that of Ru capped ML sample, and has a potential to meet the requirement for beyond 16 nm node generation from the standpoint of patterned mask inspection using the PEM technique. These results indicate that B 4 C capping layer besides its good durability has an advantage for high sensitivity of patterned mask inspection. The optimal condition of the incident beam energy was found to be 500 and 1000 eV for the samples of B 4 C capped ML and B 4 C buffered Ru capped ML, respectively. The sensitivity of defect detection was strongly affected by the difference of secondary electron emission coefficients (SEECs) between the absorber layer and capping layer. However, severely scattered electrons near the pattern edge become a source of noise and then they block the effect of large SEEC difference. Thus, the small incident beam energy was found to be preferable when the SEEC difference was relatively high.

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“…Immediately after making the surface potential uniform by the initialization, 18 and then, by scanning the sample surface again, the negative charging-up contrast similar to that appears in the early period of irradiation, as shown in Fig. Immediately after making the surface potential uniform by the initialization, 18 and then, by scanning the sample surface again, the negative charging-up contrast similar to that appears in the early period of irradiation, as shown in Fig.…”

Section: Examplementioning

confidence: 80%

Negative charging-up contrast formation of multilayered structures with a nonpenetrating electron beam in scanning-electron microscope

Miyoshi

Ura

2005

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena

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Articles you may be interested inAnalysis of electrical charging and discharging kinetics of different glasses under electron irradiation in a scanning electron microscopeIn this article, we explain the contrast-formation mechanisms of the scanning-electron microscope for insulating samples under a nonpenetrating irradiation condition. Our fundamental point is that the detected secondary-electron signal current is only modified by the surface potential distribution. We propose a semiempirical model to explain the image contrast caused by excess negative-charge buildup on the surface of the insulating samples. The model treats the redistribution of secondary electrons and the contribution of tertiary electrons. The image-contrast formation mechanism of two typical examples is explained.

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Initialization by erasing the surface potential of negatively charged insulators in scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Impact of B₄C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Impact of B₄C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Impact of B₄C capping layer for EUV mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using projection electron microscope

Negative charging-up contrast formation of multilayered structures with a nonpenetrating electron beam in scanning-electron microscope

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Initialization by erasing the surface potential of negatively charged insulators in scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Impact of B4C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Impact of B4C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Impact of B4C capping layer for EUV mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using projection electron microscope

Negative charging-up contrast formation of multilayered structures with a nonpenetrating electron beam in scanning-electron microscope

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Impact of B₄C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Impact of B₄C capping layer for extreme ultraviolet mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using a projection electron microscope

Impact of B₄C capping layer for EUV mask on the sensitivity of patterned mask inspection using projection electron microscope