| US 7,602,197 B2 | ||
| High current electron beam inspection | ||
| Alexander Kadyshevitch, Modiin (Israel); Dmitry Shur, Holon (Israel); and Christopher Talbot, Emerald Hills, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Applied Materials, Israel, Ltd., Rehovot (Israel) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/560,205 PCT Filed Jun. 07, 2004, PCT No. PCT/US2004/018159 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Aug. 07, 2006, PCT Pub. No. WO2005/001492, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 06, 2005. |
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| Claims priority of provisional application 60/477611, filed on Jun. 10, 2003. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0057687 A1, Mar. 15, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01R 31/00 (2006.01); G01R 31/307 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 324—751 [324/501] | 21 Claims |
| 1. A method for wafer inspection, comprising:
inspecting a sample at an inspection rate ‘R’, said sample having a first layer that is at least partly conductive and a second,
dielectric layer formed over the first layer said second layer having production contact openings formed therein, said inspecting
step comprising;
directing a beam of charged particles, said beam having a beam current ‘Ib’ and a spot area ‘A1’, to simultaneously irradiate an area of the sample, said area comprising a quantity ‘n’ of said contact openings, said openings
being disposed within an area smaller than A1;
measuring a specimen current flowing through the first layer in response to said beam; and
providing an indication, in response to the measurement, of whether any hole in quantity ‘n’ is defective, wherein
Ib is approximately 10 μamps, R is at least 0.2 cm2/sec, area A1 is approximately 25 μm2, and an average noise current per contact opening is less than 9 nA.
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