An electron‐beam inspection system for x‐ray mask production

SEMSpec is a scanning electron‐beam inspection system designed for high‐resolution die‐to‐die inspections of conductive x‐ray masks, wafer prints, or stencil masks in a production environment. The inspection sensitivity can be varied from 97% detection of 50‐nm defects, at a rate of 27 min cm−2, to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Vol. 9; no. 6; pp. 3005 - 3009
Main Authors:	Sandland, P., Meisburger, W. D., Clark, D. J., Simmons, R. R., Smith, D. E. A., Veneklasen, L. H., Becker, B. G., Brodie, A. D., Chadwick, C. H., Chen, Z. W., Chuu, L. S., Emge, D. G., Desai, A. A., Dohse, H. J., Dutta, A., Greene, J. D., Honfi, L. A., Jau, J. Y., Lele, S. G., Ling, M. Y., McMurtry, J. E., Paul, R. E., Pan, C.‐S., Robinson, M., Rough, J. K. H., Taylor, J., Wieczorek, P. A., Wong, S. C.
Format:	Journal Article Conference Proceeding
Language:	English
Published:	New York, NY American Institute of Physics 01-11-1991
Subjects:	Applied sciences Electronics Exact sciences and technology Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology) Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices INSPECTION X−RAY EQUIPMENT IMAGE FORMING ELECTRON SCANNING MASKING AUTOMATION RELIABILITY LITHOGRAPHY
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Summary:	SEMSpec is a scanning electron‐beam inspection system designed for high‐resolution die‐to‐die inspections of conductive x‐ray masks, wafer prints, or stencil masks in a production environment. The inspection sensitivity can be varied from 97% detection of 50‐nm defects, at a rate of 27 min cm−2, to 97% detection of 250‐nm defects at 1 min cm−2. A thermal‐field‐emission source produces a Gaussian profile electron beam that is moved by electrostatic deflectors over the continuously moving substrate that is being inspected. Secondary electrons from the substrate are collected in a high‐speed detector and the resulting digitized image data is stored in a specialized memory system. Pairs of images to be compared are continuously transferred from the memory to a high‐speed defect processor for analysis. Defect reports from the defect processor are analyzed during inspection and stored for subsequent review. We describe the overall system including the electron‐beam column with its six‐emitter field‐emission gun, the deflection system, the secondary‐electron detector, the linear‐motor drive stage, the control system, the robotic mask handler, and the image‐data flow from the high‐speed image acquisition subsystem through the analysis system. The electron‐beam column is described in detail in a companion paper [W. D. Meisburger, A. A. Desai, and A. D. Brodie, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 9, xxxx (1991)]. All functions of the highly automated system—including vacuum control, mask loading, electron‐beam column setup, and inspection— can be operated from the system control computer.
ISSN:	0734-211X 1520-8567 2327-9877
DOI:	10.1116/1.585358