JPH10302704A - Charged particle beam device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make quick adjustment by selecting adjustment items, setting an adjustment level through the motion of a cursor on an image, and displaying a cursor icon in such a state as changed for the one-to-one correspondence of selectable adjustment items. SOLUTION: Buttons are arranged in sequence above a microscopic image for selecting adjustment items. Also, a mouth cursor 3 is positioned on a microscopic screen 2, and takes a form of an icon expressing a currently selected stigma. In this case, the icon changes depending on the change of a selected item. In other words, a currently selected adjustment item is recognized simply by looking at the icon of the mouth cursor 3. Also, the stigma is adjusted by two parameters; X and Y directions relative to a beam and the adjustment of an axial direction rotated by 45 degrees. Consequently, the two parameters can be concurrently adjusted and an adjustment work can be made at high operability when both of the vertical and horizontal directions of the screen 2 are made to correspond to the parameters and then a two-dimensional dragging operation is made on the screen 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a charged particle beam device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A scanning electron microscope (Scanning Electron Microscope) is used as a device for scanning and accelerating a charged particle beam, scanning a sample, detecting secondary particles emitted from the sample in synchronization with beam deflection, and imaging the secondary particles. Electron Microscope (hereinafter abbreviated as SEM) or Scanning Ion Microscop
e: hereinafter abbreviated as SIM). The SIM is often used as a processing positioning image of a focused ion beam (FIB) device. Based on this microscope image, a region to be processed locally is set, and the local region is finely divided. Perform processing.

[0003] In general, a device for obtaining a microscope image such as an optical microscope is a means for adjusting while observing an image in real time in order to observe a sample with an appropriate size, an appropriate brightness, and an appropriate focus. Is provided. FIB
In addition to this, the SEM has adjustment items such as beam astigmatism correction and beam axis alignment, and these are sequentially adjusted to obtain a good image.

A switch having a mechanical contact or a variable resistor has been used as a means for setting the adjustment items and adjustment levels. In recent years, apparatuses have been controlled by computers, and operations of the apparatuses have been performed on windows of computer screens. The user can use a GUI (Graphical User In
terface).

As a means for adjusting while observing the screen,
There has been proposed a method of setting a level of an adjustment item by moving a cursor on an observation image. However, in order to determine which adjustment item is currently selected among many adjustment items, it is necessary to shift the viewpoint from the microscope image to another.

[0006]

In the prior art, when performing the adjustment work of the apparatus, the viewpoint of the worker frequently moves by setting and confirming the adjustment items and setting the adjustment level (moving the cursor). And the operability was poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to minimize the movement of a viewpoint of an operator during an adjustment operation and to improve workability.

[0008]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] To accelerate a charged particle beam
Means for focusing and scanning on the sample, means for detecting secondary particles generated from the sample by the beam irradiation in synchronization with the scanning, storing the image in an image memory, and displaying the image in a window on a computer screen in a window format , Focus (focus), astigmatism (stigma),
Contrast, brightness, beam axis alignment,
A device consisting of means for adjusting the magnification etc. in real time,
Means for selecting an adjustment item, means for setting an adjustment level by moving a cursor on an image (using a mouse or the like), means for changing a cursor icon to one-to-one correspondence with a selectable adjustment item and displaying the icon (1) real-time observation of the state of the screen, (2) confirmation of the adjustment items, and (3) adjustment level setting by moving the cursor. Adjustment items can be set by keyboard, external switch box, GU
The command can be realized by a command button or the like. In particular, since the keyboard and the external switch can be blindly touched by skill, the device can be quickly operated by using the selection with the cursor icon.

The present invention is effective for a microscope using charged particles having many adjustment items for obtaining a good image. Since the ion beam is used for sputtering the sample, it is desirable to shorten the adjustment operation time, and it can be said that the effect of the present invention is particularly large.

In the present invention, the selection state of the adjustment item can be determined by changing and displaying the mouse cursor icon. However, a fixed cursor corresponding to the selectable adjustment item on a one-to-one basis is displayed on the microscope screen. The same effect can be obtained even if the same is performed.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the optical system of the FIB device used in the embodiment of the present invention. The ions extracted from the emitter of the liquid metal ion source 100 by the extraction electrode 101 are focused on the sample 111 by the condenser lens 102 and the objective lens 109. A variable aperture 103, an aligner stibma 104, a blanker 105,
A blanking aperture 106 and a deflector 108 are provided. When the blanker 105 operates, the beam enters the Faraday cup 107. The sample 111 is mounted on the sample stage 110. Further, a detector 112 for detecting secondary electrons emitted from the sample is provided.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system of the FIB device used in the embodiment of the present invention. The high voltage power supply 203 applies a high voltage to the ion source and the lens electrode. Aperture control power supply 20
Reference numeral 4 controls the variable aperture so that a desired aperture diameter can be selected. The aligner-stigma control power supply 205 controls the electrode voltages of the eight poles, and performs electrical axis alignment and astigmatism correction. The beam current measuring amplifier 206 measures a beam current flowing into the Faraday cup 107 during blanking. A blanking control power supply 207 drives a blanking electrode to perform beam blanking. Deflection amplifier 208
Drives an 8-pole, 2-stage electrostatic deflector. The deflection signal is supplied from the scanner 211. Preamplifier 209 is a detector 11
2 is converted into a luminance voltage signal. The converted luminance signal is converted into a digital value and written into the image memory 212. By synchronizing with the scan, a microscope image of the sample is formed on the memory. Each control power supply is totally controlled from the computer 201 via the control bus 202. The information in the image memory 212 is stored in the computer 20.
1 is displayed in a window format on the CRT screen. This enables image observation, processing positioning, and monitoring during processing.

FIG. 1 is a CRT showing a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is an image monitor window on the screen. In the image monitor window 1, a microscope image 2 is displayed. Beam scanning is controlled by a scanning control button on the left side of the microscope image. Pressing the scan button 11 starts scanning, and pressing the stop button 12 stops scanning. The adjustment is performed in the scanning state. The single scan button 11 is a button that scans the screen once to bring the screen to a stop state. Above the microscope image, buttons for selecting an adjustment item are arranged from the left in the order of a focus selection button 4, a stigma (astigmatism correction) selection button 5, a contrast selection button, a brightness selection button, an aligner selection button, and a magnification selection button 9. By clicking the button, each adjustment item is selected. The button 10 is a selection release button, which releases the adjustment item selection. Mouse cursor 3 on microscope screen 2
There is an icon representing the currently selected stigma. This icon changes according to the change of the selection item. In other words, just by looking at the icon of the mouse cursor, it is possible to recognize which adjustment item is currently selected. Dragging the mouse in the state of FIG. 1 enables adjustment of stigma. The stigma is adjusted by two parameters: adjustment in the XY directions with respect to the beam and adjustment in the axial direction rotated by 45 degrees. By making the vertical and horizontal directions of the screen correspond to these two parameters, the two parameters could be adjusted simultaneously by performing a two-dimensional drag operation on the screen. In addition, the icon of the mouse cursor can confirm that the current operation is the stigma adjustment, so that the adjustment operation can be performed with good operability.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A shows an image monitor window. There is no adjustment item selection button in the image monitor window. This is because the adjustment items are selected using a standard keyboard. FIG.
(B) shows a part of the keyboard. Assuming that the operator operates the mouse with the right hand, the keyboard uses keys that can be blindly touched with the left hand. As a result, the adjustment items can be selected with the left hand, and the adjustment level can be set by operating the mouse with the right hand, so that the adjustment work can be performed very quickly. In addition, the correspondence between the adjustment item and the key is determined by [Q] key 22a = Quit release [S] key 22b = Stigma Stigma [F] key 22c = Focus focus [A] key 22d = Aligner aligner [X] key 22e = X Magnification [C] key 22f = Contract Contrast [B] key 22g = Brightness By taking into account the fact that the operator who is accustomed to blind touch can easily select adjustment items.

FIG. 4A shows a state where the focus is selected by the [F] key 22c, and it can be seen from the icon of the mouse cursor that the current adjustment item is Focus. That is, there is no need to move the viewpoint to select an adjustment item. The focus adjustment parameter is a high voltage value applied to the objective lens 109, and the number of parameters is one. However, it is desirable to change the amount of voltage change with respect to the drag amount of the cursor according to the magnification of the observation image. In this embodiment, the screen is divided into the upper part 20a, the middle part 20b, and the lower part 20a.
c, and the ratio between the amount of mouse drag and the amount of voltage change is changed depending on the region where the mouse drag was started. Specifically, when the mouse is dragged at the upper part of the screen, the voltage changes greatly and the focus changes greatly. When the mouse is dragged at the lower part of the screen, the voltage changes slightly and the focus changes slightly.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing a third embodiment. FIG. 5A shows an image monitor window, and FIG. 5B shows an external control console 3 for setting adjustment items.
0. In this case, the buttons set by the keys in FIG. 4B are mounted as dedicated buttons. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the stegma is selected, which can be confirmed by the icon of the mouse cursor. As in FIG.
Although the stigma can be adjusted by a drag operation on the screen, in this embodiment, a mouse having two buttons, right and left, is used. By dragging while holding down the right mouse button, the amount of change in the stigma setting value with respect to the amount of mouse movement is increased, improving operability when making coarse adjustments. Mouse button recognition could be easily determined by a Windows control program.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when adjusting the image of the apparatus,
Minimal movement of the operator's viewpoint is required, and quick adjustment work can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an optical system of the FIB device used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system of the FIB device used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image monitor, 2 ... Microscope image, 3 ... Mouse cursor icon, 4 ... Focus selection button, 5 ... Stigma selection button, 6 ... Contrast selection button, 7 ... Brightness selection button, 8 ... Aligner selection button, 9 ... Magnification selection Button, 10 release button, 11 scanning start button, 12 scanning stop button, 13 single scanning button.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H01J 37/21 H01J 37/21 B 37/256 37/256

Claims (2)

[Claims] Means for scanning a sample by accelerating and converging a charged particle beam; detecting secondary particles generated from the sample by irradiation of the charged electron beam in synchronization with the scanning;
Microscope image display means that accumulates in the image memory and displays it on the computer screen in the form of a window, and means that adjusts focus, astigmatism, contrast, brightness, beam axis alignment, magnification, etc. in real time to obtain good images In the apparatus, the adjustment item selecting means, the means for setting an adjustment level by moving the mouse cursor on the microscope image, and the mouse cursor icon are changed to those corresponding to the selectable adjustment items on a one-to-one basis. A charged particle beam apparatus comprising: cursor icon change display means for displaying the current adjustment item without moving the viewpoint from within the microscope screen. 2. The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said charged particles are ions.