A sample holder for holding a sample during an X-ray imaging process includes a sample placement surface on which the sample is placed for positioning the sample in a depth direction of the sample holder. The sample holder also includes a first alignment portion for aligning the sample in a width direction of the sample holder, and a second alignment portion for aligning the sample in a height direction of the sample holder.

A method of inspecting semiconductors and a semiconductor inspection system are disclosed. In an embodiment, the method comprises directing a charged particle beam onto a semiconductor device at an angle in a range between five degrees and eighty-five degrees from a normal to a top surface of the semiconductor; scanning the particle beam across a field of the semiconductor device; adjusting the semiconductor to maintain the particle beam at a defined focus on the semiconductor while scanning the particle beam across the field of the semiconductor device; detecting secondary and backscattered electrons from the semiconductor; and processing the detected secondary and backscattered electrons to inspect for defined conditions of the semiconductor. In an embodiment, the particle beam is maintained at the defined focus on the semiconductor device by controlling the position of the semiconductor device relative to a beam emitter that emits the particle beam.

An electron beam inspection apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes an image acquisition mechanism to acquire a secondary electron image by scanning a substrate, on which a figure pattern is formed, with an electron beam, and detecting a secondary electron emitted due to irradiation with the electron beam by the scanning, a resize processing unit to perform, using design pattern data being a basis of the figure pattern, resize processing on the figure pattern to enlarge its size in a scan direction of the electron beam, a first developed image generation unit to generate, using the design pattern data which has not been resized, a first developed image by developing an image of a design pattern of a region corresponding to the secondary electron image, a second developed image generation unit to generate, using partial patterns enlarged by the resize processing in the figure pattern having been resized, a second developed image by developing an image of partial patterns in a region corresponding to the secondary electron image, a map generation unit to generate a pseudo defect candidate pixel map which can identify a pseudo defect candidate pixel that has no pattern in the first developed image and has a pattern in the second developed image, a reference image generation unit to generate a reference image of the region corresponding to the second electron image, and a comparison unit to compare, using the pseudo defect candidate pixel map, the second electron image with the reference image of the region corresponding to the second electron image.

A sample (4) is created by cutting out a device on a plane (10-10). The device has a gate electrode (3) formed along a direction [2-1-10] on a plane c (0001) of a compound semiconductor (1) having a wurtzite structure. Edge dislocations having Burgers vectors of 1/3[2-1-10] and 1/3[?2110] and mixed dislocations having Burgers vectors of 1/3[2-1-13] and 1/3[?2113] are observed by making an electron beam (5) incident on the sample (4) from a direction [?1010] using a transmission electron microscope.

An x-ray inspection system includes a cabinet including an x-ray source, a sample support supporting a sample to be inspected, and an x-ray detector. The system further includes an air mover configured to force air into the cabinet through an air inlet in the cabinet above the sample support. The air mover and cabinet are configured to force air through the cabinet from the air inlet past the sample support to an air outlet in the cabinet below the sample support. The cabinet may be constructed to provide an x-ray shield. The x-ray inspection system can be used in a clean room environment to inspect items such as semiconductor wafers.

Production of perforated two-dimensional materials with holes of a desired size range, a narrow size distribution, and a high and uniform density remains a challenge, at least partially, due to physical and chemical inconsistencies from sheet-to-sheet of the two-dimensional material and surface contamination. This disclosure describes methods for monitoring and adjusting perforation or healing conditions in real-time to address inter- and intra-sheet variability. In situ or substantially simultaneous feedback on defect production or healing may be provided either locally or globally on a graphene or other two-dimensional sheet. The feedback data can be used to adjust perforation or healing parameters, such as the total dose or efficacy of the perforating radiation, to achieve the desired defect state.

A corrected scanning electron microscope (CSEM) and a method of operating the CSEM for selectively separating a material contrast from a topography contrast is presented. The microscope and the method enable high imaging resolution with backscattered electrons generated from low energy primary electrons. The CSEM and the method is applicable to mask repair and circuit editing processes with resolution requirements in the low nm range or even below.

The present disclosure relates to a method for estimating heights of defects in a wafer. The method comprises creating an un-calibrated 3D model of a defect in a wafer, determining one or more attributes associated with the un-calibrated 3D model, transforming the un-calibrated 3D model to a calibrated 3D model, and estimating a height of the defect using the calibrated 3D model. Creating an un-calibrated 3D model corresponds to a defect present in a wafer based on a plurality of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of the defect. Transforming the un-calibrated 3D model to a calibrated 3D model uses a scaling factor corresponding to the determined one or more attributes associated with the un-calibrated 3D model. A height of the defect is estimated based on the calibrated 3D model of the defect.

Provided is an inspection method including providing a pattern layout including measurement points, generating a first measurement map including first measurement regions that overlap the measurement points and do not overlap each other in a two-dimensional plan view, providing preliminary measurement regions on the measurement points, producing a polygon by grouping ones of the preliminary measurement regions that overlap each other in the two-dimensional plan view, providing a second measurement region on a center of the polygon, selecting the second measurement region when all of the measurement points in the polygon overlap the second measurement region in the two-dimensional plan view, generating a second measurement map including the selected second measurement region, generating a third measurement map by using the first and second measurement maps, and inspecting patterns on a semiconductor substrate by using the third measurement map. The third measurement map includes the selected second measurement region and ones of the first measurement regions that do not overlap the selected second measurement region in the two-dimensional plan view.

Using an X-ray diffractometer, a processing device, and memory, a database models estimates of a number of cycles to failure for each of a plurality of materials. The model estimates are performed on the material at a plurality of applied fatigues up to a failure point and are based on parameters including residual stress, the micro-strain, and the ratio between X-Ray peak intensity and background intensity of the component material. To inspect a component, the material of the component is selected in the database, and measurements are obtained at two or more different depths of at least a portion of the component. Information about current residual stress, micro-strain, and ratio between X-Ray peak intensity and background intensity are determined from the obtained measurements. Then, a fatigue life of the portion of the component is estimated by matching the information to at least one of the modelled estimates of the number of cycles to failure in the database for the selected material.