In one embodiment, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a housing configured to house a substrate, and a plasma supplier configured to supply plasma on an upper face of the substrate. The apparatus further includes a support configured to support the substrate and a ring surrounding an end portion of the substrate, the ring including a member having a lower face on which a mark to be photographed is provided. The apparatus further includes equipment configured to photograph the mark or receive an image of the mark through a wiring that includes a first end portion able to be disposed in a vicinity of the mark and a second end portion different from the first end portion.

A substrate processing system includes a substrate support assembly to support a semiconductor substrate during processing of the semiconductor substrate in the substrate processing system. A first edge ring is arranged around the substrate support assembly. The first edge ring is movable relative to the substrate support assembly. A second edge ring is arranged around the substrate support assembly and under the first edge ring. A controller is configured to compensate a height of the first edge ring based on erosion of the first and second edge rings.

The present invention provides a charged particle beam device with which optimal parameters for the device can be effectively derived in a short time period. This charged particle beam device comprises: an electron gun (1) that irradiates a sample (10) with an electron beam (2); an image processing unit (901) that acquires an image of the sample (10) from a signal (12) generated by the sample (10) due to the electron beam (2); a database (604) that holds correspondence between a first parameter that is an optical condition, a second parameter that is a value pertaining to device performance, and a third parameter that is information pertaining to the device configuration, and stores a plurality of analysis values and measurement values; and a learning machine (605) that searches the database (604) and derives a first parameter that satisfies a target value of the second parameter.

The invention relates to method of milling and imaging a sample. The method comprises the step of providing an imaging system, as well as a milling beam source. The method comprises the steps of milling, using a milling beam from said milling beam source, a sample to remove a layer of the sample; and imaging, using said imaging system, an exposed surface of the sample. As defined herein, the method further comprises the step of determining a relative position of said sample, and using said determined relative position of said sample in said milling step for positioning said sample relative to said milling beam. The relative position of said sample can be a working distance with respect to the imaging system, which can be determined by means of an autofocus procedure.

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for generating a beam for inspecting a wafer positioned on a stage in a charged particle beam system are disclosed. In some embodiments, a controller may include circuitry configured to classify a plurality of regions along a stripe of the wafer by type of region, the stripe being larger than a field of view of the beam, wherein the classification of the plurality of regions includes a first type of region and a second type of region; and scan the wafer by controlling a speed of the stage based on the type of region, wherein the first type of region is scanned at a first speed and the second type of region is scanned at a second speed.

A method of determining aberrations of a charged particle beam (11) focused by a focusing lens (120) toward a sample (10) in a charged particle beam system is described. The method includes: (a) taking one or more images of the sample at one or more defocus settings to provide one or more taken images (h.sub.1...N); (b) simulating one or more images of the sample taken at the one or more defocus settings based on a set of beam aberration coefficients (.sup.iC) and a focus image of the sample to provide one or more simulated images; (c) comparing the one or more taken images and the one or more simulated images for determining a magnitude (Ri) of a difference therebetween; and (d) varying the set of beam aberration coefficients (.sup.iC) to provide an updated set of beam aberration coefficients (.sup.i+1C) and repeating (b) and (c) using the updated set of beam aberration coefficients (.sup.i+1C) in an iterative process for minimizing said magnitude (R.sub.i). Alternatively, in (b), one or more beam cross sections may be simulated, and, in (c) the simulated beam cross sections may be compared with one or more retrieved beam cross sections retrieved from the one or more taken images for determining a magnitude (R.sub.i) of a difference therebetween. Further, a charged particle beam system for imaging and/or inspecting a sample that is configured for any of such methods is provided.

There is provided a substrate processing system comprising: a plurality of transfer modules having transfer mechanisms configured to transfer substrates; and a plurality of process modules connected to the plurality of transfer modules. The transfer mechanisms of the plurality of transfer modules transfer a plurality of substrates sequentially and serially to the plurality of process modules, and each of the plurality of transfer modules has an aligner configured to align a substrate when transferring the substrate to the process module connected to a relevant transfer module.

The present invention enables an overlay error between processors to be measured from a pattern image, the SN ratio of which is low. To this end, the present invention forms a secondary electron image 200 from a detection signal of a secondary electron detector 107, forms a reflected electron image 210 from a detection signal of a reflected electron detector 109, creates a SUMLINE profile 701 that is obtained by adding luminance information in the reflected electron image along the longitudinal direction of a line pattern, and calculates an overlay error of a sample by using position information about an upper layer pattern detected from the secondary electron image and position information about a lower layer pattern that is detected by using an estimation line pattern 801 estimated on the basis of the SUMLINE profile from the reflected electron image.

The invention relates to a method for determining a beamlet position in a charged particle multi-beamlet exposure apparatus. The apparatus is provided with a sensor comprising a conversion clement for converting charged particle energy into light and a light sensitive detector. The conversion element is provided with a sensor surface area provided with a 2D-pattern of beamlet blocking and non-blocking regions. The method comprises taking a plurality of measurements and determining the position of the beamlet with respect to the 2D-pattern on the basis of a 2D-image created by means of the measurements. Each measurement comprises exposing a feature onto a portion of the 2D-pattern with a beamlet, wherein the feature position differs for each measurement, receiving light transmitted through the non-blocking regions, converting the received light into a light intensity value, and assigning the light intensity value to the position at which the measurement was taken.

The present application relates to an apparatus for determining a position of at least one element on a photolithographic mask, said apparatus comprising: (a) at least one scanning particle microscope comprising a first reference object, wherein the first reference object is disposed on the scanning particle microscope in such a way that the scanning particle microscope can be used to determine a relative position of the at least one element on the photolithographic mask relative to the first reference object; and (b) at least one distance measuring device, which is embodied to determine a distance between the first reference object and a second reference object, wherein there is a relationship between the second reference object and the photolithographic mask.