Provided is a semiconductor inspection device capable of high-speed response analysis as defect analysis of a fine-structured device constituting an LSI. Therefore, the semiconductor inspection device includes a vacuum chamber 3, a sample table 4 which is disposed in the vacuum chamber and on which a sample 6 is placed, an electron optical system 1 disposed such that an electron beam is emitted from above the sample, a plurality of probe units 24 connected to external devices 11 and 12 disposed outside the vacuum chamber via a coaxial cable 10, and an electrode 5 provided on or in the vicinity of the sample table. The probe unit 24 includes a measurement probe 8 configured to come into contact with the sample, a GND terminal 9 configured to come into contact with the electrode 5, and a probe holder 7 configured to hold the measurement probe and the GND terminal, connect a signal line of the coaxial cable to the measurement probe, and connect a GND line of the coaxial cable to the GND terminal. When the measurement probe of the probe unit comes into contact with the sample, the GND terminal comes into contact with the electrode.

A method of detecting a defect in a device using a charged particle beam includes inputting a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, controlling a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, controlling light applied to the sample based on the light condition, detecting second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light, and generating a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generating a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimating a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and comparing the first irradiation result with a second irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are actually applied to the sample based on the electron beam condition.

A method for measuring electron mobility according to the present invention, which is performed by an apparatus comprising a chamber forming a sealed space, an electron gun provided in the chamber, and a metal sample disposed opposite to the electron gun in the sealed space, comprises: an electron irradiation step of irradiating the metal sample with electrons by the electron gun; a sample current measurement step of applying a voltage to the metal sample to measure a sample current obtained in the metal sample according to the applied voltage; a secondary electron current calculation step of calculating a secondary electron current through the measured sample current; and an effective incident current definition step of defining the sum of the measured sample current and the calculated secondary electron current as an effective incident current.

The invention relates to a method for detecting a measured value (dϕ/dx, M). According to the invention, provision is made for a sinusoidal excitation signal (Ue) with a predetermined excitation frequency (f), with or without a superposed DC component (Uoffset), to be fed to an input of a component (100, C), for at least one electron holography measuring step to be carried out, in which an electron beam (Se) is directed on the component (100, C), said electron-beam penetrating and/or passing the component (100, C) and subsequently being superposed with a reference electron-beam (Sr), and for an electrical hologram (EHG) arising by interference of the two electron beams (Se, Sr) during a predetermined measurement window (F) to be measured and the phase image (PB) to be ascertained therefrom, and for the measured value (M) to be formed on the basis of the phase image (PB), wherein the temporal length (Tf) of the measurement window (F) of the electron holography measuring step is shorter than half the period (T) of the sinusoidal excitation signal (Uc).

A method of inspecting a semiconductor device includes charging an inspection region of a semiconductor device using a charging electron beam, and scanning the inspection region using a scanning electron beam. The charging of the inspection region includes dividing the inspection region into a charging region and a non-charging region, and charging the charging region using the charging electron beam. The scanning of the inspection region includes irradiating the scanning electron beam to the inspection region, and detecting secondary electrons emitted from the inspection region by the scanning electron beam.

A device for determining the electrical resistance of a system includes a field effect electron emitter capable of emitting electrons when the electrical emission potential V.sub.e of the electron emitter is higher than a threshold value V.sub.L, with the emitting end of the emitter being at least partially conductive; an item of equipment capable of determining the electrical emission potential V.sub.e of the electron emitter; a voltage source adapted to apply a potential difference E to the device and to generate an electric field at the emitter, an electron detector capable of detecting all or some of the electrons emitted by the electron emitter so as to measure the intensity of the current I.sub.mes flowing between the emitter and the detector; electrical connection means adapted to electrically connect the system and the device in such a way that the current intensity flowing between the emitter and the detector can also pass through the system.

A semiconductor inspection device capable of detecting an abnormality with high sensitivity in a failure analysis of a fine-structured device is provided. An electron optical system radiates an electron beam to a sample on a sample stage. A measurement device measures an output from a measurement probe that is in contact with the sample. An information processing device starts and stops the radiation of the electron beam to the sample, sets a first measurement period in which the measurement device measures the output from the measurement probe during the radiation and a second measurement period in which the measurement device measures the output from the measurement probe after the radiation, and obtains the measurement value of the output from the measurement probe based on a difference between a first measurement value measured in the first measurement period and a second measurement value measured in the second measurement period.

A method of measuring a delay time of a propagation of a signal in a line in a circuit structure, the method comprises irradiating the line by pulses of a charged particle beam, wherein a pulse repetition frequency of the pulses of the charged particle beam is varied. The method further comprises measuring, for each of the pulse repetition frequencies, a secondary charged particle emission responsive to the irradiating the line by the pulses of the charged particle beam at the respective pulse repetition frequency, and deriving the delay time of the line based on the secondary charged particle emission responsive to the varying of the pulse repetition frequency.

A charged particle beam device includes an input and output device that receives, as inputs, a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, a charged particle beam control system that controls a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, a light control system that controls light applied to the sample based on the light condition, a detector that detects second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light and outputs a detection signal, and a calculator that generates a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generates a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimates a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and compares the first irradiation result with a second irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are actually applied to the sample based on the electron beam condition.

A method of detecting a defect in a device using a charged particle beam includes inputting a charged particle beam condition, a light condition, and electronic device circuit information, controlling a charged particle beam applied to a sample based on the electron beam condition, controlling light applied to the sample based on the light condition, detecting second electrons emitted from the sample by the application of the charged particle beam and the light, and generating a calculation netlist based on the electronic device circuit information, generating a light irradiation netlist based on the calculation netlist and the light condition, estimating a first irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are applied to the sample based on the light irradiation netlist and the charged particle beam condition, and comparing the first irradiation result with a second irradiation result when the charged particle beam and the light are actually applied to the sample based on the electron beam condition.