Radiant energy – Inspection of solids or liquids by charged particles – Analyte supports
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-25
2004-01-13
Lee, John R. (Department: 2881)
Radiant energy
Inspection of solids or liquids by charged particles
Analyte supports
C250S440110, C250S441110, C250S443100, C250S311000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06677595
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a specimen holder, and more specifically to an electron microscope specimen holder and a spacer used in the same. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to an electron microscope specimen holder useful in performing EDX (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) analysis of a specimen produced by a focused ion beam (FIB) method, and a spacer used in the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transmission electron microscopes (TEM) are widely used not only in basic materials research, but also in the development of materials and devices as an indispensable analyzing means. In particular, in recent years, developments have been made in, for example, semiconductor-device film formation technology and micromachining. This has resulted in a demand for not only observations with higher resolution, but also analysis of very small areas. As a means for responding to these demands, transmission electron microscopes are becoming increasingly important. One method which is widely used in analyzing very small areas is the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy method.
In recent years, focused ion beam (FIB) processing devices have been developed, and are starting to be applied in various fields. They are typically used in the semiconductor-manufacturing field. A technology for producing a specimen of a specific portion of, for example, a semiconductor device to be sectionally observed using TEM is attracting attention as one technology to which focused ion beam processing devices can be applied. This technology is, in particular, used to produce a specimen (or to form thinner pieces) for TEM observation.
A description of a conventional side-entry-type specimen holder for an electron microscope will be given with reference to
FIGS. 7
to
11
and FIG.
15
.
FIG. 15
is a schematic view of a conventional electron microscope device. In
FIGS. 7
to
14
, a longitudinal direction (or an X-axis direction) of a holder body
1
on which a specimen
21
is placed is substantially perpendicular to a direction (or a Z-axis direction) in which electrons are emitted from an electron-emitting means.
FIG. 7
is a plan view schematically illustrating the specimen holder.
FIG. 8
is an enlarged schematic view of portion A of
FIG. 7
, as viewed from the Z-axis direction.
FIG. 9
is a sectional view along the X-axis direction (or the X-Z plane) of FIG.
8
.
FIG. 10
is a sectional view along the Y-axis direction (or the Y-Z plane) of FIG.
8
.
FIG. 11
is a sectional view showing a state in which the holder is tilted from its state in
FIG. 10
, with the X-axis as a center. In
FIGS. 7
to
15
, the X-axis directions, the Y-axis directions, and the Z-axis directions are consistently represented throughout.
The specimen holder shown in
FIGS. 7
to
11
primarily comprises the holder body
1
, a specimen-holding table
2
for holding the specimen
21
, and a specimen holding-down means
3
. The specimen
21
is held by being sandwiched between the specimen-holding table
2
and the specimen holding-down means
3
. In this specimen holder, the specimen holding-down means
3
is secured to the specimen-holding table
2
with a screw
9
in order to hold the specimen
21
. The holder body
1
includes protrusions which protrude beyond a specimen-holding surface
11
and a plane where a meshed section
23
is disposed (or beyond a plane where the specimen
21
is disposed). The protrusions are formed so as to protrude above the specimen-holding surface
11
, the plane of the specimen-holding table
2
, and the specimen
21
itself in the Z-axis direction in order to provide mechanical strength to the specimen holder itself. Here, the specimen-holding surface
11
of the specimen-holding table
2
and a specimen-holding surface
12
of the specimen holding-down means
3
are formed substantially parallel to a horizontal surface of the holder body
1
. Here, the specimen-holding table
2
and the specimen holding-down means
3
do not comprise parts. Depending on the specimen-holding method, the specimen-holding table
2
and the specimen holding-down means
3
may comprise a plurality of component parts. The specimen holder is not provided with any other special functions. However, depending on the goniometer (not shown) installed in the electron microscope, the specimen
21
and the specimen holder body
1
are tilted (or rotated) with respect to the X-axis in
FIG. 8
as a center, as shown in FIG.
11
. Hereunder, the tilting direction shown in
FIG. 11
is called a + direction, with the horizontal posture of the holder body
1
(shown in
FIG. 10
) serving as a reference.
Although not specifically illustrated, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-185686, there are various types of specimen holders for electron microscopes. They include a biaxially tilting specimen holder, a specimen cooling holder, a specimen heating holder, a specimen pulling holder, and a combination thereof. The biaxially tilting specimen holder has a mechanism for tilting specimen-holding table
2
, with a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the holder body
1
(or perpendicular to the X-axis direction in FIG.
8
), that is, the Y-axis direction in
FIG. 8
, serving as a center axis for tilting. The specimen cooling holder has a mechanism for cooling specimen
21
. The specimen heating holder has a mechanism for heating specimen
21
. The specimen pulling holder has a mechanism for pulling specimen
21
.
With reference to
FIGS. 7
to
11
, an example of the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis carried out using the conventional electron-microscope specimen holder will be described. In the EDX analysis, as shown in
FIG. 15
, when the specimen
21
held by the specimen holder is irradiated with electron beams, X-rays produced from the specimen
21
are detected by an X-ray analyzer
31
in order to obtain an energy spectrum. As shown in
FIG. 10
, when the angle of the center axis of the X-ray analyzer
31
from the specimen-holding surface
11
is small, the sensitivity with which X-rays are detected can be made large by decreasing the distance between the specimen
21
and the X-ray analyzer
31
. Therefore, the X-ray analyzer
31
in which the angle of the center axis is small is becoming the dominating type of X-ray analyzer. In order to simplify the configuration, the X-ray analyzer
31
is mainly disposed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (or in a direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction) of the specimen holder, that is, in the Y-axis direction of the specimen holder, as shown in FIG.
8
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electron microscope holder having a high X-ray detection efficiency even in EDX analysis carried out on a specimen to be subjected to sectional TEM observation with an X-ray analyzer.
To this end, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a specimen holder (a specimen-supporting member) comprising a specimen-holding table including a specimen-placing plane (or a specimen-holding surface); and a pair of protruding members (or protruding portions) protruding beyond the specimen-placing plane (or the specimen-holding surface) and having the specimen-holding table disposed therebetween. The specimen-holding surface (or the top surface) of the specimen-holding table (or the surface of the specimen-holding table where the specimen is placed) is formed at an angle from (that is, not parallel to) a plane including the top portions (or the top surfaces or the topmost portions) of the pair of protruding members (or protruding portions) protruding beyond the specimen-placing plane.
In the specimen holder of the present invention, the specimen-holding surface of the specimen-holding table (or the top surface of the specimen-holding table corresponding to the specimen-placing surface, or the meshed-section-placing surface, of the specimen-hol
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Lee John R.
Vanore David A.
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