Ion beam processing apparatus and method of correcting mask defects

Claim 2

An ion beam processing apparatus provided within a vacuum container (39) with a specimen chamber (40) with a table (55) for mounting a work piece or specimen (90) provided therein, a high intensity ion source (65) confronting said specimen chamber, an extraction electrode (67) for extracting an ion beam out of said ion source, a grid electrode (66) for controlling energy and stability of the ion beam, an aperture (69) for controlling the focused spot diameter and the spot current, at least a set of electrostatic lenses (70, 71, 72) for focusing the ion beam which is outputted through said aperture to form a spot, a beam blanking electrode (73), and an X-axis and Y-axis deflection electrodes (75, 76) which cause the beam spot to scan over the specimen, said apparatus comprising a secondary charged-particle detector (86) which detects the intensity of secondary charged-particles emitted from the specimen as it is exposed to a low-power ion beam and transduces the intensity of emission into an electrical signal, a TV monitor (88) which receives the output of said detector and deflection signals applied to said deflection electrodes and performs the scanning of a spot having an intensity in proportion to the output of said secondary charged-particle detector in synchronization with the ion beam which scans the specimen so as to allow the observation of the surface of the specimen, and a setting means (700) for setting the range of processing to said TV monitor.

Claim 3

An ion beam processing apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein said beam blanking electrode is operated by a signal produced by said setting means in correspondence to the deflection signal.

Claim 4

An ion beam processing apparatus according to Claim 1 comprising an aperture member with an aperture of variable dimensions between said ion source and said lenses, said lenses focusing an image of said aperture produced by the ion mean on the surface of the specimen.

Claim 5

An ion beam processing apparatus according to Claim 3 comprising lens disposed between said aperture and said ion source, said lens transforming the ion beam from said ion source into a parallel beam or focusing the ion beam to have a beam diameter on the plane of aperture slightly larger than the dimensions of said aperture.

Claim 6

An ion beam processing apparatus according to Claim 1 comprising between said charged-particle optical system and said specimen tray a means such as an electron shower unit (89) for electrically neutralizing the ion beam.

Claim 7

An ion beam processing apparatus according to Claim 1 comprising a conductive prober (899) which comes into contact with a conductive pattern formed on the specimen so that charges generated during processing are removed by said prober.

Claim 8

An ion beam processing apparatus according to Claim 3 wherein the dimensions and position of said aperture are set by signals produced by said setting means.

Claim 9

An ion beam processing apparatus comprising; a vacuum container (39) installed on a bed (37), a table (55) for mounting a specimen (90) disposed on the bed (37) within a specimen chamber (40) of said vacuum container (39), a drive controller means (115) for controlling the movement of said table (55), a high intensity ion source (67) provided within said vacuum container (39), an ion beam extraction electrode (67) for extracting an ion beam out of said ion source, a grid electrode (66) for_controlling energy and stability of the ion beam, an aperture (69) for controlling the focused spot diameter and the spot current, an electrostatic lenses (70, 71, 72) for focusing the ion beam which is outputted through said aperture to form a spot, a beam blanking electrode (73), X-axis and Y-axis deflection electrodes (75, 76) which cause the beam spot to scan over the specimen, a secondary charged-particle detector (86) for detecting the intensity of secondary charged-particles emitted from the specimen as it is exposed to a low-power ion beam and transduces the intensity of emission into an electrical signal, a defect detecting means (114) for detecting a defect by comparing the output binary signal of said secondary charged-particle detector (86) with binary signal information on the original pattern read out of a memory means (110, 111), and a switching means (112) for switching the power supplies (80, 81, 82) for detecting a defect on the specimen and for correcting said defect on the specimen by sputtering.

Claim 10

An ion beam processing apparatus comprising; a vacuum container (39) installed on a bed (37), a table (55) for mounting a specimen (90) disposed on the bed (37) within a specimen chamber (40) of said vacuum container (39), a drive controller means (115) for controlling the movement of said table (55), a high intensity ion source (67) provided within said vacuum container (39), an ion beam extraction electrode (67) for extracting an ion beam out of said ion source, a grid electrode (66) for_controlling energy and stability of the ion beam, an aperture (69) for controlling the focused spot diameter and the spot current, an electrostatic lenses (70, 71, 72) for focusing the ion beam which is outputted through said aperture to form a spot, a beam blanking electrode (73), X-axis and Y-axis deflection electrodes (75, 76) which cause the beam spot to scan over the specimen, a secondary charged-particle detector (86) for detecting the intensity of secondary charged-particles emitted from the specimen as it is exposed to a low-power ion beam and transduces the intensity of emission into an electrical signal, a defect detecting means (114) for detecting a defect by comparing the output binary signal of said secondary charged-particle detector (86) with binary signal information on the original pattern read out of a memory means (110, 111), and a switching means (112) for switching the power supplies (80, 81, 82) for detecting a defect on the specimen and for correcting said defect on the specimen by sputtering.