DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 9, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shaked (US 20190164721 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shaked teaches a scanning electron microscope device ([0027]) comprising:
An electron beam source (202) configured to emit a plurality of electron beams travelling, along a plurality of different travel paths (beamlets 214-218, fig. 2A), to an object (wafer 230) mounted on a stage (wafer stage, [0038]);
A plurality of detectors (detection sub-regions 246-250) into which a plurality of signal beams (236-240) emitted from the object by the plurality of electron beams are respectively incident; and
A controller (109) configured to determine modulation characteristics of each of the plurality of electron beams and a number of the plurality of electron beams (modulating beamlets in accordance with control signal, [0058]),
Wherein the controller is configured to control the electron beam source and the plurality of detectors so that two or more signal beams among the plurality of signal beams are incident on each of the plurality of detectors (multiple beamlets land on a single sensing element, [0068-0069]), and
Wherein the controller is configured to separate an individual signal corresponding to each of the two or more signal beams from an output signal of each of the plurality of detectors (demodulation of the beams striking each detector, [0070-0071]), and generate an image of a target area of the object emitting the plurality of signal beams (imaging of sample surface, [0075]).
Regarding claim 2, Shaked teaches that the electron beam source is configured to generate a first electron beam (214) incident on a first region of the object along a first travel path, and a second electron beam (216) incident on a second region of the object along a second travel path (fig. 2A), wherein a first signal beam (238) emitted from the first region by the first electron beam and a second signal beam (236) emitted from the second region by the second electron beam (fig. 2A) are incident on a first detector of the plurality of detectors (multiple beamlets may all impinge on detector element 641, [0068]), and wherein the first travel path is different from the second travel path, and the first region is different from the second region (beams 216 and 214 travel along different paths and strike different regions of the wafer 230).
Regarding claim 4, Shaked teaches that each of the first electron beam and the second electron beam is generated at a first frequency, and the first electron beam and second electron beam have different phases (fig. 15; beam signals have same frequency but are different in phase).
Regarding claim 5, Shaked teaches that the first electron beam is an orthogonal signal to the second electron beam (they do not overlap, fig. 15, [0124]).
Regarding claim 6, Shaked teaches that the electron beam source generates a third electron beam incident on a third region of the object along a third travel path, and a fourth electron beam incident on a fourth region of the object along a fourth travel path (system may have up to 1000 beamlets analogous to beamlets 214-218 of fig. 2A, [0041]),
Wherein a third signal emitted from the third region by the third electron beam and a fourth signal beam emitted from the fourth region by the fourth electron beam are incident on the first detector (up to four beams strike detector subarea 641, fig. 13, [0068]), and
Wherein the first to fourth travel paths are different from each other, and the first to fourth regions are different from each other (different beams have different travel paths and strike different regions, fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 9, Shaked teaches that each of the first to fourth electron beams is an orthogonal signal to a remainder of the first to fourth electron beams (they do not overlap in time, [0068]).
Regarding claim 13, Shaked teaches a scanning electron microscope device ([0027]) comprising:
A stage ([0038]) on which an object (wafer 238) is disposed;
An electron beam source (202) configured to generate a plurality of electron beams (214-218) and irradiate the plurality of electron beams to a plurality of target areas defined in different positions on the object (fig. 2A);
A plurality of detectors (641-644, fig. 13, [0068]) into which a plurality of signal beams (681-684) emitted from the plurality of signal beams emitted from the plurality of target areas are incident; and
A controller (109) configured to generate an image (sample imaging, [0075]) for each of the plurality of target areas using an output signal from each of the detectors,
Wherein a number of the plurality of electron beams is greater than a number of the plurality of detectors ([0068]).
Regarding claim 14, Shaked teaches that two or more signal beams among the plurality of signal beams are incident on at least one detector among the plurality of detectors (e.g. 641, fig. 13).
Regarding claim 15, Shaked teaches that the controller controls the electron beam source so that two or more electron beams irradiated to two or more target areas emitting the two or more signal beams have an orthogonal relationship with each other (beams do not overlap in time, [0068]).
Regarding claim 16, Shaked teaches that the plurality of detectors include a first detector (641, fig. 13) and a second detector (642) adjacent to each other, a first signal beam among the plurality of signal beams is incident on the first detector, and a second signal beam is incident on the second detector. Shaked also teaches that each detection element has multiple beams with different phases (multiple orthogonal beams 681-684 strike single detection area 641 at different times, [0068]). Therefore it is possible to select first and second electron beams striking adjacent detection areas that have different phases from each other.
Regarding claim 17, Shaked teaches that the first signal beam includes a plurality of signal beams (i.e. the plurality of signal beams 681 that repeat as the modulation repeats) and the second signal beam includes a plurality of second signal beams (as the same thing is happening on the second detector), and
Wherein the controller controls the electron beam source so that the plurality of first signal beams and the plurality of second signal beams have an orthogonal relationship with each other (as one can select beams striking each detector which do not overlap in time, as argued above).
Regarding claim 18, Shaked teaches a scanning electron microscope device ([0027]) comprising:
A stage ([0038]) on which an object (wafer 238) is disposed;
An electron beam source (202) configured to generate a plurality of electron beams (214-218) and irradiate the plurality of electron beams to a plurality of target areas defined in different positions on the object (fig. 2A);
A plurality of detectors (641-644, fig. 13, [0068]) into which a plurality of signal beams (681-684) emitted from the plurality of signal beams emitted from the plurality of target areas are incident; and
A controller (109) configured to generate an image (sample imaging, [0075]) for each of the plurality of target areas using an output signal from each of the detectors,
Wherein the controller is configured to control the electron beam source so that a first electron beam irradiated to a first target area of the plurality of target areas and a second electron beam irradiated to a second target area of the plurality of target areas have an orthogonal relationship with each other (beams do not overlap in time, [0068]), and
Wherein a first signal beam (681) emitted from the first target area by the first electron beam, and a second signal beam (682) emitted from the second target area by the second electron beam are incident on a first detector (641, fig. 13) among the plurality of detectors.
Regarding claim 19, Shaked teaches that the controller is configured to control the electron beam source so that a third electron beam irradiated to a third target area among the plurality of target areas and a fourth electron beam irradiated to a fourth target area have an orthogonal relationship with each other, and each of the third electron beam and the fourth electron beam and the fourth electron beam has an orthogonal relationship with the first electron beam and the second electron beam,
Wherein a third signal emitted from the third target area by the third electron beam and a fourth signal beam emitted from the fourth target are by the fourth electron beam are incident on the first detector (up to four beams 681-684, non-overlapping in time, strike detector subarea 641, fig. 13, [0068]).
Regarding claim 20, Shaked teaches that the controller is configured to control the electron beam source so that a third electron beam irradiated to a third target area among the plurality of target areas and a fourth electron beam irradiated to a fourth target area among the plurality of target areas have an orthogonal relationship to each other, and each of the third electron beam and fourth electron beam has an orthogonal relationship with the first and second electron beam (beams 681-684 are orthogonal to each other in time, [0068]); and
Wherein a third signal beam emitted from the third target area by the third electron beam and a fourth signal beam emitted from the fourth target area by the fourth electron beam are incident on a second detector adjacent to the first detector (second detector 642 also have 4 beams modulated on same cycle as detector 641, so its third and fourth beams are orthogonal to the first and second beams of the adjacent detector).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaked in view of Fang (US 20220301811 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Shaked teaches that the electron beam source generates a first electron beam (214) incident on a first region of the object along a first travel path, and a second electron beam (216) incident on a second region of the object along a second travel path,
Wherein a first signal beam (238) emitted from the first region by the first electron beam is incident on a first detector (248), and a second signal beam (236) emitted from the second region by the second electron beam is incident on a second detector (238) adjacent to the first detector (fig. 2A).
Shaked does not teach that the controller obtains a first individual signal corresponding to the first signal beam by removing interference of the second signal beam in the first detector, and obtains a second individual signal beam corresponding to the second signal beam by removing interference of the first signal beam in the second detector.
Fang teaches a multi-beam charged particle imaging system which can remove interference between adjacent detectors (detector cross-talk removal, [0024]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Shaked to include removing interference from adjacent detectors as taught by Fang, in order to produce a more accurate image of the sample.
Regarding claim 11, Shaked teaches that each detection element has multiple beams with different phases (multiple orthogonal beams 681-684 strike single detection area 644 at different times, [0068]). Therefore it is possible to select first and second electron beams striking adjacent detection areas that have different phases from each other.
Regarding claim 12, the first electron beam may be selected to be orthogonal to the second electron beam as argued above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 7-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not disclose or make obvious a multi-beam scanning electron microscope system with two or more signal beams incident on each of a plurality of detectors, wherein a first electron beam is generated at a first frequency and a second electron beam is generated at a second, different frequency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID E SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-7096. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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/DAVID E SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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