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CN-114643419-B - Material processing method and material processing system for performing the method

CN114643419BCN 114643419 BCN114643419 BCN 114643419BCN-114643419-B

Abstract

A material processing system includes a particle beam column for directing a particle beam to a first processing region and a laser scanner for directing a laser beam to a second processing region. A method for operating the material processing system includes scanning a first mark disposed on an object with a particle beam, scanning the first mark with the laser beam a first time and producing a second mark on the object with the laser beam, scanning the second mark with the particle beam, and scanning the first mark with the laser beam a second time and removing material of the object with the laser beam based on scanning the second mark with the particle beam.

Inventors

  • S. Shearer

Assignees

  • 卡尔蔡司显微镜有限责任公司
  • 卡尔蔡司显微镜有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260421
Application Date
20211221
Priority Date
20201221

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A material processing method performed by a material processing system, Wherein, this material processing system includes: at least one particle beam column configured to direct at least one particle beam to a first processing region, and A laser scanner configured to direct a laser beam to a second processing region, wherein the material processing method comprises: scanning a first marker disposed on the object with the at least one particle beam; scanning the first mark with the laser beam a first time and creating a second mark on the object with the laser beam; Scanning the second mark with the at least one particle beam, and Based on scanning the second mark with the at least one particle beam, scanning the first mark with the laser beam a second time and removing material of the object with the laser beam.
  2. 2. The material processing method of claim 1 wherein scanning the first mark with the laser beam a first time comprises determining a position of the first mark in a coordinate system of the laser scanner.
  3. 3. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein generating the second mark comprises fixing a position in a coordinate system of the laser scanner based on scanning the first mark with the laser beam, and The laser beam is directed to the location determined in the coordinate system of the laser scanner.
  4. 4. A material processing method according to claim 3, wherein fixing the position in the coordinate system of the laser scanner is further based on a model of the geometry of at least a portion of the object.
  5. 5. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein scanning the first marker with the at least one particle beam for the first time comprises determining a position of the first marker in a coordinate system of the at least one particle beam column.
  6. 6. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein scanning the second marker with the at least one particle beam comprises determining a position of the second marker in a coordinate system of the at least one particle beam column.
  7. 7. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising determining a position of the second mark relative to the first mark based on first scanning the first mark with the at least one particle beam and scanning the second mark with the at least one particle beam.
  8. 8. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Fixing a position in a coordinate system of the laser scanner relative to a position of the first mark, the position of the first mark being determined based on first scanning the first mark with the laser beam; directing the laser beam to the location to produce the second mark; Determining a position of the second marker relative to the first marker based on first scanning the first marker with the at least one particle beam and scanning the second marker with the at least one particle beam; Wherein material of the object is removed with the laser beam based on a difference between a position of the second mark relative to the first mark and a position fixed for generating the second mark with the laser beam.
  9. 9. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Scanning the first mark with the at least one particle beam a second time before the first mark is scanned with the laser beam and before the second mark is generated, and scanning at least a portion of the object with the at least one particle beam; fixing a position relative to a position of the first marker based on scanning the portion of the object with the at least one particle beam, the position of the first marker being determined based on scanning the first marker a second time with the at least one particle beam; fixing a position in a coordinate system of the laser scanner based on scanning the first mark with the laser beam and based on the fixed position, and The laser beam is directed to a fixed location to produce the second mark.
  10. 10. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: after removing material of the object with the laser beam, removing material of the object with the at least one particle beam.
  11. 11. The material processing method according to claim 10, wherein the particle beam used during the removal of the material of the object with the at least one particle beam is an ion beam.
  12. 12. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: scanning at least a portion of the object with the at least one particle beam after removing material of the object with the laser beam, and A signal generated based on the scan of the object is detected.
  13. 13. The material processing method according to claim 12, wherein the particle beam used during scanning the at least a portion of the object with the at least one particle beam is an electron beam.
  14. 14. The material processing method as in claim 12 further comprising generating an image based on the detected signal, and The generated image is presented using a display medium and/or stored in a storage medium.
  15. 15. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the object comprises a sample holder and a sample to be inspected held at the sample holder.
  16. 16. The material processing method of claim 15 wherein the first mark is held at the sample holder separately from the sample.
  17. 17. A material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first indicia comprises at least one or more holes and at least one light detector.
  18. 18. The material processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing system further comprises a conveyor system configured to convey the object from the first processing region to the second processing region and to convey the object from the second processing region to the first processing region.
  19. 19. The material processing method of claim 18, wherein the transport system is configured to move the object relative to the particle beam column, and wherein the method comprises: moving the object relative to the particle beam column before scanning the first marker a first time with the at least one particle beam in such a way that the first marker is arranged in a scanning area of the particle beam column, and Before scanning the second marker with the at least one particle beam, the object is moved relative to the particle beam column in such a way that the second marker is arranged in the scanning area of the particle beam column.
  20. 20. A material processing system, comprising: at least one particle beam column configured to direct at least one particle beam to a first processing region, and A laser scanner configured to direct a laser beam to a second processing region, wherein the material processing system is configured to perform the material processing method according to one of claims 1 to 19.

Description

Material processing method and material processing system for performing the method Technical Field The present invention relates to a material processing method and a material processing system for performing the material processing method. Background Conventional material processing systems include an electron microscope having an electron beam column for performing an electron beam scan over a first processing region of an object and detecting electrons generated at the object by the scanned electron beam to produce an electron microscope image of the object. The conventional system also includes an ion beam column for directing an ion beam to a selectable location in the first processing region for removing material from the object at the location. The material processing system may be used to expose a region of interest on an object by removing material with an ion beam so that an electron microscope image of the exposed region of interest can be generated using an electron microscope. For example, the region of interest in the object may be a packaged integrated circuit or a circuit element in a potted integrated circuit. The removal of material with an ion beam is precisely controllable, meaning that even very small or thin structures can be exposed in the desired areas of the object. However, the material removal rates achievable with ion beam processing are low, with the result that the time spent for exposing the region of interest below the surface of the object is significant. Accordingly, conventional material processing systems also include a laser scanner for directing a laser beam to a selectable location in a second processing region to remove material from an object at a removal rate greater than that achievable with an ion beam when the object is disposed in the second processing region. Although the material removal rate achievable with a laser beam is greater than the removal rate achievable with an ion beam, the accuracy achievable during removal of material with a laser beam is significantly lower than that achievable during removal of material with an ion beam. For this reason, the laser beam is used to remove material from the object in such a way that the region of interest continues to be covered by the remaining material, which remains as a protective measure against damage to the region of interest. The retained material is then removed by removing the material with an ion beam to expose the region of interest. Since the material removal rate of the ion beam is low compared to the laser beam, a lot of time is also required to remove the remaining material that remains as a protective measure, and it is desirable to reduce the time. Disclosure of Invention It is therefore an object of the present invention to propose a material processing method and a corresponding material processing system, in which material can be removed by a laser beam and by an ion beam in a relatively short period of time to expose a region of interest on an object. The invention provides a material processing method for a material processing system, which comprises at least one particle beam column and a laser scanner. According to an embodiment of the invention, the at least one particle beam column is configured to direct the at least one particle beam to a first processing region, and the laser scanner is configured to direct the laser beam to a second processing region. The second working area may overlap the first working area. In order to avoid contamination of the electron beam column and/or the ion beam column with particles that may be generated during processing of the object with the laser beam, the second working area may be arranged at a distance from the first processing area. Other possible features, such as baffles that may be specifically positioned as desired, may also provide protection against such contamination, if necessary. According to an embodiment, the at least one particle beam column comprises an electron beam column configured to direct an electron beam to the first processing region. The electron beam may be used to remove material from an object disposed in the first processing region. For this purpose, the material processing system may comprise a process gas supply device for supplying a suitable process gas activatable by the electron beam to the first processing region for removing material from the object by etching. An electron beam scan may also be performed over a scanning area comprised in the first processing area, wherein signals generated by the electron beam incident on the object during the scan, such as backscattered electrons, are detected in order to generate an electron microscope image representing, for example, the signal intensity detected in a spatially resolved manner. In this case, the electron beam column provides the function of an electron microscope. The at least one particle beam column may also include an ion beam column configured to direct an