Energy- and time-resolved microscopy using PEEM: recent developments and state-of-the-art

Two novel methods of spectroscopic surface imaging are discussed, both based on photoemission electron microscopy PEEM. They are characterised by a simple electron-optical set up retaining a linear column. An imaging high-pass energy filter has been developed on the basis of lithographically-fabricated microgrids. Owing to a mesh size of only 7μm, no image distortions occur. The present energy resolution is 70 meV. The second approach employs time-of-flight energy dispersion and time-resolved detection using a Delayline Detector. In this case, the drift energy and the time resolution of the detector determine the energy resolution. The present time resolution is 180 ps, giving rise to an en…

Nanosession: Advanced Spectroscopy and Scattering

Nanoelectron spectroscopy for chemical analysis: a novel energy filter for imaging x-ray photoemission spectroscopy

An ovel instrument for imaging ESCA is described. It is based on a tandem arrangement of two hemispherical energy analysers used as an imaging energy filter. The main spherical aberration (α 2 -term) of the analyser is corrected by the antisymmetry of the tandem configuration. The kinetic energy range useable for imaging extends up to 1.6 keV; this is compatible with Mg and Al Kα laboratory x-ray sources. First experiments on the chemical surface composition of a Cu0.98Bi0.02 polycrystal, a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure and Ag crystallites on Si(111) have been performed using synchrotron radiation. The results reveal an energy resolutio no f190 meV and a lateral resolution (edge resolution) o…

Inspection of EUVL mask blank defects and patterned masks using EUV photoemission electron microscopy

We report on recent developments of an "at-wavelength" full-field imaging technique for inspection of multilayer mask blank defects and patterned mask samples for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) by EUV photoemission electron microscopy (EUV-PEEM). A bump-type line defect with a width of approximately 35nm that is buried beneath Mo/Si multilayer has been detected clearly, and first inspection results obtained from a patterned TaN absorber EUVL mask sample is reported. Different image contrast of a similar width of multilayer-covered substrate line defect and on top TaN absorber square has been observed in the EUV-PEEM images, and origin of the difference in their EUV-PEEM image contra…

A new approach for actinic defect inspection of EUVL multilayer mask blanks: Standing wave photoemission electron microscopy

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) at 13.5 nm is the next generation lithography technique capable of printing sub-50 nm structures. With decreasing feature sizes to be printed, the requirements for the lithography mask also become more stringent in terms of defect sizes and densities that are still acceptable and the development of lithography optics has to go along with the development of new mask defect inspection techniques that are fast and offer high resolution (preferable in the range of the minimum feature size) at the same time. We report on the development and experimental results of a new 'at wavelength' full-field imaging technique for defect inspection of multilayer mask bl…

NanoESCA: imaging UPS and XPS with high energy resolution

Abstract A novel imaging electron spectrometer has been used for laterally resolved ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in the soft X-ray range. The instrument is based on a high-resolution emission microscope optics using a cathode lens and an imaging dispersive analyser. The analyser is corrected for the leading aberration term ( α 2 -term) by means of two hemispherical analysers in antisymmetric configuration with an appropriate transfer lens. Small-area spectra as well as energy-filtered images have been taken in the soft X-ray range for a meteorite sample and in the range of the d-band of a Cu polycrystal. An energy resolution of 106 …

Quantitative microscopy of magnetic domains in Fe(100) by core-level x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

We present an experimental technique for imaging of magnetic domain patterns based on element-specific core-level photoemission using polarized soft-x-ray radiation. It is applied to the measurement of domain patterns at the Fe(100) surface and at the surface of polycrystalline Fe. Different from well established imaging techniques that use a photoemission electron microscope to measure the secondary electron intensity at the Fe absorption threshold, we have investigated the photoemission intensity contrast on the the Fe $2{p}_{3∕2}$ core level using circularly polarized x-ray light. The linear and circular dichroism characteristics of the identical domain pattern are extracted by linear co…

Actinic EUVL mask blank defect inspection by EUV photoelectron microscopy

A new method for the actinic at-wavelength inspection of defects inside and ontop of Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) multilayer-coated mask blanks is presented. The experimental technique is based on PhotoElectron Emission Microscopy (PEEM) supported by the generation of a standing wave field inside and above the multilayer mask blank when illuminated near the resonance Bragg wavelength at around 13.5 nm wavelength. Experimental results on programmed defect samples based on e-beam lithographic structures or PSL equivalent silica balls overcoated with an EUV multilayer show that buried defects scaling down to 50 nm in lateral size are detectable with further scalability down to 30 nm …

Phase defect inspection of multilayer masks for 13.5 nm optical lithography using PEEM in a standing wave mode

We report on recent developments of an "at wavelength" full-field imaging technique for defect inspection of multilayer mask blanks for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). Our approach uses photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) in a near normal incidence mode at 13.5 nut wavelength to image the photoemission induced by the EUV wave field on the multilayer blank surface. We analyze buried defects on Mo/Si multilayer samples down to a lateral size of 50 nm and report on first, results obtained from a six inches mask blank prototype as prerequisite for industrial usage. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional characterization of extreme ultraviolet mask blank defects by interference contrast photoemission electron microscopy

A photoemission electron microscope based on a new contrast mechanism "interference contrast" is applied to characterize extreme ultraviolet lithography mask blank defects. Inspection results show that positioning of interference destructive condition (node of standing wave field) on surface of multilayer in the local region of a phase defect is necessary to obtain best visibility of the defect on mask blank. A comparative experiment reveals superiority of the interference contrast photoemission electron microscope (Extreme UV illumination) over a topographic contrast one (UV illumination with Hg discharge lamp) in detecting extreme ultraviolet mask blank phase defects. A depth-resolved det…

Trace element analysis in pre-solar stardust grains via full-field imaging XPS (Nano-ESCA)

An acid-resistant, SiC-rich, residue from the Murchison meteorite was investigated by means of a novel imaging XPS instrument. The micrometer-sized grains were deposited on a Si wafer from an aqueous suspension. Energy filtered ESCA images have been taken in the kinetic energy range from the threshold up to about 400 eV for various photon energies. A lateral resolution of the order of 120 nm along with a high energy resolution in the range of 100 meV provides the basis for chemical trace element analysis with maximum sensitivity. Apart from major (Si, C) and minor (N, Mg, Al, Fe) elements, the energy filtered images and local microspectra revealed the presence of a variety of heavy trace el…

Microspectroscopy and spectromicroscopy with photoemission electron microscopy using a new kind of imaging energy filter

The use of an imaging retarding field analyser attached to the FOCUS IS-PEEM is described. This kind of energy filter is a simple, powerful tool to obtain microspectra from areas of down to about 1 μm using (V)UV and X-ray excitation sources. First results of microspectroscopy measured by excitation with a laboratory as well as a synchrotron X-ray source are presented.

Peculiarities of imaging one- and two-dimensional structures in an emission electron microscope. 1. theory

Local changes in work function cause deviations of the electrical microfield near a sample surface as a result of the uniform accelerating field distribution between the sample (cathode) and the extractor electrode (anode). This results in a change in the electron trajectories. As a consequence, the microscope image shows remarkable changes in position, size, intensity and lateral resolution of distinct details, which can be quantitatively described by the calculations presented here. Analysing these effects in the image gives an opportunity to determine the real lateral size of the observed structures and the distribution of local contact potentials.