-Overlay Measurements of Semi-conductor Device Patterns Using Electron Beam-

Tokyo, Japan – Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (TSE:8036, Hitachi High-Tech) announced a sales launch of Advanced High Voltage CD-SEM*1 – CV5000 Series, which is capable of measuring High Aspect Ratio (HAR) trenches and contact holes, and to perform overlay measurements of device patterns to help customers increase productivity in semiconductor device manufacturing.

Recent efforts to enhance performance of advanced semiconductor devices include not only miniaturization, but also advances in three-dimensional reconstruction. The mainstream architecture of a semiconductor device now is a stack of multiple elements arranged vertically, especially in 3D-NAND*2 flash-memory chips, Fin-FET*3 logic transistors and VIT*4 interconnects.

During the manufacturing process of these devices, there is a greater need than before for high precision measurement of the bottom dimensions of deep trenches and contact holes.