Operation analysis system and operation analysis method
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/JP2025/010717
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-03-19
- Publication Date
- 2026-09-24
Smart Images
Figure JP2025010717_24092026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Operation analysis system and operation analysis method
[0001] The present invention relates to an operation analysis system and an operation analysis method for a charged particle beam device.
[0002] A scanning electron microscope (SEM: Scanning Electron Microscope) has come to be used in a wide range of fields as a tool for investigating the state and structure of a substance at high magnification. An SEM irradiates an observation sample with an electron beam, visualizes signals such as generated secondary electrons (SE: Secondary electron), backscattered electrons (BSE: Backscattered electron), and characteristic X-rays, and enables analysis of the observation sample. It is no exaggeration to say that observation samples cover all fields such as semiconductors, inorganic substances, organic substances, polymer materials, and biological tissues. For this reason, the required performance and usability of the SEM for a user differ depending on what kind of sample the user mainly targets for observation.
[0003] Patent Literature 1 discloses an apparatus that supports usability evaluation when performing a given task using a device including a display unit that displays information. The usability evaluation support apparatus acquires operation history information related to operations performed by a user when the user executes a task, and calculates an effectiveness index related to the task achievement rate, an efficiency index related to the efficiency of achieving the task, and a satisfaction index related to the subjective satisfaction of the task performer. These three types of indicators are each evaluated through statistical calculation using measurement results of a plurality of measurement items including information from the operation history.
[0004] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-102564
[0005] In the development and maintenance services of SEMs, in addition to objective performance indicators such as image resolution and throughput, subjective evaluations such as how users felt about the usability of the SEM and whether they were satisfied with the obtained images are becoming increasingly important. The applications of SEMs are diversifying, and it is quite possible that the desired user experience and image quality differ depending on whether they are used in semiconductor device development or manufacturing lines or, for example, in the medical field.
[0006] However, until now, the means of collecting user satisfaction have been limited. For example, with methods such as user interviews, there is no correspondence between satisfaction levels and the SEM's operation that caused them, making it difficult to feed satisfaction information back into SEM development, etc.
[0007] While Patent Document 1's usability evaluation targets the graphical user interface (GUI) of a device, when targeting a device like a SEM, the operation and resulting images of the SEM change depending on the device's operation and settings, which is thought to affect user satisfaction. Therefore, it is important to collect actual control operation information occurring within the SEM during various user operations on the SEM and link it to user satisfaction.
[0008] An operation analysis system for a charged particle beam apparatus, which is one embodiment of the present invention, comprises an operation computer and an analysis computer, and the charged particle beam apparatus comprises a sample stage on which a sample is mounted, a charged particle optical system for irradiating the sample with a charged particle beam, a detection system for detecting signal electrons emitted by the irradiation of the sample with the charged particle beam, and a controller for controlling the sample stage, the charged particle optical system and the detection system, and each element constituting the sample stage, the charged particle optical system and the detection system is equipped with a sensor for measuring its operating state, and the operation computer comprises an apparatus operation processing unit that generates a sequence of commands to be transmitted to the controller in response to operation and input information to the charged particle beam apparatus input by the user, a satisfaction information extraction unit that extracts the user's satisfaction with the operation or processing of the charged particle beam apparatus by the sequence of commands, and an operation / control / satisfaction information link unit that generates operation data by linking operation instruction data for the charged particle beam apparatus included in the sequence of commands during the period from the input of the user's operation and input information to the input of satisfaction, operation state data including sensing data of sensors when the control instructed in the sequence of commands transmitted from the controller is executed, and satisfaction data extracted by the satisfaction information extraction unit. The analysis computer comprises an operation data collection unit and an operation data analysis unit. The operation data collection unit includes an analysis data classification unit that calculates analysis data classified into multiple categories from the operation data. The operation data analysis unit includes a correlation analysis unit that performs correlation analysis between satisfaction data and multiple analysis data selected from one or more of the multiple categories.
[0009] This enables operational analysis based on user satisfaction and actual control operation information for charged particle beam devices. Other challenges and novel features will become apparent from the description and accompanying drawings herein.
[0010] This is an example of the hardware configuration of the operation analysis system for a charged particle beam device. This is an example of the computer hardware configuration. This is a functional block diagram of the operation analysis system. This is the processing flow executed by the operation analysis system. This is an example of the data structure of the operation / control state transition database. This is an example of the data structure of the satisfaction database. This is a detailed processing flow of operation analysis. This is an example of the GUI for executing operation analysis. This is an example of regression analysis. This is an example of displaying the analysis results. This is an example of regression analysis. This is an example of displaying the analysis results. This is a processing flow for converting non-numeric information to numerical information. This is an example of an interface for inputting satisfaction levels. This is an example of an interface for inputting satisfaction levels. This is an example of an interface for inputting satisfaction levels. This is an example of an operation button applied to the interface for inputting satisfaction levels.
[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings used to describe the embodiments, the same reference numerals are used for members having the same function, and repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Furthermore, in the following embodiments, descriptions of the same or similar parts will not be repeated in principle, except when particularly necessary.
[0012] Figure 1 shows an example of the hardware configuration of an operation analysis system for a charged particle beam apparatus. The operation analysis system includes a SEM 100, which is the target of the operation analysis; an operation computer 200 that operates the SEM 100; and an analysis computer 300 that collects operation data from the SEM 100 and performs operation analysis. The SEM 100 and the operation computer 200, and the operation computer 200 and the analysis computer 300 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with one another. Although an SEM is shown here as an example of a charged particle beam apparatus, it is not limited to SEMs and can be broadly applied to devices that use charged particle beams to observe and inspect samples, such as TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope), STEM (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope), and focused ion beam apparatus.
[0013] The SEM 100 primarily consists of a sample stage 16 on which the sample 21 to be observed is mounted, an electron optical system that irradiates the sample 21 with an electron beam, a detection system that detects signal electrons emitted by the interaction between the sample 21 and the electron beam and forms an SEM image, and a controller 20 that controls these. The electron optical system includes an electron source 11 that emits an electron beam, an objective lens 12 that focuses the electron beam onto the surface of the sample 21, a scanning deflector 13 that scans the electron beam over the sample 21, an image shift deflector 14 that controls the field of view of the SEM (the area of the sample 21 over which the electron beam is scanned), a focusing adjustment lens 15 that controls the size of the spot of the electron beam on the sample 21, and a voltage source 17 that applies a retarding voltage to the sample 21. The detection system includes a detector 18 that detects signal electrons emitted from the sample 21, and an image generator 19 that generates an SEM image based on the intensity of the signal electrons detected by the detector 18 and the positional information on the sample 21 irradiated by the electron beam.
[0014] The operation computer 200 or analysis computer 300 primarily includes a processor (Central Processing Unit: CPU) 401, memory 402, storage device 403, input interface (I / F) 404, output I / F 405, communication I / F 406, and bus 407, as shown in Figure 2. The processor 401 functions as a functional unit that provides predetermined functions by executing processing according to a program loaded into the memory 402. The storage device 403 stores data and programs used by the functional unit. The input I / F 404 is connected to input devices such as a keyboard, pointing device, and operation panel, and the output I / F 405 is connected to a display device. The communication I / F 406 enables communication with other computers and controllers via a network. These are connected to each other via bus 407. Note that the operation computer 200 or analysis computer 300 do not necessarily have to be separate hardware; the functions of the operation computer 200 and the analysis computer 300 may be implemented in a single computer. Alternatively, the analysis computer 300 may be implemented in multiple computers. Furthermore, some or all of the functions of the analysis computer 300 may be implemented as a cloud-based application.
[0015] In the following explanation, when describing processing by a program, the program or functional components may be described as the main focus. However, the main hardware component is the processor, or the computer that includes such a processor. The computer, using resources such as memory and communication interfaces as appropriate, executes processing according to the program read into memory. Figure 2 shows an example of a CPU as the processor, but a GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) or the like may also be used. Furthermore, the processing to realize the function is not limited to software program processing; it can also be implemented with dedicated circuits. Applicable dedicated circuits include FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) and ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits).
[0016] Figure 3 shows a functional block diagram of the operation analysis system. In SEM 100, element 10a is a general term for the components of SEM 100 (excluding the controller 20) shown in Figure 1. Although not explained in Figure 1, each element 10a is provided with a corresponding sensor 10b, which is used for control of element 10a by the controller 20. In the operation analysis system of this embodiment, the controller 20 collects sensing data from the sensors 10b used to control each element 10a as data for operation analysis (operation data).
[0017] The operation computer 200 has functional units such as a device operation processing unit 201, an operation instruction extraction unit 202, an operation status data acquisition unit 203, a satisfaction information extraction unit 204, and an operation / control / satisfaction information link unit 205. The analysis computer 300 has functional units such as an operation data collection unit 301 and an operation analysis unit 311. The operation data collection unit 301 includes an operation data receiving unit 302 and an analysis data classification unit 303, and the operation analysis unit 311 includes a read processing unit 312, a correlation analysis unit 313, a variable selection unit 314, a regression analysis unit 315, and a display control unit 316.
[0018] Figure 4 shows the processing flow performed by the operation analysis system. The processing flow includes an operation data collection flow that collects operation data and an operation analysis flow that analyzes the operation of the SEM 100 using the collected operation data. The operation data collection flow is executed in the background when the user uses the SEM 100 to observe or inspect a sample.
[0019] (Operation Data Collection Flow) First, the user performs operation and input processing on the operation computer 200 (S01). The device operation processing unit 201 generates a command sequence (script) corresponding to the operation and input information entered by the user and sends it to the controller 20 (S02). The command sequence generated by the device operation processing unit 201 is simultaneously input to the operation instruction extraction unit 202, which extracts operation instruction data for the SEM 100 from the command sequence (S03). Since the command sequence also contains information other than operation instructions for the SEM 100, only operation instruction data indicating what kind of instruction was given for which element of the SEM 100, for example, "movement operation for the sample stage 16," is extracted. The command sequence usually contains multiple operation instruction data.
[0020] The controller 20 drives the element 10a instructed in the command sequence according to the command sequence and executes the control instructed in the command sequence (S11). The controller 20 controls the operation of element 10a while measuring its operating state using the sensor 10b corresponding to element 10a, and transmits the sensing data from the sensor 10b as operating state data to the operation computer 200 (S12). The data to be measured includes, for example, the operating state, operating position, and operating time of the sample stage 16 that adjusts the position between the sample 21 and the electron beam, as well as the voltage change state and boost / buck time for driving the electron source 11, and the scan time of the electron beam scanning control signal. It is desirable that the operating state data include the operating setting values instructed by the command sequence and set in the controller 20's registers.
[0021] The operation status data acquisition unit 203 receives operation status data from the controller 20, and the operation / control / satisfaction information link unit 205 links the operation instruction data extracted by the operation instruction extraction unit 202 with the operation status data received by the operation status data acquisition unit 203 and stores it as operation data (S04). When the controller 20 completes the operation corresponding to the operation instruction included in the command sequence of the operation computer 200, it returns an operation completion report to the operation computer 200. Therefore, the operation status data acquisition unit 203 can determine that the operation status data from the time the controller 20 receives the operation instruction included in the command sequence until it sends the operation completion report is operation status data to be linked to the operation instruction data. Additional information such as the user ID of the user who performed the operation of the SEM 100 and the type of sample to be observed may be stored in the operation data. The types of data collected as additional information can be arbitrarily set to data that is deemed useful for the operation analysis flow.
[0022] When the SEM 100 completes the operation instructed by the command sequence, the operation computer 200 displays the GUI 210 on the display device 200a. The GUI 210 may also be displayed on a terminal connected to the operation computer 200 via a network. The GUI 210 may indicate that the SEM 100 has completed its operation in response to the user's operation / input process (S01), or it may display images or measurement results acquired by the SEM 100 in response to the user's operation / input process (S01). The content displayed by the GUI 210 to the user is not limited, but the GUI 210 is equipped with an interface for the user to input whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the operation or processing of the SEM 100 in response to the user's operation / input process (S01). When the user inputs satisfaction information from the GUI 210, the device operation processing unit 201 detects the input, and the satisfaction information extraction unit 204 extracts the satisfaction data entered by the user. The operation / control / satisfaction information link unit 205 further links the operation instruction data extracted by the operation instruction extraction unit 202 and the satisfaction data extracted by the satisfaction information extraction unit 204 and stores them as operation data (S05).
[0023] The operation analysis system of this embodiment is provided with a GUI for inputting user satisfaction, and the operation data acquired from the time the user performs an operation / input process (S01) until the user satisfaction is input via GUI 210 (S05) is treated as a set of data (operation data) to be analyzed.
[0024] Subsequently, the operation computer 200 transmits the operation data to the analysis computer 300 (S06). Note that the transmission of operation data does not need to be sequential and may be done in batches. Alternatively, instead of transmitting directly to the analysis computer 300, the operation data may be stored in a data server accessible to both the operation computer 200 and the analysis computer 300, and each computer may transmit / receive the data at its own discretion.
[0025] The operation data receiving unit 302 of the analysis computer 300 receives and records operation data (S21). The operation data receiving unit 302 records the operation data in the operation / control state transition database (DB) 320 and the satisfaction database (DB) 330.
[0026] Figure 5A shows an example of the data structure of the operation / control state transition DB 320. Both the horizontal and vertical axes are arranged with the names of operation state nodes (Si (i=1 to n)). The operation state node Si corresponds to, for example, operation instruction data. Each cell in the table records whether or not a transition from the operation state node shown on the vertical axis to the operation state node shown on the horizontal axis has been observed. Here, since it is impossible for the operation state nodes on the vertical and horizontal axes to coincide, it is marked with "-". Cells where no transition has been observed are left blank, while cells where a transition has been observed store a count value indicating the event that triggered the transition, the transition conditions, the operation order, etc. In Figure 5, the count value is shown in lowercase English letters. In addition, each cell is provided with a link address information storage area 321 for the storage area of the operation state data among the operation data.
[0027] The satisfaction database 330 stores satisfaction data in units of user operation / input information, which constitute a collection of operation data. Figure 5B shows an example of the data structure of the satisfaction database 330. The operation ID uniquely corresponds to the operation / input information, and the operation sequence executed by the command sequence generated according to the operation / input information is stored therein. Each cell is provided with a link address information storage area 331 for the storage area of satisfaction data from the operation data.
[0028] The analysis data classification unit 303 refers to the operation / control state transition DB 320 and calculates analysis data for use in analysis using the operation state data from the operation data for each operation ID, and also classifies and records the analysis data into multiple categories. Specifically, the analysis data is recorded in the efficiency database (DB) 340, the responsiveness database (DB) 350, and the reliability database (DB) 360.
[0029] Analysis data regarding the operation of the SEM 100 in response to user operations / input processing (S01) is classified as efficiency data. For example, the time required for control corresponding to the operation instruction data to be completed (task completion time) and the control operation setting values for each element of the SEM 100 included in the operation instruction data are recorded in the efficiency DB 340. Analysis data regarding the operation of each mechanism of the SEM 100 that receives a command sequence is classified as responsiveness data. For example, the reaction time (the time required from receiving an operation instruction to control a parameter value to a predetermined operation setting value until the parameter value actually reaches the operation setting value) and the operation sequence (the order of operation instructions included in the command sequence) are recorded in the responsiveness DB 350. Analysis data regarding errors that occurred during the operation of the SEM 100 in response to user operations / input processing (S01) is classified as reliability data. For example, the frequency of errors that occurred during operation in response to the operation instruction data is stored in the reliability DB 360. This analysis data may be calculated each time the operation data receiving unit 302 reads new operation data, or it may be calculated after receiving a data read command from the read processing unit 312.
[0030] Furthermore, in order to use the non-numerical information of the operation sequence as analysis data for the operation analysis in this embodiment, it is necessary to convert the operation sequence into numerical data. Figure 10 shows the processing flow for converting such non-numerical information into numerical data.
[0031] First, the permutation of operation state node numbers representing the operation sequence is converted into an eigenvalue (e) by base conversion or the like (S61). If the operation sequence is represented as a transition of operation state nodes S1→S2→S4→S7, for example, the eigenvalue e = 1247. The eigenvalue is given to a hash function and converted into a hash value (S62). Here, since different operation sequences need to be converted into different values, it is checked whether the obtained hash value has already been used as a representation of another operation sequence. If it has not been used (No in S63), the hash value is set as the numerical value representing that operation sequence. On the other hand, if it has already been used (Yes in S63), information is added to the hash value so that the numerical value representing the operation sequence is a unique value (S64).
[0032] (Operation Analysis Flow) As shown in the processing flow of Figure 4, the operation analysis (S23) is started by the user's start command (S22), and the analysis results are displayed on the display device 300a (S24).
[0033] Figure 6 shows a detailed processing flow for operation analysis. Figure 7 shows an example GUI for performing operation analysis.
[0034] On the operation analysis screen 500, the user sets the analysis data to be performed on the operation analysis. Here, default analysis data to be used for analysis is predetermined for responsiveness data, efficiency data, and reliability data, and these are called basic indicators. Furthermore, in addition to the basic indicators, the user can select any analysis data from the analysis data recorded in the efficiency DB 340, responsiveness DB 350, and reliability DB 360 as the target indicators for analysis, according to the user's analysis objectives. The user can select whether or not to analyze the default analysis data (basic indicators) from the basic indicator selection checkbox 501, and can further add indicators to be analyzed from the additional indicator selection list box 502. Also, by entering one or more operation IDs (see Figure 5B) in the operation ID input unit 503, it is possible to perform analysis on the SEM 100 with multiple different operation sequences included as the analysis target, even though the control objective is the same.
[0035] On the operation analysis screen 500, when the user selects the analysis data (indicators, operation IDs) to be analyzed and presses the analysis button 504, the display control unit 316 transmits the user's selection to the read processing unit 312, and the read processing unit 312 reads the satisfaction indicator (satisfaction data) from the satisfaction DB 330 and the analysis data selected as the target indicator from the efficiency DB 340, responsiveness DB 350, and reliability DB 360 (S31). If necessary, the read processing unit 312 instructs the analysis data classification unit 303 to calculate the analysis data selected by the user as the target indicator.
[0036] The correlation analysis unit 313 uses the read analysis data to perform a correlation analysis between the satisfaction index and the target index (S32). Figure 7 shows an example of the correlation analysis results displayed on the analysis result display unit 506. The variable selection unit 314 selects the target index that has a strong correlation with the satisfaction index (S33). This selection may be made by the user.
[0037] The regression analysis unit 315 performs regression analysis with the satisfaction index as the dependent variable (S34), and displays the analysis result data and the degree of influence of each analysis target index on the satisfaction index on the analysis result display unit 506 of the operation analysis screen 500 (S36, 37).
[0038] Figure 8A shows an example of regression analysis. The values of the indicators to be analyzed are changed and input into the predictive model based on regression analysis (S41). For example, if the indicators to be analyzed are operation reaction time, operation sequence, control operation time, operation set value, and error frequency, these values are changed and input into the predictive model based on regression analysis to find and output the indicators to be analyzed that maximize the satisfaction index (S42, 43).
[0039] Figure 8B shows an example of the display of analysis results shown in the analysis result display unit 506. Figure 8B shows an example of the display of the change in the satisfaction index 511 when the analysis target index value 1 is changed, and the change in the satisfaction index 512 when the analysis target index value 2 is changed. For example, by performing a regression analysis with the operation sequence and operation setting values as the analysis target index values and examining the results, if the person performing the analysis is a user of SEM 100, they can revise the operation sequence and operation setting values to increase satisfaction. If the person performing the analysis is the designer of SEM 100, they can revise the operation GUI or the control methods of each mechanism of SEM 100.
[0040] Furthermore, Figure 8B shows an example of displaying the influence of each analysis target indicator using VIF (Variance Inflation Factor).
[0041] Figure 9A shows another example of regression analysis. An arbitrary value is set for the indicator to be analyzed (S51), the set value of the indicator to be analyzed is input into a prediction model based on regression analysis (S52), and the calculation result of the prediction model (predicted satisfaction index) is output (S53). An example of the display of the analysis result is shown in Figure 9B. According to this example, it is possible to immediately know how the satisfaction index will change when a particular indicator is changed.
[0042] The user presses the save button 505 on the operation analysis screen 500 to end the operation analysis. The operation analysis system saves the analysis result and ends the analysis. An example in which regression analysis is performed subsequent to correlation analysis has been shown here. This provides an advantage that it becomes possible to automatically specify the analysis target index that has the greatest influence on improving satisfaction. However, this does not preclude performing only correlation analysis.
[0043] (Interface for inputting satisfaction) An example of an interface for inputting satisfaction will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A to 11D.
[0044] FIG. 11A is an example of an evaluation screen for evaluating the quality of the obtained image 601. In addition to an OK button 602 and a Cancel button 603 that are normally provided for indicating a user's determination result on the evaluation screen 600, an evaluation button group 604 is provided for recording more detailed satisfaction about how satisfied the user is with the quality of the image 601.
[0045] FIG. 11B is an example provided with an evaluation bar 611 that can record detailed satisfaction by the position of a bar. In the example of FIG. 11B, if the slider 612 is positioned to the left of the center, this indicates that the result is "OK", and the more to the left the slider is positioned, the higher the satisfaction is; if the slider 612 is positioned to the right of the center, this indicates that the result is "Cancel", and the more to the right the slider is positioned, the lower the satisfaction is. In this way, by superimposing and displaying the operation button and the satisfaction input interface, it is possible to reduce the inconvenience felt by the user when inputting satisfaction.
[0046] FIG. 11C shows an evaluation panel which is another example of a satisfaction input interface in which an operation button and the satisfaction input interface are superimposed. In the example of FIG. 11C, the evaluation panel 621 is divided in the vertical direction, enabling evaluation from different viewpoints respectively. In this example, the user inputs satisfaction with operability in the upper section, and inputs satisfaction with a result (for example, image quality) in the lower section. The degree of satisfaction is input according to the position where the evaluation panel 621 is clicked with the cursor 622. That is, if the clicked position is on the left side of the center of the evaluation panel 621, it indicates "OK", and if it is on the right side, it indicates "Cancel". The closer to the left the clicked position is, the higher the satisfaction is, and the closer to the right the clicked position is, the lower the satisfaction is.
[0047] FIG. 11D is still another example of a satisfaction input interface in which an operation button and the satisfaction input interface are superimposed, and shows an example in which a 7-level satisfaction scale 632 is superimposed and displayed on an OK button 631. When the user presses the OK button 631, by pressing any position on the 7-level satisfaction scale 632 according to their satisfaction, the user can input detailed satisfaction together with a determination result. Although FIG. 11D shows an example of an OK button, it is possible to superimpose and display a satisfaction scale on any operation button as exemplified in FIG. 11E. For example, when superimposed on an operation button displayed on an operation screen such as a Set button, a Register button, or a Save button, the input is satisfaction with the operation; when superimposed on an operation button displayed on an image acquisition / observation screen such as an OK button or a Close button, it is preferable to input satisfaction with image quality and a data acquisition result.
[0048] The above embodiments and modified examples have been described in detail for the purpose of making the present invention easy to understand, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. A part of the configuration of one embodiment or modified example can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment or modified example, and the configuration of another embodiment or modified example can also be added to the configuration of one embodiment or modified example. Furthermore, additions, deletions, or replacements of other configurations can be made for a part of the configuration of each embodiment or modified example.
[0049] 10a: Element, 10b: Sensor, 11: Electron source, 12: Objective lens, 13: Scanning deflector, 14: Image shift deflector, 15: Focusing adjustment lens, 16: Sample stage, 17: Voltage source, 18: Detector, 19: Image generator, 20: Controller, 21: Sample, 100: Charged particle beam apparatus, 200: Operation computer, 200a: Display device, 201: Apparatus operation processing unit, 202: Operation instruction extraction unit, 203: Operation status data acquisition 204: Satisfaction Information Extraction Unit, 205: Operation / Control / Satisfaction Information Link Unit, 210: GUI, 300: Analysis Computer, 300a: Display Device, 301: Operation Data Collection Unit, 302: Operation Data Reception Unit, 303: Analysis Data Classification Unit, 311: Operation Analysis Unit, 312: Read Processing Unit, 313: Correlation Analysis Unit, 314: Variable Selection Unit, 315: Regression Analysis Unit, 316: Display Control Unit, 320: Operation / Control State Transition Database, 321: Link Address Information Storage Area, 330: Satisfaction Database, 331: Link Address Information Storage Area, 340: Efficiency Database, 350: Reactivity Database, 360: Reliability Database, 401: Processor, 402: Memory, 403: Storage Device, 404: Input I / F, 405: Output I / F, 406: Communication I / F, 407: Bus, 500: Operation Analysis Screen, 50 1: Basic indicator selection checkbox, 502: Additional indicator selection list box, 503: Operation ID input area, 504: Analysis button, 505: Save button, 506: Analysis result display area, 600: Evaluation screen, 601: Image, 602: OK button, 603: Cancel button, 604: Evaluation button group, 611: Evaluation bar, 612: Slider, 621: Evaluation panel, 622: Cursor, 631: OK button, 632: Satisfaction scale.
Claims
1. An operation analysis system for a charged particle beam apparatus, comprising an operation computer and an analysis computer, wherein the charged particle beam apparatus includes a sample stage on which a sample is mounted, a charged particle optical system for irradiating the sample with a charged particle beam, a detection system for detecting signal electrons emitted by the irradiation of the sample with the charged particle beam, and a controller for controlling the sample stage, the charged particle optical system and the detection system, and each element constituting the sample stage, the charged particle optical system and the detection system is equipped with a sensor for measuring its operating state. The operation computer comprises an apparatus operation processing unit that generates a sequence of commands to be transmitted to the controller in response to operation and input information for the charged particle beam apparatus input by a user; a satisfaction information extraction unit that extracts the user's satisfaction with the operation or processing of the charged particle beam apparatus based on the command sequence; and an operation, control, and satisfaction information linking unit that generates operation data by linking operation instruction data for the charged particle beam apparatus included in the command sequence during the period from the user's input of the operation and input information to the input of the satisfaction level, operation state data including sensing data of the sensor when the control instructed in the command sequence transmitted from the controller is executed, and satisfaction data extracted by the satisfaction information extraction unit. The analysis computer comprises an operation data collection unit and an operation data analysis unit. The operation data collection unit comprises an analysis data classification unit that calculates analysis data classified into a plurality of categories from the operation data. The operation data analysis unit comprises a correlation analysis unit that performs correlation analysis between the satisfaction data and a plurality of analysis data selected from one or more of the plurality of categories.
2. The operation analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the operation data analysis unit further comprises a regression analysis unit that performs regression analysis between the satisfaction data and predetermined analysis data selected based on the results of the correlation analysis.
3. The operation analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of categories include efficiency data, responsiveness data and reliability data, wherein the efficiency data is classified by analysis of the operation of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the operation / input information, the responsiveness data is classified by analysis of the operation of each element in response to the command sequence, and the reliability data is classified by analysis of errors that occurred during the operation of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the operation / input information.
4. The operation analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the operation status data includes control operation setting values for each element included in the command sequence.
5. The operation analysis system according to claim 2, wherein the regression analysis unit calculates the value of the satisfaction data predicted when the predetermined analysis data reaches a predetermined value for a model based on the regression analysis.
6. The operation analysis system according to claim 2, wherein the regression analysis unit calculates a predetermined value of analysis data that maximizes the satisfaction data using a model based on the regression analysis.
7. The operation computer in claim 1, comprising a user interface for inputting whether the user is satisfied or dissatisfied with the operation or processing of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the user's input of operation / input information, wherein the user interface is an operation analysis system displayed on a screen indicating that the operation of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the user's input of operation / input information has ended, or on a screen displaying an image or measurement result acquired by the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the user's input of operation / input information.
8. The user interface in claim 7 is an operation analysis system that is displayed superimposed on the operation buttons displayed on the screen.
9. An operation analysis method for performing operation analysis using an operation analysis system for a charged particle beam apparatus, comprising an operation computer and an analysis computer, wherein the charged particle beam apparatus comprises a sample stage on which a sample is mounted, a charged particle optical system for irradiating the sample with a charged particle beam, a detection system for detecting signal electrons emitted by the irradiation of the sample with the charged particle beam, and a controller for controlling the sample stage, the charged particle optical system and the detection system, and each element constituting the sample stage, the charged particle optical system and the detection system is equipped with a sensor for measuring its operating state, the operation computer comprises an apparatus operation processing unit, a satisfaction information extraction unit and an operation / control / satisfaction information link unit, the analysis computer comprises an analysis data classification unit and a correlation analysis unit, the apparatus operation processing unit generates a command sequence to be transmitted to the controller in response to operation / input information to the charged particle beam apparatus input by the user, and the satisfaction information extraction unit extracts the user's satisfaction with the operation or processing of the charged particle beam apparatus based on the command sequence. The operation / control / satisfaction information link unit generates operation data by linking operation instruction data for the charged particle beam apparatus included in the command sequence during the period from the user's input of operation / input information to the input of satisfaction level, operating state data including sensing data of the sensor when the control instructed in the command sequence transmitted from the controller is executed, and satisfaction data extracted by the satisfaction information extraction unit; the analysis data classification unit calculates analysis data classified into multiple categories from the operation data; and the correlation analysis unit performs correlation analysis between the satisfaction data and multiple analysis data selected from one or more of the multiple categories.
10. The operational analysis method according to claim 9, wherein the analysis computer further comprises a regression analysis unit, the regression analysis unit performing a regression analysis between the satisfaction data and predetermined analysis data selected based on the results of the correlation analysis.
11. The operation analysis method according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of categories include efficiency data, responsiveness data and reliability data, wherein the efficiency data is classified by analysis of the operation of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the operation / input information, the responsiveness data is classified by analysis of the operation of each element in response to the command sequence, and the reliability data is classified by analysis of errors that occurred during the operation of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the operation / input information.
12. The operation analysis method according to claim 9, wherein the operation status data includes control operation setting values for each element included in the command sequence.
13. The operation analysis method in claim 10, wherein the regression analysis unit calculates the value of the satisfaction data predicted when the predetermined analysis data reaches a predetermined value for a model based on the regression analysis.
14. The operation analysis method according to claim 10, wherein the regression analysis unit calculates a predetermined value of analysis data that maximizes the satisfaction data using a model based on the regression analysis.
15. The operation computer in claim 9, comprising a user interface for inputting whether the user is satisfied or dissatisfied with the operation or processing of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the user's input of operation / input information, wherein the user interface displays an operation analysis method shown on a screen indicating that the operation of the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the user's input of operation / input information has ended, or on a screen displaying an image or measurement result acquired by the charged particle beam apparatus in response to the user's input of operation / input information.
16. The user interface according to claim 15, wherein the user interface is an operation analysis method displayed superimposed on the operation buttons displayed on the screen.