Patent ID: 9625398
Date: 2017-04-18
CPC Classifications: G01B,G01N,H01J

Claim:
1. A system for depth profiling a sample, comprising: a scanning electron microscope (SEM) configured to scan a sample with an electron beam; at least one energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) detector to gather EDS spectra for a plurality of energy levels to determine element composition and layer interfaces across an area of interest; a mesh generated to locate positions where a depth profile will be taken; a processor coupled to the SEM and including an associated memory; and a data reconstruction module stored in the memory and configured to gather EDS spectra for a plurality of energy levels at a plurality of mesh locations to determine a number of layers and their composition at each mesh location by distinguishing differences in chemical composition between depths as beam energies are stepped through, the data reconstruction module further configured to generate a depth profile for the area of interest by compiling the number of layers and the element composition across the mesh.