ASML Holding NV (ASML) today announced that it has completed system integration and testing of its first-generation HMI multibeam inspection (MBI) system for 5 nm nodes and beyond. The HMI eScan1000 demonstrated successful multibeam operation, simultaneously scanning nine beams on a number of test wafers. With nine beams, the eScan1000 will increase throughput up to 600% compared to single e-beam inspection tools for targeted in-line defect inspection applications.

The new MBI system includes an electron optics system capable of creating and controlling multiple primary electron beamlets and then collecting and processing the resulting secondary electron beams, limiting beam-to-beam crosstalk to less than 2% and delivering consistent imaging quality. It also features a high-speed stage to increase the system's overall throughput and a high-speed computational architecture to process the streams of data from the multiple beamlets in real time.