METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR

PURPOSE:To confirm the progress state of an etching operation in a real-time manner by a method wherein, when the progress situation of the etching operation is monitored at a maskless etching operation using an electron beam, only a prescribed range is irradiated with the electron beam while a reaction gas is being brought into contact with the surface of a semiconductor and Auger electrons generated at this time are separated into their spectral components in terms of their energy. CONSTITUTION:A processing apparatus is constituted of the following: a vacuum container 11; a gas introduction nozzle 12; an electron-beam unit 13; an Auger spectroscopic measuring device 14; a holder 15; and a manipulator 16. The inside of the container 11 is evacuated to produce a vacuum by using a vacuum pump which is not shown in the figure; the introduction nozzle 12 is attached so as to be faced to the surface of the holder 15 in such a way that a reaction gas can be spouted to a semiconductor 17 to be etched. An electron beam form the electron-beam unit 13 equipped with an electron flow and a deflector is constituted in such a way that it can be scanned on the semiconductors 17; Auger electrons generated when the beam is irradiated are detected by using the device 14; the progress state of an etching operation on the semiconductor 17 is monitored in a real-time manner.