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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/electron-beam-inspection-and-voltage-contrast-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Semiconductor Metrology & InspectionElectron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast Patents
- One filer dominates. the leading assignee alone holds 1,317 of the 2,172 records in scope, and the top five combined reach 81.7% of the field.
- Filing has cooled from its peak. activity peaked at 322 records in 2021 and fell 46% to 174 by 2024, the last year with a complete publication record.
- The technology is claimed almost entirely under one IPC class. H01J covers 76.3% of records, while adjacent classes like G01Q scanning-probe measurement sit at just 3.3%.
2,172
Published Records
82%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-46%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (322 records) with 2024 (174) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 2,172 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Electron beam inspection and voltage contrast techniques are used to find buried defects, opens and shorts on patterned wafers that optical inspection cannot resolve. The claim space tracked here spans electron-optical column design, charging and landing-energy control, and the image-processing pipelines that turn detector signal into defect calls. Because the search terms bind inspection methods to specific failure modes — buried defects, charging artifacts, throughput limits — the set is narrower than general electron microscopy but wide enough to catch the full toolchain from source to defect map.
Records run from 2015 through the middle of 2026, with the most recent one to two years understated because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months. Family counts, not raw document counts, are used for the assignee ranking below, which neutralises continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplicates.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,172-record set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim weight.
Filings rose to a 2021 peak, then eased
Annual filings climbed from 48 in 2017 to a peak of 322 in 2021, then declined to 174 by 2024 — a 46% drop over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a continued fall.
H01J carries three-quarters of the field
H01J (electron and discharge tubes) appears in 76.3% of the 2,172 records, far ahead of G01N material analysis at 20.3% and H01L semiconductor devices at 12.9%. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up past 100% and should be read as claim overlap, not as exclusive categories.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,172 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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The most-cited prior art and the newest filing
Newest representative filing
Apparatus and method for improved electron beam inspection with a charge treatment electron source
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
A detection system uses a first electron beam to scan a sample while a second electron beam actively controls the sample's charge state by varying landing energy and beam current, with a detector and control system reading the resulting signal.Filed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and published 2026-04-30, this is the most recent record in the dataset and illustrates where active charge-control claims are heading.
Most-cited records in this landscape
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5578821A | Electron beam inspection system and method | 452 |
| 2 | US20050045821A1 | Testing apparatus using charged particles and device manufacturing method using the testing apparatus | 441 |
| 3 | US6252412B1 | Method of detecting defects in patterned substrates | 396 |
| 4 | US8716662B1 | Methods and apparatus to review defects using scanning electron microscope with multiple electron beam config… | 335 |
| 5 | US8664594B1 | Electron-optical system for high-speed and high-sensitivity inspections | 334 |
| 6 | US6232787B1 | Microstructure defect detection | 262 |
| 7 | US6344750B1 | Voltage contrast method for semiconductor inspection using low voltage particle beam | 235 |
| 8 | US20170177997A1 | Method of deep learining-based examination of a semiconductor specimen and system thereof | 193 |
| 9 | US20020148961A1 | Electron beam apparatus and device production method using the electron beam apparatus | 193 |
| 10 | US20020142496A1 | Electron beam apparatus and method of manufacturing semiconductor device using the apparatus | 168 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside the corpus; treat them as a signal of influence, not of current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the data means for a filing decision
Three read-outs from the numbers above, translated into what they imply for someone deciding where to file next.
Concentration
81.7%
of records held by top 5
Core claim space is already occupied
The top five assignees together account for 81.7% of all 2,172 records in scope, with the leading filer alone holding 1,317. New entrants working on core column design or basic voltage-contrast detection are filing into dense prior art held by a small group.
Based on the assignee ranking of 2,172 records
Momentum
-46%
2021 to 2024 filing change
Peak filing has passed, not the technology
Filings fell from 322 in 2021 to 174 in 2024. That decline says claim space around the mainstream approach is well staked, not that the underlying inspection method is going away — high density means occupied claims, not obsolescence.
2021-2024 is the complete comparison window; 2025-2026 still fills in
Composition
3.3%
of records in G01Q scanning-probe
Adjacent measurement classes are thin
While H01J dominates at 76.3% of records, scanning-probe and nanometric measurement (G01Q) sits at only 3.3% and electric/magnetic measurement (G01R) at 6.1%. These adjacent branches carry far less claim density relative to the core.
IPC shares over 2,172 records; a record may carry multiple classes
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to electron beam inspection and voltage contrast, with the prior art for and against each one.
Co-filing is rare and narrow
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| ALIS Corporation | WARD BILLY W | 20 |
| ALIS Corporation | PERCIVAL RANDALL G | 20 |
| ALIS Corporation | HILL RAYMOND | 18 |
| ALIS Corporation | FARKAS III LOUIS S | 16 |
| Applied Materials Israel Ltd. | Delft University of Technology | 14 |
| Applied Materials, Inc. | MUELLER BERNHARD G | 14 |
| ALIS Corporation | NOTTE IV JOHN A | 12 |
| Applied Materials Israel Ltd. | Applied Materials, Inc. | 10 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest links are between one leading filer and named individual inventors rather than between companies — there is little sign of joint-venture-style co-filing in this field.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and who has pulled back
The ranking below covers the 100 companies the data endpoint returns, not a curated top list. Recent-year momentum shows most of the leading filers pulling back sharply from a high base rather than a steady group scaling up.
Leader
1,317
records held
One filer sets the pace, then slows
The leading assignee holds more than half of all records in scope, but its own latest-year filings are down 76% year over year — a pattern consistent with a mature, heavily defended position rather than continued expansion.
Latest full year vs prior year
Long tail
27
records at tenth place
A steep drop after the top few
Filing counts fall from 88 at fifth place to 27 at tenth, showing a small cluster of well-resourced filers followed by a long tail of smaller entrants rather than an even spread.
From the 100-company ranking
Geography
898
US filings
US and PCT routes dominate filing strategy
The United States receives more filings than any other office, with WIPO's PCT route and Israel close behind, reflecting the concentration of leading assignees' home markets and international filing strategy.
Receiving office counts, all years
Recent-year momentum by leading assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| ASML Netherlands B.V. | 13 | -76% |
| KLA Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| ICT Integrated Circuit Testing GmbH | 0 | — |
| Applied Materials Israel Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| ALIS Corporation | 0 | — |
| Ebara Corporation | 0 | — |
| Hermes Microvision, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Applied Materials, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with concentrated core ownership and a few visibly thinner adjacent branches. The next step is turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision specific to your own claims.
Map your own claims against the leaders
Run your draft claims against the core H01J and G01N holdings to see how much of your intended scope is already occupied before you file.
Explore in Patsnap EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches
Scanning-probe cross-calibration and multibeam throughput scheduling show low IPC density today; watch these for new entrants before the space fills in.
Set up a watch in Patsnap EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about this landscape
One assignee holds a clear majority position, with 1,317 of the 2,172 records in scope in this dataset. The next four largest filers combined bring the top five to 81.7% of all records, so ownership is heavily concentrated rather than spread across many companies. Anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space should start with that leading filer's claim scope before looking further down the ranking.
Filing activity rose steadily from 48 records in 2017 to a peak of 322 in 2021, then fell 46% to 174 by 2024, which is the most recent year with a complete publication record. That decline reflects the core claim space becoming saturated rather than the technology losing relevance industrially. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so they should not be read as evidence of a continuing drop.
H01J, covering electron and discharge tubes, appears in 76.3% of the 2,172 records and is by far the dominant classification. G01N material analysis and testing follows at 20.3%, and H01L semiconductor devices at 12.9%. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%, and they indicate where claim density is concentrated, not where the market itself is largest.
The adjacent classes carry noticeably less claim density than the core: G01Q scanning-probe and nanometric measurement sits at 3.3% of records and G01R electric and magnetic measurement at 6.1%, both far below H01J's 76.3%. That gap suggests specific sub-areas, such as scanning-probe cross-calibration for buried defect confirmation or multibeam throughput scheduling, are comparatively under-claimed relative to core column and detector design. A first filer in one of these narrower branches faces a much thinner prior art base than one filing directly against H01J.
US20260120989A1, filed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and published 2026-04-30, describes a detection system that uses a second electron beam specifically to control a sample's charge state, by varying landing energy and beam current, while a first beam performs the inspection scan. It is the most recent representative filing in this dataset and signals active investment in dual-beam charge management rather than passive charging mitigation. Anyone designing new charge-control approaches for buried defect detection should check their claim scope against this filing's specific beam-pairing architecture.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Electron Beam Inspection and Voltage Contrast covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.