ProSEM

ProSEM is an image analysis software to measure features in digital images manually or automatically. It is part of the BEAMER package together with TRACER. At NBI it is available up to version 2.9.2.

The power of ProSEM is the ability to define a measurement recipe and apply it to multiple images. Any step of the recipe can be partly or fully scriptable.

There are two useful webinars and many different tutorials and scripts on the developer website that delve into the feature set.

Controls and keyboard hotkeys can be displayed by selecting Help > Show Guide (Ctrl-G). Move the mouse cursor over different parts of ProSEM to learn about a specific part of the software.

If you don't like the GUI, then Python scripting is available.

Tutorials

Index of tutorials online.

Two useful tutorials for dose tests:

• Linewidth vs dose

  Demo within ProSEM: Script > examples > demos > linewidth_vs_dose_demo

• Linewidth and edge roughness vs dose

Quick guide

This is just a short description of some of the features of the software. For more details, please refer to the manual. It is a great source of feature documentation, and it should answer most of the questions you could have. You can access it from within ProSEM: Help > Manual... (F1)

How to measure another region in the same image?

Manual: Usage > Measurements > Multiple Measurements in One Image

• Save the measurement value in the first region.
• Then Shift + left mouse drag over the new region of interest. It will inherit measurement properties from the previous measurement.
• You can adjust it independently.

The gaussian fit doesn't deal well with my image.

Manual: Frequently Asked Questions

Experiment with different Feature Detection parameters: Feature Type, Polarity, Position, Method. You can visualize the calculation by displaying the line cut graph above the SEM image. You can do this by clicking the second button from the left at the top left of the SEM Image view.

As a last resort, you can try using manual Edge Detection mode.

The measurement doesn't find the trench.

If you're trying to measure a low intensity region with bright edges, try inverting the polarity in Feature Detection from Line/Pillar to Trench/Hole.

How to make a vertical measurement instead of horizontal?

Put the mouse cursor close to the central dot in the measurement region. It should turn into an L-shaped arrow. Click, and after a second it should change.

How to save a measurement value?

Find the values in the bottom panel. There should be several buttons directly to the left. The top-most is "Store Measurement Results". You can find all the measurement data in a results table. A tab should be created at the top of the ProSEM window, next to the SEM Image tab.