Neutral atom imaging system
AssigneeKLA-Tencor Corporation
InventorsIlya Bezel, Eugene Shifrin, Gildardo Delgado, Rudy F. Garcia
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An imaging system utilizing atomic atoms is provided. The system may include a neutral atom source configured to generate a beam of neutral atoms. The system may also include an ionizer configured to collect neutral atoms scattered from the surface of a sample. The ionizer may also be configured to ionize the collected neutral atoms. The system may also include a selector configured to receive ions from the ionizer and selectively filter received ions. The system may also include one or more optical elements configured to direct selected ions to a detector. The detector may be configured to generate one or more images of the surface of the sample based on the received ions.
Claims23
A neutral atom imaging system, comprising:
- a neutral atom source configured to generate a beam of neutral atoms and direct the beam to a sample;
- an ionizer configured to collect neutral atoms scattered from the surface of the sample and to ionize the collected neutral atoms to generate ionized atoms;
- a selector configured to receive the ionized atoms from the ionizer and to selectively filter the ionized atoms;
- one or more ion optics;
- and
- a detector, wherein the one or more ion optics are configured to receive selected ionized atoms from the selector and focus the selected ionized atoms onto the detector, wherein the detector is configured to generate one or more images of the sample based on received selected ionized atoms.
A neutral atom imaging system, comprising:
- a neutral helium imaging sub-system, wherein the neutral helium imaging sub-system comprises:
- a neutral atom source configured to generate a beam of neutral atoms and direct the beam to a sample;
- an ionizer configured to collect neutral atoms scattered from the surface of the sample and to ionize the collected neutral atoms to generate ionized atoms;
- a selector configured to receive the ionized atoms from the ionizer and to selectively filter the ionized atoms;
- one or more ion optics;
- and
- a detector, wherein the one or more ion optics are configured to receive selected ionized atoms from the selector and focus the selected ionized atoms onto the detector, wherein the detector is configured to generate one or more images of the sample based on received selected ionized atoms;
- and
- a controller comprising a memory and one or more processors, the controller configured to receive the one or more images from the detector and determine one or more characteristics of the sample based on the one or more images.
A method of imaging using neutral atoms, comprising:
- generating a beam of neutral atoms;
- directing the beam of neutral atoms to a surface of a sample;
- collecting neutral atoms scattered from the surface of the sample;
- ionizing collected neutral atoms to generate ionized atoms;
- selectively filtering ionized atoms;
- and
- generating one or more images of the sample based on received selected ionized atoms.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.