Method for removal of matter
AssigneesTESCAN Brno, s.r.o., Tescan.Orsay Holding A.S.
InventorsAndrey Denisyuk, Sharang Sharang, Jozef Vincenc Obona
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of uniformly removing material from a sample surface includes the steps of sputtering by means of scanning the surface with a focused ion beam and a simultaneous observing of the sample during sputtering. Uniform sputtering of different materials is achieved by high-angle sputtering from multiple directions, wherein the directions are rotated relative to each other by a non-zero angle.
Claims8
A method for removal of matter from a selected area on a sample of a semiconductor device comprised of at least two components of different sputtering rates by sputtering by means of scanning a surface of the sample by a focused ion beam, wherein the selected area is sputtered from at least two different sputtering directions such that
- in the first step, the sample is placed in a first position relative to the focused ion beam and the selected area is sputtered in the first sputtering direction by the focused ion beam;
- in at least one further step, the sample is placed in a second position relative to the focused ion beam and the selected area is sputtered in the second sputtering direction by the focused ion beam;
- and that the change of position of the sample relative to the focused ion beam takes place by turning the sample around a normal of the selected area;
- wherein the first sputtering direction and the second sputtering direction are rotated relative to one another by an angle β;
- and at the same time an angle a that is formed by the normal of the selected area with an axis of the device is greater than 70 degrees and smaller than 90 degrees.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.