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US 2014/0191128 A1Published application
Emitter, gas field ion source, and ion beam device
AssigneeHitachi High-Technologies Corporation
InventorsYoshimi Kawanami, Hironori Moritani, Hiroyuki Muto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided is an ion source emitter that does not cause significant extraction voltage changes even when an apex portion of the emitter is repeatedly regenerated. The emitter has a shape of a triangular pyramid with the single atom at the apex. An apex portion of the emitter is substantially shaped like a hexagon when viewed from the apex side.
Claims8
An emitter used for an ion source for an ion beam device, the emitter comprising:
- a base part formed of a single crystal metal;
- and
- a needle-like apex portion,
- wherein the vicinity of the apex is shaped like a triangular pyramid, and
- wherein the end of the apex portion is substantially shaped like a hexagon as viewed from the apex side.
2 more elements
A gas field ion source comprising:
- an emitter having a base part formed of a single crystal metal and a needle-like apex portion;
- an extraction electrode having an opening at a location distant from the apex of the emitter;
- a gas supply piping that supplies a gas to the vicinity of the apex of the emitter;
- and
- an extraction voltage application section that applies an extraction voltage between the emitter and the extraction electrode to form an electric field for ionizing the gas,
- wherein the vicinity of the apex of the emitter is shaped like a triangular pyramid, and
- wherein the end of the apex portion is substantially shaped like a hexagon as viewed from the apex side.
4 more elements
An ion beam device comprising:
- a gas field ion source that emits ions;
- an ion optical system that accelerates ions emitted from the gas field ion source to irradiate a sample with the accelerated ions;
- a secondary particle detector that detects secondary particles emitted from the sample when the sample is irradiated with the ions;
- an image generation section that generates a secondary particle image by associating a detection signal from the secondary particle detector with the positions of the ions irradiated on the sample;
- and
- an indicator that displays the secondary particle image,
- wherein the gas field ion source includes
- an emitter having a base part formed of a single crystal metal and a needle-like apex portion,
- an extraction electrode having an opening at a location distant from the apex of the emitter,
- a gas supply piping that supplies a gas to a space between the apex of the emitter and the extraction electrode, and
- an extraction voltage application section that applies a voltage between the emitter and the extraction electrode, and
- wherein the vicinity of the apex of the emitter being shaped like a triangular pyramid and the end of the apex portion being substantially shaped like a hexagon as viewed from the apex side.
9 more elements
An ion beam device comprising:
- a gas field ion source including an emitter that emits ions and an extraction electrode having an opening at a location distant from the apex of the emitter;
- an ion optical system that accelerates ions emitted from the gas field ion source to irradiate a sample with the accelerated ions;
- a secondary particle detector that detects secondary particles emitted from the sample when the sample is irradiated with the ions;
- an image generation section that generates a secondary particle image by associating a detection signal from the secondary particle detector with the positions of the ions irradiated on the sample;
- and
- an indicator that displays the secondary particle image,
- wherein the ion beam device further includes
- an emitter regeneration means that regenerates the apex portion of the emitter by performing a regeneration process including an annealing step when the structure of the apex portion of the emitter of the gas field ion source is broken;
- and
- a controller that compares the ratio between the amount of cumulative change in a voltage applied between the emitter and the extraction electrode and an acceleration voltage of the ion optical system against a predefined reference value to determine whether the axis of the ion optical axis needs to be adjusted.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.