# US 2014/0197329 A1 · Ion beam device

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- Number: US 2014/0197329 A1
- Document ID: US20140197329A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/238,397
- Filed: 2012-05-28
- Published: 2014-07-17
- Earliest claimed: 2011-09-05
- Assignees: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
- Inventors: Hiroyuki Muto; Yoshimi Kawanami
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140197329A1

## CPC

- H01J 37/08: Ion sources; Ion guns
- H01J 37/28: with scanning beams {(H01J37/268, H01J37/292, H01J37/2955 take precedence)}
- H01J 2237/0807: Gas field ion sources [GFIS]
- H01J 2237/18: Vacuum control means
- H01J 2237/31749: Focused ion beam
- H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H)

## Abstract

To avoid a glow discharge during the use of a conventional gas ionization chamber, there is no alternative but to increase a gas pressure. Therefore, while a conventional gas ionization chamber is used, an ion current cannot be increased by raising a gas introduction pressure. An object of the present invention is to increase the ion current by raising the gas pressure and prevent an ion beam from being scattered by an ionization gas. The gas is supplied from a structure maintained at a ground potential to prevent the application of a high voltage to the vicinity of an ionization gas introduction port at which the gas pressure is relatively high. Further, the ionization gas existing in a region through which the ion beam passes is preferentially reduced by performing differential evacuation from a lens opening in a lens electrode that forms an acceleration/focusing lens.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An ion beam device that observes or fabricates a sample by irradiating the sample with an ion beam generated from a gas field ion source,
wherein the gas field ion source includes:
an emitter tip that receives the supply of a voltage from an acceleration power supply and acts as an anode;
an extraction electrode that receives the supply of a voltage from an extraction power supply and acts as a cathode;
a gas introduction section that supplies a gas from a gas introduction port to a space between the apex of the emitter tip and the extraction electrode; and
a vacuum vessel that houses the emitter tip and the extraction electrode and has an evacuation port for evacuating the gas, and
wherein the gas introduction port is disposed on a structure maintained at a ground potential.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The ion beam device according to claim 1,
wherein the structure is a lens electrode that accelerates or focuses the ion beam.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The ion beam device according to claim 1,
wherein the structure is disposed to surround the emitter tip.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The ion beam device according to claim 1,