Charged Particle Beam System and Method of Operating a Charged Particle Beam System
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
InventorsJohn A. Notte, IV, FHM-Faridur Rahman, Weijie Huang, Shawn McVey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a gas field ion source comprising a housing, an electrically conductive tip arranged within the housing, a gas supply for supplying one or more gases to the housing, wherein the one or more gases comprise neon or a noble gas with atoms having a mass larger than neon, and an extractor electrode having a hole to permit ions generated in the neighborhood of the tip to pass through the hole. A surface of the extractor electrode facing the tip can be made of a material having a negative secondary ion sputter rate of less than 10−5 per incident neon ion.
Claims20
A gas field ion source, comprising:
- an external housing,
- an internal housing within the external housing,
- an electrically conductive tip within the internal housing,
- a gas supply configured to supply a gas to the internal housing, the gas supply comprising a tube terminating within the internal housing,
- an extractor electrode having a hole to permit ions generated in the neighborhood of the tip to pass through the hole into the external housing, and
- a flapper valve between the internal and the external housing, the flapper valve being configured to increase a flow of gas from the internal housing to the external housing when the flapper valve is opened.
A method, comprising:
- providing a gas field ion source, comprising:
- an external housing,
- an internal housing within the external housing,
- an electrically conductive tip within the internal housing,
- a gas supply configured to supply first and second gases to the internal housing, the gas supply comprising a tube terminating within the internal housing,
- an extractor electrode having a hole to permit ions generated in the neighborhood of the tip to pass through the hole into the external housing, and
- a flapper valve arranged between the internal and the external housing configured to increase a flow of gas from the internal housing to the external housing when the flapper valve is opened,
- operating the gas filed ion source while keeping the flapper valve closed, and
- opening the flapper valve when changing between operation of the charged particle beam source with the first gas and the second gas,
- wherein the first gas is different from the second gas.
A method, comprising:
- providing a gas field ion source, comprising:
- an external housing,
- an internal housing within the external housing,
- an electrically conductive tip within the internal housing,
- a gas supply configured to supply first and second gases to the internal housing, the gas supply comprising a tube terminating within the internal housing,
- an extractor electrode having a hole to permit ions generated in the neighborhood of the tip to pass through the hole into the external housing, and
- a flapper valve arranged between the internal and the external housing configured to increase a flow of gas from the internal housing to the external housing when the flapper valve is opened,
- operating the gas filed ion source while keeping the flapper valve closed, and
- opening the flapper valve to achieve a quick evacuation of the internal housing,
- wherein the first gas is different from the second gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.