US 7,218,703 B2Granted

X-ray microscopic inspection apparatus

AssigneeTohken Co., Ltd.

InventorsKeiji Yada, Hiromi Kai, Yasushi Saito

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Abstract

To provide an X-ray microscopic inspection apparatus capable of performing non-destructive inspection with high resolving power equal to or less than 0.1 μm in a very short period, and largely contributing to the nano-technology field. In the X-ray microscopic inspection apparatus having X-ray generating means for generating an X-ray by allowing an electron beam from an electron source to impinge on a target for X-ray generation, for inspecting an object to be inspected by utilizing the X-ray, a magnetic field superposition lens having a magnetic field generating portion disposed in the vicinity of an electron generating portion of an electron gun is included as a component element of the X-ray generating means. Further, the apparatus includes a liquid metal electron source using liquid metal or a thermal field emission electron source as the electron source, as a component element of the X-ray generating means. Furthermore, the apparatus includes a target with a heat sink using CVD diamond as the heat sink as the target for X-ray generation, as a component element of the X-ray generating means.

Claims8

Dependent claims

An X-ray microscopic inspection apparatus having X-ray generating means for generating an X-ray by allowing an electron beam from an electron source to impinge on a target for X-ray generation, for inspecting an object by utilizing said X-ray, said X-ray microscopic inspection apparatus comprising:

a field emission electron gun having an ultra-high vacuum electron gun chamber, an anode and an electron generating portion, wherein the electron generating portion is adapted to generate electrons and said anode is adapted to generate an electric field to accelerate said electrons;
said field emission electron gun further comprising a magnetic superposition lens including a magnetic circuit and a magnetic field generating portion, wherein said magnetic field generating portion is disposed separately from said ultra-high vacuum electron gun chamber and said magnetic superposition lens is adapted to generate a magnetic field,
wherein said electron generating portion is disposed in said magnetic field and said magnetic field is superposed to said electric field thereby reducing the loss amount of said electron beams from said electron source by focusing the accelerated electrons prior to being impinged on said target for X-ray generation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.