Apparatus and method for controlled particle beam manufacturing

A method of processing a workpiece, the method comprising:

• exposing portions of the workpiece to charged particles in an exposure chamber, the exposing comprising:
• forming a stream of charged particles;
• collimating and propagating the stream along an axis;
• digitizing the stream into a digital beam of temporally and spatially resolved digital flashes comprising at least one charged particle per digital flash;
• deflecting the digital beams within a minor deflection field perimeter using a series of deflection electrode stages disposed longitudinally along the axis such that the of digital flashes, groups of digital flashes form a patterned distribution, said patterned distribution comprising a three-dimensional adaptable virtual digital stencil;
• demagnifying and focusing the pattern formed by the digital beam;
• and
• deflecting the patterned distribution of digital flashes or groups of digital flashes or the adaptable virtual digital stencil within the major deflection field perimeter onto the surface of the workpiece.

A chamber for exposing a workpiece to charged particles, the chamber comprising:

• a charged particle source for generating a stream of charged particles;
• a collimator configured to collimate and direct the stream of charged particles from the charged particle source along an axis;
• a beam digitizer downstream of the collimator, the beam digitizer configured to create a digital beam comprising groups of at least one charged particle by adjusting longitudinal spacing between the charged particles along the axis;
• a deflector downstream of the beam digitizer, the deflector comprising a series of deflection stages disposed longitudinally along the axis to deflect the groups of charged particles;
• and
• a workpiece stage downstream of the deflector, the workpiece stage configured to hold the workpiece.