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US 7,925,284 B2Granted
Charged particle beam device
AssigneeCarl Zeiss SMT GmbH
InventorTim Robert Stubbs
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AssigneeCarl Zeiss SMT GmbH
InventorTim Robert Stubbs
Estimating the term…
A charged particle beam device (10) is provided, including a computer operable in response to commands entered by a user of the device to control the device, wherein the device further includes an interface (24) operable to cause data from the computer in the form of short message service (SMS) and/or multimedia message service (MMS) messages to be transmitted to a mobile device (16, 18, 20) via a mobile telephone network (14). The charged particle beam device (10) is operable to receive commands in the form of SMS and/or MMS messages from the mobile telephone (14), and to cause the computer to execute the commands. The interface (24) includes a user interface operable to enable a user of the device to select operating parameters and/or conditions of the device from a list of operating parameters and/or conditions, set values of each selected operating parameter or condition in response to which the interface will transmit an SMS message to a mobile device, and for each selected operating parameter or condition, enter an identification, typically a telephone number, of the mobile device to which the SMS message will be transmitted.
A charged particle beam device including a computer operable in response to commands entered by a user of the device to control the device, wherein the device further includes an interface operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted in the form of short message service (SMS) and/or multimedia message service (MMS) messages to a plurality of mobile devices via a mobile telephone network, the interface being operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted to a first mobile device in response to occurrence of a first event relating to the charged particle beam device, and to a second mobile device in response to occurrence of a second event relating to the charged particle beam device, wherein the first event comprises the completion or partial completion of an operation by the charged particle beam device, wherein the device further comprises a charged particle source, a charged particle optical system for forming charged particles from said source into a beam and a scanning device operable to scan a specimen with said beam, wherein the first event comprises the completion or partial completion of a scanning operation on said specimen.
A charged particle beam device including a computer operable in response to commands entered by a user of the device to control the device, wherein the device further includes an interface operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted in the form of short message service (SMS) and/or multimedia message service (MMS) messages to a plurality of mobile devices via a mobile telephone network, the interface being operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted to a first mobile device in response to occurrence of a first event relating to the charged particle beam device, and to a second mobile device in response to a second event relating to the charged particle beam device, wherein, in response to the occurrence of the first event, a message is sent to the first mobile device, being the mobile device of a user of the particle beam device, and wherein the second event is the detection of the occurrence of a fault in the particle beam device, causing the interface to transmit a message to the second mobile device, being the mobile device of a service engineer, and wherein the charged particle beam device is a scanning electron microscope having an electron column which includes a filament, the second event being the detection of the failure of that filament, the message to the service engineer's mobile device informing the engineer of the need to replace the filament.
A charged particle beam device including a computer operable in response to commands entered by a user of the device to control the device, wherein the device further includes an interface operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted in the form of short message service (SMS) and/or multimedia message service (MMS) messages to a plurality of mobile devices via a mobile telephone network, the interface being operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted to a first mobile device in response to occurrence of a first event relating to the charged particle beam device, and to a second mobile device in response to a second event relating to the charged particle beam device, wherein, in response to the occurrence of the first event, a message is sent to the first mobile device, being the mobile device of a user of the particle beam device, and wherein the second event is the detection of the occurrence of a fault in the particle beam device, causing the interface to transmit a message to the second mobile device, being the mobile device of a service engineer, and wherein the charged particle beam device is an electron microscope having a vacuum system specimen chamber and a pressure sensor for monitoring the pressure in the specimen chamber, the second event being the detection by the sensor of the pressure in the chamber reaching a trigger value indicative of a fault in the vacuum system.
A charged particle beam device including a computer operable in response to commands entered by a user of the device to control the device, wherein the device further includes an interface operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted in the form of short message service (SMS) and/or multimedia message service (MMS) messages to a plurality of mobile devices via a mobile telephone network, the interface being operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted to a first mobile device in response to occurrence of a first event relating to the charged particle beam device, and to a second mobile device in response to occurrence of a second event relating to the charged particle beam device, wherein the first event comprises the completion or partial completion of an operation by the charged particle beam device, wherein the device is operable to produce an image of a specimen, the first event comprising the completion or partial completion of an imaging operation by the device.
A charged particle beam device including a computer operable in response to commands entered by a user of the device to control the device, wherein the device further includes an interface operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted in the form of short message service (SMS) and/or multimedia message service (MMS) messages to a plurality of mobile devices via a mobile telephone network, the interface being operable to cause data from the computer to be transmitted to a first mobile device in response to occurrence of a first event relating to the charged particle beam device, and to a second mobile device in response to occurrence of a second event relating to the charged particle beam device, wherein the first event comprises the completion or partial completion of an operation by the charged particle beam device, wherein the device is a focused ion beam device operable to mill a specimen, the first event comprising the completion or partial completion of a milling operation by the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.