Sample decontamination
AssigneeCarl Zeiss NTS GmbH
InventorsLewis A. Stern, Louis S. Farkas, III, Billy W. Ward, William DiNatale, John A. Notte, IV, Lawrence Scipioni
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods that include: (a) exposing a sample in a chamber to a first gas, where the first gas reacts with surface contaminants on the sample to form a second gas; (b) removing at least a portion of the second gas from the chamber; and (c) exposing the sample to a charged particle beam to cause a plurality of particles to leave the sample and detecting at least some of the plurality of particles. The charged particle beam can include particles having a molecular weight of 40 atomic mass units or less.
Claims19
A method, comprising:
- exposing a sample in a chamber to a first gas, wherein the first gas reacts with surface contaminants on the sample to form a second gas;
- removing at least a portion of the second gas from the chamber;
- and
- exposing the sample to a noble gas ion beam to cause a plurality of particles to leave the sample and detecting at least some of the plurality of particles,
- wherein the noble gas ion beam comprises particles having a molecular weight of 40 atomic mass units or less.
A method, comprising:
- exposing a sample to a noble gas ion beam to cause a plurality of particles to leave the sample and detecting at least some of the plurality of particles;
- and
- during exposure of the sample to the noble gas ion beam, exposing the sample to a first gas, wherein the first gas reacts with surface contaminants on the sample to form a second gas, and removing at least a portion of the second gas from the chamber.
A method, comprising:
- exposing a sample in a chamber to ozone, wherein the ozone reacts with surface contaminants on the sample to form volatile reaction products;
- removing at least a portion of the volatile reaction products from the chamber;
- and
- exposing the sample to a helium ion beam to cause a plurality of particles to leave the sample and detecting at least some of the plurality of particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.