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US 8,507,855 B2Granted
Inductive modulation of focusing voltage in charged beam system
AssigneeApplied Materials Israel Ltd.
InventorsTuvia Biber, Efim Kerner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A modulator of a charged particle beam system is arranged to generate a modulation signal that is provided to an inductor, which receives the modulation signal and modulates, by inductance, a supply voltage signal for the charged particle beam system. Modulation of the supply voltage signal changes a focal length of a charged particle beam produced by the charged particle beam system.
Claims27
A modulator, comprising:
- an inductor having a first winding and a coil defining an aperture through which a supply line can be passed;
- a modulation signal generator configured to repeat a sequence of a modulation period followed by an image grab period a plurality of times generate a cyclic modulation signal on the coil during the modulation period and dampen the cyclic modulation signal at an end of the modulation period prior to the image grab period, the modulation signal being configured to modulate, by inductance, a supply voltage signal that passes through a the supply line to provide a modulated supply voltage signal adapted to change a focal length of a charged particle beam.
A charged particle beam system, comprising:
- a charged particle beam source arranged to generate a charged particle beam and direct the charged particle beam towards a sample;
- a charged particle beam controller arranged to control the charged particle beam source by providing multiple supply voltage signals, via multiple supply lines, to the charged particle beam source to obtain images of areas of the sample during image grab periods;
- a modulator arranged to modulate one or more of the multiple supply voltage signals, by inductance, to provide one or more modulated supply voltage signals that change a focal length of the charged particle beam during idle periods and then dampen the one or more modulated voltage supply signals prior to an image grab period;
- and
- circuitry that controls the charged particle beam source and modulator to repeat a sequence of an idle period followed by an image grab period a plurality of times.
2 more elements
A method of obtaining image data from a sample using a charged particle beam, the method comprising:
- generating a charged particle beam and directing the beam towards a sample;
- controlling the charged particle beam with a plurality of beam control signals to obtain image data, the controlling including an image grab period preceded by an idle period;
- and
- modulating one or more of the plurality of beam control signals during the idle period to change a focal length of the charged particle beam and stopping the modulating prior to the image grab period.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.