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US 9,236,225 B2Granted
Ion sources, systems and methods
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
InventorsBilly W. Ward, John A. Notte, IV, Louis S. Farkas, III, Randall G. Percival, Raymond Hill, Klaus Edinger, Lars Markwort, Dirk Aderhold, Ulrich Mantz
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Abstract
Ion sources, systems and methods are disclosed.
Claims23
A method, comprising:
- generating an ion beam by interacting a gas with a gas field ion source;
- using the ion beam to determine information about a lithography mask, the ion beam having a spot size of 10 nm or less at a surface of the semiconductor article;
- and
- repairing the lithography mask based on the information.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- generating an ion beam by interacting a gas with a gas field ion source;
- interacting the ion beam with a lithography mask to cause particles to leave the mask, the ion beam having a spot size of 10 nm or less at a surface of the semiconductor article, and the particles leaving the mask being selected from the group consisting of secondary electrons, Auger electrons, secondary ions, secondary neutral particles, primary neutral particles, scattered ions and photons
- detecting at least some of the particles that left the mask to determine information about a lithography mask;
- and
- repairing the lithography mask based on the information about the mask.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- generating an ion beam by interacting a gas with a gas field ion source;
- interacting the ion beam with a lithography mask to cause particles to leave the mask, the ion beam having a spot size of 10 nm or less at a surface of the semiconductor article, and the particles leaving the mask being selected from the group consisting of secondary electrons, Auger electrons, secondary ions, secondary neutral particles, primary neutral particles, scattered ions and photons
- detecting at least some of the particles that left the mask to determine information about a lithography mask;
- and
- repairing the lithography mask based on the information about the mask,
- wherein repairing the lithography mask comprises removing material from the mask and/or adding material to the mask.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.