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US 9,543,117 B2Granted
Method of processing a material-specimen
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
InventorRoland Salzer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for generating a smooth surface in a material-specimen includes generating a substantially smooth, first surface region by removing a first material-volume by particle beam etching. The first material-volume is partially defined by the first surface region. An angle between a beam direction and a surface normal of the first surface region is greater than 80° and less than 90°. The method also includes generating a substantially smooth, second surface region by removing a second material-volume. The second material-volume is partially defined by the first surface region and is partially defined by the second surface region. An angle between the beam direction and a surface normal of the second surface region is less than 60°.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- disposing a material-specimen in a processing region of a particle beam column and orienting the material-specimen relative to the particle beam column in a first orientation;
- generating a first surface region of the material-specimen by removing a first material-volume from the material-specimen by particle beam etching using a particle beam generated by the particle beam column, the first material-volume being partially defined by the first surface region, and an angle between a beam direction of the particle beam and a surface normal of the first surface region at an intersection of the particle beam and the first surface region being greater than 80° and less than 90°;
- disposing the material-specimen in the processing region of the particle beam column and orienting the material-specimen relative to the particle beam column in a second orientation so that an angle between the beam direction of the particle beam and the surface normal of the first surface region at the intersection of the particle beam and the first surface region is less than 70°;
- and
- generating a second surface region of the material-specimen by removing a second material-volume from the material-specimen by particle beam etching using the particle beam generated by the particle beam column, the second material-volume being beneath a portion of the first surface region, the second material-volume being partially defined by the second surface region, an angle between the beam direction of the particle beam and a surface normal of the second surface region at an intersection of the particle beam and the second surface region being less than 60°, and the second surface region having a roughness smaller than 0.2 μm.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- generating a first surface region of a material-specimen by removing a first material-volume from the material-specimen by particle beam etching using a particle beam generated by a particle beam column, the first material-volume being partially defined by the first surface region, and an angle between a beam direction of the particle beam and a surface normal of the first surface region at an intersection of the particle beam and the first surface region being greater than 80° and less than 90°;
- orienting the material-specimen relative to the particle beam column in a second orientation so that an angle between the beam direction of the particle beam and the surface normal of the first surface region at the intersection of the particle beam and the first surface region is less than 70°;
- and
- generating a second surface region of the material-specimen by removing a second material-volume from the material-specimen by particle beam etching using the particle beam generated by the particle beam column, the second material-volume being partially beneath a portion of the first surface region, the second material-volume being partially defined by the second surface region, an angle between the beam direction of the particle beam and a surface normal of the second surface region at an intersection of the particle beam and the second surface region being less than 60°, and the second surface region having a roughness smaller than 0.2 μm.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- generating a first surface region of a material-specimen by removing a first material-volume from the material-specimen by particle beam etching using a particle beam generated by a particle beam column, the first material-volume being partially defined by the first surface region, and an angle between a beam direction of the particle beam and a surface normal of the first surface region at an intersection of the particle beam and the first surface region being greater than 80° and less than 90°;
- orienting the material-specimen relative to the particle beam column in a second orientation so that an angle between the beam direction of the particle beam and the surface normal of the first surface region at the intersection of the particle beam and the first surface region is less than 70°;
- and
- generating a second surface region of the material-specimen by removing material of the material-specimen beneath at least a portion of the first surface region via particle beam etching using the particle beam generated by the particle beam column, an angle between the beam direction of the particle beam and a surface normal of the second surface region at an intersection of the particle beam and the second surface region being less than 60°, the second surface region having a roughness smaller than 0.2 μm.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.