| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 204192330 | Measuring or testing (e.g., of operating parameters, end point determination, etc.) | 21 |
| 20090084672 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING BEAM DIMENSION FOR HIGH-GRADIENT LOCATION SPECIFIC PROCESSING - A method and system of location specific processing on a substrate is described. The method comprises establishing a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) according to a set of beam properties and measuring metrology data for a substrate. Thereafter, the method comprises determining at least one spatial gradient of the metrology data at one or more locations on the substrate and adjusting at least one beam property in the set of beam properties for the GCIB according to the determined at least one spatial gradient. Using the metrology data and the adjusted set of beam properties, correction data for the substrate is computed. Following the computing, the adjusted GCIB is applied to the substrate according to the correction data. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20100101940 | METHOD FOR REMOVING FOREIGN MATTER FROM GLASS SUBSTRATE SURFACE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING GLASS SUBSTRATE SURFACE - An object of the invention is to provide a method for removing foreign matter from a glass substrate surface to be finish-processed by a method accompanied with beam irradiation or laser light irradiation on the glass substrate surface. The present invention relates to a method for removing foreign matter from a glass substrate surface, which includes subjecting the glass substrate surface to gas cluster ion beam etching at an accelerating voltage of from 5 to 15 keV. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100243431 | Ion radiation damage prediction method, ion radiation damage simulator, ion radiation apparatus and ion radiation method - An ion radiation damage prediction method includes a parameter computation step of computing the collision position and the incidence angle of an incident ion hitting a fabricated object by considering a transport path of the ion and by adopting the Monte Carlo method which takes distributions of flux quantities, incidence energies and angles of incident ions as input parameters; and a defect-distribution computation step of searching for data by referring to information found at the parameter computation step and databases created in advance, the databases storing distributions of quantities of crystalline defects having an effect on the fabricated object, ion reflection probabilities and ion penetration depths, finding the penetration depth and location of the incident ion based on the data found in the search operation, and the incidence energy and angle of the incident ion, and computing a distribution of defects in the fabricated object from the penetration depth and location. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100300873 | METHOD FOR CREATING S/TEM SAMPLE AND SAMPLE STRUCTURE - An improved method and apparatus for S/TEM sample preparation and analysis. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide improved methods for TEM sample creation, especially for small geometry (<100 nm thick) TEM lamellae. A novel sample structure and a novel use of a milling pattern allow the creation of S/TEM samples as thin as 50 nm without significant bowing or warping. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide methods to partially or fully automate TEM sample creation, to make the process of creating and analyzing TEM samples less labor intensive, and to increase throughput and reproducibility of TEM analysis. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20110297533 | PLASMA PROCESSING METHOD AND PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS - The invention provides a plasma processing apparatus and a dry etching method for etching a multilayered film structure having steps with high accuracy. The plasma processing apparatus comprises a vacuum reactor | 12-08-2011 |
| 20120067718 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THREE DIMENSIONAL NANO AND MICRO SCALE STRUCTURES - A three-dimensional milling method and apparatus is disclosed for milling micrometre and a nanometre scale three-dimensional structures. The apparatus includes an ion column operable to generate a milling beam onto a substrate held on an instrument stage. A patterning computer is operable to control the ion column to generate varying ion beam and/or dwell times or to produce a plurality of milling passes, in which subsequent passes overlap previous passes at least partially to create three-dimensional structures. Optionally, an SEM column may be provided. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120152731 | METHOD FOR CREATING S/TEM SAMPLE AND SAMPLE STRUCTURE - An improved method and apparatus for S/TEM sample preparation and analysis. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide improved methods for TEM sample creation, especially for small geometry (<100 nm thick) TEM lamellae. A novel sample structure and a novel use of a milling pattern allow the creation of S/TEM samples as thin as 50 nm without significant bowing or warping. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide methods to partially or fully automate TEM sample creation, to make the process of creating and analyzing TEM samples less labor intensive, and to increase throughput and reproducibility of TEM analysis. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20130105302 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE AND SAMPLE PRODUCTION METHOD | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130180843 | DIRECTED MULTI-DEFLECTED ION BEAM MILLING OF A WORK PIECE AND DETERMINING AND CONTROLLING EXTENT THEREOF - Method, device, and system, for directed multi-deflected ion beam milling of a work piece, and, determining and controlling extent thereof. Providing an ion beam; and directing and at least twice deflecting the provided ion beam, for forming a directed multi-deflected ion beam, wherein the directed multi-deflected ion beam is directed towards, incident and impinges upon, and mills, a surface of the work piece. Device includes an ion beam source assembly; and an ion beam directing and multi-deflecting assembly, for directing and at least twice deflecting the provided ion beam, for forming a directed multi-deflected ion beam, wherein the directed multi-deflected ion beam is directed towards, incident and impinges upon, and mills, a surface of the work piece. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130180844 | SWITCHABLE GAS CLUSTER AND ATOMIC ION GUN, AND METHOD OF SURFACE PROCESSING USING THE GUN - A method of processing one or more surfaces is provided, comprising: providing a switchable ion gun which is switchable between a cluster mode setting for producing an ion beam substantially comprising ionised gas clusters for irradiating a surface and an atomic mode setting for producing an ion beam substantially comprising ionised gas atoms for irradiating a surface; and selectively operating the ion gun in the cluster mode by mass selecting ionised gas clusters using a variable mass selector thereby irradiating a surface substantially with ionised gas clusters or the atomic mode by mass selecting ionised gas atoms using a variable mass selector thereby irradiating a surface substantially with ionised gas atoms. Also provided is a switchable ion gun comprising: a gas expansion nozzle for producing gas clusters; an ionisation chamber for ionising the gas clusters and gas atoms; and a variable (preferably a magnetic sector) mass selector for mass selecting the ionised gas clusters and ionised gas atoms to produce an ion beam variable between substantially comprising ionised gas clusters and substantially comprising ionised gas atoms. Preferably, the gun comprises an electrically floating flight tube for adjusting the energy of the ions whilst within the mass selector. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130186747 | Glancing Angle Mill - A method and system for forming a planar cross-section view for an electron microscope. The method comprises directing an ion beam from an ion source toward a first surface of a sample to mill at least a portion of the sample; milling the first surface, using the ion beam, to expose a second surface in which the end of the second surface distal to the ion source is milled to a greater depth relative to a reference depth than the end of the first surface proximal to the ion source; directing an electron beam from an electron source to the second surface; and forming an image of the second surface by detecting the interaction of the electron beam with the second surface. Embodiments also include planarzing the first surface of the sample prior to forming a cross-section. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130248354 | High Throughput TEM Preparation Processes and Hardware for Backside Thinning of Cross-Sectional View Lamella - A method for TEM sample preparation and analysis that can be used in a FIB-SEM system without re-welds, unloads, user handling of the lamella, or a motorized flip stage. The method allows a dual beam FIB-SEM system with a typical tilt stage to be used to extract a sample to from a substrate, mount the sample onto a TEM sample holder capable of tilting, thin the sample using FIB milling, and rotate the sample so that the sample face is perpendicular to an electron column for STEM imaging. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130334034 | ION BEAM DEVICE AND MACHINING METHOD - Provided are a device and method capable of machining a machining target such as a sample, a probe, or a sample table without requiring a high degree of device operation skill. First, a shape generation process of determining a shape of a machining target on the basis of an ion beam scanning signal and an absorption current of the machining target is performed. Next, a machining pattern positioning process of positioning a machining pattern over an image of the machining target is performed. Further, an ion beam stopping process of stopping ion beam irradiation is performed from a result of comparison between the image of the machining target and the machining pattern while the machining target is machined through the ion beam irradiation. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20140061032 | Dose-Based End-Pointing for Low-KV FIB Milling TEM Sample Preparation - A method, system, and computer-readable medium for forming transmission electron microscopy sample lamellae using a focused ion beam including directing a high energy focused ion beam toward a bulk volume of material; milling away the unwanted volume of material to produce an unfinished sample lamella with one or more exposed faces having a damage layer; characterizing the removal rate of the focused ion beam; subsequent to characterizing the removal rate, directing a low energy focused ion beam toward the unfinished sample lamella for a predetermined milling time to deliver a specified dose of ions per area from the low energy focused ion beam; and milling the unfinished sample lamella with the low energy focused ion beam to remove at least a portion of the damage layer to produce the finished sample lamella including at least a portion of the feature of interest. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140076717 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE AND SAMPLE PRODUCTION METHOD - Provided is a technique to perform FIB milling, in spite of its sample dependency, effectively into a desired shape without influences of individual differences among operators. A charged particle beam device includes an ion beam optical system device configured to irradiate a sample with an ion beam generated at an ion source; a controller thereof; an element detector configured to detect elements constituting the sample; a controller thereof; and a central processor configured to automatically set conditions for the sample based on the element specified by the element detector. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140116873 | METHOD FOR CREATING S/TEM SAMPLE AND SAMPLE STRUCTURE - An improved method and apparatus for S/TEM sample preparation and analysis. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide improved methods for TEM sample creation, especially for small geometry (<100 nm thick) TEM lamellae. A novel sample structure and a novel use of a milling pattern allow the creation of S/TEM samples as thin as 50 nm without significant bowing or warping. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide methods to partially or fully automate TEM sample creation, to make the process of creating and analyzing TEM samples less labor intensive, and to increase throughput and reproducibility of TEM analysis. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140209453 | METHOD FOR PREDICTING PLASMA MICRO-ARCING, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING PLASMA PROCESS OF PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT USING THE SAME - A method for predicting plasma micro-arcing includes obtaining a spectrum signal in a given plasma process, classifying an optical intensity of the spectrum signal into soft and hard arcing events according to an amplitude of the optical intensity of the spectrum signal, separately counting a number of occurrences of the soft arcing event in a given unit time, comparing the number of occurrences of the soft arcing event during the given unit time with the number of occurrences of the soft arcing event during a previous unit time, and determining that a number of occurrences of the hard arcing event will increase during a next unit time subsequent to the given unit time, when the number of occurrences of the soft arcing event during the given unit time increases in comparison with the number of occurrences of the soft arcing event during the previous unit time. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20150325410 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC CONTROL OF ION BEAM ENERGY AND ANGLE - In one embodiment a method of etching a substrate includes directing a first ion beam to the substrate through an extraction plate of a processing apparatus using a first set of control settings of the processing apparatus. The method may further include detecting a signal from the substrate that indicates a change in material being etched by the first ion beam from a first material to a second material, adjusting control settings of the processing apparatus to a second set of control settings different from the first set of control settings based on the second material, and directing a second ion beam to the substrate through the extraction plate using the second set of control settings. | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150357159 | Fiducial Design for Tilted or Glancing Mill Operations with a Charged Particle Beam - A method for analyzing a sample with a charged particle beam including directing the beam toward the sample surface; milling the surface to expose a second surface in the sample in which the end of the second surface distal to ion source is milled to a greater depth relative to a reference depth than the end of the first surface proximal to ion source; directing the charged particle beam toward the second surface to form one or more images of the second surface; forming images of the cross sections of the multiple adjacent features of interest by detecting the interaction of the electron beam with the second surface; assembling the images of the cross section into a three-dimensional model of one or more of the features of interest. A method for forming an improved fiducial and determining the depth of an exposed feature in a nanoscale three-dimensional structure is presented. | 12-10-2015 |
| 20160163508 | ION MILLING DEVICE - An ion milling device of the present invention is provided with a tilt stage ( | 06-09-2016 |
| 20190143558 | TOPOLOGICAL INSULATOR NANOTUBE DEVICE AND METHODS OF EMPLOYING THE NANOTUBE DEVICE | 05-16-2019 |
