ICT Integrated Circuit Testing Gesellschaft fur Halbleiterpruftechnik mbH Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140367586 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATING THEREOF - A charged particle beam device is described. In one aspect, the charged particle beam device includes a charged particle beam source, and a switchable multi-aperture for generating two or more beam bundles from a charged particle beam which includes: two or more aperture openings, wherein each of the two or more aperture openings is provided for generating a corresponding beam bundle of the two or more beam bundles; a beam blanker arrangement configured for individually blanking the two or more beam bundles; and a stopping aperture for blocking beam bundles. The device further includes a control unit configured to control the individual blanking of the two or more beam bundles for switching of the switchable multi-aperture and an objective lens configured for focusing the two or more beam bundles on a specimen or wafer. | 12-18-2014 |
20130118586 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE, VACUUM VALVE THEREFOR AND OPERATION THEREOF - A valve unit configured for a charged particle beam device having a beam path | 05-16-2013 |
20130026385 | SHIELDING MEMBER HAVING A CHARGE CONTROL ELECTRODE, AND A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM APPARATUS - A shielding member for a charged particle beam apparatus includes a conductive substrate; and a through hole extending through the conductive substrate. The conductive substrate is comprised of a material having a specific electrical resistivity in a range from about 10 | 01-31-2013 |
20120037813 | MULTI-AXIS LENS, BEAM SYSTEM MAKING USE OF THE COMPOUND LENS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE COMPOUND LENS - A lens system for a plurality of charged particle beams comprises a lens body with a first pole piece, a second pole piece and a plurality of lens openings for the respective charged particle beams; a common excitation coil arranged around the plurality of lens openings for providing a respective first magnetic flux to the lens openings; and a compensation coil arranged between the lens openings for providing a respective second magnetic flux to at least some of the lens openings so as to compensate for an asymmetry of the first magnetic flux. | 02-16-2012 |
20110253893 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE AND A METHOD OF OPERATING A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE - A charged particle beam device is provided, including: a charged particle beam source adapted to generate a charged particle beam on an axis; an optical aberration correction device and an objective lens device, which define a corrected beam aperture angle adjusted to reduce diffraction; and a charged particle beam tilting device; wherein the optical aberration correction device and the objective lens device are adapted to provide the charged particle beam with a beam aperture angle smaller than the corrected beam aperture angle; and wherein the charged particle beam tilting device is adapted to provide a beam tilt angle which is equal or less than the corrected beam aperture angle. Further, a method of operating a charged particle beam device is provided. | 10-20-2011 |
20110220795 | TWIN BEAM CHARGED PARTICLE COLUMN AND METHOD OF OPERATING THEREOF - A column for a charged particle beam device is described. The column includes a charged particle emitter for emitting a primary charged particle beam as one source of the primary charged particle beam; a biprism adapted for acting on the primary charged particle beam so that two virtual sources are generated; and a charged particle beam optics adapted to focus the charged particle beam simultaneously on two positions of a specimen corresponding to images of the two virtual sources. | 09-15-2011 |
20110147605 | ELECTROSTATIC CORRECTOR - A correction device for a charged particle beam device for decreasing, correcting or inverting (that is adjusting) the spherical aberration of a charged particle beam is described. The correction principle is similar to that of common multipole-Correctors. But unlike common devices of that kind this new correction device gets along entirely with plane apertures having specially shaped holes in order to supply the multipoles required for correction and is therefore predestined for miniaturization and the use in multi column devices. | 06-23-2011 |
20110139978 | CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE, METHOD OF OPERATING A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE - A charged particle beam device is provided, including a primary beam source for generating a primary charged particle beam, an objective lens for focusing the primary charged particle beam onto a specimen, and an achromatic beam separator adapted to separate the primary charged particle beam from a secondary charged particle beam originating from the specimen. The achromatic beam separator is adapted to separate the primary charged particle beam and the secondary charged particle beam earliest practicable after generation of the secondary charged particle beam. | 06-16-2011 |
20110089322 | ACHROMATIC BEAM DEFLECTOR, ACHROMATIC BEAM SEPARATOR, CHARGED PARTICLE DEVICE, METHOD OF OPERATING AN ACHROMATIC BEAM DEFLECTOR, AND METHOD OF OPERATING AN ACHROMATIC BEAM SEPARATOR - An achromatic beam separator device for separating a primary charged particle beam from another charged particle beam and providing the primary charged particle beam on an optical axis ( | 04-21-2011 |
20110084219 | METHOD AND APPARATUS OF PRETREATMENT OF AN ELECTRON GUN CHAMBER - A method of pre-treating an ultra high vacuum charged particle gun chamber by ion stimulated desorption is provided. The method includes generating a plasma for providing a plasma ion source, and applying a negative potential to at least one surface in the gun chamber, wherein the negative potential is adapted for extracting an ion flux from the plasma ion source to the at least one surface for desorbing contamination particles from the at least one surface by the ion flux impinging on the at least one surface. | 04-14-2011 |
20100200748 | ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR THE CONTRAST IMPROVEMENT IN A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE FOR INSPECTING A SPECIMEN - It is provided a charged particle beam device for inspecting a specimen, comprising a charged particle beam source adapted to generate a primary charged particle beam; an objective lens device adapted to direct the primary charged particle beam onto the specimen; and a detector device comprising one or more charged particle detectors adapted to detect a secondary charged particle beam generated by the primary charged particle beam at the specimen and passing through the objective lens device, the secondary charged particle beam comprising a first group of secondary charged particles starting from the specimen with high starting angles and a second group of secondary charged particles starting from the specimen with low starting angles; wherein at least one of the charged particle detectors is adapted to detect depending on the starting angles one group of the first and the second groups of secondary charged particles. | 08-12-2010 |
20100187436 | HIGH RESOLUTION GAS FIELD ION COLUMN - An ion beam apparatus and a method for providing an energy-filtered primary ion beam are described. Therein, a primary ion beam having an asymmetric first energy distribution is generated by means of an ion source. The primary ion beam is energy filtered using, for example, a retarding lens. | 07-29-2010 |
20100108904 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IMPROVED ALIGNMENT OF A HIGH BRIGHTNESS CHARGED PARTICLE GUN - A charged particle gun alignment assembly for emitting a charged particle beam along an optical axis of a charged particle beam device is described. The charged particle gun alignment assembly is configured to compensate for misalignment of the charged particle beam and includes a charged particle source having an emitter with a virtual source defining a virtual source plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis; a condenser lens for imaging the virtual source; a final beam limiting aperture adapted for shaping the charged particle beam; and a double stage deflection assembly positioned between the condenser lens and the final beam limiting aperture, wherein the working distance of the condenser lens is 15 mm or less. | 05-06-2010 |
20100108902 | DUAL MODE GAS FIELD ION SOURCE - A focused ion beam device is provided, including: an ion beam column adapted to house a gas field ion source emitter with an emitter tip and an emitter area for generating ions, a heating means adapted to heat the emitter tip, one or more gas inlets adapted to introduce a first gas and at least one second gas to the emitter area, an objective lens adapted to focus the ion beam generated from the first gas or the second gas, and a controller adapted to switch between a first emitter tip temperature and a second emitter tip temperature for generating an ion beam of ions of the first gas or an ion beam of ions of the at least one second gas. | 05-06-2010 |
20100084553 | CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTION APPARATUS AND DETECTION METHOD - A detection apparatus for use in a charged particle beam device is provided. The detection apparatus includes a separation field generating portion adapted to generate a separation field separating positively and negatively charged secondary particles, at least one first detector for detecting positively charged particles, at least one second detector for detecting negatively charged particles, wherein the detection apparatus is adapted to simultaneously detect the positively charged secondary particles in the at least one first detector and the negatively charged secondary particles in the at least one second detector. Further, a method of simultaneously detecting negatively and positively charged particles is provided. The method includes providing a separation field, providing at least one first detector and at least one second detector, separating the negatively charged particles from the positively charged particles in the separation field, simultaneously detecting positively charged particles with the at least one first detector and negatively charged particles with the at least one second detector. | 04-08-2010 |
20090289191 | ULTRA HIGH PRECISION MEASUREMENT TOOL WITH CONTROL LOOP - A focused ion beam device is described comprising a gas field ion source with an emitter emitting an ion beam including ions of gas, an ion beam column and a beam current control loop comprising a beam current measurement device. Furthermore, the focused ion beam device may have a sample charge control comprising measuring the sample charge. A method of operating a focused ion beam device is provided comprising applying a voltage between an emitter an electrode, applying gas to the emitter, emitting ions of a gas from the emitter and controlling a beam current by measuring the beam current with a beam current measurement device. | 11-26-2009 |
20090289185 | ULTRA HIGH PRECISION MEASUREMENT TOOL - A focused ion beam device is described comprising a gas field ion source with an analyzer for analyzing and classifying the structure of a specimen, a controller for controlling and/or modifying the structure of the specimen according to the analysis of the analyzer, an emitter tip, the emitter tip has a base tip comprising a first material and a supertip comprising a material different from the first material, wherein the supertip is a single atom tip and the base tip is a single crystal base tip. Furthermore, the focused ion beam device has a probe current control and a sample charge control. A method of operating a focused ion beam device is provided comprising applying a voltage between a single emission centre of the supertip and an electrode, supplying gas to the emitter tip, analyzing and classifying the structure of a specimen, and controlling the structure of the specimen. | 11-26-2009 |
20090200497 | BEAM CURRENT CALIBRATION SYSTEM - A charged particle beam device is described. The charged particle beam device includes an emitter adapted for emitting a primary charged particle beam, a specimen location adapted for holding a specimen, from which secondary and/or backscattered charged particles are released on impingement of the primary charged particle beam, a detection unit adapted for detecting the secondary particles and/or secondary particles, and a beam guiding unit adapted for guiding the primary charged particle beam to the detection unit for impingement of a primary charged particle beam on the detection unit. | 08-13-2009 |
20090200484 | DUAL MODE GAS FIELD ION SOURCE - A focused ion beam device is described. The focused ion beam device includes an ion beam column including an enclosure for housing a gas field ion source emitter with an emitter area for generating ions, an electrode for extracting ions from the gas field ion source emitter, one or more gas inlets adapted to introduce a first gas and a second gas to the emitter area, an objective lens for focusing the ion beam generated from the first gas or the second gas, a voltage supply for providing a voltage between the electrode and the gas field ion source emitter, and a controller for switching between a first voltage and a second voltage of the voltage supply for generating an ion beam of ions of the first gas or an ion beam of ions of the second gas. | 08-13-2009 |
20090121160 | CHARGED PARTICLE SOURCE WITH AUTOMATED TIP FORMATION - A charged particle beam device is described. The device includes an emitter unit including an emitter tip; a voltage supply unit adapted for providing a stable voltage to generate a stable extraction field at the emitter tip; a pulsed voltage supply member adapted for providing a pulsed voltage to generate a pulsed extraction field on top of the stable extraction field; a measuring unit for measuring an emitter characteristic; and a control unit adapted for receiving a signal from the measuring unit and for control of the pulsed voltage supply member. | 05-14-2009 |
20090101819 | ENERGY FILTER FOR COLD FIELD EMISSION ELECTRON BEAM APPARATUS - An electron beam apparatus and a method for providing an energy-filtered primary electron beam are described. Therein, a primary electron beam having an asymmetric first energy distribution is generated by means of an electron source. The primary electron beam is high-pass energy filtered using a retarding lens. | 04-23-2009 |
20090039280 | MAGNETIC LENS ASSEMBLY - A lens assembly having a magnetic lens assembly for a charged particle beam system is provided. The lens assembly includes: a first pole piece having a connecting portion of the first pole piece and a gap portion of the first pole piece, a second pole piece having a connecting portion of the second pole piece and a gap portion of the second pole piece, wherein the first pole piece and the second pole piece provide a gap at the respective gap portions, a coil for exciting the magnetic lens assembly, a centering element comprising a material that has a smaller Young's modulus than the material of the first and the material of the second pole piece, wherein the pole pieces are connected with each other at the respective connecting portions and have a centering element receiving portion towards the respective gap portion ends of the pole pieces. | 02-12-2009 |
20090026384 | ELECTROSTATIC LENS ASSEMBLY - A lens assembly having an electrostatic lens component for a charged particle beam system is provided. The assembly includes: a first electrode having a conically shaped portion, a second electrode having a conically shaped portion, and a first insulator having a conically shaped portion, wherein the first insulator comprises two extending portions towards each of its ends, and wherein the two extending portions are formed to generate a gap between the insulator and each of the adjacent electrodes. | 01-29-2009 |
20090020708 | MODULAR GAS ION SOURCE - A gas field ion source is described. The gas field ion source includes an emitter module. The emitter module includes an emitter holder, an emitter structure, a detachably connectable electrical connection assembly of the emitter module, and a detachably connectable gas supply connection assembly of the emitter module. The gas field ion source further includes a supply module, wherein the supply module includes an electrical conductor for providing voltage and/or current, a gas supply conduit, a thermal conductor, a detachably connectable electrical connection assembly of the supply module, and a detachably connectable gas supply connection assembly of the supply module. The emitter module and the supply module are detachably connectable by the detachably connectable connection assemblies of the emitter module and the detachably connectable connection assemblies of the supply module. | 01-22-2009 |
20090001266 | ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR COMPENSATING EMITTER TIP VIBRATIONS - The present invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus with a charged particle beam source including an emitter with an emitter tip; and supporting member for supporting the emitter. Further, the apparatus includes an emitter location-measuring device for repeatedly measuring the location of the emitter; and a deflector system for compensating variations in the location of the emitter. | 01-01-2009 |
20080230694 | Beam Optical Component Having a Charged Particle Lens - The present invention relates to a beam optical component including a charged particle lens for focusing a charged particle beam, the charged particle lens comprising a first element having a first opening for focusing the charged particle beam; a second element having a second opening for focusing the charged particle beam and first driving means connected with at least one of the first element and the second element for aligning the first opening with respect to the second opening. With the first driving means, the first opening and the second opening can be aligned with respect to each other during beam operation to provide a superior alignment of the beam optical component for a better beam focusing. The present invention also relates to a charged particle beam device that uses said beam optical component for focusing the charged particle beam, and a method to align first opening and second opening with respect to each other. | 09-25-2008 |
20080224062 | LENS COIL COOLING OF A MAGNETIC LENS - A magnetic lens for a charged particle beam device and a charged particle beam device are provided. The magnetic lens includes a coil with coil windings to be excited for generation of a magnetic field, a pole piece to guide the magnetic field, a heat shield, which is connected to a cooling system, and a thermal insulation layer provided between the heat shield and the coil. | 09-18-2008 |