Abstract: Electrostatic lens for focussing the beams of charged particles, more particularly of ions, which have electrodes being designed as an electric conductor with a ring-shaped section, the inner edge of which is essentially circular, whereas at least one of the electrodes is composed of sector areas (4) succeeding one another along the periphery of an electrode, whereas each sector area is covering one predetermined angle area of the periphery, the sector areas are electrically connected to one another and the sector areas are linked to the holding device via at least one adjusting element per sector area the position of the sector areas may be adjusted irrespective of the other sector areas by means of the adjusting elements during operation of the electrostatic lens. The sector areas may be mechanically separated or extend from one thickness minimum of an electrode cross-section with periodically varying thickness to the next one.

Abstract: A sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) specimen and a method of forming the same is provided. The specimen includes two separate electron transparent regions, namely a first electron transparent segment for analyzing a specific feature and a second electron transparent segment for analyzing bulk features. The first electron transparent segment is formed using a focused ion beam (FIB) technique, while the second electron transparent segment is formed by a wedge forming technique. The latter step is carried out by protecting the first segment with an adhesive filler and a covering glass layer, polishing a surface of the specimen at an angle to an opposite surface, while simultaneously exposing the previously formed first segment, and removing the filler and glass layer.

Abstract: The invention relates to a particle beam apparatus, in which very low target energies of the particles focused on the object can be set, with good imaging conditions. For this purpose, the beam guiding tube (5), from the anode (4) to behind the objective (6, 7) is at a high potential, which insures that the particles within the beam guiding tube have a high kinetic energy which is independent of the target energy. A braking electrode (9) arranged after the beam guiding tube, together with the object holder (10) and the object arranged thereon, is at a specimen potential UP which deviates from the ground potential and which has the same sign as the cathode potential UK. The specimen potential UP acts as the decelerating potential, by means of which the particles are braked to energies which can be below the energy value determined by the cathode potential UK.

Abstract: A method for reducing aliasing effects in scanning beam microscopy, comprises generating a plurality of successive images of the same object, wherein each image is shifted in the vertical direction with respect to the preceding one by a sub-pixel distance and then averaging all the images together.

Abstract: In an ion implantation system, an ion beam generator generates and emits an ion beam containing ions of a target impurity element. A mass analyzing system derives desired ions from the ion beam to output an ion beam containing the desired ions. The ion beam emitted from the mass analyzing system becomes incident upon an inner cavity defined by a beam line. An electrostatic lens is being disposed in the inner cavity. The electrostatic lens converges the ion beam entered the inner cavity. The ion beam emitted from the beam line impinges upon a substrate into which impurities are to be implanted. A vacuum pump is being mounted on the beam line to evacuate the inner cavity of the beam line.

Abstract: A production line irradiation apparatus used to sterilize medical equipment, food or agricultural and waste materials. The apparatus is compact in size and allows a continuous throughput of products to be irradiated, while preventing harmful radiation from escaping. The apparatus comprises: primary shield means for blocking radiation; secondary shield means for blocking radiation; an irradiation device; and conveyor means. The primary shield means further includes a central cavity therein and a channel extending therethrough which intersects the cavity and accommodates the conveyor means. The secondary shield means comprises a plurality of discrete open containers, the containers having front and rear walls, the walls being substantially the size of the channel opening. The walls of the primary and secondary shield means are of sufficient density to fully attenuate the radiation produced by the irradiation device.

Abstract: An arrangement of shutter segments each having longitudinally opposed ends, front and back edges, and top and bottom solid surfaces, wherein each segment is adjacent to at least one other segment. The segments are arranged with the front and back edges of each segment in parallel along a first direction, and with one of the front or back edge of each segment overlapping one of the top or bottom surfaces of an adjacent segment. A drive hub is rigidly connected to each segment, respectively. A drive train engages all of the drive hubs, for simultaneously reciprocating the hubs and connected shutter segments rotatively through an actuation angle of no more than approximately 90 degrees (preferably 45 degrees) around respective axes of rotation which are parallel and coplanar along the first direction.

Abstract: Temperature dependency on magnetic field strength of an electron optical element in an electron beam system due to variation of permeability with temperature of a ferromagnetic pole piece subject to radiant heating from another electron optical element is corrected by measurement of pole piece temperature and closed loop control of excitation current of a correction element which may be provided as a portion of a lens, stigmator, deflector or the like. A correction function may be computed to extrapolate correction values from empirically determined correction values or correction values may be retrieved from a memory such as a look-up table. Performance of the electron beam system is improved and constraints on choice of pole piece materials, mounting geometry, relative positioning of electron optical column elements and electron optical column length are relaxed since temperature dependencies of many electron optical elements can be corrected.

Abstract: A mass spectrometer includes a sample supplier which supplies a sample solution, the sample solution including a solvent, ions, and a solute, the solute being a sample to be analyzed, an ion converter, disposed after the sample supplier, which converts the ions in the sample solution into gaseous ions, an ion source, disposed after the ion converter, which ionizes the sample in the sample solution, thereby producing sample ions, a mass analyzer which analyzes masses of the sample ions produced by the ion source, and an ion blocking electrode which prevents the gaseous ions produced by the ion converter from reaching the ion source, thereby preventing the mass analyzer from analyzing masses of the gaseous ions produced by the ion converter.

Abstract: A multipole ion guide which begins in one pumping stage and extends continuously into one or more subsequent pumping stages has been incorporated into an atmospheric pressure ion source mass spectrometer system. Ions delivered into vacuum from an Electrospray, Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization or Inductively Coupled Plasma ion source are guided and focused into a mass analyzer with high efficiency using the multipole ion guide. The background pressure over a portion of the multipole ion guide length is high enough to cause kinetic energy cooling of ions traversing the ion guide length due to ion collisions with neutral background gas molecules. This ion kinetic energy cooling lowers energy spread of ions traversing the multipole ion guide length. The multipole ion guide DC offset potential can be used to adjust the mean ion energy and the ion guide an and qn values can be set to reduce or expand the range of ion mass to charge which will be transmitted through the ion guide.

Abstract: The invention relates to accurate determination of the position coordinate that is the location, frequency or time coordinate of an ion peak in a mass spectrum, as the basis for an accurate mass determination of the ions. The invention consists of fitting a suitable function, e.g. a superposition of bell-shaped curves, to all peaks of a peak group simultaneously instead of using one isolated mass peak only, and applying a suitable abundance distribution for all the peaks of the measured group, e.g. of an isotopic pattern. The true mass distances between the individual peaks of the peak group and the ratio of their widths are usually known. The distances between the peaks of an isotopic pattern can, for instance, be derived in a good approximation from mean compositions of the substances of a chemical class. During curve fitting by a mathematical optimization process, in the simplest case only the position coordinate and the width of the bell-shaped curves are varied.

Abstract: An ion source is provided that is constructed for use with a magnet that produces magnetic flux lines extending in a predetermined direction and a source of ionizable material for creating ion. The ion source includes a chamber, defined by walls, and a relatively narrow outlet aperture for ions produced in the chamber to leave the chamber. The chamber encloses a cathode and an anode spaced from the cathode and from the walls of the chamber. The anode is positioned with respect to the aperture, the cathode and the predetermined direction of the magnetic flux to cause ions produced in the chamber to drift in crossed magnetic and electric fields so as to concentrate near the aperture.

Abstract: An ion source having a capillary for spraying analyte to form ions, which are charged and attracted to the edge of an insulating film on a spinning disk having a metal core. The disk carries the ions through a slot into a vacuum chamber where they are removed, resulting in continuous transfer of the ions into the vacuum chamber while greatly reducing the amount of gas which enters the vacuum chamber.

Abstract: An ion implantation process comprises performing mass separation of ions from an ionised source of phosphorus so as to select the P2 ions and reject phosphorus hydride ion species. The P2 ions are injected into a semiconductor substrate. The rejection of phosphorus hydride ions species is facilitated because there are no such species adjacent (in terms of effective mass) the P2 ion species. The use of the P2 ion species also improves the implantation process for shallow implantation depths.

Abstract: Electron optical aberrations of an energy filtering system of an energy filtering transmission electron microscope (EFTEM) are automatically corrected under computer control to set up the EFTEM for use. Optics of the electron microscope preceding an energy filter are used to scan the beam at the entrance to the filter in a pattern corresponding to a defined geometry. The beam can either be finely focused to yield a spot at each position visited during the pattern scan, or the beam can be spread out and imprinted with a well-defined intensity distribution, such as normally occurs due to passage of the beam through a specimen, so that its relative scanned displacements can be assessed using cross-correlation techniques. In the case of the finely focused beam, electron images of the scanned pattern directly yield a spot pattern image. Deviations of the recorded spot pattern image from the defined scan geometry reflect the imaging aberrations introduced by the energy filter.

Abstract: A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (103) and a diode (105) is provided. The diode (105) is electrically coupled in reverse parallel to the vertical cavity surface emitting laser (103), thereby providing a portion of protection against electro-static discharge damage to the vertical cavity surface emitting laser (103).

Abstract: Amplification of the current of secondary electrons emanating from the specimen 14 is realized in an ESEM by avalanche-like ionization of the molecules 41 of the gas atmosphere. However, in order to achieve an adequate number of successive ionizations, a comparatively high value of the electric field at the detector electrode 46 is required and, because of the risk of electric breakdowns, the distance between the specimen and the detector electrode may not be smaller than a comparatively large minimum distance. The number of successive ionizations, and hence the current amplification, is thus limited. The invention proposes to configure the electric field of the detector 46, 50, co-operating with the magnetic field 52 of the immersion lens 8 already present in the ionization space, as an electric multipole field. In the case of electric multipoles, at a given field strength on the optical axis the electric field strength outside the optical axis may be substantially higher.

Abstract: This invention provides an improved apparatus for non-contact quantum mechanical heating of thermoplastic fibers by resonant energy absorption of laser energy by the fiber. In one embodied form, the unique apparatus for continuous heating of thermoplastic fibers comprises a) a laser producing a CO continuous wave laser beam of resonant frequency for the prescribed fiber being treated; b) a mechanism for traversing the fiber to be treated across the path of the laser beam in a prescribed direction to the beam of radiation from the laser source; c) a mechanism for adjusting the rate of traversement of the fiber to maintain the temperature of the thermoplastic fiber within a temperature range of about five percent below the melting point of the thermoplastic fiber to continuously heat the fiber by resonant energy absorption of the laser beam.

Abstract: A method of optimizing locations of correction elements of a charged particle beam system determines respective corrector element currents to achieve optimum correction as a function of individual corrector location. Substantially complete dynamic correction of FSD and SFD can be obtained consistent with efficiency of operation and minimization of deflection distortion. In particular, FSD and SFD corrections can be sufficiently separated for substantially complete correction of SFD and FSD simultaneously with two stigmators. Both of these types of correction can be provided in complex charged particle beam systems employing curvilinear axis (CVA) particle trajectories and or large area reduction projection optics (LARPO) which cause complex hybrid aberrations in order to achieve high throughput consistent with extremely high resolution supporting one-tenth micron minimum feature size lithography regimes and smaller.

Abstract: A method of operating a mass spectrometer having an elongated multipole rod set, in which a two dimensional RF field radially contains trapped ions in a mass to charge range of interest, and in which the ions are contained axially by a barrier field on an end lens and to which a low voltage DC is applied. Trapped ions are axially mass selectively ejected by taking advantage of the mixing of the degrees of freedom induced by the fringing fields and other anti-harmonicities in the vicinity of the end lens. Thus, ions can be mass selectively ejected at the exit end at the same time as ions are being admitted into the entrance end of the rod set, thereby taking better advantage of the ion flux from a continuous ion source. The axial mass selective ejection is performed by applying an auxiliary AC voltage to the end lens, or to the rods themselves, or both, and by scanning either the auxiliary AC voltage or the RF voltage on the rod set.