Abstract: A system manipulates molecules using a set of proximal probes such as those used in atomic force microscopes. An electrostatic pattern is placed on a set of proximal probes such that each proximal probe may exert an electrostatic force. A molecule is captured using those electrostatic forces, after which the molecule can be manipulated while the molecule remains captured by the proximal probes. The electrostatic pattern can be modified such that the molecule moves and/or rotates over the set of proximal probes while the molecule remains captured by the set of proximal probes. The electrostatic pattern can be used to bend or split the molecule while the molecule remains captured by the set of proximal probes, thereby allowing the system to engage the molecule in chemical reactions, e.g., to act as a synthetic catalyst or a synthetic enzyme.

Abstract: A process for arranging a number of micro-bodies efficiently and precisely as one on one spot on a substrate. Charged spots are formed by a converging ion beam or the like on a substrate having an insulating property or the like, and micro-bodies having a size of 200 microns or less are attracted and stuck to the charged spots.

Abstract: A gas discharge lamp for the wavelength range of extreme ultraviolet radiation and/or soft X-ray radiation has at least two electrodes for providing a radiaton-emitting plasma in the intervening discharge space. One of the electrodes has a continuous opening to an adjoining outer region where charge carriers can be generated which can be transported through the opening in to the discharge space. The electrode opening narrows in the direction of the outer region.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for regenerating ion samples for a mass spectrometer are provided. Source samples are loaded on a support which is heated by a laser beam, desorbing the sample without ionization. The desorbed sample is carried by a carrier gas flow through a transfer tube, at the output of which it is ionized by corona discharge or photo-ionization. The obtained ionized sample may be analyzed in a mass spectrometer or used to serve any other appropriate purpose.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a corrector for correcting energy-dependent first-order aberrations of the first degree as well as third-order spherical aberrations of electron-optical lens systems. The corrector includes at least one quadrupole septuplet (S1) having seven quadrupoles (Q1 to Q7). The quadrupoles are mounted symmetrically to a center plane (ZS) so as to permit excitation along a linear axis. The corrector furthermore includes at least five octopoles (O1 to O7) which can be excited within the quadrupole septuplet. In an advantageous embodiment, two quadrupole septuplets are mounted in series one behind the other. The quadrupole fields of the two quadrupole septuplets are excited antisymmetrically to a center plane lying between the two quadrupole septuplets.

Abstract: Disclosed is a transresistance amplifier for a charged particle detector, comprising a variable input resistance, which may be a phototransistor (IC3), a voltage amplification stage (IC1) and control means (IC3), operable to vary the variable input resistance. The variable input resistance includes a first light-dependent resistance and the control means includes a first variable intensity light source that is optically coupled to the first light-dependent resistance. Also disclosed is a charged particle detector that includes such a transresistance amplifier and an electron microscope that includes such a charged particle detector.

Abstract: An ultraviolet water treatment system is provided for treating water moving through a treatment area in a direction D. The system includes a series of ultraviolet modules disposed in side-by-side relationship in the treatment area. Each module includes an ultraviolet lamp and a pair of vertical supports with one support of each module being deemed an upstream support and one support being deemed a downstream support. The upstream supports of the respective modules are non-aligned and at least two of the upstream supports are staggered in the direction D and lie generally in separate transverse planes with respect to direction D.

Abstract: In an irradiation system with an ion beam/charged particle beam having an energy filter, the energy filter is formed by deflection electrodes and a deflection magnet which can be switchingly used. The deflection magnet has a general window-frame shape and is formed with a hollow portion at its center. The deflection electrodes are installed, along with suppression electrodes, in a vacuum chamber arranged in the hollow portion of the deflection magnet. The deflection electrodes are installed with respect to the deflection magnet such that a deflection trajectory of a beam caused by a magnetic field and a deflection trajectory of a beam caused by an electric field overlap each other. Since the deflection electrodes and the deflection magnet can be switchingly used, the system can deal with a wider range of beam conditions and thus is widely usable.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus including an illumination system configured to provide a beam of radiation; a support configured to support a patterning device, the patterning configured to impart the projection beam with a pattern in its cross-section; a substrate table configured to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate; at least one mounting bracket configured to couple a second part of the apparatus to a first part thereof, the mounting bracket including a first rigid part, a second rigid part, and an elastic part connecting the first and second rigid parts, wherein a fixing mechanism is provided to fix the positions of the first rigid part and the second rigid part with respect to each other, the elastic part being less rigid than each of the rigid bracket parts, and the fixing mechanism is configured to couple the first and second rigid parts of the mounting bracket substantially by form fixation.

Abstract: An irradiation apparatus for irradiating by scanning a target volume according to a predetermined dose profile with a scanning beam of charged particles forming an irradiation spot on said target volume, said apparatus comprising: a beam generating device, a reference generator for computing, from said predetermined dose profile, through a dynamic inverse control strategy, the time evolution of commanded variables, these variables being the beam current I(t), the spot position settings x(t),y(t) and the scanning speed settings vx(t), vy(t), a monitor device having means for detecting at each time (t), the actual spot position as a measured position defined by the values xm(t),ym(t) on the target volume, characterised in that said irradiation apparatus further comprises means for determining the differences ex(t), ey(t) between the measured values xm(t), ym(t) and the spot position settings x(t) and y(t), and means for applying a correction to the scanning speed settings vx(t) and vy(t) depending on said d

Abstract: A specimen enclosure assembly (100) for use in an electron microscope and including a rigid specimen enclosure dish (102) having an aperture (122) and defining an enclosed specimen placement volume (125), an electron beam permeable, fluid impermeable, cover (114) sealing the specimen placement volume (125) at the aperture (122) from a volume outside the enclosure and a pressure controller communicating with the enclosed specimen placement volume (125) and being operative to maintain the enclosed specimen placement volume (125) at a pressure, which exceeds a vapor pressure of a liquid sample (123) in the specimen placement volume (125) and is greater than a pressure of a volume outside the enclosure, whereby a pressure differential across the cover (114) does not exceed a threshold level at which rupture of the cover (114) would occur.

Abstract: A detection scheme for time-of-flight mass spectrometers is described that extends the dynamic range of spectrometers that use counting techniques while avoiding the problems of crosstalk. It is well known that a multiple anode detector capable of detecting different fractions of the incoming particles may be used to increase the dynamic range of a TOFMS system. However, crosstalk between the anodes limits the amount by which the dynamic range may be increased. The present invention overcomes limitations imposed by crosstalk by using either a secondary amplification stage or by using different primary amplification stages.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for real-time environmental gas sampling. A manifold is disclosed allowing for real-time gas sampling and monitoring/analysis of atomospheric over a wide range of oxygen contents, e.g., oxygen-rich as well as oxygen-deficient sampling environments in conjunction with mass-sepectrometric analysis achieving detection limits as low as single part per-billion.

Abstract: A charged particle beam apparatus produces little reduction in resolution when the beam is inclined with respect to a sample. The trajectory of a primary beam 4 is deflected by a deflector or changed by a movable aperture such that the beam is incident on a plurality of lenses 6 and 7 off the axes thereof. A means is provided to control the off-axis trajectory of the beam such that an aberration produced by the objective lens 7 when the beam is inclined can be canceled by an aberration produced by the other lens 6.

Abstract: The method of the present invention is to select ions having a predetermined mass to charge ratio by applying an ion selecting electric field in an ion storage space of an ion storage device. The method is characterized in that the ion selecting electric field is generated to be proportional to a product of a) a base wave composed of a repetition of a unit wave of a constant amplitude and a predetermined pattern, and b) an amplitude pattern which changes continuously. The amplitude pattern is preferred to increase as time passes in order to gradually increase the intensity of the ion selecting electric field applied to the ion storage space until ions of a desired mass to charge ratio are selected. The unit wave may be generated by the FNF method or by the SWIFT method. Further, it is effective to increase the intensity of the frequency components of the unit wave as the frequency is further from the characteristic frequency of the object ion having a desired mass to charge ratio.

Abstract: One embodiment disclosed relates to an apparatus for detecting defects in substrates. An irradiation source is configured to generate an incident beam, and a lens system configured to focus the incident beam onto a target substrate so as to cause emission of electrons. A multiple-bin detector is configured to detect the emitted electrons, and each bin of the detector detects the emitted electrons within a range of energies. A processing system configured to process signals from the multiple-bin detector. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

Abstract: A light source unit supplies the light radiated from the plasma, and includes a stabilizer for reducing a fluctuation of a position of the light radiated from the plasma.

Abstract: A deflector which deflects a charged particle beam includes a substrate having an opening through which the charged particle beam should pass, and a deflection electrode which is arranged in the opening to deflect the charged particle beam and has a first conductive member and second conductive member which are formed by plating. The second conductive member is formed on a surface of the first conductive member and is essentially made of a material that is more difficult to oxidize than the first conductive member.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for damping the kinetic energy of ions in ion cells filled with collision gas and with an exit aperture to drain the ions out of the cell. The invention uses a conditioning cell with an adjustable DC potential which decreases towards the exit aperture to compress the phase volume of the ions by damping their kinetic energies, collecting the ions after thermalization in the spatial potential minimum thus created and letting them drain away relatively slowly through a central potential minimum in the exit aperture system. This facilitates the production of very fine, highly parallel ion beams which consist of almost monoenergetic ions. In particular, the method can also be coupled with a fragmentation of the ions.

Abstract: A technique is disclosed for presenting a sample to a radiation interface of an analysis engine employing x-ray, neutron ray, gamma ray or particle-beam radiation to analyze the sample. A protective barrier, transparent to the radiation, and separating the sample from the engine, is moveable relative to the radiation interface, using a barrier movement system. The barrier in one embodiment is a film movable over a cavity in which the sample placed, and moveable with a system of reels to provide and retrieve a generally continuous supply of film over the cavity. The cavity may form a portion of a sample path through which the sample is moveable. If the sample path is pressurized, the film maintains the pressure during analysis of the sample by the analysis engine.