Patents by Inventor Nikolai KNAUB

Nikolai KNAUB has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method of automatically focusing a charged particle beam on a surface region of a sample, method of calculating a converging set of sharpness values of images of a charged particle beam device and charged particle beam device for imaging a sample
    Patent number: 11610755
    Abstract: A method of automatically focusing a charged particle beam on a surface region of a sample is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images for a corresponding plurality of focusing strength values; calculating a plurality of sharpness values based on the plurality of images, the plurality of sharpness values are calculated with a sharpness function provided as a sum in a frequency space based on the plurality of images; and determining subsequent focusing strength values of the plurality of focusing strength values with a golden ratio search algorithm based one the calculated sharpness values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Trauner, Bernhard Schüler, Bernhard G. Mueller, Nikolai Knaub, Kulpreet Singh Virdi
  • METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY FOCUSING A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM ON A SURFACE REGION OF A SAMPLE, METHOD OF CALCULATING A CONVERGING SET OF SHARPNESS VALUES OF IMAGES OF A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE AND CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE FOR IMAGING A SAMPLE
    Publication number: 20220044907
    Abstract: A method of automatically focusing a charged particle beam on a surface region of a sample is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images for a corresponding plurality of focusing strength values; calculating a plurality of sharpness values based on the plurality of images, the plurality of sharpness values are calculated with a sharpness function provided as a sum in a frequency space based on the plurality of images; and determining subsequent focusing strength values of the plurality of focusing strength values with a golden ratio search algorithm based one the calculated sharpness values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2021
    Publication date: February 10, 2022
    Inventors: Robert TRAUNER, Bernhard SCHÜLER, Bernhard G. MUELLER, Nikolai KNAUB, Kulpreet Singh VIRDI
  • Method of automatically focusing a charged particle beam on a surface region of a sample, method of calculating a converging set of sharpness values of images of a charged particle beam device and charged particle beam device for imaging a sample
    Patent number: 11195691
    Abstract: A method of automatically focusing a charted particle beam on a surface region of a sample is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images for a corresponding plurality of focusing strength values; calculating a plurality of sharpness values based on the plurality of images, the plurality of sharpness values are calculated with a sharpness function provided as a sum in a frequency space based on the plurality of images; and determining subsequent focusing strength values of the plurality of focusing strength values with a golden ratio search algorithm based one the calculated sharpness values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Trauner, Bernhard Schüler, Bernhard G. Mueller, Nikolai Knaub, Kulpreet Singh Virdi
  • METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY FOCUSING A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM ON A SURFACE REGION OF A SAMPLE, METHOD OF CALCULATING A CONVERGING SET OF SHARPNESS VALUES OF IMAGES OF A CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE AND CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM DEVICE FOR IMAGING A SAMPLE
    Publication number: 20210249220
    Abstract: A method of automatically focusing a charged particle beam on a surface region of a sample is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images for a corresponding plurality of focusing strength values; calculating a plurality of sharpness values based on the plurality of images, the plurality of sharpness values are calculated with a sharpness function provided as a sum in a frequency space based on the plurality of images; and determining subsequent focusing strength values of the plurality of focusing strength values with a golden ratio search algorithm based one the calculated sharpness values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Publication date: August 12, 2021
    Inventors: Robert TRAUNER, Bernhard SCHÜLER, Bernhard G. MUELLER, Nikolai KNAUB, Kulpreet Singh VIRDI
  • SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVE AUTOFOCUS
    Publication number: 20200118786
    Abstract: A system and method for focusing a scanning electron microscope (SEM) comprise acquiring a first SEM image of a sample using a first focus condition, analyzing the first SEM image to determine contrast change measurements, determining a region of interest based on the contrast change measurements, adjusting the SEM from the first focus condition to a second focus condition based at least in part on the region of interest, wherein the first focus condition differs from the second focus condition, and acquiring a second SEM image of the sample using the second focus condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Publication date: April 16, 2020
    Inventors: Bernhard G. MUELLER, Kulpreet Singh VIRDI, Nikolai KNAUB