With Target Means Patents (Class 250/398)
  • Patent number: 7495245
    Abstract: A chamber for exposing a workpiece to charged particles includes a charged particle source for generating a stream of charged particles, a collimator configured to collimate and direct the stream of charged particles from the charged particle source along an axis, a beam digitizer downstream of the collimator configured to create a digital beam including groups of at least one charged particle by adjusting longitudinal spacing between the charged particles along the axis, a deflector downstream of the beam digitizer including a series of deflection stages disposed longitudinally along the axis to deflect the digital beams, and a workpiece stage downstream of the deflector configured to hold the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2009
    Assignee: NexGen Semi Holding, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael John Zani, Mark Joseph Bennahmias, Mark Anthony Mayse, Jeffrey Winfield Scott
  • Patent number: 7495244
    Abstract: A chamber for exposing a workpiece to charged particles includes a charged particle source for generating a stream of charged particles, a collimator configured to collimate and direct the stream of charged particles from the charged particle source along an axis, a beam digitizer downstream of the collimator configured to create a digital beam including groups of at least one charged particle by adjusting longitudinal spacing between the charged particles along the axis, a deflector downstream of the beam digitizer including a series of deflection stages disposed longitudinally along the axis to deflect the digital beams, and a workpiece stage downstream of the deflector configured to hold the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2009
    Assignee: NexGen Semi Holding, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael John Zani, Mark Joseph Bennahmias, Mark Anthony Mayse, Jeffrey Winfield Scott
  • Patent number: 7495242
    Abstract: A chamber for exposing a workpiece to charged particles includes a charged particle source for generating a stream of charged particles, a collimator configured to collimate and direct the stream of charged particles from the charged particle source along an axis, a beam digitizer downstream of the collimator configured to create a digital beam including groups of at least one charged particle by adjusting longitudinal spacing between the charged particles along the axis, a deflector downstream of the beam digitizer including a series of deflection stages disposed longitudinally along the axis to deflect the digital beams, and a workpiece stage downstream of the deflector configured to hold the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2009
    Assignee: NexGen Semi Holding, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael John Zani, Mark Joseph Bennahmias, Mark Anthony Mayse, Jeffrey Winfield Scott
  • Patent number: 7491933
    Abstract: An electron beam (4) to be irradiated onto a sample (10) is two-dimensionally scanned by a scanning coil (9), and secondary electrons generated from the sample (10) by the scanning are detected by a secondary electron detector (13). A deflection coil (15) for image shifting is used for electrically deflecting the primary electron beam to shift a field of view for image shift in an arbitrary direction by an arbitrary amount. By the image shift, the primary electron beam (4) to be irradiated onto the sample is energy dispersed to degrade the resolution. However, an E×B field producer (30) for dispersion control gives the primary electron beam energy dispersion in the opposite direction and having the equal magnitude. Therefore, the energy dispersion produced in the primary electron beam by the image shift is automatically corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2009
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsugu Sato, Hideo Todokoro
  • Patent number: 7488961
    Abstract: A computer sets a process area based on an image obtained by observing a mask, and determines the positions of representative points that form a contour of the process area for each pixel with sub-pixel accuracy that is better than a pixel, the position of each of the representative points being able to be set to either the center position of the pixel or a position displaced therefrom. Furthermore, for the pixels within the process area, the computer sets the center positions of the pixels as the representative points and corrects the positions of the representative points of the pixels within the process area on a sub-pixel basis such that nonuniformity between the representative points is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2009
    Assignee: SII NanoTechnology Inc.
    Inventors: Masashi Muramatsu, Tomokazu Kozakai, Ryoji Hagiwara
  • Patent number: 7488960
    Abstract: A chamber for exposing a workpiece to charged particles includes a charged particle source for generating a stream of charged particles, a collimator configured to collimate and direct the stream of charged particles from the charged particle source along an axis, a beam digitizer downstream of the collimator configured to create a digital beam including groups of at least one charged particle by adjusting longitudinal spacing between the charged particles along the axis, a deflector downstream of the beam digitizer including a series of deflection stages disposed longitudinally along the axis to deflect the digital beams, and a workpiece stage downstream of the deflector configured to hold the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2009
    Assignee: NexGen Semi Holding, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael John Zani, Mark Joseph Bennahmias, Mark Anthony Mayse, Jeffrey Winfield Scott
  • Publication number: 20090032724
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing negative ions including an emitter coated with an ionic liquid room-temperature molten salt, an electrode positioned downstream relative to the emitter, a power supply that applies a voltage to the emitter with respect to the electrode. The power supply is sufficient to generate a stable high brightness beam of negative ions having minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations in the beam. An electrostatic lens and deflector is used to focus and direct the beam to a target.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2008
    Publication date: February 5, 2009
    Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Paulo Lozano, Manuel Martinez-Sanchez
  • Patent number: 7485874
    Abstract: This apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor substrates has support disks and holding units holding semiconductor substrates on the support disks. The holding unit has a stopper which is formed of a conductive material and holds the brim of the semiconductor substrate, a stopper holder which supports the stopper at the outer circumferential portion thereof, a retaining member which retains the stopper to the support disk, and a heating unit which heats the stopper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: Sumco Corporation
    Inventors: Seiichi Nakamura, Hideki Nishihata, Riyuusuke Kasamatsu, Kazunori Tsubuku, Akira Bando, Nobuo Tsumaki, Tomoji Watanabe, Kazuo Mera, Tsuneo Hayashi, Yoichi Kurosawa
  • Patent number: 7485879
    Abstract: A writing apparatus including a selector unit responsive to receipt of input data of a pattern to be written by shots of irradiation of an electron beam, configured to select a current density of the electron beam being shot and a maximal shot size thereof based on the input data of the pattern to be written; and a writing unit configured to create an electron beam with the current density selected by said selector unit, shape the created electron beam into a shot size less than or equal to said maximal shot size in units of the shots, and shoot the shaped electron beam onto a workpiece to thereby write said pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Sunaoshi, Shuichi Tamamushi
  • Patent number: 7485880
    Abstract: After a scan area for observing or processing a mask is set, a computer of the charged particle beam apparatus determines a plurality of scan lines in the scan area by the following steps of: setting a scan line along the outer circumference of the scan area; determining a scan line inside and along the thus set scan line; determining a scan line inside and along the thus determined scan line; and repeating the step of determining a scan line. After the scan lines are determined, the computer controls a scanning circuit to apply an ion beam to the scan lines while thinning out scan lines and/or pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: SII NanoTechnology Inc.
    Inventors: Tomokazu Kozakai, Masashi Muramatsu, Ryoji Hagiwara
  • Patent number: 7482587
    Abstract: The present invention disclosure relates to the use of a silicon substrate with a thin film membrane as a transparent substrate for the imaging of biological- and material-related specimens using a microscope such as a transmission electron microscope (TEM). More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved substrate design that incorporates the fabrication of a circular shape that allows easier insertion into traditional specimen holders used in TEMs. In addition to an improved shape, the present invention incorporates microscopic surface texture on the gripping surface that assists in handling. The invention also encompasses surface modification techniques for enhanced biocompatibility of the thin film membrane for biomedical applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Inventor: Dudley Sean Finch
  • Patent number: 7479644
    Abstract: This invention relates to a method of measuring a property of an ion beam, for example an ion beam current profile or the emittance of an ion beam. A Faraday array comprising an array of ion beam current sensors is employed. The array can provide an ion beam current profile at the plane of the array. The Faraday array is also used in conjunction with an occluding element that may be moved through the ion beam upstream of the Faraday array, there obscuring varying portions of the ion beam from the Faraday array. Suitable manipulation of the signals from the Faraday allows the ion beam current profile to be determined for the plane of the occluding element, and also for the emittance of the ion beam at the plane of the occluding element to be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2009
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Geoffrey Ryding, Takao Sakase, Marvin Farley, Theodore Smick
  • Patent number: 7473909
    Abstract: An ion implantation system utilizing detected ion induced luminescence as feedback control that comprises, a wafer, a spectrometer, a photodetector, an ion source generator, wherein the ion source generator is configured to implant the wafer with ions, and the photodetector is configured to detect ion induced luminescence both on and off the wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Ivan L. Berry, III
  • Publication number: 20080315113
    Abstract: A beam guidance magnet for deflecting a beam of electrically charged particles along a curved particle path is provided. The beam guidance magnet includes a coil system that does not include a ferromagnetic material affecting the beam guidance and has curved coils stretched out along the particle path, the coils being arranged in pairs in mirror symmetry to the beam guidance plane. The coil system includes two primary coils and two substantially flat secondary coils. The two primary coils include primary coil sides and primary coil end parts bent upward relative to the beam guidance plane. The two substantially flat secondary coils are disposed between the primary coil end parts. Supplementary coils are disposed in the field range of the respective curved secondary coil end parts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2008
    Publication date: December 25, 2008
    Inventors: Dirk Diehl, Rene Gumbrecht, Eva Schneider
  • Publication number: 20080315120
    Abstract: The invention relates to a focusing and positioning ancillary device for a particle-optical scanning microscope, a particle-optical scanning microscope including a corresponding positioning aid, and a method for focusing and positioning an object in a particle-optical scanning microscope. The focusing and positioning ancillary device includes an illuminating device, a camera, a display and a control unit. The illuminating device produces a collimated or focused light beam at an angle to the particle-optical beam axis which intersects the particle-optical beam axis at a predetermined position. The camera is sensitive to the wavelength of the light beam and records an image of the object, which is positioned on the object table, at a second angle to the particle-optical beam axis. The control unit produces an image captured by the camera on the display together with a marking which indicates the position of the particle-optical beam axis in the image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2008
    Publication date: December 25, 2008
    Inventor: Michael Albiez
  • Patent number: 7465944
    Abstract: A charged particle therapy system is disclosed in which a hard switch for making a beam request of the accelerator side is installed in an irradiation room so that the accelerator side can start a desired beam irradiation preparation after depressing the hard switch. This arrangement allows the accelerator allocated time to be reduced, thereby improving the usage efficiency of the facilities by increasing the throughput with respect to patients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Daisuke Ueno, Daishun Chiba, Yasutake Fujishima
  • Publication number: 20080296509
    Abstract: A phase-shifting element for shifting a phase of at least a portion of a particle beam is described, as well as a particle beam device having a phase-shifting element of this type. In the phase-shifting element and the particle beam device having a phase-shifting element, components shadowing the particle beam are avoided, so that proper information content is achieved and in which the phase contrast is essentially spatial frequency-independent. The phase-shifting element may have at least one means for generating a non-homogeneous or anisotropic potential. The particle beam device according to the system described herein may be provided with the phase-shifting element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2008
    Publication date: December 4, 2008
    Inventors: Rasmus Schroder, Bastian Barton, Gerd Benner, Harald Rose
  • Patent number: 7459681
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to reduce the beam drift in which the orbit of the charged particle beam is deflected by a potential gradient generated by a nonuniform sample surface potential on a charged-particle-beam irradiation area surface, the nonuniform sample surface potential being generated by electrification made when observing an insulating-substance sample using a charged particle beam. Energy of the charged particle beam to be irradiated onto the sample is set so that generation efficiency of secondary electrons generated from the sample becomes equal to 1 or more. A flat-plate electrode (26) is located in such a manner as to be directly opposed to the sample. Here, the flat-plate electrode is an electrode to which a voltage can be applied independently, and which is equipped with a hole through which a primary charged particle beam can pass. Furthermore, a voltage can be applied independently to a sample stage (12) on which the sample is mounted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Noriaki Arai, Makoto Ezumi, Yoichi Ose
  • Patent number: 7456415
    Abstract: A ridge filter or a range modulation wheel (RMW) is formed to have a shape corresponding to an affected part in the patient body. A plurality of spread-out Bragg peaks with the same dose or different doses are formed in the affected part by executing beam-on/off control of the RMW, beam current control with rotation of the RMW, intensity modulation control, or scanning irradiation. As an alternative, a spread-out Bragg peak containing a portion with a different dose is formed. A treatment time is cut.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Yanagisawa, Kazuo Hiramoto, Hiroshi Akiyama
  • Patent number: 7453076
    Abstract: A system for treating target cells with both positive and negative ions comprises a bi-polar beam delivery system configured to create and deliver both positive ion beams and negative ion beams. The bi-polar beam delivery system comprises a bi-polar accelerator configured to accelerate positive and negative ions in the same direction making such a bi-polar beam delivery system practical.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2008
    Assignee: Nanolife Sciences, Inc.
    Inventors: Larry Welch, Ray Winn
  • Patent number: 7449690
    Abstract: To establish a technique that enables sorting of the elevation and azimuth angle in the direction of emitting secondary electrons and obtaining images with emphasized contrast, in order to perform the review and analysis of shallow asperities and microscopic foreign particles in a wafer inspection during the manufacture of semiconductor devices, an electromagnetic overlapping objective lens is used to achieve high resolution, an electron beam is narrowly focused using the objective lens, an electric field for accelerating secondary electrons in the vicinity of a wafer in order to suppress the dependence on secondary electron energy of the rotation of secondary electrons generated by irradiation of the electron beam, a ring-shaped detector plate is disposed between an electron source and the objective lens, and the low angle components of the elevation angle of the secondary electrons, as viewed from the place of generation, and the high angle components are separated and also the azimuth components are separa
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Muneyuki Fukuda, Noritsugu Takahashi, Mitsugu Sato, Atsuko Fukada, Naomasa Suzuki
  • Patent number: 7446320
    Abstract: One embodiment relates to an electronically-variable electrostatic immersion lens in an electron beam apparatus. The electrostatic immersion lens includes a top electrode configured with a first voltage applied thereto, an upper bottom electrode configured with a second voltage applied thereto, and a lower bottom electrode configured with a third voltage applied thereto. The third voltage is controlled separately from the second voltage. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2008
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Technologies Corproation
    Inventors: Mark A. McCord, Kirk J. Bertsche, Francisco Machuca
  • Publication number: 20080265174
    Abstract: A charged particle beam writing apparatus includes an unit configured to irradiate a beam, a deflector configured to deflect the beam, a stage, on which a target is placed, configured to perform moving continuously, an lens configured to focus the beam onto the target, an unit configured to calculate a correction amount for correcting positional displacement of the beam on a surface of the target resulting from a first magnetic field caused by the lens and a second magnetic field caused by an eddy current generated by the first magnetic field and the moving of the stage, an unit configured to calculate a correction position where the positional displacement on the surface of the target has been corrected using the correction amount, and an unit configured to control the deflector so that the beam may be deflected onto the correction position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2008
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Makoto HIRAMOTO, Takashi Kamikubo, Shuichi Tamamushi
  • Patent number: 7439502
    Abstract: The purpose of the invention is to provide an improved electron beam apparatus with improvements in throughput, accuracy, etc. One of the characterizing features of the electron beam apparatus of the present invention is that it has a plurality of optical systems, each of which comprises a primary electron optical system for scanning and irradiating a sample with a plurality of primary electron beams; a detector device for detecting a plurality of secondary beams emitted by irradiating the sample with the primary electron beams; and a secondary electron optical system for guiding the secondary electron beams from the sample to the detector device; all configured so that the plurality of optical systems scan different regions of the sample with their primary electron beams, and detect the respective secondary electron beams emitted from each of the respective regions. This is what makes higher throughput possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2008
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Tohru Satake, Nobuharu Noji, Hirosi Sobukawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shoji Yoshikawa, Toshifumi Kimba, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Muneki Hamashima, Yoshiaki Kohama, Yukiharu Okubo
  • Patent number: 7435956
    Abstract: A charged particle optical system for testing, imaging or inspecting substrates comprises: a charged particle optical assembly configured to produce a line of charged particle beams equally spaced along a main scan axis, each beam being deflectable through a large angle along the main scan axis; and linear detector optics aligned along the main scan axis. The detector optics includes a linear secondary electron detector, a field free tube, voltage contrast plates and a linear backscattered electron detector. The large beam deflection is achieved using an electrostatic deflector for which the exit aperture is larger than the entrance aperture. One embodiment of the deflector includes: two parallel plates with chamfered inner surfaces disposed perpendicularly to the main scan axis; and a multiplicity of electrodes positioned peripherally in the gap between the plates, the electrodes being configured to maintain a uniform electric field transverse to the main scan axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2008
    Assignee: Multibeam Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: N. William Parker
  • Patent number: 7435949
    Abstract: A tandem analysis system is provided for ionizing a substance, performing mass spectrometric analysis of various ion types generated, selecting and dissociating an ion type, the ion type having a specific mass-to-charge ratio, and thereby, repeating mass spectrometric analysis measurement on the ion of the ion type over n-th stages. A processing judges control content for the analysis next to MSn (the n-th stage mass spectrometric analysis) within a predetermined time, based on ion intensity being represented by an ion peak with respect to the mass-to-charge ratio of each ion in the MSn result. An ion detection unit judges isotope-peak from the measured ionized data. Assuming that the MS1 count number of a parent-ion peptide measured during a certain constant time-interval is I, a data processing unit makes the MS2 integration number-of-times or analysis time of the peptide proportional to 1/I.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Ohtake, Kinya Kobayashi, Toshiyuki Yokosuka, Kiyomi Yoshinari
  • Publication number: 20080230694
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2004
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Applicant: ICT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TESTING GESELLSCHAFT FÜR HALBLEITERPRÜFTECHNIK MBH
    Inventor: Juergen Frosien
  • Patent number: 7427765
    Abstract: An electron beam column comprises a thermal field emission electron source to generate an electron beam, an electron beam blanker, a beam shaping module, and electron beam optics comprising a plurality of electron beam lenses. In one version, the optical parameters of the electron beam blanker, beam shaping module, and electron beam optics are set to achieve an acceptance semi-angle ? of from about ¼ to about 3 mrads, where the acceptance semi-angle ? is half the angle subtended by the electron beam at the writing plane. The beam-shaping module can also operate as a single lens using upper and lower projection lenses. A multifunction module for an electron beam column is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2008
    Assignee: Jeol, Ltd.
    Inventors: Benyamin Buller, William J. DeVore, Juergen Frosien, Xinrong Jiang, Richard L. Lozes, Henry Thomas Pearce-Percy, Dieter Winkler, Steven T. Coyle, Helmut Banzhof
  • Publication number: 20080217554
    Abstract: A charged particle beam writing apparatus includes an irradiation part configured to irradiate a charged particle beam; a first shaping aperture member having passing areas, that the charged particle beam passes through, on both sides of an area blocking the charged particle beam; a deflection part configured to deflect the charged particle beam that has passed through the first shaping aperture member; a second shaping aperture member having passing areas, that the charged particle beam passes through, on both sides of an area blocking the deflected charged particle beam; and a stage on which a target workpiece irradiated with the charged particle beam that has passed through the second shaping aperture member is placed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2008
    Publication date: September 11, 2008
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Takayuki ABE
  • Patent number: 7423277
    Abstract: An image monitor system monitors characteristics of an ion beam employed in ion implantation. The monitored characteristics can include particle count, particle information, beam current intensity, beam shape, and the like. The system includes one or more image sensors that capture frames or images along a beam path of an ion beam. An image analyzer analyzes the captured frames to obtain measured characteristics. A controller determines adjustments or corrections according to the measured characteristics and desired beam characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2008
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander S. Perel, Phil J. Ring, Ronald A. Capodilupo, Michael A. Graf
  • Patent number: 7420179
    Abstract: An electron microscope has a spherical aberration correction system having transfer optics inserted between a spherical aberration corrector and the objective lens. The transfer optics consists of first and second lenses each of which is made of a magnetic lens. Electrons passing across a point located at distance r0 from the optical axis are made to enter the first lens within the multipole element. Electrons are made to enter the second lens at distance r1 of the incident point to the objective lens from the optical axis. The ratio M(=r1/r0) is greater than 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignee: Jeol Ltd.
    Inventor: Fumio Hosokawa
  • Patent number: 7417242
    Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method for determining position and two angles of incidence of an ion beam to a surface of a workpiece is provided. A measurement apparatus having an elongate first and second sensor is coupled to a translation mechanism, wherein the first sensor extends in a first direction perpendicular to the translation, and wherein the second sensor extends at an oblique angle to the first sensor. The first and second elongate sensors sense one or more characteristics of the ion beam as the first and second sensors pass through the ion beam at a respective first time and a second time, and a controller is operable to determine a position and first and second angle of incidence of the ion beam, based, at least in part, on the one or more characteristics of the ion beam sensed by the first sensor and second sensor at the first and second times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2008
    Assignee: Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Andrew M. Ray
  • Patent number: 7417233
    Abstract: A system and method of determining shape and position corrections of a beam such as a particle or other beam used in a system such as a particle beam lithography. The method of providing corrected deflector voltages may include determining a voltage step value by subtracting a previous deflector voltage value with a current deflector voltage value; determining a plurality of correction values using the voltage step value and an exposure time for the current deflector voltage value; selecting a current voltage correction value from the plurality of correction values using the current deflector voltage value; and calculating a corrected deflector voltage value by adding the current voltage correction value to the current deflector voltage value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2008
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Scott C. Stovall, Benyamin Buller, Jimmy Iskandar, Ming Lun Yu
  • Patent number: 7408172
    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 than 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsugu Sato, Hideo Todokoro, Yoichi Ose, Makoto Ezumi, Noriaki Arai, Takashi Doi
  • Publication number: 20080179536
    Abstract: A charged-particle beam emitting device which includes the following configuration devices so that a lowering in the image resolution will be suppressed even if a primary beam is tilted relative to a sample: A device for causing orbit of the primary beam to pass through off-axes of a plurality of lenses, and controlling off-axis orbit of the primary beam. This device allows the aberration which occurs in the objective lens at the time of beam tilt to be cancelled out by the aberration which occurs in the other lens. Also, there is provided a device for simultaneously modulating excitations of the plurality of lenses including the objective lens.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2008
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORTION
    Inventors: Mitsugu Sato, Makoto Ezumi, Satoru Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 7394071
    Abstract: A micro column electron beam apparatus having a reduced number of interconnections is provided. The micro column electron beam apparatus includes: a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrate; a plurality of deflector electrodes attached to a predetermined top portion of the LTCC substrate; a pad electrode placed at a top edge of the LTCC substrate and transmitting an external signal to the deflector electrodes; and a connection unit placed in the LTCC substrate and electrically connecting the deflector electrode and the pad electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: Dae Jun Kim, Jin Woo Jeong, Sang Kuk Choi, Dae Yong Kim, Ho Seob Kim
  • Patent number: 7394082
    Abstract: The invention is intended to confirm whether the SOBP (spread-out Bragg peak) width is a desired value in real time during beam irradiation, and to improve safety in treatment. Ion beam delivery equipment comprises a beam generator including a synchrotron, an RMW (range modulation wheel) device for forming an SOBP width of an ion beam extracted from the beam generator, a beam delivery nozzle including a reference dose monitor and a main dose monitor which are installed respectively upstream and downstream of the RMW device in the direction of travel of the ion beam, and an SOBP width computing unit for computing the SOBP width of the ion beam, which is formed by the RMW device, based on values detected by both the reference dose monitor and the main dose monitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Hisataka Fujimaki, Koji Matsuda, Hiroshi Akiyama, Masaki Yanagisawa, Alfred R. Smith, Kazuo Hiramoto
  • Publication number: 20080149846
    Abstract: In a particle-beam apparatus for irradiating a target, a pattern defined in a pattern definer is projected onto the target through a projection system by a beam of energetic electrically charged particles of, largely, a species of a nominal mass having a nominal kinetic energy. To generate the beam, a particle source, a velocity-dependent deflector and an illumination optics system are provided. The velocity-dependent deflector includes a transversal dipole electrical field and/or a transversal dipole magnetic field, which act upon the particles so as to causing a deviation of the path of the particles with regard to the paths of the nominal species which is dependent on the velocity of the particles. A delimiter is provided as a component of the pattern definer or, preferably, the projection system, serving to remove particles whose paths are deviating from the nominal path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2007
    Publication date: June 26, 2008
    Applicant: IMS Nanofabrication AG
    Inventor: Elmar Platzgummer
  • Patent number: 7391033
    Abstract: One embodiment described relates to a multiple electron beam apparatus. Multiple columns are arranged in a row configured to generate multiple electron beams. A mechanism is included for translating a substrate so as to be impinged upon by the multiple electron beams. A direction of the substrate translation and a direction of the row of columns are at a skew angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2008
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: David L Adler
  • Patent number: 7391037
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for generating a plurality of charged particle beamlets, comprising a charged particle source for generating a diverging charged particle beam, a converging means for refracting said diverging charged particle beam and a lens array comprising a plurality of lenses, wherein said lens array is located between said charged particle source and said converging means. In this way, it is possible to reduce aberrations of the converging means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2008
    Assignee: Mapper Lithography IP B.V.
    Inventor: Pieter Kruit
  • Patent number: 7391034
    Abstract: One embodiment pertains to an apparatus which impinges a focused electron beam onto a substrate. The apparatus includes an irradiation source and at least two non-axisymmetric lenses. The irradiation source is configured to originate electrons for an incident electron beam. The non-axisymmetric lenses are positioned after the irradiation source and are configured to focus the beam in a first linear dimension so as to produce a linear crossover of the beam. The non-axisymmetric lenses are further configured to subsequently focus the beam in a second linear dimension, which is substantially perpendicular to the first linear dimension. Finally, the non-axisymmetric lenses are also configured to produce a focused image at an image plane. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2008
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kirk J. Bertsche, Harald F. Hess
  • Publication number: 20080142725
    Abstract: A device for accelerating ions between a potential towards a central point in space is disclosed. The device can be used to accelerate ions along a collision path with other accelerated ions or other present particles resulting in a nuclear fusion reaction. The device improves upon the prior art by using a plasma as one of the electrodes forming the potential.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2006
    Publication date: June 19, 2008
    Inventor: Frank Sanns
  • Patent number: 7385208
    Abstract: A system for implantation dosage control. A first interface receives scan position information. A second interface receives beam current information specifying a first beam current value between scans and a plurality of second beam current values during one of the scans. A controller, determines a tolerance range according to the first beam current value, determines whether the second beam current values exceeds the tolerance range, and calculates number of the second beam current values exceeding the tolerance range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nai-Han Cheng, Stock Chang, Wen-Yuh Peng
  • Patent number: 7385202
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for implanting charged particles in a substrate and a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit. The method for implanting charged particles in a substrate, among other steps, includes projecting a beam of charged particles (320) to a substrate (330), the beam of charged particles (320) having a given beam divergence, and forming a diverged beam of charged particles (360) by subjecting the beam of charged particles (320) to an energy field (350), thereby causing the beam of charged particles (320) to have a larger beam divergence. The method then desires implanting the diverged beam of charged particles (360) into the substrate (330).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: James D. Bernstein, Lance S. Robertson, Said Ghneim, Jiejie Xu, Jeffrey Loewecke
  • Patent number: 7378667
    Abstract: Quadrupole-octupole aberration corrector for application in a TEM, STEM or SEM. A known corrector for correcting third-order and fifth-order aberrations of the objective is embodied with eight quadrupoles and three octupoles. The corrector according to the invention has at least the same aberration-correcting power, but, according to the invention, is embodied with six quadrupoles and three octupoles. By adding octupoles with a relatively weak excitation to a portion of the quadrupoles, correction of the anisotropic coma of the objective lens is also attained. By embodying all quadrupoles, or a portion thereof, to be electromagnetic, chromatic aberrations can also be corrected for.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: FEI Company
    Inventor: Alexander Henstra
  • Patent number: 7378668
    Abstract: In a charged particle beam applying apparatus such as an electron beams lithography system, there is a technology that facilitates positional adjustment of a crossover and improves throughput of the apparatus. A front focal plane of a condenser lens is provided with a sharp end face (crossover regulation edge) for regulating the height of the crossover on a beam axis. By using the crossover regulation edge to measure the shape of an electron beam, the shape of the beam on the front focal plane of the condenser lens can be always checked even if the height of the crossover formed by an electron gun or the resistance of a source forming lens is changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignees: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Sayaka Tanimoto, Yasunari Sohda, Yasuhiro Someda, Masaki Hosoda
  • Patent number: 7375357
    Abstract: The present invention provides a plurality of permanent magnets to enhance radiation dose delivery of a high energy particle beam. The direction of the magnetic field from the permanent magnets may be changed by moving the permanent magnets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: Avi Faliks
    Inventor: Leon Kaufman
  • Patent number: 7372053
    Abstract: A rotating gantry includes a link frame for supporting a plurality of rollers which rotatably support the rotating gantry, a brake for releasing a braking force applied to at least one of the rollers upon supply of air and applying the braking force to the one roller upon discharge of air, and a solenoid valve for sealing the supplied air in the brake when closed, and discharging the air from the brake when opened. The solenoid valve is supported by a solenoid valve support member mounted to the link frame such that the solenoid valve is positioned just near the brake. The rotating gantry can be more quickly braked and stopped while maintaining high irradiation accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Setsubi Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tsutomu Yamashita, Shigeji Kaneko, Yutaka Muramatsu, Hiroshi Saga
  • Patent number: 7368738
    Abstract: In a pattern definition device for use in a particle-beam exposure apparatus a plurality of blanking openings (910) are arranged within a pattern definition field (bf) composed of a plurality of staggered lines (bl) of blanking openings, each provided with a deflection means controllable by a blanking signal (911); for the lines of blanking openings, according to a partition of the blanking openings of a line into several groups (g4,g5,g6), the deflection means of the blanking openings of each group are fed a common group blanking signal (911), and the group blanking signal of each group of a line is fed to the blanking means and connected to the respective blanking openings independently of the group blanking signals of the other groups of the same line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2008
    Assignee: Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH
    Inventor: Elmar Platzgummer
  • Publication number: 20080099693
    Abstract: In a particle-beam projection processing apparatus a target (41) is irradiated by means of a beam (pb) of energetic electrically charged particles, using a projection system (103) to image a pattern presented in a pattern definition means (102) onto the target (41) held at position by means of a target stage; no elements—other than the target itself—obstruct the path of the beam after the optical elements of the projection system. In order to reduce contaminations from the target space into the projection system, a protective diaphragm (15) is provided between the projection system and the target stage, having a central aperture surrounding the path of the patterned beam, wherein at least the portions of the diaphragm defining the central aperture are located within a field-free space after the projection system (103).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Publication date: May 1, 2008
    Applicant: IMS Nanofabrication AG
    Inventor: Elmar Platzgummer