Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to methods of forming gratings. The method includes depositing a resist material on a grating material disposed over a substrate, patterning the resist material into a resist layer, projecting a first ion beam to the first device area to form a first plurality of gratings, and projecting a second ion beam to the second device area to form a second plurality of gratings. Using a patterned resist layer allows for projecting an ion beam over a large area, which is often easier than focusing the ion beam in a specific area.

A method of raster scanning a surface of an object using a particle beam comprises determining a basic set of raster points within a surface; determining a surface portion of the surface of the object, wherein the surface portion is to be raster scanned; ordering a set of raster points of the basic set located within the surface portion; and scanning of the surface portion by directing the particle beam onto the raster points of the ordered set in an order corresponding to an order of the raster points in the ordered set from the outside to the inside, i.e. starting from the boundary of the surface portion towards its center, or in the reverse order, i.e. from the inside to the outside.

An etching method includes: (a) etching a substrate including an etching target film and a mask formed on the etching target film to form a recess that reaches the etching target film; (b) forming a protective film having a thickness corresponding to one molecular layer on a surface of the recess using a first gas; (c) etching the etching target film with plasma generated from a second gas while leaving the protective film on a side wall of the recess; and (d) repeating (b) and (c).

Analyzing a sidewall of a hole milled in a sample to determine thickness of a buried layer includes milling the hole in the sample using a charged particle beam of a focused ion beam (FIB) column to expose the buried layer along the sidewall of the hole. After milling, the sidewall of the hole has a known slope angle. From a perspective relative to a surface of the sample, a distance is measured between a first point on the sidewall corresponding to an upper surface of the buried layer and a second point on the sidewall corresponding to a lower surface of the buried layer. The thickness of the buried layer is determined using the known slope angle of the sidewall, the distance, and the angle relative to the surface of the sample.

Analyzing a sidewall of a hole milled in a sample to determine thickness of a buried layer includes milling the hole in the sample using a charged particle beam of a focused ion beam (FIB) column to expose the buried layer along the sidewall of the hole. After milling, the sidewall of the hole has a known slope angle. From a perspective relative to a surface of the sample, a distance is measured between a first point on the sidewall corresponding to an upper surface of the buried layer and a second point on the sidewall corresponding to a lower surface of the buried layer. The thickness of the buried layer is determined using the known slope angle of the sidewall, the distance, and the angle relative to the surface of the sample.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for atomic-scale materials processing based on electron beam induced etching assisted by remote plasma are disclosed. For example, a method may include placing the substrate into a low-pressure chamber to which an electron source is connected. The method may also include contacting the surface of the substrate with reactive particle fluxes produced by a remote plasma source connected to the low-pressure chamber. The remote plasma source may be fed with one or more chemical precursors for surface chemical functionalization of the surface of the substrate. The method may further include electron irradiation of the surface of the substrate with electrons via the electron source at a specified energy level to induce a surface chemical process on the surface of the substrate.

A lamella 10 including an analysis portion 11 and a cutout portion 12 separated from the analysis portion 11 is produced. When a plurality of the lamellae 10 are transported to a lamella grid 20, the plurality of lamellae 10 are supported by a support portion 22 protruding from a surface of a substrate 21, and are mounted adjacent to each other in a Z direction. At this time, the cutout portion 12 prevents the analysis portion 11 from damage.

Provided is an ion milling apparatus capable of enhancing reproducibility of an ion distribution. The ion milling apparatus includes: an ion source 101; a sample stage 102 on which a sample to be processed by being irradiated with an unfocused ion beam from the ion source 101 is placed; and a measurement member holding unit 106 that holds an ion beam current measurement member 105. A covering material 120 is provided so as to cover at least a surface of the measurement member holding unit 106 and the sample stage 102 facing the ion source 101. A material of the covering material 120 contains, as a main component, an element having an atomic number smaller than that of an element of a material of a structure on which the covering material is provided. The ion beam current measurement member 105 is moved in an irradiation range of the ion beam on a trajectory, which is located between the ion source and the sample stage, in a state where the ion beam is output from the ion source 101 under a first irradiation condition, and an ion beam current flowing when the ion beam current measurement member 105 is irradiated with the ion beam is measured.

A substrate processing system includes a substrate processing apparatus and a switching timing creation support device, wherein the switching timing creation support device includes: an acquisition part configured to acquire, for each of a plurality of properties of particles contained in a gas in the substrate processing apparatus during a processing for a substrate, a measured value of an amount of the particles from a measuring device; a selection part configured to select properties of a predetermined number of the particles in descending order of temporal variations in the amount of the particles; a determination part configured to determine an operation expression and a switching condition for determining a switching timing based on a temporal change in the amount of the particles for each of the selected properties of the particles; and an output part configured to output the operation expression and the switching condition to the substrate processing apparatus.

Exemplary methods of etching may include flowing a fluorine-containing precursor and a secondary gas into a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. The secondary gas may be or include oxygen or nitrogen. A flow rate ratio of the fluorine-containing precursor to the secondary gas may be greater than or about 1:1. The methods may include contacting a substrate with the fluorine-containing precursor and the secondary gas. The substrate may include an exposed metal. The substrate may define a high aspect-ratio structure. The methods may include etching the exposed metal within the high aspect-ratio structure.