A sputter deposition method includes sputtering a first target material onto a web substrate moving through a first process module while heating the substrate, providing the substrate from the first process module to a connection unit containing a roller assembly including a plurality of cylindrical rollers, bending the substrate at an angle of 10° to 40° around the roller assembly in the connection unit, providing the substrate from the connection unit to a second process module, and sputtering a second target material onto the substrate moving through the second process module while heating the substrate.

A sample holder tip for use in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for performing in-situ experiments is described which facilitates in situ analysis of air-sensitive samples and allows physical manipulation of the sample. This includes, but is not limited to translation, rotation, electrical biasing, and heating/cooling for one or more individual cradles. The sample holder tip incorporates a compact design which eases sample loading and enables direct linkages between consecutive cradles, allowing a single tilt actuator to rotate each cradle around its respective eucentric position. Each of the connecting wires incorporates one or more bends or kinks which enable conductive access to the sample holder tip while also preserving the ability to also retract/extend the tip and tilt individual cradles with at least two degrees of freedom.

An automated grid handling apparatus for an electron microscope including a transport module having a multistage shuttle, the multistage shuttle having a first shuttle stage having a single degree of freedom of motion for gross movement, a second shuttle stage having a single degree of freedom of motion independent of the first stage for fine movement, an end effector connected to at least one of the first and second shuttle stages, the end effector being configured to hold a grid carrier and transport the grid carrier holding the grid into and out of an electron microscope through a transport interface that is communicably connected to a multi-axis positioning stage port of the electron microscope, the end effector having a range of motion, defined by a combination of the first and second stage degrees of freedom of motions and the multi-axis positioning stage internal to the electron microscope, and an automated loading module connected to the frame and being communicably connected to the transport module, the automated loading module including a load port module through which grids are loaded into the automated loading and transport modules.

The present invention relates to a transportable device, for the transport and transfer of a sample under ultra-high vacuum conditions and at low temperature, comprising a vacuum chamber, a cooling system, a transfer rod by means of which the sample positon can be adjusted, a valve by means of which the chamber can be opened or closed and attached to another vacuum apparatus, a pump designed to maintain in the chamber a pressure below 10.sup.−9 mbar all the time a sample is inside the chamber and/or all the time the sample is being transferred, a cooling shield defining a volume inside the chamber in which the sample is kept during transport, wherein the cooling shield (106) is thermally contacted to the cooling system, a sample holder removably attached to the transfer rod and configured to carry the sample during transport, a cooling block thermally contacted to the cooling shield, wherein the cooling block and the sample holder are configured such that they can be brought in thermal contact inside the volume defined by the cooling shield, wherein the cooling system is configured to be able cool the cooling shield to a temperature below 80 K. and wherein the thermal contacts between the cooling shield and the cooling block and/or between the cooling block and the sample holder are configured such that the sample is kept at a temperature higher than the cooling shield all the time the temperature of the cooling shield is lower titan the temperature of the chamber. The present invention relates also to the use of a hexapod port aligner for the transfer of a sample front a vacuum transport device to an electron microscope, especially a transmission electron microscope.

A substrate holding device is provided. The substrate holding device includes a substrate holder, a shaft attached to the substrate holder, a motor attached to the shaft, lifting pins, and a transmission assembly. The lifting pins are movable between a retracted position below a surface of the substrate holder, and a protruded position protruding from the surface. The transmission assembly is provided between the shaft and lifting pins and switches the substrate holding device between a transmittable state in which a driving force from the motor is transmitted to the lifting pins to move the lifting pins between the retracted position and the protruded position, and a non-transmittable state in which the driving force from the motor is not transmitted to the lifting pins but rotates the substrate holder.

A substrate processing system includes a first substrate processing chamber, a first substrate transfer chamber connected to the first substrate processing chamber, a second substrate processing chamber, and a second substrate transfer chamber connected to the second substrate processing chamber. The substrate processing system further includes a buffer chamber connected between the first substrate transfer chamber and the second substrate transfer chamber, the buffer chamber having at least one substrate holder. At least a part of the buffer chamber and at least one of the first substrate transfer chamber or the second substrate transfer chamber are vertically overlapped with each other.

The invention relates to a transport apparatus for transferring a sample between two devices. The transport apparatus comprises a transport tube provided with a carrier for holding a sample. The carrier is movable within said transport tube along a length thereof. The transport apparatus further comprises an actuator tube extending substantially next to said transport tube and which is provided with an actuator element that is movable within said actuator tube. Said actuator element comprises a first magnet part, and said sample carrier is provided with a second magnet part, wherein said first magnet part and said second magnet part are configured such that movement of the sample carrier through said transport tube is linked to movement of the magnetic actuator element through the actuator tube. In this way, movement of the magnetic actuator causes movement of the sample carrier, allowing safe, reliable and protected transport of the sample.

Air sensitive sample may be transferred between charged particle instruments or between charged particle instrument and a glove box using a sample transfer system. The sample transfer system includes a transfer shuttle for receiving a sample carrier and a transfer rod detachable coupled to the transfer shuttle. The transfer rod moves the sample carrier into or out of the transfer shuttle.

An ion beam cutting calibration system includes a sample cutting table, a coarse calibration device, a microscopic observation device, and a flip table. The flip table includes a flip plate, which is configured to drive the sample cutting table to swing in a vertical plane. The swing axis of the flip plate is collinear with the side edge of the top surface of the ion beam shielding plate close to the sample. Through the coordinated operation of the flip table, the microscopic observation device, the sample cutting table, and the coarse calibration device, the ion beam cutting calibration system avoids the problem that when the position relationship between the sample and the shielding plate is observed from multiple angles during calibration loading, the sample and the shielding plate are likely to be moved out of the field of vision of the microscope and out of focus.

An automated grid handling apparatus for an electron microscope including a transport module having a multistage shuttle, the multistage shuttle having a first shuttle stage having a single degree of freedom of motion for gross movement, a second shuttle stage having a single degree of freedom of motion independent of the first stage for fine movement, an end effector connected to at least one of the first and second shuttle stages, the end effector being configured to hold a grid carrier and transport the grid carrier holding the grid into and out of an electron microscope through a transport interface that is communicably connected to a multi-axis positioning stage port of the electron microscope, the end effector having a range of motion, defined by a combination of the first and second stage degrees of freedom of motions and the multi-axis positioning stage internal to the electron microscope, and an automated loading module connected to the frame and being communicably connected to the transport module, the automated loading module including a load port module through which grids are loaded into the automated loading and transport modules.