A magnetic media disk is fabricated by depositing magnetic layers over the disk, then depositing protective later over the magnetic layer, and then performing ion implant process to implant ions into the protective coating. A system for performing the ion implant of the magnetic media disk includes two ion implant chambers. During operation one chamber performs ion implant and one chamber performs chamber cleaning by maintaining inside a plasma of cleaning gas without a disk present inside the chamber.

Curtaining artifacts on high aspect ratio features are reduced by reducing the distance between a protective layer and feature of interest. For example, the ion beam can mill at an angle to the work piece surface to create a sloped surface. A protective layer is deposited onto the sloped surface, and the ion beam mills through the protective layer to expose the feature of interest for analysis. The sloped mill positions the protective layer close to the feature of interest to reduce curtaining.

An apparatus and a method for measuring and monitoring the properties of a fluid, for example, pressure, temperature, and chemical properties, within a sample holder for an electron microscope. The apparatus includes at least one fiber optic sensor used for measuring temperature and/or pressure and/or pH positioned in proximity of the sample.

Provided is a device for optimizing a diffusion section of an electron beam, comprising two groups of permanent magnets, a magnetic field formed by the four magnetic poles extending the electron beam in a longitudinal direction, and compressing the electron beam in a transverse direction, so that the electron beam becomes an approximate ellipse; another magnetic field formed by the eight magnetic poles optimizing an edge of a dispersed electron-beam bunch into an approximate rectangle; by controlling the four longitudinal connection mechanisms so that the upper magnetic yoke and the lower magnetic yoke of the first group of permanent magnets move synchronously towards the center thereof thereby longitudinally compressing the electron beam in the shape of an approximate ellipse, and the upper magnetic yoke and the lower magnetic yoke of the second group of permanent magnets move synchronously towards the center thereof thereby longitudinally compressing the electron beam in the shape of an approximate rectangle, and the process of longitudinal compression is repeated until a longitudinal size of the electron-beam bunch is reduced to 80 mm. The invention is capable of reasonably compressing a longitudinal size of an electron-beam bunch after diffusion to approximately 80 mm, which ensures optimum irradiation uniformity and efficiency, and enables the longitudinal size to be within the range of a conventional titanium window.

The present invention relates to modulating an irradiation condition of a charged particle beam at high speed and detecting a signal in synchronization with a modulation period for the purpose of extracting a signal arising from a certain charged particle beam when a sample is irradiated with a plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously or, for example, for the purpose of separating a secondary electron signal arising from ion beam irradiation and a secondary electron signal arising from electron beam irradiation in an FIB-SEM system. The present invention further relates to dispersing light emitted from two or more kinds of scintillators having different light emitting properties, detecting each signal strength, and processing a signal on the basis of a ratio of first signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a first charged particle beam alone to second signal strength when the sample is irradiated with a second charged particle beam alone, the ratio being set by a mechanism. The present invention enables extraction of only a signal arising from a desired charged particle beam even when the sample is irradiated with the plurality of charged particle beams simultaneously. The SEM observation can be performed in the middle of the FIB processing using the secondary electron in the FIB-SEM system, for example.

A method for preparing a sample for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) comprises providing a substrate having a patterned area on its surface that is defined by a particular topography. A conformal layer of contrasting material is deposited on the topography by depositing a layer of the contrasting material on a local target area of the substrate, spaced apart from the patterned area via Electron Beam Induced Deposition (EBID). The deposition parameters, the thickness of the layer deposited in the target area, and the distance of the target area to the patterned area are selected so that a conformal layer of the contrasting material is formed on the topography of the patterned area. A protective layer is subsequently deposited. The protective layer does not damage the topography in the patterned area because the patterned area is protected by the conformal layer.

A device (1) for coating a substrate (4) with nanometric sized particles, wherein the device comprises: a plurality of aerodynamic lenses able to product a jet (3) of nanometric sized particles, each of the aerodynamic lenses having a longitudinal axis, the aerodynamic lenses being arranged so that the various longitudinal axes are parallel and oriented in a first direction (X) defining the direction of propagation of the jet and in the form of at least two columns (9, 10) offset from each other in a second direction (Y) orthogonal to the first direction, where the first and the second column each comprise at least one of the aerodynamic lenses, the at least one of the aerodynamic lenses of the first column also being offset relative to the at least one of the aerodynamic lenses of the second column in a third direction (Z) that is both orthogonal to the first direction and to the second direction.

A method of failure analysis for locating open circuit defect in a metal layers, comprising: providing a chip sample having a metal layer, with an open circuit defect; delaminating the chip to expose the metal layer; depositing a metal conductive layer on the metal layer; removing a portion of the metal conductive layer to expose the metal layer; depositing a non-conductive protective layer to cover the exposed metal layer and any remaining portions of the metal conductive layer; preparing a TEM slice sample which comprises the metal layer, the remaining portions of the metal conductive layer, and the non-conductive protective layer; performing a VC analysis on the TEM slice sample to determine the defect position of the open circuit defect; and analyzing the defect position of the open circuit defect.

The present application discloses a method for preparing a TEM sample, comprising: step 1, step 1, providing a chip sample having a metal protective layer formed on a first surface; step 2, fixing the chip sample on a sample table of a FIB system; step 3, performing the first time of FIB cutting on the metal protective layer along a first direction, so as to form a groove, wherein the first direction is the width direction of the TEM sample, and the inner side surface of the groove is arc-shaped so that the thickness of the metal protective layer in a groove area gradually changes; and step 4, performing the second time of FIB cutting along a third direction to thin the chip sample and form the TEM sample, wherein the third direction is a direction from the metal protective layer to the chip sample.

The present application relates to a scanning probe microscope comprising a probe arrangement for analyzing at least one defect of a photolithographic mask or of a wafer, wherein the scanning probe microscope comprises: (a) at least one first probe embodied to analyze the at least one defect; (b) means for producing at least one mark, by use of which the position of the at least one defect is indicated on the mask or on the wafer; and (c) wherein the mark is embodied in such a way that it may be detected by a scanning particle beam microscope.