A method for manufacturing an electron source according to the present disclosure includes steps of: (A) preparing a first member provided with a columnar portion made of a first material having an electron emission characteristic, (B) preparing a second member which has a higher work function and a lower strength than the first material, and in which a hole is formed extending in a direction from one end surface toward the other end surface, and (C) pushing the columnar portion into the hole in the second member, wherein the first member has a cross-sectional shape that is dissimilar to the cross-sectional shape of the hole; and in the step (C), by pressing the columnar portion into the hole, a portion of a side surface of the columnar portion scrapes the inner surface of the hole and bites into the second member, thereby fixing the columnar portion to the second member.

Provided is a charged particle beam source having an emitter that can be replaced easily. The charged particle beam source includes an electron gun chamber; a first unit including both a supportive insulative member mechanically supporting a cable and a first set of terminals electrically connected to the cable; and a second unit including both the emitter that releases charged particles and a second set of terminals electrically connected to the emitter. The chamber has a side wall provided with a through-hole in which the first unit is secured. The second unit can be detachably mounted to the first unit. Within the chamber, the emitter is placed on an optical axis, so that the first and second sets of terminals are brought into contact with each other.

An electron beam writing apparatus comprising, a cathode configured to emit an electron beam, a condition controller configured to change a condition under which the electron beam is emitted from the cathode in a plurality of ways, and a prediction unit configured to predict a life span of the cathode based on a temporal change in an amount of fluctuation of a beam characteristic of the electron beam to a change in the condition when the condition is changed.

The disclosed embodiments relate to a charged particle source module for generating and emitting a charged particle beam, such as an electron beam, comprising: a frame including a first frame part, a second frame part, and one or more rigid support members which are arranged between said first frame part and said second frame part; a charged particle source arrangement for generating a charged particle beam, such as an electron beam, wherein said charged particle source arrangement, such as an electron source, is arranged at said second frame part; and a power connecting assembly arranged at said first frame part, wherein said charged particle source arrangement is electrically connected to said connecting assembly via electrical wiring.

An emitter is configured to emit charged particles. The emitter comprises a body, a metal layer and a charged particle source layer. The body has a point. The metal layer is of a first metal on at least the point. The charged particle source layer is on the metal layer. The point comprises a second metal other than the first metal.

A method for controlling operation of an electron emission source includes acquiring, while varying an emission current of an electron beam, a characteristic between a surface current of a target object at a position on the surface of the target object irradiated with the electron beam, and the emission current, calculating, based on the characteristic, first gradient values each obtained by dividing the surface current of the target object by the emission current, in a predetermined range of the emission current in the characteristic, calculating a second gradient value by dividing a surface current of the target object by an emission current in a state where the electron beam has been adjusted, and adjusting a cathode temperature to make the second gradient value in the state where the electron beam has been adjusted be in the range of the first gradient values in the predetermined range of the emission current.

To provide a three-dimensional printing device that irradiates approximately the same ranges on the surface of a powder layer simultaneously with a plurality of electron beams having different beam shapes. An electron beam column 200 of the three-dimensional printing device 100 includes a plurality of electron sources 20 including electron sources having anisotropically-shaped beam generating units, and beam shape deforming elements 30 that deform the beam shapes of electron beams output from the electron sources 20 on a surface 63 of a powder layer 62. A deflector 50 included in the electron beam column 200 deflects an electron beam output from each of the plurality of electron sources 20 by a distance larger than the beam space between electron beams before passing through the deflector 50.

There is provided a control method for an electron microscope including a thermionic-emission gun of self-bias type using a fixed bias resistor, an accelerating voltage power supply supplying an accelerating voltage to the thermionic-emission gun, and an optical system for irradiating a specimen with an electron beam. The control method includes: obtaining a value of a load current which is a current passing through an accelerating voltage power supply; determining a filament height of the thermionic-emission gun based on the value of the load current; and setting a condition of the optical system based on the filament height.

A method of plasma processing comprises generating electrons in a source chamber, generating an electric potential gradient between the source chamber and a processing chamber by applying a first negative direct current (DC) voltage to the source chamber and a ground voltage to the processing chamber, accelerating the electrons from the source chamber through a dielectric injector and into the processing chamber using the electric potential gradient, and generating an electron-beam sustained plasma (ESP) in the processing chamber using the electrons from the source chamber.

A cathode mechanism of an electron gun includes a crystal to emit a thermal electron from an end surface by being heated, a holding part to hold the crystal in a state where the end surface is exposed and at least a part of other surfaces of the crystal is covered, a first supporting post and a second supporting post each to support the holding part and extend while maintaining an unchanged sectional size, a first base part to fix the first supporting post, and a second base part to fix the second supporting post, wherein the holding part, the first supporting post, the second supporting post, the first base part, and the second base part are formed in an integrated structure made of the same material, and the crystal is heated by supplying a current to the integrated structure.