A cover arrangement comprised of at least two pieces for covering a crucible within an electron beam source assembly. The cover includes a cover body and a cover insert to be separate from and carried by the cover body, when the cover body is raised and lowered. This arrangement also allows the cover insert to be lowered until it comes to rest on top of the crucible. Upon contact between the cover insert and the crucible, the cover insert can partially decouple from the cover body, allowing the cover body to travel down slightly further, allowing it to come into contact with the water-cooled body that surrounds the crucible, while insuring that the crucible insert is in good contact with the crucible. Closing this gap helps stop material that is evaporating from the active crucible pocket from migrating to inactive pockets, located under the cover, during the evaporation process.

According to various embodiments, a method for vaporizing a vaporization material by means of an electron beam may include the following: generating a first deflection pattern having a first power density at least on an end face of a rod-shaped vaporization material; and, subsequently, generating a second deflection pattern having a second power density on a portion of an outer edge of the rod-shaped vaporization material and a portion of an inner edge of a ring crucible, which encloses the rod-shaped vaporization material, wherein the second power density is greater than the first power density.

A method for produce a silicon-carbide film by admitting a gaseous silicon-carbide precursor into a vacuum chamber containing a substrate and directing an electron beam into the vacuum chamber onto to the surface of the substrate. The electron beam dissociates the gaseous silicon-carbide precursor at the surface of the substrate creating non-volatile fragments that bind to the substrate surface forming a silicon-carbide film.

A finishing and coating apparatus combines finishing and coating optical components into one vacuum apparatus. The apparatus includes a vacuum system, a substrate holder, a finisher including a laser engine and a beam delivery apparatus, and a coating source. The finisher is configured to finish the optical components prior to coating the optical components. The finisher includes a laser engine and a laser beam delivery apparatus configured to direct a beam from the laser engine toward each of the optical components.

In order to evaporate material, an electronic beam is guided over a melt surface in a periodic pattern by a detecting unit. Whether or not the actual pattern matches the target pattern specified by the deflecting unit is detected in principle on an image of the melt surface. In order to allow a better analysis of the image, the periodicity of the deflection pattern during the analysis of temporally successive images is taken into consideration.

A method for produce a silicon-carbide film by admitting a gaseous silicon-carbide precursor into a vacuum chamber containing a substrate and directing an electron beam into the vacuum chamber onto to the surface of the substrate. The electron beam dissociates the gaseous silicon-carbide precursor at the surface of the substrate creating non-volatile fragments that bind to the substrate surface forming a silicon-carbide film.

An etching system, a solid state source for supplying an atomic specie, and a method of operating are described. The system includes: a processing chamber for treating a substrate in a gas-phase chemical environment; a substrate holder for supporting the substrate in the processing chamber; and a solid state source of an atomic specie coupled to the processing chamber, and configured to supply the atomic specie to the processing chamber when treating the substrate. The processing chamber can facilitate a gas-phase, plasma-containing or non-plasma-containing environment.

In order to evaporate material, an electronic beam is guided over a melt surface in a periodic pattern by a detecting unit. Whether or not the actual pattern matches the target pattern specified by the deflecting unit is detected in principle on an image of the melt surface. In order to allow a better analysis of the image, the periodicity of the deflection pattern during the analysis of temporally successive images is taken into consideration.

A charged particle propagation apparatus has a generator including a vacuum chamber with a gun therein for discharging a charged particle beam through a beam exit. A higher pressure region adjoins the vacuum chamber at the beam exit and is maintainable at a pressure greater than a pressure of the vacuum chamber. A plasma interface located at the beam exit includes a plasma channel having at least three electrode plates disposed between its first end and its second end. A control system is adapted to apply a sequence of electrical currents to the electrode plates, which cause at least one plasma to move from the first end to the second end of the plasma channel, thereby pumping down the beam exit, and, in use, the charged particle beam is propagated from the vacuum chamber through the, or each, plasma into the higher pressure region.

Disclosed is an electron beam emission device comprising a housing which defines a space in which electron beams are accelerated, and has an opening at the other side thereof through which the electron beams are emitted; a cathode which is disposed at one side in the housing, and emits the electrons; an anode which is positioned in the housing so as to be spaced apart from the cathode toward the other side, and accelerates the electrons emitted from the cathode; and an insulation holder which insulates a portion between the cathode and the housing, and fixes the cathode, wherein the cathode has a surface which faces the anode and is formed concavely to have a gradient, and a rim of the surface of the cathode, which has the gradient, is formed to be rounded.