A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: preparing a stepped structure being arranged on a substrate, the stepped structure including a first region and a second region, a height of the stepped structure of the second region being lower than a height of the stepped structure of the first region; and etching the first region and the second region of the stepped structure by irradiating the first region and the second region with an ion beam, an irradiation amount of the ion beam irradiating the first region is larger than an irradiation amount of the ion beam irradiating the second region.

A charged particle beam treatment apparatus includes an irradiator that irradiates an irradiation target with a charged particle beam by a scanning method, in which the irradiator includes a scanning electromagnet that performs scanning with the charged particle beam, is rotatable around the irradiation target by a rotating gantry, and emits the charged particle beam with a base axis orthogonal to a center line of the rotating gantry and passing through the center line as a reference, and when the scanning electromagnet is not operated, the charged particle beam which is emitted from a tip portion of the irradiator is inclined in one direction with respect to the base axis.

A method of etching uses an overhead electron beam source that generates an ion-ion plasma for performing an atomic layer etch process.

Methods and apparatuses for the production of HF in an electron-beam generated plasma. A gas containing fluorine, hydrogen, and an inert gas such as argon, e.g., Ar/SF.sub.6/H.sub.2O or Ar/SF.sub.6/NH.sub.3 flows into a plasma treatment chamber to produce a low pressure gas in the chamber. An electron beam directed into the gas forms a plasma from the gas, with energy from the electron beam dissociating the F-containing molecules, which react with H-containing gas to produce HF in the plasma. Although the concentration of the gas phase HF in the plasma is a very small fraction of the total gas in the chamber, due to its highly reactive nature, the low concentration of HF produced by the method of the present invention is enough to modify the surfaces of materials, performing the same function as aqueous HF solutions to remove oxygen from an exposed material.

In a substrate processing method, electrons having a first energy are supplied from an electron beam generator into an inner space of a chamber body of a substrate processing apparatus to generate negative ions by attaching the electrons to molecules in a processing gas supplied to the inner space. Then a positive bias voltage is applied to an electrode of a supporting table that supports a substrate mounted on thereon in the inner space to attract the negative ions to the substrate.

Methods and apparatuses for the production of HF in an electron-beam generated plasma. A gas containing fluorine, hydrogen, and an inert gas such as argon, e.g., Ar/SF.sub.6/H.sub.2O or Ar/SF.sub.6/NH.sub.3 flows into a plasma treatment chamber to produce a low pressure gas in the chamber. An electron beam directed into the gas forms a plasma from the gas, with energy from the electron beam dissociating the F-containing molecules, which react with H-containing gas to produce HF in the plasma. Although the concentration of the gas phase HF in the plasma is a very small fraction of the total gas in the chamber, due to its highly reactive nature, the low concentration of HF produced by the method of the present invention is enough to modify the surfaces of materials, performing the same function as aqueous HF solutions to remove oxygen from an exposed material.

A tetrahedral amorphous hydrogenated carbon and amorphous siloxane hybrid diamond-like nanocomposite composition can include: tetrahedral amorphous hydrogenated carbon (ta-C:H); and amorphous siloxane (a-Si:O), wherein the ta-C:H and a-Si:O are in an interpenetrating network. A method of forming a tetrahedral amorphous hydrogenated carbon and amorphous siloxane hybrid diamond-like nanocomposite can include: providing a source of H, C, O, and Si as a liquid precursor; providing evaporated precursor into a vacuum chamber; forming a plasma with an RF plasma generator and/or a thermal plasma generator; and depositing, on a rotating biased substrate, a collimated layer of the tetrahedral amorphous hydrogenated carbon and amorphous siloxane hybrid diamond-like nanocomposite having tetrahedral amorphous hydrogenated carbon (ta-C:H) and amorphous siloxane (a-Si:O), wherein the ta-C:H and a-Si:O are in an interpenetrating network. A RF rotating electrode is also provided.

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.

According to an embodiment, a charged particle beam apparatus includes a stage; a chamber; an emission source of the charged particle beam; an electronic optical system configured to emit the charged particle beam; an optical column including the emission source and the electronic optical system; a charged particle detector configured to detect a position of the charged particle beam; a first actuator configured to provide a frequency vibration to the stage based on a first excitation signal; a second actuator configured to provide a frequency vibration to the optical column based on a second excitation signal; a third actuator configured to provide a frequency vibration to the chamber based on a third excitation signal; and a controller configured to generate the first to third excitation signals.

Provided is an analytical device including: a self-flowing microfluidic system, having a sample extraction location, at least one sample preparation location, and at least one sample analytical chamber; wherein the sample extraction location, the sample preparation location, and the at least one sample analytical chamber are interconnected by at least one microfluidic channel on a first substrate; and a signal readout system, having at least one sample analysis elements, and a data gathering and processing element.