A method and apparatus for material deposition onto a sample to form a protective layer composed of at least two materials that have been formulated and arranged according to the material properties of the sample.

A substrate processing system includes a substrate processing apparatus and a switching timing creation support device, wherein the switching timing creation support device includes: an acquisition part configured to acquire, for each of a plurality of properties of particles contained in a gas in the substrate processing apparatus during a processing for a substrate, a measured value of an amount of the particles from a measuring device; a selection part configured to select properties of a predetermined number of the particles in descending order of temporal variations in the amount of the particles; a determination part configured to determine an operation expression and a switching condition for determining a switching timing based on a temporal change in the amount of the particles for each of the selected properties of the particles; and an output part configured to output the operation expression and the switching condition to the substrate processing apparatus

A method and apparatus for material deposition onto a sample to form a protective layer composed of at least two materials that have been formulated and arranged according to the material properties of the sample.

The present invention relates to a method for examining a beam of charged particles, including the following steps: producing persistent interactions of the beam with a sample at a plurality of positions of the sample relative to the beam and deriving at least one property of the beam by analyzing the spatial distribution of the persistent interactions at the plurality of positions.

The invention relates to a device for examining and/or processing an element for photolithography with a beam of charged particles, wherein the device comprises: (a) means for acquiring measurement data while the element for photolithography is exposed to the beam of charged particles; and (b) means for predetermining a drift of the beam of charged particles relative to the element for photolithography with a trained machine learning model and/or a predictive filter, wherein the trained machine learning model and/or the predictive filter use(s) at least the measurement data as input data.

A charged particle assessment tool includes: an objective lens configured to project a plurality of charged particle beams onto a sample, the objective lens having a sample-facing surface defining a plurality of beam apertures through which respective ones of the charged particle beams are emitted toward the sample; and a plurality of capture electrodes adjacent respective ones of the beam apertures and configured to capture charged particles emitted from the sample.

The present application relates to an apparatus for processing a photolithographic mask, said apparatus comprising: (a) at least one time-varying particle beam, which is embodied for a local deposition reaction and/or a local etching reaction on the photolithographic mask; (b) at least one first means for providing at least one precursor gas, wherein the precursor gas is embodied to interact with the particle beam during the local deposition reaction and/or the local etching reaction; and (c) at least one second means, which reduces a mean angle of incidence () between the time-varying particle beam and a surface of the photolithographic mask.

The present application relates to a method for permanently repairing defects of absent material of a photolithographic mask, comprising the following steps: (a) providing at least one carbon-containing precursor gas and at least one oxidizing agent at a location to be repaired of the photolithographic mask; (b) initiating a reaction of the at least one carbon-containing precursor gas with the aid of at least one energy source at the location of absent material in order to deposit material at the location of absent material, wherein the deposited material comprises at least one reaction product of the reacted at least one carbon-containing precursor gas; and (c) controlling a gas volumetric flow rate of the at least one oxidizing agent in order to minimize a carbon proportion of the deposited material.

The present application relates to a device for imaging and processing a sample using a focused particle beam, comprising: (a) at least one particle source which is configured to create a particle beam in an ultrahigh vacuum environment; (b) at least one sample chamber which serves to accommodate the sample and which is configured to image the sample in a high vacuum environment and process the sample in a medium vacuum environment; (c) at least one column which is arranged in a high vacuum environment and which has at least one particle-optical component configured to shape a focused particle beam from the particle beam and direct said focused particle beam at the sample; (d) at least one detection unit which is arranged within the at least one column and which is configured to detect particles emanating from the sample; (e) at least one gas line system which terminates at the outlet of the focused particle beam from the column and which is configured to locally provide at least one process gas at the sample with a pressure such that the focused particle beam is able to induce a particle beam-induced local chemical reaction for processing the sample; and (f) at least one pressure adjustment unit through which the particle beam and the particles emanating from the sample pass and which is configured to limit a pressure increase caused at the at least one detection unit as a result of processing the sample to a factor of 10 or less, preferably to a factor of 5 or less, more preferably to a factor of 3 or less, and most preferably to a factor of 2 or less, without impeding access of the particles emanating from the sample to the at least one detection unit.

The present invention relates to a method for examining a beam of charged particles, including the following steps: producing persistent interactions of the beam with a sample at a plurality of positions of the sample relative to the beam and deriving at least one property of the beam by analyzing the spatial distribution of the persistent interactions at the plurality of positions.