The process for producing an orthopedic implant having an integrated ceramic surface layer includes steps for positioning the orthopedic implant inside a vacuum chamber, emitting a relatively high energy beam into the at least two different vaporized metalloid or transition metal atoms in the vacuum chamber to cause a collision therein to form ceramic molecules, and driving the ceramic molecules with the ion beam into an outer surface of the orthopedic implant at a relatively high energy such that the ceramic molecules implant therein and form at least a part of the molecular structure of the outer surface of the orthopedic implant, thereby forming the integrated ceramic surface layer.

Methods of forming structures using a neutral beam, structures formed using a neutral beam, and reactor systems for forming the structures are disclosed. The neutral beam can be used to provide activated species during deposition of a layer and/or to provide activated species to treat a deposited layer.

The invention relates to a method for depositing new elements on a substrate of interest by means of a beam of focused ions and a platform for cooling the substrate of interest to cryogenic temperatures that can also rough out defective elements that are located on same. In addition, the invention relates to a device that comprises all the means necessary for carrying out the method, in particular the means necessary for condensing precursor gases on the surface of the substrate of interest at cryogenic temperatures. The method and the device of the invention can be used to remove and repair, for example, metal contacts of an electronic device or of an integrated circuit, or to repair, for example, portions of an optical lithography mask. Therefore, the present invention is applicable in the electronics industry and in the field of nanotechnology.

Redeposition of substrate material on a fiducial resulting from charged particle beam (CPB) or laser beam milling of a substrate can be reduced with a shield formed on the substrate surface. The shield typically has a suitable height that can be selected based on proximity of an area to be milled to the fiducial. The shield can be formed with the milling beam using beam-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The same or different beams can be used for milling and beam-assisted CVD.

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.

Redeposition of substrate material on a fiducial resulting from charged particle beam (CPB) or laser beam milling of a substrate can be reduced with a shield formed on the substrate surface. The shield typically has a suitable height that can be selected based on proximity of an area to be milled to the fiducial. The shield can be formed with the milling beam using beam-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The same or different beams can be used for milling and beam-assisted CVD.

The disclosed methods and apparatus improve the fabrication of solid fibers and microstructures. In many embodiments, the fabrication is from gaseous, solid, semi-solid, liquid, critical, and supercritical mixtures using one or more low molar mass precursor(s), in combination with one or more high molar mass precursor(s). The methods and systems generally employ the thermal diffusion/Soret effect to concentrate the low molar mass precursor at a reaction zone, where the presence of the high molar mass precursor contributes to this concentration, and may also contribute to the reaction and insulate the reaction zone, thereby achieving higher fiber growth rates and/or reduced energy/heat expenditures together with reduced homogeneous nucleation. In some embodiments, the invention also relates to the permanent or semi-permanent recording and/or reading of information on or within fabricated fibers and microstructures. In some embodiments, the invention also relates to the fabrication of certain functionally-shaped fibers and microstructures. In some embodiments, the invention may also utilize laser beam profiling to enhance fiber and microstructure fabrication.

A method for modifying a portion of a substrate after production is described herein. The method can include diagnosing a circuit operation error causing a malfunction, identifying a first contact on the substrate, and connecting, electrically, the first contact to a second contact with at least one trace. The trace is done with a focused ion beam. The method can include diagnosing an error on an operative area of a post-manufacture circuit board causing a malfunction; introducing a metal precursor into a focused ion beam chamber; ionizing the metal precursor by contacting it with a gallium ion beam into a conductive metal and a further ion; depositing a first portion of a conductive metal onto a substrate to form a first trace; and forming the first trace between the operative area and a non-operative area thereby connecting the operative area and the non-operative area.

The present invention relates to an information storage medium and a method for long-term storage of information comprising the steps of: providing a ceramic substrate; coating the ceramic substrate with a layer of a second material different from the material of the ceramic substrate, the layer having a thickness no greater than 10 μm; tempering the coated ceramic substrate to form a writable plate or disc; encoding information on the writable plate or disc by using a laser and/or a focused particle beam to manipulate localized areas of the writable plate or disc.

In one embodiment, a processing apparatus may include a plasma chamber configured to generate a plasma; a process chamber adjacent the plasma chamber and configured to house a substrate that defines a substrate plane; an extraction system adjacent the plasma chamber and configured to direct an ion beam from the plasma to the substrate, the ion beam forming a non-zero angle with respect to a perpendicular to the substrate plane; and a molecular chamber adjacent the process chamber, isolated from the plasma chamber and configured to deliver a molecular beam to the substrate, wherein the ion beam and molecular beam are alternately delivered to the substrate to form a monolayer comprising species from the ion beam and molecular beam.