Provided herein are deposition systems utilizing coated grids in an ion deposition process which provide more predictable erosion of the coating rather than erosion of the grid itself. Further, coatings may be utilized in which the coating material does not act as a contaminant to the deposition process, thereby eliminating contamination of the sample surface due to deposition of unwanted grid material. Also provided are methods of refurbishing a coated grid by periodically replacing the coating material thus protecting the grid itself and allowing a grid to be used indefinitely.

Lithographic apparatuses suitable for complementary e-beam lithography (CEBL) are described. In an example, a method of forming a pattern for a semiconductor structure includes forming a pattern of parallel lines above a substrate. The method also includes aligning the substrate in an e-beam tool to provide the pattern of parallel lines parallel with a scan direction of the e-beam tool. The e-beam tool includes a column having a blanker aperture array (BAA) with a staggered pair of columns of openings along an array direction orthogonal to the scan direction. The method also includes forming a pattern of cuts or vias in or above the pattern of parallel lines to provide line breaks for the pattern of parallel lines by scanning the substrate along the scan direction. A cumulative current through the column has a non-zero and substantially uniform cumulative current value throughout the scanning.

An ion implanter includes a high energy multistage linear acceleration unit for accelerating an ion beam. The high energy multistage linear acceleration unit includes high frequency accelerators in a plurality of stages provided along a beamline through which the ion beam travels, and electrostatic quadrupole lens devices in a plurality of stages provided along the beamline. The electrostatic quadrupole lens device in each of the stages includes a plurality of lens electrodes facing each other in a radial direction perpendicular to an axial direction, and disposed at an interval in a circumferential direction, an upstream side cover electrode covering a beamline upstream side of the plurality of lens electrodes and including a beam incident port, and a downstream side cover electrode covering a beamline downstream side of the plurality of lens electrodes and including a beam exiting port.

Embodiments herein are directed to a resonator for an ion implanter. In some embodiments, a resonator may include a housing, and a first coil and a second coil partially disposed within the housing. Each of the first and second coils may include a first end including an opening for receiving an ion beam, and a central section extending helically about a central axis, wherein the central axis is parallel to a beamline of the ion beam, and wherein an inner side of the central section has a flattened surface.

An aperture diaphragm capable of varying the size of an aperture in two dimensions is disclosed. The aperture diaphragm may be utilized in an ion implantation system, such as between the mass analyzer and the acceleration column. In this way, the aperture diaphragm may be used to control at least one parameter of the ion beam. These parameters may include angular spread in the height direction, angular spread in the width direction, beam current or cross-sectional area. Various embodiments of the aperture diaphragm are shown. In certain embodiments, the size of the aperture in the height and width directions may be independently controlled, while in other embodiments, the ratio between height and width is constant.

The disclosure relates to an electron-optical module of an electron-optical apparatus. The electron-optical module comprises a vacuum chamber, a high voltage shielding arrangement located within the vacuum chamber, and an aperture array configured to form a plurality of beamlets from an electron beam and located within the high voltage shielding arrangement. Wherein the electron-optical module can be configured to be removable from the electron-optical apparatus.

A charged particle buncher includes a series of spaced apart electrodes arranged to generate a shaped electric field. The series includes a first electrode, a last electrode and one or more intermediate electrodes. The charged particle buncher includes a waveform device attached to the electrodes and configured to apply a periodic potential waveform to each electrode independently in a manner so as to form a quasi-electrostatic time varying potential gradient between adjacent electrodes and to cause spatial distribution of charged particles that form a plurality of nodes and antinodes. The nodes have a charged particle density and the antinodes have substantially no charged particle density, and the nodes and the antinodes are formed from a charged particle beam configured to hit the target.

In a writing process in a charged-particle multi-beam apparatus, a desired pattern is written onto a target wherein said desired pattern is provided as input pattern data (INPDAT) in a vector format and processed through a pattern data processing flow. A data preprocessing system receives the input pattern data (INPDAT) and preprocesses the input pattern data independently of the writing process, preferably in advance to it, using writing parameter data provided to the data preprocessing system, and writes the intermediate pattern data (IMDAT) thus obtained to a data storage. When a writing process is carried out using the apparatus, its writing control system reads the intermediate pattern data from the data storage, converts them into pattern streaming data (SBUF), and streams the pattern streaming data to the apparatus for writing the pattern to the target.

An aperture diaphragm capable of varying the size of an aperture in two dimensions is disclosed. The aperture diaphragm may be utilized in an ion implantation system, such as between the mass analyzer and the acceleration column. In this way, the aperture diaphragm may be used to control at least one parameter of the ion beam. These parameters may include angular spread in the height direction, angular spread in the width direction, beam current or cross-sectional area. Various embodiments of the aperture diaphragm are shown. In certain embodiments, the size of the aperture in the height and width directions may be independently controlled, while in other embodiments, the ratio between height and width is constant.

A collimated electron beam is illuminated to a grounded metal mask such that patterns on the mask can be transferred to a substrate identically. In a preferred embodiment, a linear electron source can be provided for enhancing lithographic throughput. The metal mask is adjacent to the substrate, but does not contact with substrate.