Charged particle beam column and method for directing a charged particle beam
US7223974B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 22, 2002 |
| Grant date | May 29, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 28, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J37/244
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and charged particle beam column are presented for directing a primary charged particle beam onto a sample. The primary charged particle beam, propagating along an initial axis of beam propagation towards a focusing assembly, passes through a beam shaper, that affects the cross section of the primary charged particle beam to compensate for aberrations of focusing caused by astigmatism effect of a focusing field produced by an objective lens arrangement of the focusing assembly, and then passes through a beam axis alignment system, that aligns the axis of the primary charged particle beam with respect to the optical axis of the objective lens arrangement.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.