Hitachi High-tech Science Corporation

Seiko Instruments Inc

Sii Nanotechnology Inc.

Other

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Jsr Corporation

Anto Yasaka

Yasuhiko Sugiyama

Fumio Aramaki

Osamu Matsuda

Tomokazu Kozakai

Kazuo Aita

Hiroshi Oba

Tatsuya Shimoda

Kensuke Shiina

Takashi Ogawa

Yasuo Matsuki

Yoshitomo Nakagawa

Junichi Tashiro

Yoshihiro Koyama

Mitsuyoshi Sato

Ryo Kawajiri

Chuhei Oshima

Masahiko Tomitori

Provided is a tip capable of repeatedly regenerating a single-atom termination structure in which a distal end is formed of only one atom. A tip () having a single-atom termination structure includes: a thin line member () made of a first metal material; a protruding portion () made of a second metal material, which is formed at least in a distal end portion () of the thin line member (), and has a distal end terminated with only one atom; and a supply portion () made of the second metal material to be supplied to the protruding portion (), which is formed in the vicinity of the distal end portion () of the thin line member ().

Ion source and electron source having single-atom termination structure, tip having single-atom termination structure, gas field ion source, focused ion beam apparatus, electron source, electron microscope, mask repair apparatus, and method of manufacturing tip having single-atom termination structure

A method of acquiring an image of an image acquiring region of a sample comprises a first step of irradiating and scanning an ion beam in a first scan pattern on a first scan region of a sample, the scan region including therein the image acquiring region, and a second step of detecting secondary charged particles generated by irradiating and scanning the ion beam on the first scan region of the sample and generating first image data of the image acquiring region. The first and second steps are repeated a plurality of times using different scan patterns on different scan regions that differ from the first scan and the first scan region and from one another, each of the different scan regions including therein the image acquiring region, to generate a plurality of image data of the image acquiring region. Image data of the image acquiring region are generated by synthesizing all the image data generated by scanning the different scan region, and the synthesized image data of the image acquiring region are displayed on a display unit.

Method for acquiring image and ion beam apparatus

A method for acquiring an image, in which an image of an image acquiring region is acquired by radiating an ion beam to a sample having a conducting part with a linear edge on a dielectric substrate, includes performing an equal-width scan of the ion beam in a first direction that obliquely intersects the linear edge and sweep in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The ion beam is sequentially scanned in different patterns on different scan regions of parallelogram shape, each of which includes the image acquiring region. Secondary charged particles are detected to generate image data of all the scan regions, and image data of the scan regions are calculated to generate image data of the image acquiring region. The image data of the image acquiring region are synthesized to display the image data of the image acquiring region.

A focused ion beam apparatus is equipped with a gas field ion source that can produce a focused ion beam for a long period of time by stably and continuously emitting ions from the gas field ion source having high luminance, along an optical axis of an ion-optical system for a long period of time. The gas field ion source has an emitter for emitting ions, the emitter having a sharpened end part made of iridium fixed to a cylinder-shaped base part made of dissimilar wire.

Focused ion beam apparatus

There is provided an iridium tip including a pyramid structure having one {100} crystal plane as one of a plurality of pyramid surfaces in a sharpened apex portion of a single crystal with &#x3c;210&#x3e; orientation. The iridium tip is applied to a gas field ion source or an electron source. The gas field ion source and/or the electron source is applied to a focused ion beam apparatus, an electron microscope, an electron beam applied analysis apparatus, an ion-electron multi-beam apparatus, a scanning probe microscope or a mask repair apparatus.

Iridium tip, gas field ion source, focused ion beam apparatus, electron source, electron microscope, electron beam applied analysis apparatus, ion-electron multi-beam apparatus, scanning probe microscope, and mask repair apparatus

A focused ion beam system includes a gas ion source and an emitter structure. The emitter structure includes a pair of conductive pins fixed to a base member, a filament connected between the pair of conductive pins, and an emitter which has a tip end with one atom or three atoms and which is connected to the filament. A supporting member is fixed to the base material, and the emitter is connected to the supporting member.

Emitter structure, gas ion source and focused ion beam system

There is provided a repair apparatus including a gas field ion source which includes an ion generation section including a sharpened tip, a cooling unit which cools the tip, an ion beam column which forms a focused ion beam by focusing ions of a gas generated in the gas field ion source, a sample stage which moves while a sample to be irradiated with the focused ion beam is placed thereon, a sample chamber which accommodates at least the sample stage therein, and a control unit which repairs a mask or a mold for nano-imprint lithography, which is the sample, with the focused ion beam formed by the ion beam column. The gas field ion source generates nitrogen ions as the ions, and the tip is constituted by an iridium single crystal capable of generating the ions.

Repair apparatus

A focused ion beam apparatus has an ion source chamber in which is disposed an emitter for emitting ions. The surface of the emitter is formed of a precious metal, such as platinum, palladium, iridium, rhodium or gold. A gas supply unit supplies nitrogen gas to the ion source chamber so that the nitrogen gas adsorbs on the surface of the emitter. An extracting electrode is spaced from the emitter, and a voltage is applied to the extracting electrode to ionize the adsorbed nitrogen gas and extract nitrogen ions in the form of an ion beam. A temperature control unit controls the temperature of the emitter.

Focused ion beam apparatus with precious metal emitter surface

A charged particle beam apparatus is provided that enables faster semiconductor film deposition than the conventional deposition that uses silicon hydrides and halides as source gases. The charged particle beam apparatus includes a charged particle source, a condenser lens electrode, a blanking electrode, a scanning electrode, a sample stageon which a sampleis mounted, a secondary charged particle detectorthat detects a secondary charged particlegenerated from the samplein response to the charged particle beam irradiation, a reservoirthat accommodates cyclopentasilane as a source gas, and a gas gunthat supplies the source gas to the sample

Charged particle beam apparatus, thin film forming method, defect correction method and device forming method

There is provided an emitter structure, a gas ion source including the emitter structure, and a focused ion beam system including the gas ion source. The emitter structure includes a pair of conductive pins which are fixed to a base member, a filament which is connected between the pair of conductive pins, and an emitter which is connected to the filament and has a sharp tip. A supporting member is fixed to the base material, and the emitter is connected to the supporting member.

A method for fabricating a sharpened needle-like emitter, the method including: electrolytically polishing an end portion of an electrically conductive emitter material so as to be tapered toward a tip portion thereof; performing a first etching in which the electrolytically polished part of the emitter material is irradiated with a charged-particle beam to form a pyramid-like sharpened part having a vertex including the tip portion; performing a second etching in which the tip portion is further sharpened through field-assisted gas etching, while observing a crystal structure at the tip portion by a field ion microscope and keeping the number of atoms at a leading edge of the tip portion at a predetermined number or less; and heating the emitter material to arrange the atoms at the leading edge of the tip portion of the sharpened part in a pyramid shape.

Method for fabricating emitter

A focused ion beam apparatus has an ion source chamber in which is disposed an emitter for emitting ions. A gas supply unit supplies nitrogen gas to the ion source chamber so that the nitrogen gas adsorbs on the surface of the emitter, and the gas supply unit maintains the pressure in the ion source chamber in the range 1.0&#xd7;10Pa to 1.0&#xd7;10Pa. An extracting electrode is spaced from the emitter, and a voltage is applied to the extracting electrode to ionize the adsorbed nitrogen gas and extract nitrogen ions in the form of an ion beam. A temperature control unit controls the temperature of the emitter.

Nitrogen ions from a gas field ion source held at a pressure of 1.0 x 10^(-6) pa to 1.0 x 10^(-2) pa

A defect repair apparatus for an EUV mask has an ion beam column that scans and irradiates the EUV mask with a focused hydrogen ion beam such that no region of the EUV mask receives an amount of beam irradiation exceeding 4&#xd7;10ions/cm. The ion beam column comprises a gas field ion source having an emitter with a pointed tip end that emits hydrogen ions that form the hydrogen ion beam, and an ion optical system that focuses and scans the hydrogen ion beam onto the EUV mask. A detector detects secondary charged particles generated from the EUV mask when irradiated with the hydrogen ion beam, and an image forming section forms and displays an observation image of the EUV mask on the basis of an output signal from the detector so that a defect in the EUV mask and the progress of the defect repair can be observed.

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Tokyo, Japan

Anto Yasaka