Mochii, Inc.

Mochil, Inc.

Christopher Su-Yan Own

Matthew Francis Murfitt

William Andregg

Andrew Bleloch

Paul Dabrowski

Michael Andregg

A charged-particle beam microscope is provided for imaging a sample. The microscope has a housing to enclose a first volume at a first predefined vacuum pressure. A motorized stage is provided to hold and move a sample inside the first volume of the housing. A charged-particle beam module is provided in the housing, the charged-particle beam module including a chamber comprising one or more walls to enclose a second volume at a second predefined vacuum pressure, the second predefined vacuum pressure being substantially less than the first predefined vacuum pressure. The walls of the chamber are adapted to separate the second volume from the first volume and to maintain a pressure differential between the first and second volumes. A charged-particle beam source is provided inside the second volume to generate a charged-particle beam. One or more beam optical components are provided inside the second volume to converge the charged-particle beam onto the sample. One or more beam scanners are provided outside the charged-particle beam module to scan the electron beam across the sample. One or more detectors are provided outside the charged-particle beam module to detect radiation emanating from the sample. A controller analyzes the detected radiation.

Charged-particle beam microscope with differential vacuum pressures

A coater is provided for depositing a coating onto a sequence of samples to be analyzed in a microscope. The coater includes a process chamber to maintain a low-pressure vacuum or controlled gaseous environment at a deposition region inside the process chamber, a sample conveyor to support and convey samples through the deposition region, an evaporant supply to vaporize material from an evaporant source onto the samples at the deposition region, and a controller to control one or more operations of the coater. The sample conveyor is adapted to convey the samples in discrete movements and/or the coater is adapted to provide one or more discrete pulses of power to the evaporant supply.

Coating of samples for microscopy

A compact charged-particle-beam microscope, weighing less than about 50 kg and having a size of less than about 1 m×1 m×1 m, is provided for imaging a sample. The microscope has a vacuum chamber to maintain a low-pressure environment, a stage to hold a sample in the vacuum chamber, a charged-particle beam source to generate a charged-particle beam, charged-particle beam optics to converge the charged-particle beam onto the sample, and one or more beam scanners to scan the charged-particle beam across the sample. A charged-particle detector is provided to detect charged-particle radiation emanating from the sample and generate a corresponding charged-particle-detection signal. At least one energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) is provided to detect x-rays emanating from the sample and generate a corresponding x-ray-detection signal. A controller analyzes the charged-particle-detection signal and the x-ray-detection signal to generate an image of the sample and a histogram of x-ray energies for at least a portion of the sample.

Scanning charged-particle-beam microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy

A coater is provided for depositing a coating onto a sequence of samples to be analyzed in a microscope. The coater includes a process chamber to maintain a low-pressure vacuum or controlled gaseous environment at a deposition region inside the process chamber, a sample conveyor to support and convey samples through the deposition region, an evaporant supply to vaporize material from an evaporant source onto the samples at the deposition region, and a controller to control one or more operations of the coater.

A charged-particle beam microscope is provided for imaging a sample. The microscope has a vacuum chamber to maintain a low-pressure environment. A motorized stage is provided to hold and move a sample in the vacuum chamber. A charged-particle beam source generates a charged-particle beam. Charged-particle beam optics converge the charged-particle beam onto the sample. A detector is provided to detect charged-particle radiation emanating from the sample. A controller analyzes the detected charged-particle radiation to generate an image of the sample. A power supply powers at least the charged-particle beam optics and the controller. The charged-particle beam microscope weighs less than about 50 kg.

Microscopy

An apparatus is provided for microscopy, inspection, or analysis of a sample. The apparatus has a vacuum chamber and a charged-particle beam column in the vacuum chamber to direct a charged-particle beam onto a sample. The charged-particle beam column includes a charged-particle beam source to generate a charged-particle beam and charged-particle beam optics to direct the charged-particle beam onto the sample. The apparatus has a detector to detect radiation emanating from the sample to generate an image. A cartridge is provided to support the sample in the path of the charged-particle beam in the vacuum chamber. The cartridge is mechanically decoupled from the environment external to the vacuum chamber. A controller is provided to analyze the detected radiation to generate an image of the sample.

Positioning samples for microscopy, inspection, or analysis

A charged-particle beam microscope is provided for imaging a sample. The microscope has a vacuum chamber to maintain a low-pressure environment. A stage is provided to hold a sample in the vacuum chamber. The microscope has a charged-particle beam source to generate a charged-particle beam. The microscope also has charged-particle beam optics to converge the charged-particle beam onto the sample and a detector to detect charged-particle radiation emanating from the sample. The microscope has a controller to analyze the detected charged-particle radiation to generate an image of the sample. A power supply is provided that has a battery to power at least the charged-particle beam optics and the controller.

A charged-particle beam microscope includes a charged-particle beam source to generate a charged-particle beam. A stage is provided to hold a sample in the path of the charged-particle beam. Beam optics are provided to illuminate the sample with the charged-particle beam. One or more detectors are provided to detect radiation emanating from the sample as a result of the illumination. A controller may control one or more of the beam optics, stage, and detectors to generate an image of the sample based on the detected radiation.

Charged-particle beam microscopy

A charged-particle beam microscope is provided for imaging a sample. The microscope has a vacuum chamber to maintain a low-pressure environment. A stage is provided to hold a sample in the vacuum chamber. The microscope has a compact evaporator in the vacuum chamber to evaporate and deposit a coating onto a surface of the sample. The microscope also has a charged-particle beam column is provided to direct a charged-particle beam onto the coating on the surface of the sample. The charged-particle beam column includes a charged-particle beam source to generate a charged-particle beam and charged-particle beam optics to converge the charged-particle beam onto the sample. A detector is provided to detect charged-particle radiation emanating from the coating on the surface of the sample to generate an image. A controller analyzes the detected charged-particle radiation to generate an image of the sample.

Charged-particle beam microscope with an evaporator

A charged-particle beam microscope is provided for imaging a sample. The microscope has a stage to hold a sample and a charged-particle beam column to direct a charged-particle beam onto the sample. The charged-particle beam column includes a charged-particle beam source to generate a charged-particle beam, and charged-particle beam optics to converge the charged-particle beam onto the sample. The microscope also has a light beam column to direct a light beam onto the sample. The light beam column includes a light beam source to generate a light beam, and light-beam optics to converge the light beam onto the sample. One or more detectors are provided to detect charged-particle and light radiation emanating from the sample to generate an image. A controller to analyze the detected charged-particle radiation and detected light radiation to generate an image of the sample.

Hybrid charged-particle beam and light beam microscopy

A scanning transmission electron microscope for imaging a specimen includes an electron beam source to generate an electron beam. Beam optics are provided to converge the electron beam. A stage is provided to hold a specimen in the path of the electron beam. A beam scanner scans the electron beam across the specimen. A controller may define one or more scanning areas corresponding to locations of the specimen, and control one or more of the beam scanner and stage to selectively scan the electron beam in the scanning areas. A detector is provided to detect electrons transmitted through the specimen to generate an image. The controller may generate a sub-image for each of the scanning areas, and stitch together the sub-images for the scanning areas to generate a stitched-together image. The controller may also analyze the stitched-together image to determine information regarding the specimen.

Scanning transmission electron microscopy for imaging extended areas

A transmission electron microscope includes an electron beam source to generate an electron beam. Beam optics are provided to converge the electron beam. A specimen holder is provided to hold a specimen in the path of the electron beam. A detector is used to detect the electron beam transmitted through the specimen. The transmission electron microscope may be adapted to generate two or more images that are substantially incoherently related to one another, store the images, and combine amplitude signals at corresponding pixels of the respective images to improve a signal-to-noise ratio. Alternatively or in addition, the transmission electron microscope may be adapted to operate the specimen holder to move the specimen in relation to the beam optics during exposure or between exposures to operate the transmission electron microscope in an incoherent mode.

Incoherent transmission electron microscopy

A transmission electron microscope includes an electron beam source to generate an electron beam. Beam optics are provided to converge the electron beam. An aberration corrector corrects the electron beam for at least a spherical aberration. A specimen holder is provided to hold a specimen in the path of the electron beam. A detector is used to detect the electron beam transmitted through the specimen. The transmission electron microscope may operate in an incoherent mode and may be used to locate a sequence of objects on a molecule.

A scanning transmission electron microscope includes an electron beam source to generate an electron beam. Beam optics are provided to converge the electron beam to a probe, such as for example a longitudinally stretched probe. A stage is provided to hold a specimen in the path of the electron beam. The specimen may include one or more elongated objects, such as for example polymers to be sequenced. A beam scanner scans the electron beam across the specimen. A controller may define one or more scanning areas corresponding to the locations of the elongated objects, and control one or more of the beam scanner and stage to selectively scan the electron beam probe in the scanning areas. The controller may also tune the beam optics during imaging. One or more detectors are provided to detect electrons transmitted through the specimen to generate an image for each of the scanning areas. The controller may also analyze the one or more images to determine information regarding the specimen, such as for example to sequence a polymer.

Scanning transmission electron microscopy

A transmission electron microscope includes an electron beam source to generate an electron beam. Beam optics are provided to converge the electron beam. An aberration corrector comprising either a foil or a set of concentric elements corrects the electron beam for at least a spherical aberration. A specimen holder is provided to hold a specimen in the path of the electron beam. A detector is used to detect the electron beam transmitted through the specimen. The transmission electron microscope may be configured to operate in a dark-field mode in which a zero beam of the electron beam is not detected. The microscope may also be capable of operating in an incoherent illumination mode.

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Christopher Su-Yan Own