Hitachi, Ltd.

Eiichi Seya

Muneyuki Fukuda

Hiroyasu Shichi

Kaoru Umemura

Satoshi Tomimatsu

Tohru Ishitani

Hidemi Koike

Hideo Kashima

Mitsuo Tokuda

Yoshinori Nakayama

Natsuki Yokoyama

Yoshio Kawamura

Eiichi Murakami

Yoshifumi Kawamoto

Kenichi Mizuishi

Fumihiko Uchida

Motoyasu Terao

Shigeru Nakamura

Seiichi Mita

Tsuneo Terasawa

Masahiro Ojima

Takeshi Nakao

Yoshinori Miyamura

Norio Saitou

Eiji Takeda

Kiyoshi Matsumoto

Soichi Katagiri

Yoshihiro Hamakawa

Masuo Kasai

Minoru Hidaka

Hiroshi Yasuoka

Massaaki Ito

A sample fabricating method of irradiating a sample with a focused ion beam at an incident angle less than 90 degrees with respect to the surface of the sample, eliminating the peripheral area of a micro sample as a target, turning a specimen stage around a line segment perpendicular to the sample surface as a turn axis, irradiating the sample with the focused ion beam while the incident angle on the sample surface is fixed, and separating the micro sample or preparing the micro sample to be separated. A sample fabricating apparatus for forming a sample section in a sample held on a specimen stage by scanning and deflecting an ion beam, wherein an angle between an optical axis of the ion beam and the surface of the specimen stage is fixed and formation of a sample section is controlled by turning the specimen stage.

Method and apparatus for specimen fabrication

A wafer transport method including the steps of preparing a semiconductor process equipment having a transport chamber, a process chamber, an interface means for connecting the transport chamber to the process chamber, and a transport means for transporting a semiconductor wafer from the transport chamber to the process chamber by way of the interface means; inserting the transport means mounting a substrate in a communicating corridor including a supply means and an exhaust means; and transporting the substrate while performing the supply and exhaust by sequentially controlling a supply shutoff means, an exhaust shutoff means, and a communicating shutoff means according to the position of a conductance part formed of a gap between the transport means and the communicating corridor. With this method, the substrate is transported at a high throughput without the contamination on the substrate while keeping the different atmospheric conditions of the transport chamber and the process chamber, thereby manufacturing a semiconductor device with a high performance.

Wafer transport method

A wafer transport method includes the steps of preparing a semiconductor process equipment having a transport chamber and a process chamber. An interface means connects the transport chamber to the process chamber. A transport means transports a semiconductor wafer from the transport chamber to the process chamber by way of the interface means. The transport means mounting a substrate is inserted into a communicating corridor including a supply means and an exhaust means. The substrate is transported while performing the supply and exhaust by sequentially controlling a supply shutoff means, an exhaust shutoff means, and a communicating shutoff means according to the position of a conductance part formed of a gap between the transport means and the communicating corridor. Thus, the substrate is transported at a high throughput without contamination of the substrate while keeping the different atmospheric conditions for the transport chamber and the process chamber, thereby manufacturing a semiconductor device with high performance capabilities.

A technique and exposure apparatus measures, with a high degree of accuracy, figure and placement errors of individual optical elements constituting optics embedded inside of an exposure apparatus or the like, with the optics kept in an embedded state as they are. The system measures the distribution of wavefront distortions in the optics while changing the positions of a light source and an image point inside an exposure field of the optics being observed. Optimal displacements of reflective surfaces constituting the optics are then found by calculation based on the measured distribution of wave-front distortions. Finally, the positions of the reflective surfaces are corrected in accordance with the calculated optimal displacements. The positions of the reflective surfaces are corrected by individually controlling displacements output by a plurality of actuators attached to each reflective surface and by mechanically modifying appropriate portions of the reflective surfaces.

Methods for measuring optical system, and method and apparatus for

A separation type optical head according to the present invention includes at least a light source portion for emitting collimated beams, a focusing device (a focusing lens) for focusing the collimated beams onto an information recording surface of an optical disc medium, a focal point control mechanism for the position of the spot on the information recording surface, and a photo-detection portion for receiving beams reflected by the information recording surface. The structure is divided into a fixed portion including the light source portion and the photo-detection portion and a movable portion including the focusing device (focusing lens) and the focal point control mechanism. At least the movable portion of the separation type optical head is movably accommodated n a frame (sealing case) for the optical head so as to prevent irregular vibrations of the movable portion due to high speed air flows or turbulence. Furthermore, a focal point control mechanism of an air float type may be employed in the movable portion of the separation type optical head so as to actively utilize the high speed air flow generated due to the rotation of the disc medium to perform a rough adjustment of the focal point of the focusing device.

Stack type optical disc apparatus, sealed and separate type optical head

Growing community of inventors

Kunitachi, Japan

Eiichi Seya