Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hitachi High-tech Corporation

Hitachi High-technologies Corpoartion

Mami Konomi

Masako Nishimura

Shunya Watanabe

Yusuke Ominami

Shinsuke Kawanishi

Mitsugu Sato

Sukehiro Ito

Yayoi Konishi

Eiko Nakazawa

Hisayuki Takasu

Masaki Takano

Tomohisa Ohtaki

Shotaro Tamayama

Shuichi Takeuchi

Yoichiro Hashimoto

Masamichi Shiono

Hiroyuki Suzuki

Yoichi Ose

Hiroyuki Noda

Yoshinobu Kimura

Natsuki Tsuno

Susumu Kuwabata

Asako Kaneko

Toru Iwaya

Takafumi Miwa

Shinichi Tomita

Atsushi Kamino

Kunji Shigeto

Naoko Ushio

Noriko Iizumi

Ryuichiro Tamochi

Hirobumi Mutou

An object of the present invention is to provide: a wiring method in which wiring is performed in a vacuum chamber of a charged particle device without using gas deposition or the like; and a charged particle device. In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention proposes: a wiring method in which a wiring line composed of an ionic liquid is formed by dropping an ionic liquid on a sample or preparing an ionic liquid on a sample table, on which a sample is placed in advance, and irradiating a wiring track between a wiring start point and a wiring end point with a charged particle beam; and a charged particle device. According to this configuration, wiring can be performed in a vacuum chamber of a charged particle device without using a gas deposition method or the like.

Charged particle device and wiring method

For a novice user to easily recognize a difference between imaging results caused by a difference between observation conditions, a computer has an operation screen display observation target setting buttons for changing an observation condition for a specimen including a combination of parameter setting values of a charged particle beam apparatus. The processing unit has the operation screen display a radar chart including a characteristic, indicated by three or more incompatible items, of an observation condition for each of the observation target setting buttons. The radar chart indicates at least items of high resolution, emphasis on surface structure and emphasis on material difference.

Charged particle beam apparatus, specimen observation system and operation program

The present invention aims at providing an ion milling apparatus for emitting an ion beam to a sample to process the sample and capable of controlling the temperature of the sample with high accuracy regardless of deformation or the like of the sample being irradiated with the ion beam, and proposes an ion milling apparatus including at least one of a shield holding member for supporting a shield for shielding the sample from the ion beam while exposing a part of the sample to the ion beam; a shifting mechanism for shifting a surface of the sample stand in contact with the sample following deformation of the sample during irradiation with the ion beam, the shifting mechanism having a temperature control mechanism for controlling temperature of at least one of the shield holding member and the sample stand; and a sample holding member disposed between the shield and the sample, the sample holding member deforming following deformation of the sample during irradiation with the ion beam, for example.

Ion milling device

Display screen with graphical user interface

A charged particle beam device provided with: a charged particle optical lens column generating a primary charged particle beam; a housing which has its inside evacuated by a vacuum pump; a first diaphragm that forms a part of the housing and able to keep an airtight state of the interior space of the housing; and a second diaphragm disposed between the first diaphragm and the sample, wherein a primary charged particle beam generated by the charged particle optical lens column is transmitted by or passes through the first diaphragm and the second diaphragm, and then is irradiated, on the sample that is in contact with the second diaphragm.

Charged particle beam device, sample stage unit, and sample observation method

Ordinary charged particle beam apparatuses have each been an apparatus manufactured for dedicated use in making observations in a gas atmosphere at atmospheric pressure or at a pressure substantially equal thereto. There have existed no devices capable of simply making observations using an ordinary high-vacuum charged particle microscope in a gas atmosphere at atmospheric pressure or at a pressure approximately equal thereto. Furthermore, ordinary techniques have been incapable of observing the same spot of the sample in such an atmosphere using a charged particle beam and light simultaneously. This invention thus provides an apparatus including: a charged particle optical tube that irradiates a sample with a primary charged particle beam; a vacuum pump that evacuates the inside of the charged particle optical tube; a diaphragm arranged to separate a space in which the sample is placed from the charged particle optical tube, the diaphragm being detachable and allowing the primary charged particle beam to permeate or pass therethrough; and an optical microscope positioned on the opposite side of the charged particle optical tube across the diaphragm and the sample, the optical microscope having an optical axis thereof aligned with at least part of an extension of the optical axis of the charged particle optical tube.

Observation apparatus and optical axis adjustment method

The sampleis tilted/oscillated with respect to the optical axis (Z-axis) of the ion beamto repeat tilt and tilt/restoration of a processing target surfaceof the samplebetween a surface state in which the processing target surfaceof the samplefaces a tilt axis direction (Y-axis direction) and a tilted surface state in which a portion of the processing target surfaceon the sample stage side protrudes in the tilt axis direction (Y-axis direction) than does a portion of the processing target surfaceon the mask side, so that the processing target surfaceis irradiated with the ion beamat a low angle, and projections/recessesderived from a voidor a dissimilar materialare suppressed. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress generation of projections/recesses derived from a void or dissimilar material in fabrication of a cross section sample, and thus fabricate a sample cross section suitable for observation/analysis.

Ion milling device and ion milling processing method

A sample observation method uses a charged particle beam apparatus comprising a charged particle optical column irradiating a charged particle beam, a vacuum chamber, and a sample chamber being capable of storing a sample. The method includes maintaining a pressure of the sample chamber higher than that of the vacuum chamber by a thin film which permits the charged particle beam to be transmitted, determining a relation between a height of a lower surface of the thin film and a height of a lower end of a lens barrel of an optical microscope, measuring a distance between the sample and the lens barrel, and setting a distance between the sample and thin film based on the relation and the distance.

Inspection or observation apparatus and sample inspection or observation method

The electrical charging by a primary electronic is inhibited to produce a clear edge contrast from an observation specimen (i.e., a specimen to be observed), whereby the shape of the surface of a sample can be measured with high accuracy. An observation specimen in which a liquid medium comprising an ionic liquid is formed in a thin-film-like or a webbing-film-like form on a sample is used. An electron microscopy using the observation specimen comprises: a step of measuring the thickness of a liquid medium comprising an ionic liquid on a sample; a step of controlling the conditions for irradiation with a primary electron on the basis of the thickness of the liquid medium comprising the ionic liquid; and a step of irradiating the sample with the primary electron under the above-mentioned primary electron irradiation conditions to form an image of the shape of the sample.

Observation specimen for use in electron microscopy, electron microscopy, electron microscope, and device for producing observation specimen

Disclosed is a method for enabling flexibility of the exoskeletons or joints of aquatic organisms immersed in an ion liquid water solution to be maintained without destroying their original forms by reducing the difference in osmotic pressure between the inside and outside of the aquatic organisms, preventing dehydration of biological samples. First, the aquatic organism is put into a low-concentration ionic liquid to increase continuously the concentration of the ionic liquid, enabling the water content of the aquatic organism to be substituted by a high-concentration ionic liquid in their original forms. The use of the increasing method that gentle increase in temperature of the ionic liquid by means of natural seasoning reduces the osmotic pressure difference between the inside and outside of the aquatic organism, increasing the concentration of the ionic liquid inside of the aquatic organism.

Methods for observing samples and preprocessing thereof

A charged particle beam apparatus is provided with a parameter adjustment practice function for allowing any user to easily learn manual focus adjustment and stigma adjustment. Control conditions of the focus arrangement of an objective lens, an X-stigmator and a Y-stigmator are set according to the user's operation. According to a group of the focus adjustment, an X-stigma adjustment and a Y-stigma adjustment which are set, a practice-purpose image corresponding to the control conditions is read out from a storage device and is displayed on a screen.

Charged particle beam apparatus

Provided is an inspection apparatus or observation apparatus enabling appropriate inspection or observation of a sample in an easy-to-use manner, using a charged-particle technique and an optical technique. Specifically, provided is an inspection or observation apparatus including: a first casing forming at least part of a first space constituting at least part of a region through which a primary charged-particle beam emitted from a charged-particle irradiation section reaches a sample, the first space capable of being maintained in a vacuum state; a second casing provided on the first casing to form at least part of a second space capable of storing the sample therein; a partition wall section for partitioning the first space and the second space from each other, the partition wall section disposed so as to be coaxial with the charged-particle irradiation section when the sample is irradiated with the primary charged-particle beam from the charged-particle irradiation section; and an optical observation section for casting light onto the sample and detecting light from the sample from the same direction as the charged-particle irradiation section.

A micro sample floating on the surface of an ionic liquid is observed by scanning electron microscopy without the sample being covered with the ionic liquid. A floating or hydrophobic sample is floated on the surface of a hydrophilic ionic liquid aqueous solution to prevent the micro sample from being covered with the ionic liquid. A hydrophobic ionic liquid is used for hydrophilic samples. With the use of an ionic liquid aqueous solution of low viscosity and large flowability, the micro sample is allowed to freely aggregate, disperse, and align on the surface of the ionic liquid, and to refloat even when settled in the ionic liquid. For easy observation with a scanning electron microscope, the ionic liquid aqueous solution is dried to lower the flowability of the ionic liquid aqueous solution, after the form of the micro sample has stabilized and before electron microscope observation.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Mami Konomi