Fei Comapny

Marc Castagna

Clive D Chandler

Matthew Bray

Daniel Woodrow Phifer, Jr

Wayne Kurowski

A gas injection system provides a local region at the sample surface that has sufficient gas concentration to be ionized by secondary electrons to neutralize charged on the sample surface. In some embodiments, a gas concentration structure concentrates the gas near the surface. An optional hole in the gas concentration structure allows the charged particle beam to impact the interior of a shrouded region. In some embodiments, an anode near the surface increases the number of ions that return to the work piece surface for charge neutralization, the anode in some embodiments being a part of the gas injection system and in some embodiments being a separate structure.

Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM/SEM) gas injection apparatus with anode integrated with gas concentrating structure

Imprecisely located defects are imaged by milling a series of slices and performing a light, preferential etch to provide a topographical interface between materials having similar secondary electron emission characteristics. The slices are sufficiently small to capture small defects, but are sufficiently large to overcome problems with redeposition.

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Portland, OR, United States of America

Marc Castagna