Fei Comapny

Ryan Tanner

Richard J Young

Reinier Louis Warschauer

A method and apparatus for performing a slice and view technique with a dual beam system. The feature of interest in an image of a sample is located by machine vision, and the area to be milled and imaged in a subsequent slice and view iteration is determined through analysis of data gathered by the machine vision at least in part. A determined milling area may be represented as a bounding box around a feature, which dimensions can be changed in accordance with the analysis step. The FIB is then adjusted accordingly to slice and mill a new face in the subsequent slice and view iteration, and the SEM images the new face. Because the present invention accurately locates the feature and determines an appropriate size of area to mill and image, efficiency is increased by preventing the unnecessary milling of substrate that does not contain the feature of interest.

Automated slice milling for viewing a feature

A device for imaging and processing a workpiece having nanometric features through the use of at least one charged particle beam, by both fully automated procedures and manual assistance procedures. The device includes a user interface, including a schedule input entry device and a human operator ready input that can be placed in a first state or a second state and a procedure scheduler, accepting a schedule of procedures, including fully automated procedures and manual assistance procedures, from the schedule input entry device. Additionally, a procedure sequencer that, when the human operator ready input is in the second state, sequences through fully automated procedures until the human operator ready input is placed into the first state, at which time the sequencer begins sequencing the manual assistance procedures, after reaching a safe termination point for the fully automated procedures being performed.

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Beaverton, OR, United States of America

Ryan Tanner