Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Takashi Mizuo

Haruhiko Hatano

Yasuhira Nagakubo

Kazutaka Nimura

Takeshi Sunaoshi

Yoshihisa Orai

Yusuke Tamba

The invention is directed to a charged particle beam apparatus that enables temperature maintenance in a cooling unit provided inside a vacuum application apparatus using a refrigerant. The charged particle beam apparatus includes a cooling tank that contains a refrigerant for cooling a cooling unit, a cooling pipe that supplies the refrigerant from the cooling tank to the cooling unit, and a unit that leads the refrigerant to liquefy when the refrigerant is biased to a solid.

Charged particle beam apparatus and control method thereof

In conventional structures, a space between a dual cooling tank is vacuum insulated, and a cooling part is cooled via a highly thermally conductive material connected to an inner container. Such structures are affected by heat infiltrating into the highly thermally conductive material and the cooling part. For instance, in cases when liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant, it takes approximately 30 minutes for the temperature to reach &#x2212;120&#xb0; C. Even in cases when a significant amount of time has been spent, the temperature only reaches approximately &#x2212;150&#xb0; C., and thus falls significantly short of the temperature of liquid nitrogen, namely &#x2212;196&#xb0; C. Accordingly, an anti-contamination trap and a vacuum application device according to the present invention are provided with a structure in which a device-internal cooling part in the vacuum application device is cooled, and are characterized by being provided with: a cooling tank filled with a coolant for cooling a cooling part; and a cooling pipe extending from the cooling tank to the vicinity of the cooling part. The anti-contamination trap and the vacuum application device are further characterized in that: the coolant is supplied to an end of the cooling part; and a tube for releasing air bubbles inside the cooling pipe is inserted so as to extend to the cooling part.

Anti-contamination trap, and vacuum application device

In an existing specimen cryo holder, a change in the orientation of a specimen would lead to tilting of a dewar together with the specimen and hence to bubbling of a cooling source contained in the dewar. In view of this, a specimen cryo holder, including a mechanism capable of cooling a specimen while keeping the posture of a dewar in a fixed direction even when the specimen is tilted into a direction suitable for processing or observation thereof, is provided. Also provided is a dewar in which a vacuum maintenance mechanism is mounted to an outer vessel so that an inner vessel holding a cooling source therein is vacuum-insulated from the outside air.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Takashi Mizuo