Hitachi-high-technologies Corporation

Hitachi High-tech Corporation

Hitachi-science Systems, Ltd.

Yasuhira Nagakubo

Toshie Yaguchi

Toshiaki Tanigaki

Takayuki Asakawa

Akira Watabe

Katsuji Itou

Hideki Hirota

Takeshi Sato

Isao Nagaoki

Toshiyuki Iwahori

Hiroaki Matsumoto

Katsuji Ito

Satoshi Tomimatsu

Yoshifumi Taniguchi

Shohei Terada

Kiyotaka Nakano

Kouichi Kurosawa

Junzo Azuma

Miki Tsuchiya

Kazutaka Nimura

Takeo Kamino

Takeshi Sunaoshi

Takashi Mizuo

Toshiyuki Oyagi

Takashi Kanemura

Mitsuhiko Yamada

The present invention addresses a problem of providing a specimen holder capable of observing phenomena on the surface and in the inner part of a specimen, the phenomena being generated in different gas spaces, and a charged particle beam device provided with the specimen holder. In order to solve this problem, a specimen holder for a charged particle beam device which observes a specimen using a charged particle beam is configured such that the specimen holder includes a first gas injection nozzle capable of injecting a first gas to a first portion of a specimen, a second gas injection nozzle capable of injecting a second gas to a second portion of the specimen, the second portion being different from the first portion, and a partition part provided between the first gas injection nozzle and the second gas injection nozzle.

Specimen holder and charged particle beam device provided with same

The present invention stores a cooled sample subjected to freezing treatment, or the like, while preventing the formation of condensation and frost-like substances and loads the sample into a sample holder for observation using a charged particle beam device. The present invention is provided with a main body for storing a sample and a lid unit mounted above the main body and is characterized in that the main body is divided into a first space and a second space by a partition member; the first space accommodates a cooling medium for cooling the sample; the second space has, disposed therein, a heating unit for heating the cooling medium accommodated in the first space; and the lid unit has, formed therein, a discharge port for discharging the gas generated by the heating of the cooling medium to the outside.

Cryostation system

Provided is an electron microscope with which a sample can be observed stably and with high accuracy. The electron microscope comprises: a sample stage; an electron optical system that scans an electron beam over a sample; a vacuum system that maintains the sample stage and the electron optical system in a vacuum; a secondary electron detector that detects secondary electrons emitted from the sample; transmitted electron detectors that detect transmitted electrons that have transmitted through the sample; and a control device that obtains a secondary electron image and a transmitted electron image on the basis of the secondary electrons and the transmitted electrons detected by the secondary electron detector and the transmitted electron detectors and stores the secondary electron image and the transmitted electron image. The sample stage is provided with cooling means for cooling the sample. The vacuum system is provided with a cold trap that sucks moisture from around the sample and a vacuum gauge that measures the degree of vacuum of the vacuum system.

Charged particle beam device, electron microscope and sample observation method

An electron microscope includes a secondary electron detector () which detects an electron generated when a sample () is illuminated with an electron beam from an electron gun (), a monitor () which displays a secondary electron image of the sample based on an output of the detector, a gas inlet device () which emits gas to the sample, and a gas control device () which controls a gas emitting amount of the gas inlet device so that a degree of vacuum in an intermediate chamber () in which the secondary electron detector is installed may be kept at less than a set value P1 during gas emission performed by the gas inlet device. Accordingly, a microscopic image of the sample in a gas atmosphere with use of the detector requiring application of voltage is obtained.

Electron microscope and sample observation method

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam device and a sample holder for the charged particle beam device by which it is possible to form various environments, and perform in-situ observation and analysis without removing a sample from the charged particle beam device. In the present invention, inserting a detachable reverse side entry portion from a side facing a sample holding means, said portion being provided with a function for changing the state of a sample attached to the sample holding means, makes it possible to observe/analyze changes in the sample by a different process without removing the sample from the charged particle beam device by combining a reverse side entry portion having a different function with the sample holding means. The reverse side entry portion comprises two parts, and a tip thereof, which is one of the parts, is removable. After mounting the reverse side entry portion onto the sample holding means, the sample can be transported while maintaining the same atmosphere, and the sample can be transported between different devices without exposing the sample to air.

Charged particle beam device and sample holder for charged particle beam device

The objective of the present invention is to maintain the surrounding of a sample at atmospheric pressure and efficiently detect secondary electrons. In a sample chamber of a charged particle device, a sample holder () has: a gas introduction pipe and a gas evacuation pipe for controlling the vicinity of a sample () to be an atmospheric pressure environment; a charged particle passage hole () and a micro-orifice () enabling detection of secondary electrons () emitted from the sample (), co-located above the sample (); and a charged particle passage hole () with a hole diameter larger than the micro-orifice () above the sample () so as to be capable of actively evacuating gas during gas introduction.

Sample holder and charged particle device

A sample holder for an electron microscope has multiple sample stands, can allow at least one sample stand to move, and enables multiple samples for a transmission electron microscope to be prepared by a focused ion beam apparatus. A holder tip opening is provided in a tip of the sample holder. A back end of the sample holder has a knob, a rolling mechanism, a coarse adjustment mechanism, and a connector. By pressing the knob, fixation of the rolling mechanism is canceled, and the back end from the rolling mechanism and the tip of the sample holder will rotate. This rolling mechanism enables arrangement of the samples to be rotated in both the observing of a sample and the preparing of a sample for a transmission electron microscope with the focused ion beam apparatus. Moreover, the sample stand is movable by the coarse adjustment mechanism and the fine adjustment mechanism.

Sample holder for electron microscope

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.

Specimen cryo holder and dewar

The present invention enables a sample to be observed in a clean state directly after preparation of a final observation surface when preparing a sample for observing a material that is sensitive to heat. The present invention is a method of preparing a sample using a charged particle beam device including a microprobe having a cooling mechanism, a first sample holder having a mechanism for retaining a sample in a cooled state, and a stage into which the microprobe and the first sample holder can be introduced, the method including cutting a bulk-shaped sample piece from the sample on the first sample holder retained in a cooled state; adhering the sample piece to a distal end of the microprobe that is cooled to a fixed temperature and transferring the sample piece to a second sample holder for thin film observation retained in a cooled state, which is different from the first sample holder, within a vacuum chamber of the charged particle beam device; separating the sample piece that has been transferred to the second sample holder from the microprobe and thin film processing the sample piece to a thickness that is less than the thickness during cutting; and observing the sample piece after the thin film processing.

Charged particle radiation device and specimen preparation method using said device

An object of the invention is to provide an electron microscope which can easily and safely prepare a gas or liquid environment in the electron microscope and can observe a specimen in the environment and a reaction of the specimen at a high resolution and to provide a specimen holder for the electron microscope. In the electron microscope including specimen holding means () for holding a specimen (), the specimen () is placed in a capillary () through which electron beams are transmittable, the electron microscope includes a supply device for supplying gas or liquid into the capillary () and a collection device for collecting the gas or the liquid, and the electron microscope obtains a specimen image of the specimen while flowing the gas or the liquid.

Electron microscope and electron microscope sample retaining device

Disclosed is a charged particle radiation apparatus capable of capturing a change in a sample due to gaseous atmosphere, light irradiation, heating or the like without exposing the sample to atmosphere. The present invention relates to a sample holder provided with a sample stage that is rotatable around a rotation axis perpendicular to an electron beam irradiation direction, the sample holder being capable of forming an airtight chamber around the sample stage. A sample is allowed to chemically react in any atmosphere, and three-dimensional analysis on the reaction is enabled. A sample liable to change in atmosphere can be three-dimensionally analyzed without exposing the sample to the atmosphere.

Charged particle radiation apparatus, and method for displaying three-dimensional information in charged particle radiation apparatus

The electron beam apparatus sample holding means has a diaphragm which is placed on upper and lower sides of a sample to form a cell for separating a gas atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere of a sample chamber and sealing an ambient atmosphere of the sample; a gas supply means for supplying gas to an inside of the cell; and exhaust means for exhausting gas. The exhaust means includes a gas exhaust pipe provided in the inside of the cell and an openable/closable exhaust hole provided in a sidewall of the sample holding means so as to pass through the cell. The diaphragm is an amorphous film made of light elements which can transmit an electron beam, such as carbon films, oxide films, and nitride films.

Electron microscope and sample holder

A sample holder for efficiently performing the processing or observation of a sample by means of charged particles while cooling. Particularly, disclosed is a sample holder whereby the processing or observation of a material which may be affected by the influence of heat damage can be performed in a state in which the material is cooled, and furthermore, the influence due to a sample processing method using charged particles can be reduced by cooling. The sample holder is provided with a sample stage capable of fixing a sample piece extracted from a sample by ion beam irradiation, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the sample stage in a desired direction, which can be attached to an ion beam device and a transmission electron microscope device, and which has a movable heat transfer material for thermally connecting the sample stage and a cooling source, and an isolation material for thermally isolating the sample stage and the heat transfer material from the outside. According to the sample holder, the processing or observation of a sample by means of charged particle beams can be performed while efficiently cooling.

Sample holder, method for use of the sample holder, and charged particle device

Provided is a sample device for a charged particle beam, which facilitates the delivery of a sample between an FIB and an SEM in an isolated atmosphere. An atmosphere isolation unitfor putting a lidon an atmosphere isolation sample holderisolated from the air and taking the lidoff the sample holder, is provided in a sample exchangerthat communicates with a sample chamberof the FIBor the SEM through a gate; and the lidis taken off only by pushing a sample exchange bar, and thereby only the sample holderis set in the sample chamber. The sample is loaded in the atmosphere isolation sample holderin an atmosphere isolated from the air, for example, in a vacuum, and then the sample is isolated from the outside air by putting the lidon the sample holder; the sample can be processed and observed in the FIBor the SEM only by pushing the sample exchange barin this state, and further, when the sample exchange baris pulled out, by putting the rid of the sample holder in the atmosphere isolation unit, the state of isolation between the sample and the outside air.

Sample device for charged particle beam

An object of the invention is to provide an electron beam device and a sample holding device for the electron beam device that can observe the reaction between a sample and a gas at high resolution while a gas atmosphere is maintained even by using thin diaphragms. To solve one of the problems described above, in an electron beam device having the function of separately exhausting an electron beam irradiation portion of an optical column, a sample chamber and an observation chamber, a gas supply means for supplying a gas to a sample and an exhaust means for exhausting a gas are provided to sample holding means, diaphragms are disposed above and below the sample to separate the gas atmosphere and vacuum of the sample chamber and to constitute a cell sealing the atmosphere around the sample, and a mechanism for spraying a gas is provided to the outside of the diaphragms. The gas sprayed outside the diaphragms has low electron beam scattering performance such as hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen. The diaphragm is an amorphous film formed of a light element such as a carbon film, an oxide film and a nitride film capable of transmitting the electron beam.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yasuhira Nagakubo