The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 01, 2019
Filed:
Oct. 18, 2017
Fei Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
John Mitchels, Brno, CZ;
Tomá{hacek over (s)} Vystav{hacek over (e)}l, Brno, CZ;
Martin Cafourek, T{hacek over (r)}ebí{hacek over (c)}, CZ;
FEI Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Abstract
Surface modification of a cryogenic specimen can be obtained using a charged particle microscope. A specimen is situated in a vacuum chamber on a specimen holder and maintained at a cryogenic temperature. The vacuum chamber is evacuated and a charged-particle beam is directed to a portion of the specimen so as to modify a surface thereof. A thin film monitor is situated in the vacuum chamber and has at least a detection surface maintained at a cryogenic temperature. A precipitation rate of frozen condensate in the vacuum chamber is measured using the thin film monitor, and based on the measured precipitation rate, the surface modification is initiated when the precipitation rate is less than a first pre-defined threshold, or interrupted if the precipitation rate rises above a second pre-defined threshold.