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:
Dec. 02, 2025
Filed:
Mar. 30, 2023
Applicant:
Fei Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Inventor:
Chad Rue, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Assignee:
FEI Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01J 37/20 (2006.01); C23C 14/14 (2006.01); C23C 14/34 (2006.01); H01J 37/28 (2006.01); H01J 37/305 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01J 37/20 (2013.01); C23C 14/14 (2013.01); C23C 14/3407 (2013.01); H01J 37/28 (2013.01); H01J 37/305 (2013.01); H01J 2237/081 (2013.01); H01J 2237/20214 (2013.01); H01J 2237/31749 (2013.01);
Abstract
To reduce charging artifacts in electron microscopy, a notched ring of sputterable material can be situated about a sample surface. An ion beam can be directed through a notch at to sputter the sputterable material onto the sample surface. Sputtering can be performed after low-angle focused ion beam (FIB) milling at the same sample tilts. The sample can be rotated about an axis and sputtering performed at multiple rotation angles. Upon sputtering of the conductive coating, the sample can be reoriented and imaged. These steps can be repeated to produce a 2D image stack for 3D image reconstruction.