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:
Mar. 09, 2010
Filed:
Feb. 14, 2007
Michael Schmidt, Gresham, OR (US);
Jeff Blackwood, Portland, OR (US);
Michael Schmidt, Gresham, OR (US);
Jeff Blackwood, Portland, OR (US);
FEI Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Abstract
A coating is applied to a work piece in a charged particle beam system without directing the beam to work piece. The coating is applied by sputtering, either within the charged particle beam vacuum chamber or outside the charged particle beam vacuum chamber. In one embodiment, the sputtering is performed by directing the charged particle beam to a sputter material source, such as a needle from a gas injection system. Material is sputtered from the sputter material source onto the work piece to form, for example, a protective or conductive coating, without requiring the beam to be directed to the work piece, thereby reducing or eliminating damage to the work piece.