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:
Nov. 02, 2010
Filed:
Nov. 20, 2008
Alevtyna Yakushevska, Eindhoven, NL;
Erwan Sourty, Eindhoven, NL;
Uwe Luecken, Eindhoven, NL;
Bert Freitag, Eindhoven, NL;
Alevtyna Yakushevska, Eindhoven, NL;
Erwan Sourty, Eindhoven, NL;
Uwe Luecken, Eindhoven, NL;
Bert Freitag, Eindhoven, NL;
FEI Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Abstract
A method for improving the resolution of STEM images of thick samples. In STEM, the diameter of the cross-over depends on the opening half-angle α of the beam and can be as low as 0.1 nm. For optimum resolution an opening half-angle is chosen at which the diameter of the cross-over R(α) shows a minimum. For thick samples the resolution is, for those parts of the sample removed from the cross-over plane, limited by the convergence of the beam, resulting in a diameter D of the beam at the surface of the sample. The opening angle is chosen to balance the contribution of convergence and of diameter of the cross-over by choosing an opening half-angle smaller than the optimum opening half-angle. Effectively the sample is then scanned with a beam that has a substantially constant diameter over the length of the sample material through which the electrons have to travel.