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:
May. 01, 2012
Filed:
Nov. 02, 2009
Richard J. Young, Beaverton, OR (US);
Brennan Peterson, Portland, OR (US);
Rudolf Johannes Peter Gerardus Schampers, Belfeld, NL;
Michael Moriarty, Portland, OR (US);
Richard J. Young, Beaverton, OR (US);
Brennan Peterson, Portland, OR (US);
Rudolf Johannes Peter Gerardus Schampers, Belfeld, NL;
Michael Moriarty, Portland, OR (US);
FEI Company, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Abstract
A method for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) sample creation. The use of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)—Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) detector in the dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB)/SEM allows a sample to be thinned using the FIB, while the STEM signal is used to monitor sample thickness. A preferred embodiment of the present invention can measure the thickness of or create TEM samples by using a precise endpoint detection method. Preferred embodiments also enable automatic endpointing during TEM lamella creation and provide users with direct feedback on sample thickness during manual thinning. Preferred embodiments of the present invention thus provide methods for endpointing sample thinning and methods to partially or fully automate endpointing.