Method apparatus for a coaxial optical microscope with focused ion beam
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for positioning the impact point of a focused ion beam on a specimen, the apparatus comprising:
- an ion source;
an ion column for focusing ions from the ion source into a beam for impinging on the specimen at a target point the ion column having an ion column axis;
and an optical microscope having an optical axis, the optical microscope and the ion column configured so that they are substantially coaxial as their axes approach the target point.
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Abstract
An optical microscope has an optical axis that coincides with a focused ion beam. The optical microscope can be used to locate target features on a specimen for subsequent operations by the ion beam, thereby eliminating the need for complex and potentially inaccurate registration procedures. The optical microscope can use infrared light so that features on a silicon flip chip are observable through the silicon from the backside. The ion beam can then machine the chip to expose the features for subsequent operations.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An apparatus for positioning the impact point of a focused ion beam on a specimen, the apparatus comprising:
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an ion source;
an ion column for focusing ions from the ion source into a beam for impinging on the specimen at a target point the ion column having an ion column axis;
and an optical microscope having an optical axis, the optical microscope and the ion column configured so that they are substantially coaxial as their axes approach the target point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24, 25)
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18. A method of positioning the impact point of a focused ion beam at a target point on a specimen, the method comprising:
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Providing an optical microscope having an optical axis and an ion column having column axis, the optical microscope and the ion column configured so that they are substantially coaxial as their axes approach the target point;
locating the target point using the optical microscope; and
directing the focused ion beam to target point. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28)
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22. A method of exposing an integrated circuit feature under a silicon layer, the method comprising:
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illuminating an area including the feature through the layer of silicon using infrared light;
using dark field infrared light from the specimen collected from an optical path that is substantially coaxial with an ion beam column to form a image of the area;
locating the feature in the image; and
ion beam machining through the silicon layer to access the feature.- View Dependent Claims (29)
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23. An apparatus for locating, exposing, and performing focused ion beam operations on features on an integrated circuit under a layer of silicon, comprising:
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an ion source;
an ion column for focusing ions from the ion source into a beam for impinging on the specimen at a target point, the ion path defining an axis of the ion beam;
an infrared illumination source illumination an optical microscope for viewing an infrared image of the specimen, the optical microscope having an optical axis that is substantially coaxial with the axis of the ion beam at the target point, the optical microscope thereby including the target of the ion column in its field of view. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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Specification