Ion sources, systems and methods
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system, comprising:
- a gas field ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a spot size with a dimension of 10 nm or less at a surface of a sample.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Ion sources, systems and methods are disclosed.
160 Citations
112 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
a gas field ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a spot size with a dimension of 10 nm or less at a surface of a sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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2. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is nine nm or less.
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3. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is eight nm or less.
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4. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is 0.05 nm or more.
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5. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is 0.1 nm or more.
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6. The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has a convergence half angle of 5 mrad or less at the surface of the sample.
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7. The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has an ion beam current at the surface of the sample of one nA or less.
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8. The system of claim 7, wherein the ion beam current at the surface of the sample is 0.1 fA or more.
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9. The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam current at the surface of the sample is 0.1 fA or more.
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10. The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has an energy spread at the surface of the sample of five eV or less.
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11. The system of claim 1, further comprising the sample, wherein the gas field ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip, and the surface of the sample is five cm or more from the electrically conductive tip.
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12. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope.
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13. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a helium ion microscope.
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14. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a scanning gas field ion microscope.
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15. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a scanning helium ion microscope.
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16. The system of claim 1, further comprising ion optics configured so that at least some ions in the ion beam pass through the ion optics before reaching the sample.
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17. The system of claim 16, wherein the ion optics comprise electrodes and an aperture, the aperture being configured to prevent some of the ions in the ion beam from reaching the surface of the sample.
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18. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mechanism, the gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the mechanism being coupled to the gas field ion source so that the mechanism can translate the electrically conductive tip, tilt the electrically conductive tip or both.
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19. The system of claim 1, wherein the gas field ion source includes an electrically conductive tip that comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum, iridium, rhenium, niobium, platinum and molybdenum.
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20. The system of claim 1, wherein the gas field ion source comprises a W(111) tip.
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21. The system of claim 20, wherein the W(111) tip has a terminal atomic shelf that is a trimer.
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22. The system of claim 1, wherein the gas field ion source has a terminal atomic shelf comprising one or more atoms, and 70% or more of the ions in the ion beam that reach the surface of the sample are generated via an interaction of the gas with a single atom of the one or more atoms of the terminal atomic shelf.
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23. The system of claim 1, further comprising a coolant source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of the gas field ion source the temperature of the gas field ion source is 5K or more.
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24. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cryogenic refrigerator thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of the gas field ion source the temperature of the gas field ion source is 5K or more.
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25. The system of claim 1, wherein the gas field ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip having a terminal shelf with 20 atoms or less.
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2. The system of claim 1, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is nine nm or less.
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26. A system, comprising:
an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a spot size with a dimension of three nm or less at a surface of a sample. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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29. The system of claim 26, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is two nm or less.
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30. The system of claim 26, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is one nm or less.
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31. The system of claim 26, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is 0.05 nm or more.
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32. The system of claim 26, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is 0.1 nm or more.
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33. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion beam has a convergence half angle of 5 mrad or less at the surface of the sample.
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34. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion beam has an ion beam current at the surface of the sample of one nA or less.
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35. The system of claim 34, wherein the ion beam current at the surface of the sample is 0.1 fA or more.
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36. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion beam current at the surface of the sample is 0.1 fA or more.
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37. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion beam has an energy spread at the surface of the sample of five eV or less.
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38. The system of claim 26, further comprising the sample, wherein the ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip, and the surface of the sample is five cm or more from the electrically conductive tip.
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39. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope.
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40. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is a helium ion microscope.
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41. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is a scanning gas field ion microscope.
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42. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is a scanning helium ion microscope.
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43. The system of claim 26, further comprising ion optics configured so that at least some ions in the ion beam pass through the ion optics before reaching the sample.
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44. The system of claim 43, wherein the ion optics comprise electrodes and an aperture, the aperture being configured to prevent some of the ions in the ion beam from reaching the surface of the sample.
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45. The system of claim 26, further comprising a mechanism, the ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the mechanism being coupled to the ion source so that the mechanism can translate the electrically conductive tip, tilt the electrically conductive tip or both.
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46. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion source includes an electrically conductive tip that comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum, iridium, rhenium, niobium, platinum and molybdenum.
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47. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion source comprises a W(111) tip.
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48. The system of claim 47, wherein the W(111) tip has a terminal atomic shelf that is a trimer.
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49. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion source has a terminal atomic shelf comprising one or more atoms, and 70% or more of the ions in the ion beam that reach the surface of the sample are generated via an interaction of the gas with a single atom of the one or more atoms of the terminal atomic shelf.
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50. The system of claim 26, fun her comprising a coolant source thermally coupled to the ion source so that during operation of the ion source the temperature of the ion source is 5K or more.
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51. The system of claim 26, fun her comprising a cryogenic refrigerator thermally coupled to the ion source so that during operation of the ion source the temperature of the ion source is 5K or more.
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52. The system of claim 26, wherein the ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip having a terminal shelf with 20 atoms or less.
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29. The system of claim 26, wherein the dimension of the spot size of the ion beam at the surface of the sample is two nm or less.
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27. An ion microscope capable of producing an image of a sample, the sample being different from the ion microscope, the image of the sample having a resolution of three nm or less.
- View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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53. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of two nm or less.
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54. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of one nm or less.
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55. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of 0.05 nm or more.
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56. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source that is capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam for a time period of one week or more with a maximum interruption time of 10 hours or less.
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57. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source that includes an electrically conductive tip, the electrically conductive tip being capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam for a time period of one week or more without removing the electrically conductive tip from the system.
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58. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a reduced etendue of 1×
- 10−
16 cm2srV or less.
- 10−
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59. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having an etendue of 5×
- 10−
21 cm2sr or less.
- 10−
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60. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a reduced brightness at a surface of the sample of 5×
- 108 A/m2srV or more.
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61. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a brightness at a surface of the sample of 1×
- 109 A/cm2sr or more.
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62. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a spot size with a dimension of 10 nm or less at a surface of the sample.
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63. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having an ion beam current at a surface of the sample of one nA or less.
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64. The ion microscope of claim 63, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a current at a surface of the sample is 0.1 fA or more.
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65. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having an energy spread at a surface of the sample of five eV or less.
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66. The ion microscope of claim 27, further comprising the sample, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source including an electrically conductive tip, and the surface of the sample is five cm or more from the electrically conductive tip.
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67. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope is a gas field ion microscope.
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68. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope is a helium ion microscope.
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69. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope is a scanning gas field ion microscope.
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70. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope is a scanning helium ion microscope.
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71. The ion microscope of claim 27, further comprising ion optics and an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam, and the ion optics being configured so that at least some ions in the ion beam pass through the ion optics before reaching the sample.
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72. The ion microscope of claim 71, wherein the ion optics comprise electrodes and an aperture, the aperture being configured to prevent some of the ions in the ion beam from reaching the surface of the sample.
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73. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source and a mechanism, the ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the mechanism being coupled to the ion source so that the mechanism can translate the electrically conductive tip, tilt the electrically conductive tip or both.
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74. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the electrically conductive tip comprising a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum, iridium, rhenium, niobium, platinum and molybdenum.
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75. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source including a W(111) tip.
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76. The ion microscope of claim 75, wherein the W(111) tip has a terminal atomic shelf that is a trimer.
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77. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope includes an ion source that has a terminal atomic shelf comprising one or more atoms, the ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam, and 70% or more of the ions in the ion beam that reach a surface of the sample are generated via an interaction between a gas and a single atom of the one or more atoms of the terminal atomic shelf.
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78. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source and a coolant source thermally coupled to the ion source so that during operation of the ion source the temperature of the ion source is 5K or more.
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79. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source and a cryogenic refrigerator source thermally coupled to the ion source so that during operation of the ion source the temperature of the ion source is 5K or more.
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80. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a convergence half angle of 5 mrad or less at a surface of the sample.
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81. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the ion microscope has a field of view on the sample of 200 nm or more.
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82. The ion microscope of claim 27, further comprising an ion source including an electrically conductive tip having a terminal shelf with 20 atoms or less.
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53. The ion microscope of claim 27, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of two nm or less.
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28. A gas field ion microscope capable of producing an image of a sample, the sample being different from the ion microscope, the image of the sample having a resolution of 10 nm or less.
- View Dependent Claims (83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112)
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83. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of nine nm or less.
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84. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of eight nm or less.
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85. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of 0.05 nm or more.
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86. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source that is capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam for a time period of one week or more with a maximum interruption time of 10 hours or less.
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87. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source that includes an electrically conductive tip, the gas field ion source being capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam for a time period of one week or more without removing the electrically conductive tip from the system.
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88. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having a reduced etendue of 1×
- 10−
16 cm2srV or less.
- 10−
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89. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having an etendue of 5×
- 10−
21 cm2sr or less.
- 10−
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90. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having a reduced brightness at a surface of the sample of 5×
- 108 A/m2srV or more.
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91. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having a brightness at a surface of the sample of 1×
- 109 A/cm2sr or more.
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92. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having a spot size with a dimension of 10 nm or less at a surface of the sample.
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93. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having an ion beam current at a surface of the sample of one nA or less.
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94. The gas field ion microscope of claim 93, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having a current at a surface of the sample is 0.1 fA or more.
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95. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with gas atoms to generate an ion beam having an energy spread at a surface of the sample of five eV or less.
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96. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, further comprising the sample, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip, and the surface of the sample is five cm or more from the electrically conductive tip.
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97. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope is a gas field ion microscope.
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98. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope is a helium ion microscope.
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99. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope is a scanning gas field ion microscope.
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100. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope is a scanning helium ion microscope.
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101. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, further comprising ion optics and a gas field ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam, the ion optics being configured so that at least some ions in the ion beam pass through the ion optics before reaching the sample.
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102. The gas field ion microscope of claim 101, wherein the ion optics comprise electrodes and an aperture, the aperture being configured to prevent some of the ions in the ion beam from reaching the surface of the sample.
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103. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source and a mechanism, the gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the mechanism being coupled to the gas field ion source so that the mechanism can translate the electrically conductive tip, tilt the electrically conductive tip or both.
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104. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the electrically conductive tip comprising a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum, iridium, rhenium, niobium, platinum and molybdenum.
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105. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises an ion source including a W(111) tip.
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106. The gas field ion microscope of claim 105, wherein the W(111) tip has a terminal atomic shelf that is a trimer.
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107. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope includes an ion source that has a terminal atomic shelf comprising one or more atoms, the gas field ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam, and 70% or more of the ions in the ion beam that reach a surface of the sample are generated via an interaction of the gas with a single atom of the one or more atoms of the terminal atomic shelf.
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108. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source and a coolant source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of the ion source the temperature of the ion source is 5K or more.
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109. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source and a cryogenic refrigerator source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of the ion source the temperature of the ion source is 5K or more.
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110. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the gas field ion microscope comprises a gas field ion source capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam having a convergence half angle of 5 mrad or less at a surface of the sample.
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111. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the ion microscope has a field of view on the sample of 200 nm or more.
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112. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, further comprising a gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip having a terminal shelf with 20 atoms or less.
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83. The gas field ion microscope of claim 28, wherein the image of the sample has a resolution of nine nm or less.
Specification
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Current AssigneeAlis Corp. (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung)
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Original AssigneeAlis Corp. (Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung)
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InventorsNotte, John A. IV, Hill, Raymond, Farkas, Louis S. III, Ward, Billy W., Percival, Randall G.
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Primary Examiner(s)Wells; Nikita
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Application NumberUS11/600,711Publication NumberTime in Patent Office965 DaysField of Search250/423.F, 250/423.R, 250/426, 250/492.21, 250/492.2US Class Current250/423.00FCPC Class CodesB82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for informat...B82Y 40/00 Manufacture or treatment of...H01J 2237/0807 Gas field ion sources [GFIS]H01J 2237/202 MovementH01J 2237/20228 Mechanical X-Y scanningH01J 2237/2566 ionH01J 2237/2623 Field-emission microscopesH01J 2237/2812 Emission microscopesH01J 2237/30438 RegistrationH01J 2237/3174 Etching microareasH01J 2237/31755 using ion beamsH01J 27/26 using surface ionisation, e...H01J 37/08 Ion sources; Ion gunsH01J 37/20 Means for supporting or pos...H01J 37/252 Tubes for spot-analysing by...H01J 37/28 with scanning beams H01J37/...H01J 37/3056 for microworking, e.g. etch...H01J 37/3174 Particle-beam lithography, ...