Performance predictions of a focused ion beam based on laser cooling

Focused ion beams are indispensable tools in the semiconductor industry because of their ability to image and modify structures at the nanometer length scale. Here we report on performance predictions of a new type of focused ion beam based on photo-ionization of a laser cooled and compressed atomic beam. Particle tracing simulations are performed to investigate the effects of disorder-induced heating after ionization in a large electric field. They lead to a constraint on this electric field strength which is used as input for an analytical model which predicts the minimum attainable spot size as a function of amongst others the flux density of the atomic beam, the temperature of this beam and the total current. At low currents (

Laser-cooled ion source

Focused Ion Beams (FIB) are widely used in the semiconductor industry for milling, sputtering and imaging applications. In particular it is used for quality control of wafers, by using a combination of a FIB and an electron microscope to make cross-sectional inspections of wafers. In addition, FIB's are used for mask repair through gas-assisted etching

Beam pulsing device for use in charged-particle microscopy

A charged-particle microscope comprising: - A charged-particle source, for producing a beam of charged particles that propagates along a particle-optical axis; - A sample holder, for holding and positioning a sample; - A charged-particle lens system, for directing said beam onto a sample held on the sample holder; - A detector, for detecting radiation emanating from the sample as a result of its interaction with the beam; - A beam pulsing device, for causing the beam to repeatedly switch on and off so as to produce a pulsed beam, wherein the beam pulsing device comprises a unitary resonant cavity disposed about said particle-optical axis and having an entrance aperture and an exit aperture for the beam, which resonant cavity is embodied to simultaneously produce a first oscillatory deflection of the beam at a first frequency in a first direction and a second oscillatory deflection of the beam at a second, different frequency in a second, different direction. The resonant cavity may have an elongated (e.g. rectangular or elliptical) cross-section, with a long axis parallel to said first direction and a short axis parallel to said second direction

Application of laser-cooling to achieve an ultra-cold ion beam for FIB

A new type of ultra-cold ion source is under development which employs transverse laser cooling and compression of a thermal atomic rubidium beam followed by photo-ionization. The resulting ultra-cold plasma is focused to a nanometer-sized spot using an existing Focused Ion Beam column and this spot can be used for the fabrication of nano-structures. Simulations of a 10 cm long laser-cooling stage and of disorder-induced heating of the resulting ion beam, predict an achievable brightness for87Rb+ of order 107 A/m2 sr eV at an longitudinal energy spread of less than 1 eV and a current of tens of pA, which is substantially better than conventional ion sources. Experimental realization of the compact ion source has recently started with the development of an efficient high-flux atom source and a 2D laser cooler. Progress on these items will be reported

Optimization of the current extracted from an ultracold ion source

Photoionization of trapped atoms is a recent technique for creating ion beams with low transverse temperature. The temporal behavior of the current that can be extracted from such an ultracold ion source is measured when operating in the pulsed mode. A number of experimental parameters are varied to find the conditions under which the time-averaged current is maximized. A dynamic model of the source is developed that agrees quite well with the experimental observations. The radiation pressure exerted by the excitation laser beam is found to substantially increase the extracted current. For a source volume with a typical root-mean-square radius of 20 µm, a maximum peak current of 88 pA is observed, limited by the available ionization laser power of 46 mW. The optimum time-averaged current is 13 pA at a 36% duty cycle. Particle-tracking simulations show that stochastic heating strongly reduces the brightness of the ion beam at higher current for the experimental conditions

Design and realisation of the Eindhoven scanning proton microprobe

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