Charge-induced pattern displacement in E-beam lithography

Electron beam lithography (EBL) requires conducting substrates to ensure pattern fidelity. However, there is an increasing interest in performing EBL on less well-conducting surfaces or even insulators, usually resulting in seriously distorted pattern formation. To understand the underlying charging phenomena, the authors use Monte Carlo...

Estimating Step Heights from Top-Down SEM Images

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is one of the most common inspection methods in the semiconductor industry and in research labs. To extract the height of structures using SEM images, various techniques have been used, such as tilting a sample, or modifying the SEM tool with extra sources and/or detectors. However, none of these techniques...

Electron beam lithography on curved or tilted surfaces: Simulations and experiments

There is a growing interest for patterning on curved or tilted surfaces using electron beam lithography. Computational proximity correction techniques are well established for flat surfaces and perpendicular exposure, but for curved and tilted surfaces adjustments are needed as the dose distribution is no longer cylindrically symmetric with...

Automated sub-5 nm image registration in integrated correlative fluorescence and electron microscopy using cathodoluminescence pointers

In the biological sciences, data from fluorescence and electron microscopy is correlated to allow fluorescence biomolecule identification within the cellular ultrastructure and/or ultrastructural analysis following live-cell imaging. High-accuracy (sub-100 nm) image overlay requires the addition of fiducial markers, which makes overlay accuracy...

Individual beam control in multi electron beam systems

Cathodoluminescence Microscopy of nanostructures on glass substrates

Cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy is an emerging analysis technique in the fields of biology and photonics, where it is used for the characterization of nanometer sized structures. For these applications, the use of transparent substrates might be highly preferred, but the detection of CL from nanostructures on glass is challenging because of...

Integrated optical and charged particle inspection apparatus: Corrected version

The invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting a sample, equipped with a charged particle column for producing a focused beam of charged particles to observe or modify the sample, and an optical microscope to observe a region of interest on the sample as is observed by the charged particle beam or vice versa, the apparatus accommodated...

Simultaneous Correlative Scanning Electron and High-NA Fluorescence Microscopy

Correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) is a unique method for investigating biological structure-function relations. With CLEM protein distributions visualized in fluorescence can be mapped onto the cellular ultrastructure measured with electron microscopy. Widespread application of correlative microscopy is hampered by elaborate...

Inspection apparatus and replaceable door for a vacuum chamber of such an inspection apparatus and a method for operating an inspection apparatus

An inspection apparatus is provided comprising in combination at least an optical microscope and an ion- or electron microscope equipped with a source for emitting a primary beam of radiation to a sample in a sample holder. The apparatus may comprise a detector for detection of secondary radiation backscattered from the sample and induced by the...

Positioning Pd catalyst particles for carbon nanotube growth using charge patterns created with a scanning electron microscope

Positioning of charged nanoparticles with the help of charge patterns in an insulator substrate is a known method. However, the creation of charge patterns with a scanning electron microscope for this is relatively new. Here a scanning electron microscope is used for the creation of localized charge patterns in an insulator, while a glowing wire...