›1.independentA system, comprising:na gas field ion source having an electrically conductive tip with a terminal shelf comprising one or more atoms,wherein the syst…+42

›2.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein, during use, 75% or more of the ions in the ion beam that reach a surface of a sample are generated via an interaction …d2

›3.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein, during use, 80% or more of the ions in the ion beam that reach a surface of a sample are generated via an interaction …d2

›4.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein, during use, 85% or more of the ions of the ions in the ion beam that reach a surface of a sample are generated via an …d2

›5.↳ 1The system of claim 1, further comprising ion optics that include electrodes and an aperture.d2+2

›8.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the terminal shelf comprises 20 atoms or less.d2

›9.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the terminal shelf is a trimer.d2

›10.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average radius of curvature of 200 nm or less.d2

›11.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average full cone angle of from 15° to 45°.d2

›12.↳ 1The system of claim 1, the electrically conductive tip has average cone direction of 10° or less.d2

›13.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive tip includes an end that comprises a single crystal that is aligned with a longitudinal axi…d2

›14.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive tip comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum, …d2

›15.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a tungsten tip.d2

›16.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a W(111) tip.d2+1

›18.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope.d2

›19.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a helium ion microscope.d2

›20.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a scanning ion microscope.d2

›21.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a scanning helium ion microscope.d2

›22.↳ 1The system of claim 1, further comprising a mechanism, the gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip, the mechanism being coupled …d2+3

›26.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope having a damage test value is 25 nm or less.d2

›27.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope having a quality factor of 0.25 or more.d2

›28.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope that is capable of producing an image of a sample, the image of the sample hav…d2

›29.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the gas field ion source is capable of interacting with the gas to generate an ion beam for a time period of one week o…d2

›30.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein gas field ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip, the ion source being capable of interacting with the gas…d2

›31.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has a reduced etendue of 1Ã—10âˆ’16 cm2srV or less.d2

›32.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has an etendue of 5Ã—10âˆ’21 cm2sr or less.d2

›33.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has a reduced brightness at the surface of the sample of 5Ã—108 A/m2srV or more.d2

›34.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has a brightness at the surface of the sample of 1Ã—109 A/cm2sr or more.d2

›35.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has a spot size with a dimension of 10 nm or less at the surface of the sample.d2

›36.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has an ion beam current at the surface of the sample of one nA or less.d2+1

›38.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam has an energy spread at the surface of the sample of five eV or less.d2

›39.↳ 1The system of claim 1, further comprising the sample, wherein the gas field ion source including a tip, and the surface of the sample is five cm or mo…d2

›40.↳ 1The system of claim 1, further comprising a coolant source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of the ion source th…d2

›41.↳ 1The system of claim 1, further comprising a cryogenic refrigerator source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of th…d2

›42.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the ion beam having a convergence half angle of 5 mrad or less at a surface of the sample.d2

›43.↳ 1The system of claim 1, wherein the gas field ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip having a terminal shelf with 20 atoms or less.d2

›44.independentA system, comprising:na gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip capable of interacting with a gas to generate an ion beam;ion op…+41

›45.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the moving mechanism includes a curved surface.d2+1

›47.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the moving mechanism tilts the electrically conductive tip.d2+1

›49.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the moving mechanism translates the electrically conductive tip.d2

›50.↳ 44The system of claim 44, further comprising a support, the moving mechanism being mounted in the support.d2+1

›52.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip has a terminal shelf comprising one or more atoms, and 70% or more of the ions in the …d2

›53.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion optics include electrodes and an aperture.d2+2

›56.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip has a terminal shelf that is a trimer.d2

›57.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average radius of curvature of 200 nm or less.d2

›58.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average full cone angle of from 15° to 45°.d2

›59.↳ 44The system of claim 44, the electrically conductive tip has average cone direction of 10° or less.d2

›60.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip includes a single crystal terminal shelf that is aligned with a longitudinal axis of t…d2

›61.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum,…d2

›62.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a tungsten tip.d2

›63.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a W(111) tip.d2+1

›65.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope.d2

›66.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a helium ion microscope.d2

›67.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a scanning ion microscope.d2

›68.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a scanning helium ion microscope.d2

›69.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope having a damage test value is 25 nm or less.d2

›70.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope having a quality factor of 0.25 or more.d2

›71.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope that is capable of producing an image of a sample, the image of the sample ha…d2

›72.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam can operate for a time period of one week or more with a maximum interruption time of 10 hours or less.d2

›73.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion microscope comprises an ion source that includes an electrically conductive tip, the ion source being capable …d2

›74.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has a reduced etendue of 1x10-16 cm 2srV or less.d2

›75.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has an etendue of 5x10-21 cm2sr or less.d2

›76.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has a reduced brightness at a surface of a sample of 5x108 A/m2srV or more.d2

›77.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has a brightness at a surface of a sample of 1x 109 A/cm2 sr or more.d2

›78.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has a spot size with a dimension of 10 nm or less at a surface of a sample.d2

›79.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has an ion beam current at a surface of a sample of one nA or less.d2

›80.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam has an energy spread at a surface of a sample of five eV or less.d2

›81.↳ 44The system of claim 44, further comprising a sample, wherein the gas field ion source including a tip, and the surface of the sample is five cm or mor…d2

›82.↳ 44The system of claim 44, further comprising a coolant source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of the ion source t…d2

›83.↳ 44The system of claim 44, further comprising a cryogenic refrigerator source thermally coupled to the gas field ion source so that during operation of t…d2

›84.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the ion beam having a convergence half angle of 5 mrad or less at a surface of the sample.d2

›85.↳ 44The system of claim 44, wherein the gas field ion source comprises an electrically conductive tip having a terminal shelf with 20 atoms or less.d2

›86.independentA system, comprising:na gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip with an average full cone angle of from 15° to 45°.+17

›87.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the average full cone angle is from 20° to 40°.d2

›88.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the average full cone angle is from 25° to 35°.d2+1

›90.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the average full cone angle is from 28° to 32°.d2

›91.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a tip of a wire having a longitudinal axis, a dimension of the wire perpendicular t…d2+1

›93.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein a standard deviation of the average full cone angle is 30% or less of the average full cone angle.d2

›94.↳ 86The system of claim 86, the electrically conductive tip has average cone direction of 10% or less.d2

›95.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the tip includes a single crystal terminal shelf that is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the electrically conduc…d2

›96.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the electrically conductive tip comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum,…d2

›97.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a tungsten tip.d2

›98.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a W(111) tip.d2

›99.↳ 86The system of claim 86, further comprising ion optics capable of focusing onto a sample an ion beam generated via an interaction of a gas with the ele…d2

›100.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope.d2

›101.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the system is a helium ion microscope.d2

›102.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the system is a scanning ion microscope.d2

›103.↳ 86The system of claim 86, wherein the system is a scanning helium ion microscope.d2

›104.independentA system, comprising:na gas field ion source including an electrically conductive tip with an average radius of curvature of 200 nm or less,wherein at…+16

›105.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average radius of curvature of 180 nm or less.d2

›106.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average radius of curvature of 170 nm or less.d2

›107.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average radius of curvature of 40 nm or more.d2

›108.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip has an average full cone angle of from 15° to 45°.d2

›109.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive wire is a tip of a wire having a longitudinal axis, a dimension of the wire perpendicular…d2+1

›111.↳ 104The system of claim 104, the electrically conductive tip has average cone direction of 10° or less.d2

›112.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the tip includes a single crystal terminal shelf that is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the electrically condu…d2

›113.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, carbon, tantalum…d2

›114.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a tungsten tip.d2

›115.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the electrically conductive tip is a W(111) tip.d2

›116.↳ 104The system of claim 104, further comprising ion optics capable of focusing onto a sample an ion beam generated via an interaction of a gas with the el…d2

›117.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the system is a gas field ion microscope.d2

›118.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the system is a helium ion microscope.d2

›119.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the system is a scanning ion microscope.d2

›120.↳ 104The system of claim 104, wherein the system is a scanning helium iond2

Classifications

9 codes

IPC · International Patent Classification

Section H — Electricity

H01T23/00
H01J27/26
H01J27/02
H01J49/10

USPC · US Patent Classification

250/423.F250/423250/423.R250/424250/426

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Pendency

3.6 y

1,322 days filing → grant

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non-final + final

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5 RCE

Examiner

Nikita Wells

art unit 2881 · TC 2800

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Priority chain

2 priority documents

Priority

9 May 2006

earliest claimed

›Priority documents — 2

Type	Document	Date
provisional	US 60799203 00	9 May 2006
related publication	US 20070158582 A1	12 Jul 2007

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