Asymmetric Charged-Particle Beams for Aberration-Limited Resolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional charged-particle beam (CPB) optical systems face challenges in achieving high resolution due to lens aberrations, which are difficult to correct and require technical expertise, limiting further improvements.
Innovation Solution
The use of asymmetric charged-particle beam shapes in combination with deconvolution methods to enhance image resolution and processing accuracy, compensating for aberrations without additional correction elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional aberration correction methods are used, then resolution can be improved, but device complexity and difficulty of implementation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by intentionally introducing asymmetric aberrations through a deliberately asymmetric beam spot shape. This asymmetric beam shape compensates for the symmetric aberrations present in conventional CPB systems, achieving resolution enhancement without requiring complex aberration correction elements. The asymmetric beam acts as a simple yet effective countermeasure to the system's inherent symmetric aberrations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the beam spot shape parameter from the conventional symmetric circular shape to an asymmetric shape with specific dimensional ratios. This parameter change in beam geometry transforms the system's point spread function to compensate for aberrations, achieving improved resolution through a fundamental change in beam characteristics rather than adding complex correction hardware.
2Measurement precision
If conventional symmetric beam shapes are used, then system operation is simple, but resolution is limited by lens aberrations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the conventional symmetric circular beam spot with an asymmetric beam shape that has different dimensions in orthogonal directions. This asymmetric shape is specifically designed to compensate for the symmetric aberrations in the CPB system, achieving superior resolution while maintaining relatively simple operational control through standard beam shaping capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Elongated or other non-circular charged-particle beams (CPBs) are used to produce substrate images that can be processed such as by deconvolution to produce a final image. In some cases, first and second images associated with an asymmetric CPB beams aligned along parallel axes are deconvolved and then combined to produce the final image or combined and then deconvolved to produce the final image. Milling or other processing can be performed by aligning an asymmetric CPB with respect to a CPB scan or processing direction.