Abstract:
The invention relates to a procedure for etching of materials at the surface by focussed electron beam induced chemical reaction at the surface, with the following steps: a) in a vacuum atmosphere the material which is to be etched is irradiated with at least one beam of molecules and at least one first beam of electrons, whereby the irradiated material and the molecules of the beam of molecules are excited in a way that a chemical reaction takes place and forms a reaction product, which is not gaseous/not volatile—reaction step. The invention is characterized in that b) the reaction product is evaporated from said surface by an second beam of electrons, which heats the material locally to a temperature above the vaporisation temperature of the reaction product —removal step—.
Abstract:
The invention refers to a procedure for etching of materials at the surface by focussed electron beam induced chemical reactions at said surface. The invention is characterized in that in a vacuum atmosphere the material which is to be etched is irradiated with at least one beam of molecules, at least one beam of photons and at least one beam of electrons, whereby the irradiated material and the molecules of the beam of molecules are excited in a way that a chemical reaction predetermined by said material and said molecules composition takes place and forms a reaction product and said reaction product is removed from the material surface-irradiation and removal step.
Abstract:
An apparatus for investigating and/or modifying a sample with charged particles, in particular a scanning electron microscope, is provided. The apparatus comprises a beam (1, 2) of charged particles, a shielding element (10) having an opening (30) for the beam of charged particles to pass through, wherein the opening (30) is sufficiently small and the shielding element (10) sufficiently closely positioned to the surface (20) of the sample to reduce the influence of charge accumulation effects at the surface on the beam of charged particles.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a sensor, especially for the probe of a screen probe microscope, for examining probe surfaces (40) or areas adjacent to the sensor, comprising at least one field effect transistor (FET) made of at least one semiconductor material. The invention also relates to a hall sensor made of at least one semiconductor material for detecting magnetic fields and whose lateral resolution capacity can be electrically adjusted, in addition to a semiconductor electrode (28) whose electrode surface can be electrically adjusted.