公开(公告)号：US20170372868A1

公开(公告)日：2017-12-28

申请号：US15634471

申请日：2017-06-27

Applicant: CAMECA Instruments Inc.

Inventor： Thomas F. Kelly ,  Mark Ronald Levesque

IPC: H01J37/18 ,  H01J37/285

CPC classification number: H01J37/18 ,  H01J37/16 ,  H01J37/285 ,  H01J2237/188 ,  H01J2237/244 ,  H01J2237/2852

Abstract: In an atom probe having a vacuum chamber containing a specimen mount and a detector for receiving ions emitted from the specimen, a high vacuum subchamber is provided about the specimen mount, with an aperture in the subchamber allowing passage of emitted ions to the detector. The high vacuum subchamber may be pumped to higher vacuum (lower pressure) than the vacuum chamber, and so long as the pressure in the vacuum chamber is below about 10−1 Pa, very little gas diffusion takes place through the aperture, allowing higher vacuum to be maintained in the subchamber despite the aperture opening to the chamber. The higher vacuum in the subchamber about the specimen assists in reducing noise in atom probe image data. The aperture may conveniently be provided by the aperture in a counter electrode, such as a local electrode, as commonly used in atom probes.

公开(公告)号：US11340256B2

公开(公告)日：2022-05-24

申请号：US16319620

申请日：2018-01-31

Applicant: CAMECA INSTRUMENTS INC.

Inventor： Joseph Hale Bunton ,  Daniel Robert Lenz ,  Dana Jeffrey Shepard

IPC: H01J37/285 ,  G01Q60/30 ,  G01N27/626 ,  G01N27/66 ,  G01Q60/38

Abstract: An atom probe directs two or more pulsed laser beams onto a specimen, with each laser beam being on a different side of the specimen, and with each laser beam supplying pulses at a time different from the other laser beams. The laser beams are preferably generated by splitting a single beam provided by a laser source. The laser beams are preferably successively aligned incident with the specimen by one or more beam steering mirrors, which may also scan each laser beam over the specimen to achieve a desired degree of specimen ionization.

公开(公告)号：US20210333306A1

公开(公告)日：2021-10-28

申请号：US16319620

申请日：2018-01-31

Applicant: CAMECA INSTRUMENTS INC.

Inventor： Joseph Hale Bunton ,  Daniel Robert LENZ ,  Dana Jeffrey SHEPARD

IPC: G01Q60/30 ,  G01Q60/38 ,  G01N27/66

Abstract: An atom probe directs two or more pulsed laser beams onto a specimen, with each laser beam being on a different side of the specimen, and with each laser beam supplying pulses at a time different from the other laser beams. The laser beams are preferably generated by splitting a single beam provided by a laser source. The laser beams are preferably successively aligned incident with the specimen by one or more beam steering mirrors, which may also scan each laser beam over the specimen to achieve a desired degree of specimen ionization.

公开(公告)号：US20180130636A1

公开(公告)日：2018-05-10

申请号：US15566769

申请日：2015-04-21

Applicant: CAMECA INSTRUMENTS, INC.

Inventor： Joseph Hale BUNTON ,  Michael Steven VAN DYKE

IPC: H01J37/285

CPC classification number: H01J37/285 ,  H01J2237/2626

Abstract: In an atom probe having a specimen mount spaced from a detector, and preferably having a local electrode situated next to the specimen mount, a lens assembly is insertable between the specimen (and any local electrode) and detector. The lens assembly includes a decelerating electrode biased to decelerate ions from the specimen mount and an accelerating mesh biased to accelerate ions from the specimen mount, with the decelerating electrode being situated closer to the specimen mount and the decelerating electrode being situated closer to the detector. The decelerating electrode and accelerating mesh cooperate to divert the outermost ions from the specimen mount—which correspond to the peripheral areas of a specimen—so that they reach the detector, whereas they would ordinarily be lost. Because the detector now detects the outermost ions, the peripheral areas of the specimen are now imaged by the detector, providing the detector with a greatly increased field of view of the specimen, as much as 100 degrees (full angle) or more.