Electron beam microcolumn for multi-beam applications

Abstract

A 1 keV microcolumn operating with a miniaturized Schottky emitter has been successfully evaluated for the first time. Initial testing has shown a beam diameter of 20 nm at a beam current of about 0.5 nA and a working distance of 1 mm. The Zr/O/W Schottky emitter has a tip radius of about 0.25 - 0.4 μm, and is operated at 1800 K. The emitter is operated at a distance of about 100 μm from the extractor electrode. This paper presents the results obtained with the new microcolumn and discusses present efforts to further improve column performance with respect to resolution, beam current, and deflection field size.