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Single-Digit Nanometer Electron-Beam Lithography with an Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope
Published on: September 14, 2018
Design of an aberration corrected low-voltage SEM
R H van Aken1, D J Maas, C W Hagen
1Delft University of Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Charged Particle Optics Group, Lorentzweg 1, 2628CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
Ultramicroscopy
|August 24, 2010
Summary
A new low-voltage foil corrector simultaneously corrects spherical and chromatic aberrations. This enables a 1.0 nm probe size in scanning electron microscopes at 1 kV, advancing high-resolution imaging.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Materials Science
- Electron Microscopy
Background:
- Aberrations limit resolution in electron microscopy.
- Simultaneous correction of spherical and chromatic aberrations is challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel low-voltage foil aberration corrector.
- To demonstrate its application in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) design.
- To achieve simultaneous correction of spherical and chromatic aberrations.
Main Methods:
- Design and characterization of a fully electrostatic electron column.
- Utilizing aberration integrals and ray tracing calculations.
- Adjustable aberration correction parameters.
Main Results:
- Complete cancellation of third-order spherical and first-order chromatic aberrations.
- Achieved a 1.0 nm FW50 probe size at 1 kV in the zero current limit.
- Probe size limited by diffraction and fifth-order spherical aberration.
Conclusions:
- The low-voltage foil corrector effectively corrects aberrations simultaneously.
- The designed SEM achieves high resolution, suitable for advanced imaging applications.
- The corrector's adjustable nature offers flexibility in performance tuning.
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