Beam Blanking for SEMs

The Deben PCD Beam Blanker has been designed to provide JEOL and Hitachi FEG, LaB6 and tungsten SEMs with the capability of blanking, pulsing or otherwise modulating the electron beam. The blanking unit utilises the PCD port on the side of the column (opposite the final aperture) and will operate at up to 30KV with a switch on/off time of approximately 50nS. There is an integral faraday cup and probe current detector for an indication of probe current. A BNC connector is provided for connection to an optional probe current meter should a more accurate reading be required.

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Product description

Parameters

Many SEMs have an in-built beam blanking function which blanks the beam by using the column scan coils. While this method is suitable for some applications it generally only blanks the beam in a few milliseconds, if faster blanking speeds are required a separate beam blanker should be fitted.

The Deben PCD Beam Blanker has been designed to provide JEOL and Hitachi FEG, LaB6 and tungsten SEMs with the capability of blanking, pulsing or otherwise modulating the electron beam. The blanking unit utilises the PCD port on the side of the column (opposite the final aperture) and will operate at up to 30KV with a switch on/off time of approximately 50nS. There is an integral faraday cup and probe current detector for an indication of probe current. A BNC connector is provided for connection to an optional probe current meter should a more accurate reading be required.

The deflection plates can either be positioned on the axis of the column or can be totally withdrawn when not required. The blanking plates are made from cobalt gold coated phosphor bronze to ensure that normal operation of the SEM is not affected when the plates are inserted. Length and separation of the plates have been chosen to give optimum blanking efficiency over beam voltages from 1kV to 30kV.

The complete blanking system comprises a PCD port adapter with retractable blanking plate assembly and integrated pulse driver. A remote power supply for the pulse driver and a compact desktop controller. An optional RS-232 interface is available to allow control of the blanking system directly from a computer controlled microscope or from an automated lithography system.

Key features