US Patent 7160475B2
Fabrication of three dimensional structures
Lawrence Scipioni Co-Inventor
Fabrication of three dimensional structures
Lawrence Scipioni Co-Inventor
Details of Patent
This patent is for a method for generating a three-dimensional microstructure in an object. In one embodiment, a method for fabricating a microscopic three-dimensional structure is provided. A work piece is provided that includes a target area at which the three-dimensional structure is to be fabricated. The target area has a plurality of virtual dwell points. A shaped beam is provided to project onto the work piece. The intersection of the shaped beam with the work piece defines a beam incidence region that has a desired shape. The beam incidence region is sufficiently large to encompass multiple ones of the virtual dwell points. The shaped beam is moved across the work piece such that different ones of the virtual dwell points come into it and leave it as the beam moves across the work piece thereby providing different doses to different ones of the virtual dwell points as the different dwell points remain in the beam incidence region for different lengths of time during the beam scan. In this way, a desired dose array of beam particles is applied onto the target area to form the three dimensional microstructure.
This method has several applications including processing integrated circuits, trimming thin film heads for disk drives, processing Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), and preparing work pieces for viewing in Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEMs).
This patent is for a method for generating a three-dimensional microstructure in an object. In one embodiment, a method for fabricating a microscopic three-dimensional structure is provided. A work piece is provided that includes a target area at which the three-dimensional structure is to be fabricated. The target area has a plurality of virtual dwell points. A shaped beam is provided to project onto the work piece. The intersection of the shaped beam with the work piece defines a beam incidence region that has a desired shape. The beam incidence region is sufficiently large to encompass multiple ones of the virtual dwell points. The shaped beam is moved across the work piece such that different ones of the virtual dwell points come into it and leave it as the beam moves across the work piece thereby providing different doses to different ones of the virtual dwell points as the different dwell points remain in the beam incidence region for different lengths of time during the beam scan. In this way, a desired dose array of beam particles is applied onto the target area to form the three dimensional microstructure.
This method has several applications including processing integrated circuits, trimming thin film heads for disk drives, processing Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), and preparing work pieces for viewing in Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEMs).