JPH11297224A - High luminance particle gun - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high luminance particle gun which charges, accelerates and emits particles and wherein the particles are supplied after giving them oscillation energy, a projecting emitter is so formed on a negative electrode as to make the potential gradient around it highest, the supplied particles are thereby sufficiently charged while they are led to the tip of the emitter, and then, the particles are released outside from the hole of the electrode by splashing them on an opposite electrode, and thus, high luminance particles can be released from the very small region at the tip of the emitter after the particles are sufficiently charged while they are moved to the tip of the emitter where the potential gradient is highest. SOLUTION: This high luminance particle gun is so structured as to be equipped with: a container C to store particles; a thin pipe N connected to the lower part of the container C; a negative electrode K that is connected to the lower part of the thin pipe N. releases the particles supplied from the thin pipe N and applies charging potential between an opposite electrode and it; an emitter E that is formed on the negative electrode K into a projecting shape toward the electrode, makes the potential gradient around it highest and leads the supplied particles with the highest potential gradient; an electrode having a hole bored in a position facing to the tip of the emitter E; and a positive electrode A to accelerate the charged particles which has passed the electrode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-luminance particle gun for charging, accelerating, and discharging particles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fine powder particles are arranged at an arbitrary position,
In a particle beam lithography system that creates functional elements or a microfabrication system that irradiates and irradiates arbitrary parts, high brightness (number of particles per unit area / unit solid angle) charged to the particles
It would be desirable to create a particle gun for this.

Conventionally, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, particles are dropped from a cathode K to an extractor Ex as shown by a dotted arrow, and the particles reciprocate between the cathode K and the extractor Ex. The collision and reflection with each electrode were repeated, and the kinetic energy increased during that time, and the charged particles were discharged to the outside by accelerating from the hole of the extractor Ex toward the anode. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of FIG. 4 will be briefly described.

FIG. 4 shows an explanatory diagram of the prior art. In FIG. 4, a container C stores fine particles. The thin tube N is a thin tube that conveys particles downward by gravity with the vertical vibration of the vibrator V.

[0005] The emitter K is a disc connected to the tip of the thin tube N, which makes a hole in the portion of the thin tube N and applies a charging voltage to the extractor Ex. The extractor Ex is a disk for applying a charging voltage between the extractor Ex and the emitter K, and is a disk provided with a hole on an axis for extracting charged particles to the outside.

The anode A accelerates particles emitted from the extractor Ex and discharges the particles to the outside. Next, the operation will be described.

A vibrator V oscillates the particles in the vertical direction, and conveys the particles in the container C downward through the narrow tube N by gravity.
The cathode K is dropped by gravity toward the extractor Ex from the hole of the cathode K. The dropped particles repeatedly charge and collide between the extractor Ex and the cathode K, and are charged.The particles are accelerated toward the anode when they come to the holes of the extractor Ex and are discharged to the outside as charged particles. You.

[0008]

In the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 4 described above, the particles are repeatedly charged and repelled by the particles and the cathodic particles K dropped on the extractor Ex. Due to variations in the number of reciprocations and differences in the collision conditions due to the surface conditions, there is a problem that the kinetic energy of the particles generated from the particle gun varies greatly, the chromatic aberration increases, and the focusing diameter at the time of focusing increases.

(2) Similarly, chromatic aberration increases, and there is a problem that a shape of a particle combined body based on a desired Coulomb force cannot be obtained when producing functional particles to be combined by Coulomb force.

(3) In order to discharge particles from a hole opened in one of both electrodes (extractor Ex and cathode K),
The size of the radiation source is as large as several millimeters, and collimation is required to reduce the size, and the amount of particles is sacrificed. However, there is a problem that the efficiency is extremely low and a long time is required.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems.
Vibration energy is applied to the particles to supply the particles, and a protruding emitter is provided at the cathode K so that the potential gradient is maximized and the supplied particles are sufficiently charged while being guided to the tip of the emitter, and are caused to fly to the opposite electrode. A particle gun which emits particles from the electrode hole to the outside, charges the particles sufficiently while moving the particles to the emitter tip having the highest potential gradient, and then emits high-intensity particles from a very narrow area of the emitter tip. It is intended to be realized.

[0012]

Means for solving the problem will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a container C is a container for storing particles.

The vibrator V conveys particles by vibrating the shaft S. The shaft S is vibrated by the vibrator V and transports particles in the container C.

The thin tube N is a thin tube for conveying particles by vibrating through the shaft S inside. Cathode K
Is for applying an extractor voltage to the extractor Ex to charge the particles, and is provided with an emitter E having a projection having a maximum potential gradient.

The emitter E has the same potential as the cathode K, has a projection, and has a maximum potential gradient,
It guides the charged particles and emits them toward the holes of the extractor Ex.

The extractor Ex applies an extractor voltage between itself and the cathode K to charge the particles. The anode A accelerates the charged particles by a potential difference between the emitter and the anode and discharges the particles to the outside.

Next, the operation will be described. When the shaft S of the particles stored in the container C is vibrated by the vibrator V, the shaft S vibrates in the narrow tube N and discharges the particles from the hole of the cathode K. The emitted particles are charged by the extractor voltage VE applied between the cathode K and the extractor Ex, and are led to the tip of the emitter E having the largest potential gradient on the cathode K, and the tip of the emitter E The charged particles emitted toward the holes of the extractor Ex are further accelerated by the voltage applied to the anode A and are emitted to the outside.

At this time, the particles discharged from the capillary N connected to the cathode K repeatedly collide with and reflect a plurality of times with the extractor Ex, which is an electrode facing the cathode K, so that the charged particles are charged. To the emitter E having the highest potential gradient, discharge the charged particles from the tip of the emitter E toward the hole of the extractor Ex, and further accelerate by the anode A to discharge the externally charged particles. I have.

The thin tube N is provided at a position off the axis formed by the tip of the emitter E, the hole of the extractor Ex, and the hole of the anode A. Therefore, the particles are supplied with vibration energy and supplied thereto, and a protruding emitter E is provided at the cathode K so that the potential gradient is maximized and the supplied particles are sufficiently charged while leading the supplied particles to the tip of the emitter E. By flying the particles to the extractor Ex, which is an electrode, and discharging the particles from the holes of the extractor Ex to accelerate them, the emitter E having the highest potential gradient is obtained.
It is possible to realize a particle gun that emits high-luminance particles from a very narrow region at the tip of the emitter E after sufficiently charged while moving the particles to the tip of the emitter.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment and operation of the present invention will be sequentially described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a structural diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a container C is a container for storing particles, and is a container for storing particles (for example, carbon particles or solder particles of several μm) to be charged and accelerated inside.

The vibrator V supplies particles by vibrating the shaft S. Electrodes are provided on both sides of a disc made of barium titanate or the like, and a voltage of a signal having a predetermined waveform and a predetermined frequency is applied. The barium titanate is vibrated in the vertical and oblique directions in the figure, and the shaft S is vibrated by the vibration.

The thin tube N is for oscillating the inside through a shaft S to convey particles at a predetermined flow rate.
For example, the particles are vibrated through a piano wire shaft S having an inner diameter of 1 mmφ or less and having a diameter of 0.4 mmφ inside to convey the particles at a predetermined end and discharge the particles downward.

The cathode K applies an extractor voltage to the extractor Ex to apply a voltage for charging the particles. The cathode K has an emitter E having a projection having a maximum potential gradient. It is provided. As a result, as shown by the dotted arrow in the drawing, the particles gradually released from the tip of the capillary N have the emitter E having the maximum potential gradient.
And is emitted toward the extractor Ex from this tip.

The emitter E has the same potential as the cathode K, has a projection, and is provided so as to have the maximum potential gradient. The emitter E guides the charged particles to extractor Ex.
Is released toward the hole.

The extractor Ex is for applying an extractor voltage to the cathode K to charge the particles. The anode A accelerates and discharges charged particles to the outside.

The extractor voltage VE is a voltage applied between the cathode K and the extractor Ex. When the particles are charged with a positive charge, the cathode K is applied positively and the extractor Ex is applied negatively. On the other hand, when the particles are charged with a negative charge, the cathode K is applied negatively and the extractor Ex is applied positively.

The accelerating voltage V _ACC is for accelerating the charged particles emitted from the extractor Ex. When the charged particles are positive, the accelerating voltage V _ACC has a higher positive voltage, while the charged particles have a negative voltage. Sometimes it is more negative high voltage.

Next, the operation of the structure shown in FIG. 1 will be described. (1) When the shaft S of the particles stored in the container C is vibrated by the vibrator V, the shaft S vibrates in the narrow tube N and discharges the particles at a predetermined flow rate from the hole of the cathode K.

(2) The particles released in (1) are charged by the extractor voltage VE applied between the cathode K and the extractor Ex, and the emitter E having the largest potential gradient on the cathode K (Sucked). In the course of this guiding, the particles come into contact with the cathode K to be charged, and are attracted to the tip of the emitter E having the maximum potential gradient.

(3) The charged particles guided to the tip of the emitter E having the maximum potential gradient in (2) are emitted from the tip of the emitter E toward the hole of the extractor Ex, and further discharged to the anode A. Accelerated by the applied voltage and released to the outside.

(4) At this time, the particles emitted from the thin tube N connected to the cathode K are repeatedly impacted and reflected with the extractor Ex, which is an electrode facing the cathode K, multiple times, and charged. The charged particles are guided to the emitter E having the highest potential gradient, charged particles are emitted from the tip of the emitter E toward the hole of the extractor Ex, and further accelerated by the anode A to discharge charged particles to the outside. Like that.

(5) Further, the thin tube N is provided at a portion other than the shaft including the tip of the emitter E, the hole of the extractor Ex, and the hole of the anode A. As described above, the particles are given vibration energy to be emitted from the thin tube N at a predetermined flow rate, and are sufficiently charged while being guided to the tip of the emitter E having the maximum potential gradient projected to the cathode K, and are caused to fly to the opposing extractor Ex. Thus, particles can be released from the holes of the extractor Ex to the outside and accelerated. Thereby, the particles are sufficiently charged while moving the particles to the tip of the emitter E having the highest potential gradient to eliminate the generation of uncharged particles, thereby improving the charging efficiency. It is possible to release charged particles from the substrate and accelerate them, thereby releasing charged particles with high brightness.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed structural diagram of the present invention. Here, the container C, the vibrator V, the shaft S, the extractor Ex, and the anode A are substantially the same as those in FIG.

FIG. 2A shows an example of a structure in which a particle blocking rod L is provided and one edge of a thin tube N is an emitter E. In FIG. 2A, the particle blocking rod L is a vibrator V
In this case, the shaft S is pressed in the lateral direction by 1 to suppress the vibration so as to interrupt the conveyance of the particles, or to cancel the suppression and restart the conveyance of the particles. Thereby, it becomes possible to convey the particles at an arbitrary time and discharge them from the capillary N, or to stop the conveyance of the particles to stop the discharge from the capillary N, or arbitrarily control.

The emitter E1 has a maximum potential gradient formed by projecting one edge of the tip of the thin tube N. Particles emitted from the thin tube N emit the maximum potential gradient of the emitter E1. It is drawn (guided) to the part. The tip of the emitter E1, the hole of the extractor Ex, and the hole of the anode A are set so as to be on the respective axes, and discharge the charged particles in the direction of the dotted arrow shown in the figure.

FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of the tip of the thin tube N of FIG. 2A. As shown in the figure, when the shaft S is vibrated up and down and left and right by the vibrator V, as shown by the dotted arrow, the particles are mainly conveyed downward by gravity and are likely to be discharged to the outside. Then, thin tube N
Has a protruding left end, and an extractor VE for charging is applied between the emitter E1 and an extractor Ex, which is an opposite electrode (not shown).
Since the tip of has the maximum potential gradient, the charged particles are guided (attracted) to the tip of the emitter E1.
The guided particles are emitted from the tip of the emitter E1 toward the extractor Ex, pass through the hole of the extractor Ex, accelerated by the voltage applied to the anode A, and emitted to the outside. At this time, since one end of the thin tube N is protruded to provide the emitter E1 having the maximum potential gradient, particles to be emitted from the thin tube N move toward the emitter E1, and the fine tube N N and the base of the emitter E1 are sufficiently charged by contact with the base, so that efficient charging can be achieved. In addition, the charged particles are emitted only from the tip of the protruding emitter E1 having the maximum potential gradient. It is possible to realize a particle gun that emits particles of high brightness (number of particles per unit area or number of particles per unit solid angle) with a smaller radius of the source.

As described above, it is possible to make the one end of the thin tube N a projection to form the emitter E1, guide the particles emitted from the thin tube N to the emitter E1, and sufficiently charge the emitter E1, thereby improving the charging efficiency. At the same time, the charged particles are discharged only from the tip of the emitter E1 having the maximum potential gradient in the form of a protrusion and accelerated, so that it is possible to realize a high brightness by reducing the particle source.

FIG. 3 is a structural view of a main part of the present invention. This is a valve (FIGS. 3A and 3B) for stopping and restarting the transport of the particles in the container C, and another structural example for transporting the particles instead of the shaft S and the oscillator V of FIG. ((C) of FIG. 3) is shown.

FIG. 3A shows a thin tube N by the electromagnetic coil 11.
1 shows an example of a particle valve that shuts off the transfer of magnetic particles inside the device. Here, as shown in the figure, an electromagnetic coil 11 is provided outside the thin tube, and a current is applied to the electromagnetic coil 11 so that the thin tube N
Trapping the particles being conveyed downward in the figure by the electromagnetic field so as not to move downward, stopping the conveyance of the particles, and stopping the current of the electromagnetic coil 11 to restart the conveyance of the particles. It is to let.

FIG. 3B shows an example in which the capillary 12 is vibrated in the lateral direction by the actuator 12 to trap the transport of particles. Here, as shown, an actuator 12 is provided outside the thin tube, and a signal having a predetermined rectangular or sine waveform is supplied to the actuator 12. FIG. 4 shows a signal example. The supplied signal causes the capillary N to vibrate in the left-right direction, and the inside of the capillary N vibrates the particles conveyed downward in the figure in the lateral direction (the left-right direction in the figure), thereby causing resistance to the inner wall of the capillary N. Is increased, and consequently the transportation of particles downward is stopped or the amount of transportation is reduced.

FIG. 3C shows another example of the structure for transporting particles instead of the shaft S and the vibrator V shown in FIG.
Here, instead of the shaft S and the vibrator V in FIG. 2, the entire container C and the thin tube N are vibrated (vibrated in the vertical and horizontal directions) by the vibrator 13 placed at a non-target position of the container C, and The particles are conveyed below N and discharged. As described above, the vibrator 13 is attached to the non-target position of the container C, and the entire container C and the thin tube N are vibrated mainly vertically and further horizontally, so that the shaft S of FIG. The particles can be conveyed below the narrow tube N in the same manner as when the particles are moved downward by gravity by vibrating. At this time, the components are applied not only to the vertical direction but also to the particles even if the amplitude is small even if the amplitude is small, and the inside of the capillary N is moved downward by gravity to discharge the particles from the lower end of the capillary. Is what you do. In this case, the electromagnetic coil 11 shown in FIG. 3A or the actuator 12 shown in FIG. 3B is attached to the thin tube as shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a vibration waveform signal according to the present invention.
This is an example of the vibration waveform signal supplied in FIG. 3B and the like described above, and f = A sin (ωT + sin ω2
In the vibration waveform signal of t), the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents amplitude (V). In this way, a high frequency portion and a low frequency portion (or a portion not shown but without a signal) are provided, and the transport of particles is stopped or reduced at a high portion, and the particles are transported at a slow portion (or a portion without a signal). As described above, by setting the optimum value by an experiment, it is possible to easily perform ON / OFF control (or flow rate control) of the conveyance of particles by using a vibration waveform signal.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Vibration energy is applied to the particles to supply the particles, and a protruding emitter E is provided at the cathode K so that the potential gradient is maximized and the supplied particles are sufficiently charged while being guided to the tip of the emitter E. Since a configuration is adopted in which particles are ejected to a certain extractor Ex and accelerated by emitting particles from the holes of the extractor Ex to the outside, the particles are sufficiently moved while moving the particles to the tip of the emitter E having the highest potential gradient. After being charged, high-brightness particles can be emitted from a very narrow region at the tip of the emitter E, so that a particle gun with high brightness and high charging efficiency can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed structural view of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a structural view of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a vibration waveform signal according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Anode C: Container E: Emitter K: Cathode L: Particle blocking rod N: Capillary tube S: Shaft V: Vibrator EX: Extractor VE: Extractor voltage VACC: Acceleration voltage 11: Electromagnetic coil 12: Actuator 13: Vibration Child

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shuichi Saito 203, Hirai 2196, Hinodecho, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A high-intensity particle gun for charging, accelerating and emitting particles, comprising: a container for storing particles; a thin tube connected to a lower portion of the container; and a thin tube connected to a lower portion of the thin tube and supplied from the thin tube. A cathode for applying a potential for charging between the electrode and the opposite electrode; and a projection on the cathode in a direction toward the electrode, the potential gradient being the highest, and the supplied particles. Characterized by comprising: an emitter that guides at the highest potential gradient, an electrode having a hole in a portion facing the tip of the emitter, and an anode that accelerates charged particles passing through the electrode. Particle gun. 2. A shaft penetrating the inside of the thin tube, and a vibrator for vibrating the shaft are provided, and the vibrator vibrates the shaft to discharge particles at a predetermined flow rate. Item 2. A high-brightness particle gun according to Item 1. 3. A vibrator for vibrating the container and the thin tube, wherein the vibrator vibrates the container and the thin tube to discharge particles at a predetermined flow rate.
High brightness particle gun as described. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the particles emitted from the capillary connected to the cathode repeatedly impact and reflect a plurality of times with an electrode facing the cathode, and the charged particles are converted into the emitter having the highest potential gradient. And discharging the charged particles from the tip of the emitter toward the hole of the electrode, and further accelerating by the anode to discharge the charged particles to the outside. One of the high brightness particle guns. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the thin tube is provided at a position off the axis formed by the tip of the emitter, the hole of the electrode, and the hole of the anode. High brightness particle gun.