Radiant energy – Inspection of solids or liquids by charged particles – Analyte supports
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-17
2002-10-22
Lee, John R. (Department: 2881)
Radiant energy
Inspection of solids or liquids by charged particles
Analyte supports
C250S440110, C250S441110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06469309
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for supporting a specimen holder used in an electron microscope.
The specimen holder extends through the outer wall member of the electron microscope or other instrument whose interior is maintained as a vacuum. The specimen holder is slidable inwardly and outwardly. Atmospheric pressure urges the specimen holder inward and applies pressure to a member bearing against the inner end of the specimen holder. The supporting device in accordance with the invention is used to alleviate the pressure applied to this member.
2. Description of the Related Art
The aforementioned device for supporting the specimen holder is known as shown in
FIGS. 13 and 14
.
FIG. 13
is a schematic cross-sectional view of this known supporting device.
FIG. 14
is a cross-sectional view taken on line XIV—XIV of FIG.
13
.
For ease of understanding of the following description, the forward and rearward direction is taken as the X direction. The horizontal direction is taken as the Y direction. The vertical direction is taken as the Z direction. The direction indicated by the arrow X is the forward direction. The direction indicated by the arrow −X is the backward direction. The direction indicated by the arrow Y is the rightward direction. The direction indicated by the arrow −Y is the leftward direction. The direction indicated by the arrow Z is the upward direction.
The direction indicated by the arrow −Z is the downward direction.
The direction indicated by symbol {circumflex over (.)} is a direction directed from the rear side of the plane of the page to the front side. The direction indicated by symbol {circumflex over (x)} is a direction directed from the front side of the plane of the page to the rear side.
In
FIGS. 13 and 14
, the microscope column of an electron microscope is generally indicated by
01
and has a yoke
02
made of a magnetic material and a substantially cylindrical goniostage Gs made of a nonmagnetic material. The yoke
02
has a cylindrical outer surface. The goniostage Gs is held inside the yoke
02
. The yoke
02
forms a part of the outer wall of the microscope column
01
.
Referring next to
FIG. 14
, the yoke
02
supports an excitation coil
04
, a top magnetic polepiece
06
of an electron lens, and a bottom magnetic polepiece
07
of the electron lens. The polepieces have electron passage holes, respectively. A specimen chamber A is formed between the magnetic polepieces
06
and
07
of the electron lens inside the gonistage Gs.
The yoke
02
and the goniostage Gs are provided with goniometer-receiving holes
02
a
and Gs
1
, respectively, on the −X side as viewed in
FIGS. 13 and 14
. The holes
02
a
and Gs
1
place the outside of the yoke
02
in communication with the specimen chamber A. The yoke
02
and the goniostage Gs are formed with positioning member-receiving holes
02
b
and Gs
2
, respectively, on the X side as viewed in
FIGS. 13 and 14
. The holes
02
b
and Gs
2
place the outside of the yoke
02
in communication with the specimen chamber A.
A goniometer Gm is mounted in the goniometer-receiving holes
02
a
and Gs
1
, and supports a specimen holder H extending from outside the yoke
02
into the inside specimen chamber A.
The specimen holder H has a holder grip H
1
at its outer end to permit an operator to operate the specimen holder. The holder H has an elongated specimen-holding portion H
2
at its inner end. The specimen holder H is provided with an O-ring groove in which an O-ring H
3
is accommodated. A guide pin H
4
(see
FIG. 14
) is mounted on the outer surface of the specimen holder H.
The goniometer Gm has a cylindrical bearing
08
and a cylindrical support member
09
fixedly mounted in the goniometer-receiving holes
02
a
and Gs
1
, respectively. A spherical bearing
09
a
is formed at the inner end of the support member
09
. The cylindrical bearing
08
has a cylindrical inner surface on which bearings
011
are mounted. The cylindrical bearing
08
is so disposed that the axis of its cylindrical inner surface extends horizontally and passes through the center O of the spherical surface of the support member
09
.
The goniometer Gm has a rotatable member
012
and a holder mounting member
013
. The rotatable member
012
is held by the bearings
011
so as to be angularly adjustable around the X-axis.
The holder mounting member
013
is provided with a hole
013
a
extending therethrough to hold the specimen holder H. The outer surface of the inner end of the holder mounting member
013
forms a spherical surface
013
b
. The holder mounting member
013
is held by the spherical bearing
09
a
so as to be angularly adjustable around the center O of the spherical surface. The hole
013
a
extending through the holder is coincident with the X-axis at a reference position.
Referring to
FIG. 14
, a Z-direction positioning drive mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the Z-positioning drive mechanism) Dz is mounted at the bottom of the outer-end portion (on the −X side) of the rotatable member
012
. If the holder mounting member
013
is rotated in the Z direction by the Z-positioning drive mechanism Dz, the position of the inner end of the specimen holder H in the Z direction can be adjusted.
Referring to
FIG. 13
, a Y-positioning drive mechanism Dy is mounted to a right-side portion of an outer-end portion (on the −X side) of the rotatable member
012
. The position of the inner end of the specimen holder H in the Y direction can be adjusted with the Y-positioning drive mechanism Dy. The position of the inner end of the specimen holder H in the Y direction is detected by a Y-linear gauge Ly in contact with the outer surface of the holder mounting member
013
.
In
FIGS. 13 and 14
, a positioning drive mechanism support member
016
is fitly mounted in the positioning member-receiving hole
02
b
formed on the X side of the yoke
02
and goniostage Gs. A slider-receiving hole
016
a
and a lever-receiving hole
016
b
lying on the X-axis are formed in the positioning drive mechanism support member
016
. A holder inner end-positioning drive mechanism Dx (see
FIG. 14
) has a positioning slider
017
that is received in the slider-receiving hole
016
a
so as to be adjustable in the X direction.
Referring to
FIG. 14
, the holder inner end-positioning drive mechanism Dx has a lever
018
, a lengthwise position-adjusting screw
019
, and a lengthwise position-adjusting motor
021
.
In
FIGS. 13 and 14
, the lever
018
is held in the lever-receiving hole
016
b
formed in the positioning drive mechanism support member
016
so as to be rotatable about the Y-axis. One end of the lever
018
abuts against the outer end (on the X side) of the positioning slider
017
. The other end of the lever
018
abuts against the front end (on the −X side) of the lengthwise position-adjusting screw
019
. As shown in
FIG. 14
, as the lengthwise position-adjusting motor
021
is rotated, the lengthwise position-adjusting screw
019
is moved forward or rearward via an output gear
022
and via a gear
023
of the holder inner end-positioning drive mechanism Dx, thus moving the end of the lever
018
in the X direction.
A member
024
for placing the inner end of the holder inner end-positioning drive mechanism Dx in position is located in the positioning member-receiving hole Gs
2
formed in the goniostage Gs. The inner end of the specimen holder H and the inner end of the positioning slider
017
bear against the inner end-positioning member
024
. This inner end-positioning member
024
determines the position of the inner end (on the X side) of the specimen holder H. and is held by the goniostage Gs so as to be movable within a quite narrow range. The amount of movement of the specimen holder H in the X direction is detected via the inner end-positioning member
024
and via the lever
018
by an X-linear gauge Lx (see
FIG. 14
) in contact with one end of the lever
018
.
With the prior art technique describ
JEOL Ltd.
Lee John R.
Vanore David A
Webb Ziesenheim & Logsdon Orkin & Hanson, P.C.
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