JPH0320945A - Sample stage for scanning electron microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly and correctly move a sample by movably mounting a sub-stage mounted with the sample on a sample bed, and selectively moving the sub-stage and the sample bed with one operating knob. CONSTITUTION:When an operating knob 6 is rotated, a sample bed 3 is inclined by the preset angle in response to the number of rotation of the operating knob 6 via a shaft 5, a worm 4a and a worm wheel 4b. A sub-stage 2 is movably mounted on the sample bed 3 and inclined via gears 10, 12 and 13. The gear 10 is selectively engaged with a gear 9 via a clutch 11 operated by a control switch 14 located outside a sample chamber 16. The gear 9 is driven via the operating knob 6 from the outside of the sample chamber 16. When the clutch 11 is selectively operated, the sample 1 is inclined concurrently by the sub-stage 2 and the sample bed 3 or only by the sample bed 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to improvements in sample stages for scanning electron microscopes.

[Prior Art] In a sample stage for a scanning electron microscope, when the sample stage is manually moved in X-Y or tilted, it is driven by rotating an operating knob or the like.

In a drive device with such a mechanism, the driving speed is determined by the amount of movement per one rotation of the operating knob, and for example, the amount of movement per one rotation of the operating knob is 0. 5wI1
Or, the inclination angle is determined as 101.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when manually moving the sample on such a sample stage, if the sample movement range is large or the inclination angle is large, it may be difficult to move the sample to the target position. Another drawback was that the operating knob had to be rotated many times and it took time to move the sample.

It is an object of the present invention to solve these conventional problems and provide a sample stage for an scanning electron microscope that allows the sample to be moved quickly and accurately with a single operation knob.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, the present invention provides a substage arranged in a sample chamber and on which a sample is placed, a sample stand on which the substage is movably placed, and a system in which the sample stand is moved from outside the sample chamber. The present invention is characterized by comprising a driving means for driving the substage, and an auxiliary driving means for selectively transmitting the driving force from the driving means to the substage.

[Example code] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

The figure is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to tilting motion. In the figure, 1 is a sample, 2 is a substage that holds sample 1, 3 is a sample stage, and 4 is a sample stage 3.
The tilting device 4 is composed of a worm 4a and a worm foil 4b. 5 is a worm 4al: a shaft for transmitting the rotation of the operating knob 6.

7 is a support member for rotatably supporting the worm wheel 4b, and 8 is a sample stage mounting flange. 9
10 is a first gear fixed to the shaft 5, and 10 is a second gear to which the rotation of the first gear 9 is transmitted via a clutch 11.
12 is a third gear, and 13 is a fourth gear. The rotation of the first gear is transmitted to the fourth gear 13 via each gear.

As the fourth gear 13 rotates, the substage 2 movably disposed on the sample stage 3 is tilted. 14 is a control switch for controlling the clutch 11. 15 is an objective lens, and 16 is a sample chamber.

In the sample stage for a scanning electron microscope configured in this way, in normal operation, first, the rotation of the first gear 9 is rotated to the second gear 9.
The control switch 14 is operated to keep the clutch 11 in the "disengaged" state so that the information is not transmitted to the m vehicle 10. In this state,
When the operating knob 6 is rotated, the shaft 5 rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the worm 4a.Therefore, the worm wheel 4b also rotates, and the sample stage 3 supported by the worm wheel 4b rotates, so that the sample 1 is tilted. . The tilt in this case is the angle at which the sample stage 3 tilts when the operating knob 6 is rotated once, for example, 10 degrees, then the sample 1 also tilts at 10 degrees.
゜Tilt.

Next, when increasing the tilting speed of the sample 1, the control switch 1 is set so that the rotation of the first gear 9 is transmitted to the second gear 10.
4 to put the clutch 11 in the "connected" state. In this state, when the operating knob 6 is rotated, this rotational force is transmitted via the worm 4a and the worm wheel 4b, and the sample stage 3 rotates, so that the sample 1 is tilted. On the other hand, the rotation of the operating knob 6 is transmitted to the first gear 9 fixed to the shaft 5 and then to the second gear 10 via the clutch 11.

This rotational force is transmitted to the fourth gear 13 via each gear, and the substage 2 is tilted.

The inclination angle of the sub-stage 2 in this case is assumed to be 10'' when the operating knob 6 is rotated once.
When the sample stage 3 is rotated once, the inclination angle of the sample stage 3 is 10 degrees, and the substage 2 placed thereon is further tilted by 10 degrees, so that the sample 1 is tilted by 20 degrees in total. Therefore, with this type of sample stage, when tilting the sample, even if the sample tilt range is large, it can be easily tilted to the desired tilt angle, without having to turn the operating knob many times like in conventional devices. There is no need to tilt the sample, and no time is required for tilting the sample.

The above embodiments are illustrative and can be modified and implemented. In the above embodiment, when the operation knob 6 is rotated once, the inclination angle of the substage 2 is determined by each gear ratio.
The inclination angle of the sub-stage 2 may be adjusted using slippage of the clutch by changing the excitation current supplied to the sub-stage 1 and changing the intensity of the excitation.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the sample is tilted has been explained, but the present invention is not limited to only the case where the sample is tilted.
-It can also be applied to Y movement.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the sample stage is moved from outside the sample chamber, and an auxiliary drive mechanism is provided for transmitting the driving force from the drive means to the substage. Since the sample is moved, even if the sample movement range is large, the sample can be moved quickly without having to rotate the operating knob many times.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a schematic block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1: Sample, 2: Substage, 3: Sample stage, 4: Tilt device, 5: Shaft, 6: Operation knob, 7: Support member, 8
: flange, 9: first gear, 10: second gear, 11: clutch, 12: third gear, 13: fourth gear, 14: control switch, 15: objective lens, 16: sample chamber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A substage arranged in a sample chamber and on which a sample is placed, a sample stand on which the substage is movably placed, a driving means for moving the sample stand from outside the sample chamber, and a driving force from the driving means. and auxiliary drive means for selectively transmitting the selected information to the substage.