{
  "patent_number": "US 12738453",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Measuring Focus in Multi-Beam Tools for Tiny Electronics Manufacturing",
  "original_title": "Method for determining focal properties in a target beam field of a multi-beam charged-particle processing apparatus",
  "summary": "This patent describes a method to precisely measure how focused tiny particle beams are in advanced manufacturing machines by slightly tilting them and observing where they hit a target.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent details a method for figuring out how well focused the individual tiny beams, called beamlets, are in a charged-particle multi-beam processing apparatus. To do this, the system slightly changes an electrostatic voltage in a lens, or another setting in its projection optics, which causes the beamlets to tilt. This tilt makes the beamlets land in slightly different spots on the target surface. By measuring how much the landing positions shift and knowing how much the beamlets tilted, the system creates a map. This map, often made using a mathematical model, then allows the system to extract specific focal properties like the height of focus, astigmatic length, or the size of any blur, which can then be used to correct imaging errors.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover single-beam charged-particle processing apparatus, as it specifically addresses 'multi-beam' systems.",
    "Does not cover determining focal properties using methods other than tilting beamlets and measuring their displacement.",
    "Does not cover the actual correction of imaging errors, only the process of determining the focal properties that can then be used for correction.",
    "Does not cover determining other types of imaging errors beyond focal properties like height of focus, astigmatic length, or blur size.",
    "Does not cover apparatuses that do not modify an electrostatic voltage of a lens or a similar operating parameter to tilt the beamlets."
  ],
  "filed": "2024-03-05",
  "granted": "2026-09-15",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": null,
  "holder_url": null,
  "inventors": [],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "semiconductors",
    "manufacturing",
    "materials",
    "nanotechnology",
    "precision_engineering"
  ],
  "abstract": "A method for determining focal properties in a target beam field of a charged-particle multi-beam processing apparatus is presented, where the focal properties relate to aperture images formed by the beamlets at or near the target within this apparatus, such as height of focus, astigmatic length, or size of blur. By modifying an electrostatic voltage of a lens or another suitable operating parameter of the projection optics, the landing angles of the beamlets are tilted by a small tilting angle, causing a small displacement of the positions where the beamlets hit the target surface. Using the amounts of displacement and the change of landing angles a map is generated that describes a mapping from the change of landing angles to the amounts of displacement as a function of the position, for instance by using a best fit to a predefined model; this map is then used to extract the focal properties, which in turn can be used to correct for imaging errors in the processing apparatus.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12738453/method-for-determining-focal-properties-in-a-target-beam-field-of-a-multi-beam",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12738453/method-for-determining-focal-properties-in-a-target-beam-field-of-a-multi-beam/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12738453",
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