Improved Helium Microscope Incorporates Several Design Enhancements

A new, improved helium microscope incorporates several enhancements that deliver improved imaging.

Called the Orion Plus, the microscope was introduced exactly one year after the original Orion instrument, which demonstrated that helium ion microscopy has a uniquely powerful set of features that allow scientists to see things never before visible. In the intervening year, the Orion won four awards.

The microscopes were developed by Carl Zeiss SMT (Germany), a leader in innovative lithography optics, as well as optical and particle-beam based inspection, analysis, and measuring systems. The Orion Plus was introduced at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2008 meeting and exhibition held in Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA).

Features of the new microscope include: modification in the tip geometry that increases the accelerating voltage of the helium ions, resulting in improved resolution; an enhanced signal collection technique called "Signal Boost" that increases electron collection at short working distances for improved signal to noise; a "Clear View" sample cleaning system that combines plasma cleaning, heating elements; and an in situ vapor cleaning technique to remove hydrocarbons from the sample and the environment.

The operating mode, called "Quiet Mode Imaging," is based on the use of a cryomechanical pump for cooling the source (instead of liquid nitrogen), where users can virtually eliminate vibration for noise-free images. This approach also provides a colder ion source, which yields an increase in brightness.
Dirk Stenkamp, a member of the board of Carl Zeiss SMT, said, "We are proud of the magnitude of improvement we have been able to achieve in only a year of development since the introduction of the first commercially practical helium ion beam microscope. We will continue to push the envelope of advanced microscopy, delivering solutions that enable scientists to see and create at the nanometer scale."

Related Links:
Carl Zeiss SMT