Continuous Monitoring of the Environment of Electron Microscopes

Abstract

Abstract Electron microscopes (EMs) are very sensitive to external disturbances, like acoustic noise, vibrations, and magnetic fields, which can significantly decrease their precision and compromise the resolution of images. It is, therefore, crucial to survey the room environment carefully before these instruments are installed, and to continue to monitor the surroundings when they are in use, since subsequent or transient changes to conditions can lead to ongoing problems. This is particularly important for EMs used for quality control in semiconductor production, as perturbed images make it hard to detect faults, and ultimately affect the yield and performance of semiconductor products. Fortunately, there are now dedicated systems designed especially for continuous monitoring of the environment surrounding sensitive equipment. Although the technologies used for this application have been on the market for some time, new solutions that provide uninterrupted and automatic logging of various environmental parameters will be a gamechanger for electron beam (EB) instrument applications.