Sample decontamination

Disclosed herein are methods that include: (a) exposing a sample in a chamber to a first gas, where the first gas reacts with surface contaminants on the sample to form a second gas; (b) removing at least a portion of the second gas from the chamber; and (c) exposing the sample to a charged particle...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Stern, Lewis A, Farkas, III, Louis S, Ward, Billy W, DiNatale, William, Notte, IV, John A, Scipioni, Lawrence
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 06.09.2011
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Summary:Disclosed herein are methods that include: (a) exposing a sample in a chamber to a first gas, where the first gas reacts with surface contaminants on the sample to form a second gas; (b) removing at least a portion of the second gas from the chamber; and (c) exposing the sample to a charged particle beam to cause a plurality of particles to leave the sample and detecting at least some of the plurality of particles. The charged particle beam can include particles having a molecular weight of 40 atomic mass units or less.