Method for Preparing Specimens for Microscopy

摘要

An apparatus for preparing specimens for microscopy including equipment for providing two or more of each of the following specimen processing activities under continuous vacuum conditions: plasma cleaning the specimen, ion beam or reactive ion beam etching the specimen, plasma etching the specimen and coating the specimen with a conductive material. Also, an apparatus and method for detecting a position of a surface of the specimen in a processing chamber, wherein the detected position is used to automatically move the specimen to appropriate locations for subsequent processing.