Patent ID: 7825389

Claim:
A gas cluster ion beam apparatus for irradiating a workpiece with a gas cluster ion beam generated from a gas mixture, the gas cluster ion beam apparatus comprising: a vacuum vessel having a first chamber and a second chamber in fluid communication with said first chamber, wherein said workpiece holder is located on a workpiece holder in said second chamber; a gas cluster ion beam source in said first chamber, the gas cluster ion beam source configured to produce a gas jet containing gas clusters of the gas mixture; a nozzle on the gas cluster ion beam source, said nozzle configured to eject the gas mixture into said first chamber as the gas jet; a movable member inside said first chamber, said movable member configured to move between a first position out of a path of the gas jet and a second position in which the gas jet impacts said movable member such that the gas clusters of the gas jet are dissociated to form residual gases; and a gas analyzer coupled with said first chamber, said gas analyzer configured to analyze the residual gases and to generate gas analysis data; and a controller coupled with said gas analyzer, said controller configured to modify the irradiation of the workpiece in response to the gas analysis data communicated from said gas analyzer.