What is claimed is:
1. A mechanical linkage for connecting a first load-carrying member to a second load-carrying member, said linkage comprising:
a ball for attachment to the first member; and
an elongated race for attachment to the second member, said race formed with an aperture surrounded by a first face, a second face opposed to said first face and two opposed end surfaces, said first face being formed as a first channel and said second face being formed as a second channel oriented substantially parallel to said first channel, said channels for holding said ball within said aperture when said ball is attached to the first member.
2. A linkage as recited in claim 1 wherein said ball is formed with a hole for attachment to the first member.
3. A linkage as recited in claim 1 wherein said race is formed with an extension having a recess for attachment of said race to the second member.
4. A linkage as recited in claim 1 wherein said ball is a first ball and further comprising a second ball for confined movement within said aperture, said second ball formed with a hole for mounting said second ball on the second member to attach said race to said second member.
5. A linkage as recited in claim 1 wherein said first channel is oriented in a first direction and has a circular cross-section in a plane normal to said first direction, and said second channel has a circular cross-section in said plane.
6. A linkage as recited in claim 5 wherein said ball has a spherical surface that defines a center for said ball and is formed with a cylindrical thru-hole extending through said center of said ball.
7. A linkage as recited in claim 6 wherein said cylindrical thru-hole has two openings and the distance between said openings is less than the minimum distance between said first face and said second face.
8. A linkage as recited in claim 7 wherein the distance between said center and said spherical surface of said ball is greater than the minimum distance between said first face and said second face.
9. A linkage as recited in claim 8 wherein the distance between said center of said ball and said spherical surface of said ball is less than the maximum distance between said first face and said second face.
10. A linkage as recited in claim 7 wherein the radius of curvature of said spherical surface of said ball is less than the radius of curvature of said circular cross-section of said first channel.
11. A linkage as recited in claim 1 wherein each said end surface is formed as a semi-circle to connect said first face to said second face.
12. A linkage as recited in claim 11 wherein each said end surface is formed as a channel to establish a continuous channel surrounding said aperture.
13. A mechanical linkage for connecting a first load-carrying member to a second load-carrying member, said linkage comprising:
a first ball for attachment to the first member;
a second ball for attachment to the second member; and
an elongated race that defines an axis and is formed with an aperture surrounded by two opposed faces and two opposed end surfaces, each said face being formed as a channel with said channels being oriented substantially parallel to said axis to hold said balls in said aperture when said first ball is attached to the first member and said second ball is attached to the second member.
14. A linkage as recited in claim 13 wherein said first ball is formed with a hole for attachment to the first member and said second ball is formed with a hole for attachment to the second member.
15. A linkage as recited in claim 13 wherein each said channel has a circular cross-section in a plane normal to said axis.
16. A linkage as recited in claim 13 wherein said first ball has a spherical surface that defines a center for said first ball and is formed with a cylindrical thru-hole extended through said center of said first ball, and said second ball has a spherical surface that defines a center for said second ball and is formed with a cylindrical thru-hole extended through said center of said second ball.
17. A system for force transmission comprising:
a first load-carrying member;
a second load-carrying member;
a ball attached to said first member; and
an elongated race attached to said second member, said race formed with an aperture surrounded by a first face, a second face opposed to said first face and two opposed end surfaces, said first face being formed as a first channel and said second face being formed as a second channel oriented substantially parallel to said first channel, said channels for holding said ball within said aperture.
18. A system as recited in claim 17 wherein said first member comprises an anti-swaybar arm and said second member comprises a control arm.
19. A system as recited in claim 17 wherein said race is formed with an extension having a recess to attach said race to said second member.
20. A system as recited in claim 17 wherein said ball is a first ball and further comprising a second ball for confined movement within said aperture, said second ball mounted on said second member to attach said race to said second member.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for performing spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements on a sample, comprising:
a source which emits broadband radiation;
a polarizer that polarizes the broadband radiation, to produce a sampling beam;
substantially achromatic optics that focuses the sampling beam to a small spot on the sample, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two refractive elements, said sampling beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said elements corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror;
an analyzer that analyses radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, thereby producing an output beam; and
detector means for detecting the output beam to provide a detected output; and
means for processing the detector means output to determine changes of polarization state in amplitude and phase of the sampling beam caused by interaction with the sample.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least two refractive elements comprise two or more lenses.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said two or more lenses include a meniscus lens.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, said meniscus lens correcting or over correcting the spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein one of said lenses is positive and another one of said lenses is negative.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the Abbe numbers of said two lenses differ by no more than 2%.
7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein two of said lenses comprise substantially the same optical material.
8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein two of said lenses comprise optical material(s) that transmit(s) ultraviolet radiation and is or are not birefringent.
9. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein two of said lenses comprise calcium fluoride or fused silica.
10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein two of said lenses have surfaces that face each other, said surfaces being of different shapes or curvatures.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over at least the visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over ultraviolet wavelengths including ultraviolet wavelengths greater than about 250 nm.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over ultraviolet wavelengths including ultraviolet wavelengths greater than about 190 nm.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said optics focuses the sampling beam to a spot on the sample less than 40 by 40 microns in dimensions.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said optics focuses the sampling beam at an incidence angle of between about 60 degrees to about 80 degrees from a normal direction to the sample.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an aperture placed in an optical path between the source and the polarizer, or between the polarizer and the optics.
17. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an apodizer that limits numerical aperture of the sampling beam prior to reflection by the mirror to less than about 0.03.
18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein angle of incidence of the sampling beam to the axis of the mirror is substantially within the range of 1 to 10 degrees.
19. An apparatus for performing spectroscopic measurements on a sample, comprising:
a source which provides a sampling beam of broadband radiation for interaction with the sample;
detector means; and
substantially achromatic optics that focuses the sampling beam to a small spot on the sample or that focuses, from a small spot on the sample into a modified beam to the detector means, radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two lenses, said sampling or modified beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said lenses corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror, said optics being substantially achromatic over visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said two or more lenses include a meniscus lens.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, said meniscus lens correcting or over correcting the spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror.
22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein one of said lenses is positive and another one of said lenses is negative.
23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the Abbe numbers of said two lenses differ by no more than 2%.
24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein two of said lenses comprise substantially the same optical material.
25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein two of said lenses comprise calcium fluoride or fused silica.
26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein two of said lenses have surfaces that face each other, said surfaces being of different shapes or curvatures.
27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over ultraviolet wavelengths including ultraviolet wavelengths greater than about 250 nm.
28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over ultraviolet wavelengths including ultraviolet wavelengths greater than about 190 nm.
29. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said optics focuses the sampling beam to a spot on the sample less than 40 by 40 microns in dimensions.
30. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said optics focuses the sampling beam at an incidence angle of between about 60 degrees to about 80 degrees from a normal direction to the sample.
31. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein two of said lenses comprise optical material(s) that transmit(s) ultraviolet radiation and is or are not birefringent.
32. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising an apodizer that limits numerical aperture of the sampling beam prior to reflection by the mirror or of the modified beam after reflection by the mirror to less than about 0.03.
33. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein angle of incidence of the sampling or modified beam to the axis of the mirror is substantially within the range of 1 to 10 degrees.
34. An apparatus for performing spectroscopic measurements on a sample, comprising:
a source which provides a sampling beam of broadband radiation for interaction with the sample;
detector means; and
substantially achromatic optics that focuses the sampling beam to a small spot on the sample or that focuses, from a small spot on the sample into a modified beam to the detector means, radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two lenses, said sampling or modified beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said lenses corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror, and wherein at least one of the lenses is a meniscus lens.
35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein two of said lenses comprise substantially the same optical material.
36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein two of said lenses comprise optical material(s) that transmit(s) ultraviolet radiation and is or are not birefringent.
37. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein one of said lenses is positive and another one of said lenses is negative.
38. An apparatus for performing spectroscopic measurements on a sample, comprising:
a source which provides a sampling beam of broadband radiation for interaction with the sample;
detector means; and
substantially achromatic optics that focuses the sampling beam to a small spot on the sample or that focuses, from a small spot on the sample into a modified beam to the detector means, radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two lenses, said sampling or modified beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, at least one of said lenses correcting spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror, wherein two of said lenses have substantially opposite magnification powers.
39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein at least one of said lenses is a meniscus lens that corrects or over corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror.
40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein two of said lenses comprise substantially the same optical material.
41. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein two of said lenses comprise optical material(s) that transmit(s) ultraviolet radiation and is or are not birefringent.
42. A method for performing spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements on a sample, comprising:
providing broadband radiation;
polarizing the broadband radiation, to produce a sampling beam;
focusing the sampling beam to a small spot on the sample by means of substantially achromatic optics that includes a spherical mirror and at least two refractive elements, said sampling beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said elements corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror;
analyzing radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, thereby producing an output beam; and
detecting the output beam to provide a detected output; and
processing the detected output to determine changes of polarization state in amplitude and phase of the sampling beam caused by interaction with the sample.
43. A method for performing spectroscopic measurements on a sample, comprising:
providing a sampling beam of broadband radiation for interaction with the sample;
focusing the sampling beam to a small spot on the sample, or radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample from a small spot on the sample into a modified beam by means of optics, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two lenses, said sampling or modified beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said lenses corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror, said optics being substantially achromatic over visible and ultraviolet wavelengths; and
detecting radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample.
44. An apparatus for performing spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements on a sample, comprising:
a source which emits broadband radiation;
a polarizer that polarizes the broadband radiation, to produce a sampling beam for interaction with the sample;
an analyzer;
substantially achromatic optics that focuses, from a small spot on the sample into a modified beam to the analyzer, radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, said analyzer providing an output beam in response thereto, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two refractive elements, said modified beam incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said elements corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror;
detector means detecting the output beam to provide a detected output; and
means for processing the detected output to determine changes of polarization state in amplitude and phase caused by interaction with the sample.
45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said at least two refractive elements comprise two or more lenses.
46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said two or more lenses include a meniscus lens.
47. The apparatus of claim 46, said meniscus lens correcting or over correcting the spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror.
48. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein one of said lenses is positive and another one of said lenses is negative.
49. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein two of said lenses have substantially the same Abbe numbers.
50. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein two of said lenses comprise substantially the same optical material.
51. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein two of said lenses comprise optical material(s) that transmit(s) ultraviolet radiation and is or are not birefringent.
52. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein two of said lenses comprise calcium fluoride or fused silica.
53. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein two of said lenses have surfaces that face each other, said surfaces being of different shapes or curvatures.
54. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over at least the visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.
55. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over ultraviolet wavelengths including ultraviolet wavelengths greater than about 250 nm.
56. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said optics is substantially achromatic over ultraviolet wavelengths including ultraviolet wavelengths greater than about 190 nm.
57. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said optics focuses onto the detector means the output beam that originated from a spot on the sample less than 40 by 40 microns in dimensions.
58. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said optics focuses the output beam at a collection angle of between about 60 degrees to about 80 degrees from a normal direction to the sample.
59. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising an aperture placed in an optical path between the source and the analyzer, or between the analyzer and the optics.
60. A method for performing spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements on a sample, comprising:
providing broadband radiation;
polarizing the broadband radiation, to produce a sampling beam for interaction with the sample;
focusing by means of optics, from a small spot on the sample into a modified beam, radiation of the sampling beam that has interacted with the sample, said optics including a spherical mirror and at least two refractive elements, said modified beam being incident on the mirror from a direction away from an axis of the mirror, wherein at least one of said elements corrects spherical aberration caused by off axis reflection from the mirror;
analyzing radiation of the modified beam to produce an output beam;
detecting the output beam to provide a detected output; and
processing the detected output to determine changes of polarization state in amplitude and phase of the sampling beam caused by interaction with the sample.