A method for inspecting a membrane electrode structure (1) which includes a first step in which detection medium capable of detecting elements of a first electrode catalyst layer (12) and a second electrode catalyst layer (22) and an element of a metal foreign matter (40) is sent along a thickness direction from the side of a first electrode layer (10) to a second electrode layer (20) side to obtain a thickness direction profile of a detection signal, and a second step in which an analysis unit identifies a thickness direction position of the metal foreign matter (40), from intensity of the detection signal in the thickness direction profile, and in which the analysis unit identifies thickness direction positions of the first and second electrode catalyst layer (12)(22), or a thickness direction position of an electrolyte membrane (30), from the intensity of the detection signal in the thickness direction profile.

Mask inspection apparatuses and/or mask inspection methods are provided that enable quick and accurate inspection of a registration of a pattern on a mask while a defect of the mask and the registration of the pattern are inspected simultaneously. The mask inspection apparatus may include a stage configured to receive a mask for inspection; an e-beam array including a plurality of e-beam irradiators configured to irradiate e-beams to the mask and detectors configured to detect electrons emitted from the mask; and a processor configured to process signals from the detectors. A defect of the mask may be detected through processing of the signal and registrations of patterns on the mask may be inspected based on positional information regarding the e-beam irradiators.

A method for scanning a sample by a charged particle beam tool is provided. The method includes providing the sample having a scanning area including a plurality of unit areas, scanning a unit area of the plurality of unit areas, blanking a next unit area of the plurality of unit areas adjacent to the scanned unit area, and performing the scanning and the blanking the plurality of unit areas until all of the unit areas are scanned.

This fluorescent X-ray analysis apparatus is provided with an X-ray irradiation unit 20 for irradiating a sample S with: X-rays, having an energy that exceeds the energy absorption edge value of Ag which is selected as a measurement target element, and that is no greater than the energy absorption edge value of Sn which is an adjacent element having a higher energy absorption edge value than Ag; and X-rays having an energy exceeding the energy absorption edge value of Sn which is selected as a measurement target element.

Techniques are provided for tomographic imaging with sub-beam resolution and spectral enhancement. A system implementing the techniques according to an embodiment includes a target structure comprising one or more selected materials nanopatterned on a first surface of the target structure in a selected arrangement. The system also includes a primary particle beam source to provide a particle beam incident on an area of the first surface of the target structure, the area encompassing one or more of the nanopatterned materials, such that the materials generate characteristic X-rays in response to the primary beam. The system further includes a spectral energy detector (SED) to perform individual photon counting and spectral analysis of the characteristic X-rays and estimate attenuation properties of the imaged sample. The sample is positioned both adjacent to a second surface of the target structure, opposite the first surface, and between the target structure and the SED.

A method for implementing a scanning electron microscopy characterisation technique for the determination of at least one critical dimension of the structure of a sample in the field of dimensional metrology, known as CD-SEM technique, includes producing an experimental image; from a first theoretical model based on parametric mathematical functions, calculating a second theoretical model U(P.sub.i,t.sub.i) describing the signal measured at the position P.sub.i at the instant t.sub.i, the second model U(P.sub.i,t.sub.i) being obtained by algebraic summation of a corrective term S(P.sub.i,t.sub.i); determining the set of parameters present in the second theoretical model; wherein the corrective term S(P.sub.i,t.sub.i) is calculated by summing the signal coming from the electric charges deposited by the primary electron beam at a plurality of instants t less than or equal to t.sub.i.

The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for clamping flat samples (6), in particular pouch battery cells, for x-ray diffractometry, wherein the apparatus has a housing (2) having a sample holder (4), which has holding elements (5) that are able to be tensioned in relation to one another for clamping the sample (6), at least two x-ray windows (11a, 11b, 12) for letting in and out x-rays, and at least one first temperature control device (7) for controlling the temperature of the sample (6). At least one first temperature control device (7) is in each case attached to the holding elements (5), wherein the first temperature control devices (7) are thermally coupled to the housing (2), and the apparatus has at least one second temperature control device (9), which is configured to dissipate heat, which is output by the first temperature control device (7) to the housing (2), out of the housing (3) to the outside and/or to introduce heat from the outside into the housing (2).

Mask inspection apparatuses and/or mask inspection methods are provided that enable quick and accurate inspection of a registration of a pattern on a mask while a defect of the mask and the registration of the pattern are inspected simultaneously. The mask inspection apparatus may include a stage configured to receive a mask for inspection; an e-beam array including a plurality of e-beam irradiators configured to irradiate e-beams to the mask and detectors configured to detect electrons emitted from the mask; and a processor configured to process signals from the detectors. A defect of the mask may be detected through processing of the signal and registrations of patterns on the mask may be inspected based on positional information regarding the e-beam irradiators.

Methods and systems for detecting defects in a logic region on a wafer are provided. One method includes acquiring information for different types of design-based care areas in a logic region of a wafer. The method also includes designating the different types of the design-based care areas as different types of sub-regions and, for a localized area within the logic region, assigning two or more instances of the sub-regions located in the localized area to a super-region. In addition, the method includes generating one scatter plot for all of the two or more instances of the sub-regions assigned to the super-region. The one scatter plot is generated with different segmentation values for the output corresponding to the different types of the sub-regions. The method further includes detecting defects in the sub-regions based on the one scatter plot.

An electron microscope apparatus includes a detection unit that detects reflected electrons reflected from a sample when the sample is irradiated with primary electrons emitted by a primary electron generation unit (electron gun), an image generation unit that generates an image of a surface of the sample with the reflected electrons based on output from the detection unit, and a processing unit that generates a differential waveform signal of the image generated by the image generation unit, processes the image by using information of the differential waveform signal, and measures a dimension of a pattern formed on the sample.