A charged particle beam apparatus with a charged particle source to generate a primary charged particle beam, a sample holder to hold a sample for impingement of the primary charged particle beam on the sample, a pulsed laser configured to generate a pulsed light beam for impingement onto an area on the sample, and an electrode to collect electrons emitted from the sample in a non-linear photoemission.

Systems and methods of providing a probe spot in multiple modes of operation of a charged-particle beam apparatus are disclosed. The method may comprise activating a charged-particle source to generate a primary charged-particle beam and selecting between a first mode and a second mode of operation of the charged-particle beam apparatus. In the flooding mode, the condenser lens may focus at least a first portion of the primary charged-particle beam passing through an aperture of the aperture plate to form a second portion of the primary charged-particle beam, and substantially all of the second portion is used to flood a surface of a sample. In the inspection mode, the condenser lens may focus a first portion of the primary charged-particle beam such that the aperture of the aperture plate blocks off peripheral charged-particles to form the second portion of the primary charged-particle beam used to inspect the sample surface.

The present disclosure provides a technique enabling accurate ascertaining of a charged state of a resist pattern resulting from irradiation of a charged particle beam. The present disclosure provides a charged particle beam system provided with: a charged particle device provided with a charged particle source, deflectors for causing a primary charged particle beam emitted from the charged particle source to be scanned over a sample, an energy discriminator for performing energy discrimination for secondary electrons emitted when the primary charged particle beam has reached the sample, and a detector for detecting secondary electrons which have passed the energy discriminator; and a computer system for generating a scan image on the basis of signal amounts detected by the detector, which fluctuate during scanning of primary charged particles by the deflectors, and storing the scan image into an image storage unit. The computer system generates a scan image for each frame at the time of frame integration of the scan image, calculates an amount of static build-up in each frame on the basis of the output of the scan image of each frame, and outputs information on the amount of static build-up.

A method for voltage contrast imaging, for example on a semiconductor sample, uses a corpuscular multi-beam microscope with a multiplicity of individual corpuscular beams in a grid arrangement. The method includes sweeping the multiplicity of individual corpuscular beams over a sample having at least one electrically chargeable structure, and charging the sample with a first quantity of first corpuscular beams of the corpuscular multi-beam microscope. The method also includes determining a voltage contrast at the at least one electrically chargeable structure of the sample with a second quantity of second corpuscular beams of the corpuscular multi-beam microscope.

According to one embodiment, an inspection device includes: a lens barrel that irradiates a substrate having a first main surface on which a pattern is formed with a charged particle; a terminal that comes into contact with the substrate at a first site on a second main surface of the substrate or on a side surface of the substrate and applies a predetermined potential to the substrate; and at least one light source that irradiates a predetermined area of the substrate including the first site with light.

A scanning electron microscope includes an electron-optical system including an electron source and an objective lens, a stage on which a sample is placed, a secondary electron detector disposed adjacent to the electron source relative to the objective lens and configured to detect secondary electrons, a backscattered electron detector disposed between the objective lens and the stage and configured to detect backscattered electrons, a backscattered electron detection system controller configured to apply a voltage to the backscattered electron detector, and a device-control computer configured to detect a state of an electrical charge carried by the backscattered electron detector based on signal intensity at the secondary electron detector when the primary electrons are applied to the sample with a predetermined voltage applied to the backscattered electron detector.

According to one embodiment, an electron beam device includes a support which supports the sample and an electrode disposed below the sample on the support The electrode is for applying a voltage to the sample and includes a plurality of columnar electrodes that can be independently controlled to apply different voltages to portions of the sample. A controller for generating correction data for correcting the distribution of an electric field generated across the area of the sample. The correction data is generated based on structure information indicating a structure of the sample. The controller controls the plurality of columnar electrodes to apply local voltages set based on the correction data.

A calibrating method is provided including the following steps. A type of a first sensor and a type of a first sensor carrier are determined according to an external shape of a first object. The first sensor is carried by the first sensor carrier, and a relative coordinate of the first object is measured by the first sensor. The relative coordinate of the first object is compared with a predetermined coordinate of the first object to obtain a first object coordinate error, and the first object coordinate error is corrected. After the first object coordinate error is corrected, the first object is driven to perform an operation on a second object or the second object is driven to perform the operation on the first object. A calibrating system is also provided.

A calibrating method is provided including the following steps. A type of a first sensor and a type of a first sensor carrier are determined according to an external shape of a first object. The first sensor is carried by the first sensor carrier, and a relative coordinate of the first object is measured by the first sensor. The relative coordinate of the first object is compared with a predetermined coordinate of the first object to obtain a first object coordinate error, and the first object coordinate error is corrected. After the first object coordinate error is corrected, the first object is driven to perform an operation on a second object or the second object is driven to perform the operation on the first object. A calibrating system is also provided.

In one embodiment, a multi-beam blanking device includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating film that is disposed on the semiconductor substrate, an antistatic film that is disposed on the insulating film, a plurality of cells each of which is related to a through-hole that penetrate the semiconductor substrate and the insulating film and each of which includes a blanking electrode and a ground electrode that are disposed on the insulating film, and a ground wiring line that is disposed in the insulating film. The antistatic film and the ground wiring line are connected to each other at a joint that extends through the insulating film on the ground wiring line.