A charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a writer writing a pattern on a surface of a substrate using a charged particle beam, a measurement unit measuring a height of the surface of a central portion of the substrate at a plurality of positions in the central portion, a generator performing fitting using a first polynomial on measurement values from the measurement unit, calculating, by extrapolation using the first polynomial, a first height distribution of the height of the surface of a peripheral portion of the substrate, performing fitting using a second polynomial, which is of a higher order than the first polynomial, on the measurement values, calculating a second height distribution of the height of the surface of the central portion by interpolation using the second polynomial, and generating a height distribution of the substrate by combining the first height distribution and the second height distribution, and a controller adjusting a focal position of the charged particle beam based on the height of the surface at a writing position, the height being calculated from the height distribution of the substrate.

A charged particle beam device is provided that performs proper beam adjustment while suppressing a decrease in MAM time, with a simple configuration without adding a lens, a sensor, or the like. The charged particle beam device includes: an optical element which adjusts a charged particle beam emitted from a charged particle source; an adjustment element which adjusts an incidence condition of the charged particle beam with respect to the optical element; and a control device which controls the adjustment element, wherein the control device determines a difference between a first feature amount indicating a state of the optical element based on the condition setting of the optical element, and a second feature amount indicating a state where the optical element reaches based on the condition setting and executes adjustment by the adjustment element when the difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

A measuring device for measuring a sample by emitting a charged particle beam includes a particle source, an electronic lens, a detector, a stage, a sensor for measuring the environment, and a control device, in which the control device includes a control module having a height calculation module configured to calculate a height estimation value indicating an estimated height of the sample at a measurement position; and a correction value calculation module configured to calculate a correction value reflecting a change of the environment based on the measurement position of the sample and an amount of change of the environment measured by the sensor, and the control module corrects the height estimation value based on the correction value, and sets a control value for controlling focus adjustment using the electronic lens based on the corrected height estimation value.

A displacement measuring apparatus includes an illumination system to obliquely irradiate the target object surface with beams, a sensor to receive a reflected light from the target object surface, an optical system to diverge the reflected light in a Fourier plane with respect to the target object surface, a camera to image a diverged beam in the Fourier plane, a gravity center shift amount calculation circuitry to calculate a gravity center shift amount of the reflected light in the light receiving surface of the sensor, based on a light quantity distribution of the beam imaged by the camera, and a measurement circuitry to measure a heightwise displacement of the target object surface by an optical lever method, using information on a corrected gravity center position obtained by correcting the gravity center position of the reflected light received by the sensor by using the gravity center shift amount.

The invention relates to a method of determining an aberration of a charged particle microscope. The method comprises a step of providing a charged particle microscope that is at least partly operable by a user. Then, a set of image data is obtained with said charged particle microscope. The image data is processed to determine an aberration of said charged particle microscope. According to the invention, said set of image data is actively obtained by a user. In particular, the image data may be obtained during normal operation of the microscope by a user, which may include navigating and/or focusing of the microscope. Thus, the set of image data is acquired by said user, and not by the controller thereof. This allows background processing of an aberration, and aberration correction during use of the charged particle microscope. The invention further relates to a charged particle microscope incorporating the method.

The present invention is in the field of a cryo transfer system for use in microscopy, and a microscope comprising said system. The present invention is in the field of microscopy, specifically in the field of electron and focused ion beam microscopy (EM and FIB), and in particular Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). However its application is extendable in principle to any field of microscopy, especially wherein a specimen (or sample) is cooled or needs cooling.

A height detection apparatus is configured to project a pattern on a sample arranged at any of a plurality of reference positions and configured to detect a height of the sample. The apparatus includes: a projection optical system that generates a plurality of spatially separated light beams each having the pattern and projects the generated spatially separated light beams onto the sample; an imaging element that images the pattern reflected from the sample; a detection optical system that guides the pattern reflected from the sample to the imaging element; and at least one optical path length correction member disposed on an optical path different from an optical path having a shortest optical path length among a plurality of optical paths corresponding to the plurality of light beams at a position where the plurality of light beams is spatially separated.

The invention relates to a charged particle microscope for examining a specimen, and a method of calibrating a charged particle microscope. The charged particle microscope comprises an optics column, including a charged particle source, a final probe forming lens and a scanner, for focusing and scanning a beam of charged particles emitted from said charged particle source along an optical axis onto a specimen. Furthermore, a specimen stage is positioned downstream of said final probe forming lens and arranged for holding said specimen. Additionally, a detector device is provided, comprising at least two detector segment elements that are annularly spaced about said optical axis. A control unit is provided that is arranged for obtaining, for the at least two detector segment elements, corresponding detector segment images of said specimen by scanning the beam over said specimen. Based on a relative movement between the detector segment images, an aberration parameter of the charged particle microscope can be determined. The aberration parameter may be defocus, astigmatism and/or coma.

A system and method for focusing a scanning electron microscope (SEM) comprise acquiring a first SEM image of a sample using a first focus condition, analyzing the first SEM image to determine contrast change measurements, determining a region of interest based on the contrast change measurements, adjusting the SEM from the first focus condition to a second focus condition based at least in part on the region of interest, wherein the first focus condition differs from the second focus condition, and acquiring a second SEM image of the sample using the second focus condition.

In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a deflector deflecting a charged particle beam, a first correcting lens and a second correcting lens correcting a focus position of the charged particle beam, a focus correction amount calculator calculating a first correction amount for the focus position according to a change in a height position of a sample surface, and calculating a second correction amount for the focus position according to a change in shot size of the charged particle beam, a first DAC (digital to analog converter) amplifier applying a voltage for a ground potential based on the first correction amount to the first correcting lens, and a second DAC amplifier applying a voltage for a ground potential based on the second correction amount to the second correcting lens, an output of the second DAC amplifier being smaller than an output of the first DAC amplifier.