A system and corresponding method for electron cryomicroscopy, comprising: a field-emission gun for generating an electron beam, the field-emission gun being energized, in use, to generate a 80 keV to 120 keV electron beam which is emitted into a vacuum enclosure and towards a specimen holder; the vacuum enclosure containing, at least in part: an objective lens for focusing an image of the specimen, the objective lens being disposed in the path of the electron beam and having a chromatic aberration coefficient, Cc, selected to achieve a resolution value better than a desired amount; the specimen holder for holding a specimen, the specimen holder being disposed in the path of the electron beam; a cryostage for cooling a specimen; a cryo-shield for surrounding a specimen and reducing an ice contamination rate of the specimen; and a direct electron detector comprising an array of pixels, each pixel capable of detecting an incident electron that has passed through a sample and struck the pixel.

A method of determining a number of charged particles incident on a detector within a period may include generating a first signal that is based on a charged particle impacting a sensing element of the detector, performing processing using the first signal based on a predetermined characteristic of a charged particle arrival event on the detector, and outputting a count signal based on the processing.

A multiple particle beam system comprises a magnetic immersion lens and a detection system. A cross-over of the second individual particle beams is provided in the secondary path between the beam switch and the detection system, and a contrast aperture with a central cutout for cutting out the secondary beams is arranged in the region of the cross-over. A contrast correction lens system with a first magnetic contrast correction lens is arranged between the objective lens and the contrast aperture. The contrast correction lens system is configured to generate a magnetic field with an adjustable strength and correct beam tilts of the secondary beams in the cross-over in relation to the optical axis of the multiple particle beam system. It is possible to obtain a more uniform contrast for different individual images and the contrast can be improved overall.

A system and method for optimizing a ribbon ion beam in a beam line implantation system is disclosed. The system includes a calibration sensor disposed in the beam line after the mass analyzer. The calibration sensor is able to measure both the total current of the ribbon ion beam, as well as provide information about its vertical position. Information from the calibration sensor can then be utilized by a controller to adjust various parameters to improve the density as well as the vertical position. In some embodiments, the calibration sensor may include a plurality of Faraday sensors, where, both the total current and the vertical position of the ion beam can be determined. Furthermore, the focus of the ion beam can be estimated based on the distribution of the current in the height direction.

Techniques for acquiring an electron energy loss spectrum in two dimensions are disclosed herein. The technique at least includes exposing an electron sensor to an electron spectrum projected in two dimensions, wherein one of the two dimensions corresponds to a dispersive axis, and the other of the two dimensions corresponds to a non-dispersive axis, receiving an electron sensor readout frame from the electron sensor, where the electron sensor readout frame comprises a plurality of values representative of the electron spectrum in each of the two dimensions, and reducing a resolution of the electron sensor readout frame in at least one of the two dimensions, where reducing the resolution includes reducing the number of values in the at least one of the two dimensions, where the electron sensor readout frame comprises a plurality of values in each of the two dimensions after the reduction in resolution.

A detector includes a set of sensing elements, first section circuitry communicatively coupling a first set of sensing elements to an input of first signal processing circuitry, second section circuitry communicatively coupling a second set of sensing elements to an input of second signal processing circuitry, and interconnection circuitry communicatively coupling an output of the first signal processing circuitry to an output of the second signal processing circuitry. The interconnection circuitry may include an interconnection layer having interconnection switching elements communicatively coupled to outputs of analog signal paths of the detector. Interconnection switching elements may communicatively couple the outputs of adjacent analog signal paths. The detector may also include signal processing circuitry that includes a plurality of converters. The interconnection circuitry may be configured to selectively couple outputs of the first and second signal processing circuitry to the converters.

Quantitative Secondary Electron Detection (QSED) using the array of solid state devices (SSD) based electron-counters enable critical dimension metrology measurements in materials such as semiconductors, nanomaterials, and biological samples (FIG. 3). Methods and devices effect a quantitative detection of secondary electrons with the array of solid state detectors comprising a number of solid state detectors. An array senses the number of secondary electrons with a plurality of solid state detectors, counting the number of secondary electrons with a time to digital converter circuit in counter mode.

A detection module that includes a readout circuit and detector having a group of sensing elements. The group is configured to detect multiple beams. The multiple beams resulted from an illumination of a substrate, by an illumination module, by multiple electron beams. The readout circuit is configured to: (a) receive selection information for selecting multiple selected sub-groups of sensing elements; wherein the group of sensing elements comprises, in addition to the multiple selected sub-groups of sensing elements, a plurality of non-selected sensing elements; (b) ignore detection signals provided from the plurality of non-selected sensing elements, and (c) generate, for each selected sub-group of sensing elements, a sensing result to provide multiple sensing results that correspond to the multiple beams; and wherein the selected sub-groups of sensing elements are selected in response to at least one working condition of the illumination module.

The invention relates to a photon detector (10), in particular an x-ray detector, in the form of a measurement finger, which extends along a detector axis (23) and has a detector head (11) at a first end of the measurement finger, wherein the detector head (11) comprises a plurality of at least two detector modules (22), each comprising a sensor chip (12) sensitive to photon radiation (14), in particular x-radiation, said sensor chip having an exposed end face (13) and a face facing away from the end face (13), wherein the detector modules (22) are arranged around the detector axis (23) in a plane (24) extending orthogonally to the detector axis (23).

An electron beam detection apparatus includes a first aperture element including a first set of apertures. The apparatus includes a second aperture element including a second set of apertures. The second set of apertures is arranged in a pattern corresponding with the pattern of the first plurality of apertures. The detection apparatus includes an electron-photon conversion element configured to receive electrons of the electron beam transmitted through the first and second aperture elements. The electron-photon conversion element is configured to generate photons in response to the received electrons. The detection apparatus includes an optical assembly including one or more optical elements. The detection apparatus includes a detector assembly. The optical elements of the optical assembly are configured to direct the generated photons from the electron-photon conversion system to the detector assembly.