According to one aspect of the present invention, a pattern inspection apparatus includes a circuit configured to perform, for each direction, filter processing on the image, using a plurality of two-dimensional spatial filter functions with different orientations; a circuit configured to extract a plurality of pixels each having a predetermined value larger than a first threshold, in pixel values each for the each direction of after the filter processing, as a plurality of outline pixel candidates through which an outline of the figure pattern passes; and a circuit configured to extract a plurality of outline pixels from the plurality of outline pixel candidates by excluding outline pixel candidates each of which has a differential value, greater than or equal to a second threshold, obtained by differentiating a pixel value of before the filter processing in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction corresponding to the predetermined value.

The present disclosure proposes a crossover-forming deflector array of an electro-optical system for directing a plurality of electron beams onto an electron detection device. The crossover-forming deflector array includes a plurality of crossover-forming deflectors positioned at or at least near an image plane of a set of one or more electro-optical lenses of the electro-optical system, wherein each crossover-forming deflector is aligned with a corresponding electron beam of the plurality of electron beams.

Disclosed herein an apparatus and a method for detecting buried features using backscattered particles. In an example, the apparatus comprises a source of charged particles; a stage; optics configured to direct a beam of the charged particles to a sample supported on the stage; a signal detector configured to detect backscattered particles of the charged particles in the beam from the sample; wherein the signal detector has angular resolution. In an example, the methods comprises obtaining an image of backscattered particles from a region of a sample; determining existence or location of a buried feature based on the image.

Provided are a radiation detector and a radiation detection apparatus in which the efficiency of detecting radiation is enhanced by increasing a portion capable of detecting radiation. A radiation detector includes a semiconductor part having a plate-like shape, the semiconductor part being provided with a through hole penetrating the semiconductor part, one surface of the semiconductor part being an incident surface for radiation. The semiconductor part has a sensitive portion capable of detecting incident radiation, the sensitive portion including an inner edge of the incident surface.

A multi-cell detector may include a first layer having a region of a first conductivity type and a second layer including a plurality of regions of a second conductivity type. The second layer may also include one or more regions of the first conductivity type. The plurality of regions of the second conductivity type may be partitioned from one another, preferably by the one or more regions of the first conductivity type of the second layer. The plurality of regions of the second conductivity type may be spaced apart from one or more regions of the first conductivity type in the second layer. The detector may further include an intrinsic layer between the first and second layers.

A system and method that is capable of measuring the incident angle of an ion beam, especially an ion beam comprising heavier ions, is disclosed. In one embodiment, X-rays, rather than ions, are used to determine the channeling direction. In another embodiment, the workpiece is constructed, at least in part, of a material having a high molecular weight such that heaver ion beams can be measured. Further, in another embodiment, the parameters of the ion beam are measured across an entirety of the beam, allowing components of the ion implantation system to be further tuned to create a more uniform beam.

A method for calibration including determining a temperature induced offset in a pedestal of a process module under a temperature condition for a process. The method includes delivering a wafer to the pedestal of the process module by a robot, and detecting an entry offset. The method includes rotating the wafer over the pedestal by an angle. The method includes removing the wafer from the pedestal by the robot and measuring an exit offset. The method includes determining a magnitude and direction of the temperature induced offset using the entry offset and exit offset.

The present disclosure proposes a crossover-forming deflector array of an electro-optical system for directing a plurality of electron beams onto an electron detection device. The crossover-forming deflector array includes a plurality of crossover-forming deflectors positioned at or at least near an image plane of a set of one or more electro-optical lenses of the electro-optical system, wherein each crossover-forming deflector is aligned with a corresponding electron beam of the plurality of electron beams.

The present disclosure relates to transmission electron microscopy for evaluation of biological matter. According to an embodiment, the present disclosure further relates to an apparatus for determining the structure and/or elemental composition of a sample using 4D STEM, comprising a direct bombardment detector operating with global shutter readout, processing circuitry configured to acquire images of bright-field disks using either a contiguous array or non-contiguous array of detector pixel elements, correct distortions in the images, align each image of the images based on a centroid of the bright-field disk, calculate a radial profile of the images, normalize the radial profiles by a scaling factor, calculate the rotationally-averaged edge profile of the bright-field disk, and determine elemental composition within the specimen based on the characteristics of the edge profile of the bright-field disk corresponding to each specimen location.

A method and system for acquiring data from a pixelated image sensor for detecting charged particles. The method includes reading a pixel voltage of one or more of the multiple pixels multiple times without resetting the image sensor and digitizing the pixel into a first number of bits. The camera outputs a digitized compressed pixel voltage in a second, less, number of bits. The maximum range of the digitized compressed pixel voltage is less than a maximum range of the pixel voltage.