A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) system is disclosed. The SEM system includes an electron source configured to generate an electron beam and a set of electron optics configured to scan the electron beam across the sample and focus electrons scattered by the sample onto one or more imaging planes. The SEM system includes a first detector module positioned at the one or more imaging planes, wherein the first detector module includes a multipixel solid-state sensor configured to convert scattered particles, such as electrons and/or x-rays, from the sample into a set of equivalent signal charges. The multipixel solid-state sensor is connected to two or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) configured to process the set of signal charges from one or more pixels of the sensor.

An electron microscope includes a stage on which a sample is capable of being placed, a beam generator, a detector, a display, and a controller. The beam generator emits a charged particle beam with which the sample is irradiated. The detector detects a secondary electron or an electron generated from the sample by irradiation with the charged particle beam. The display displays an image of the sample based on a signal from the detector. The controller executes a first irradiation process of specifying a position of a hole bottom by scanning the sample with the charged particle beam when capturing an image of the hole bottom of a hole provided in the sample, and executes a second irradiation process of imaging a shape of the hole bottom by irradiating the hole bottom with the charged particle beam via the hole.

A multi-beam apparatus for observing a sample with high resolution and high throughput and in flexibly varying observing conditions is proposed. The apparatus uses a movable collimating lens to flexibly vary the currents of the plural probe spots without influencing the intervals thereof, a new source-conversion unit to form the plural images of the single electron source and compensate off-axis aberrations of the plural probe spots with respect to observing conditions, and a pre-beamlet-forming means to reduce the strong Coulomb effect due to the primary-electron beam.

A detector includes a plurality of sensing elements, section circuitry that communicatively couples a first set of sensing elements to an input of first signal processing circuitry, and a switch network that connects sets of sensing elements. Inter-element switches may connect adjacent sensing elements, including those in a diagonal direction. An output bus may be connected to each sensing element of the first set by a switching element. There may be a common output (pickup point) arranged at one sensing element that is configured to output signals from the first set. Various switching and wiring schemes are proposed. For example, the common output may be directly connected to the switch network. A switch may be provided between the output bus and first signal processing circuitry. A switch may be provided between the switch network and the first signal processing circuitry.

Systems and methods of profiling a charged-particle beam are disclosed. The method of profiling a charged-particle beam may comprise activating a charged-particle source to generate the charged-particle beam along a primary optical axis, modifying the charged-particle beam by adjusting an interaction between the charged-particle beam and a standing optical wave, detecting charged particles from the modified charged-particle beam after the interaction with the standing optical wave, and determining a profile of the charged-particle beam based on the detected charged particles. Alternatively, the method may include activating an optical source, modifying the optical beam by adjusting an interaction between the optical beam and a charged-particle beam, detecting an optical signal from the modified optical beam, and determining a characteristic of the charged-particle beam based on the detected optical signal.

A charged particle beam apparatus acquires a scanned image by scanning a specimen with a charged particle beam, and detecting charged particles emitted from the specimen. The apparatus includes a charged particle beam source that emits the charged particle beam; an irradiation optical system that scans the specimen with the charged particle beam; a plurality of detection units that detects the charged particles emitted from the specimen; and an image processing unit that reconstructs a profile of a specimen surface of the specimen, based on a plurality of detection signals outputted from the plurality of detection units. The image processing unit: determines an inclination angle of the specimen surface, based on the plurality of detection signals; processing to determine a height of the specimen surface, based on the scanned image; and reconstructs the profile of the specimen surface, based on the inclination angle and the height.

A scanning electron microscope includes: an electron optical column, arranged to generate electron beams and focus the electron beams on a specimen; a first detector, arranged to receive electrons generated by the electron beams acting on the specimen; and a second detector, arranged to receive photons generated by the electron beams acting on the specimen. The second detector includes a reflector and a photon detector. The reflector is in a ring shape and is arranged to cover the perimeter of the specimen. The reflector reflects the photons generated on the specimen onto the photon detector. The scanning electron microscope provided by the present disclosure can collect photons in a wide range, and the photon detector has a high reception efficiency.

A charged particle assessment tool including: an objective lens configured to project a plurality of charged particle beams onto a sample, the objective lens having a sample-facing surface defining a plurality of beam apertures through which respective ones of the charged particle beams are emitted toward the sample; and a plurality of capture electrodes, each capture electrode adjacent a respective one of the beam apertures, configured to capture charged particles emitted from the sample.

A charged particle beam device 1 includes: a plurality of detectors 7 for detecting a signal particle 9 emitted from a sample 8 irradiated with a charged particle beam 3 and converting the detected signal particle 9 into an output electrical signal 17; an energy discriminator 14 provided for each detector 7 and configured to discriminate the output electrical signal 17 according to energy of the signal particle 9; a discrimination control block 21 for setting an energy discrimination condition of each of the energy discriminators 14; and an image calculation block 22 for generating an image based on the discriminated electrical signal. The discrimination control block 21 sets energy discrimination conditions different from each other among the plurality of energy discriminators 14.

A wafer inspection system is disclosed. According to certain embodiments, the system includes an electron detector that includes circuitry to detect secondary electrons or backscattered electrons (SE/BSE) emitted from a wafer. The electron beam system also includes a current detector that includes circuitry to detect an electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) from the wafer. The electron beam system further includes a controller having one or more processors and a memory, the controller including circuitry to: acquire data regarding the SE/BSE; acquire data regarding the EBIC; and determine structural information of the wafer based on an evaluation of the SE/BSE data and the EBIC data.