The invention relates to a screening method. The method comprises the step of providing a sample, wherein said sample comprises a sample carrier with a surface structure, as well as an object of interest. The method further comprises the step of acquiring an image of said sample. According to the disclosure, the method comprises the steps of providing information on said surface structure of said sample carrier, which may in particular comprise the step of acquiring an image of said sample carrier. In that case two images are obtained: one more sensitive to the objects of interest, and one more sensitive to the surface structure of the sample carrier. This allows manipulation of the acquired image, using said information on the surface structure of the sample carrier. With this, said manipulated image may be screened for easy and reliable detection of said object of interest.

A scanning electron microscopy system with improved image beam stability is disclosed. The system includes an electron beam source configured to generate an electron beam and a set of electron-optical elements to direct at least a portion of the electron beam onto a portion of the sample. The system includes an emittance analyzer assembly. The system includes a splitter element configured to direct at least a portion secondary electrons and/or backscattered electrons emitted by a surface of the sample to the emittance analyzer assembly. The emittance analyzer assembly is configured to image at least one of the secondary electrons and/or the backscattered electrons.

The present invention relates to a device for detecting charged particles (e.g., ions). The device includes components arranged to neutralize or strip the charges of ions generated from a sample material, in which the charge stripping events produce signals that can be detected subsequently by a detector. A method for detecting charged particles generated from a sample material using the device is also provided.

The present invention enlarges a range of movement of field of view by beam deflection with a simple deflector configuration and suppresses deterioration of a signal electron detection rate caused by the beam deflection. A scanning electron microscope according to the present invention is provided with a first deflection field setting module that sets plural deflectors to move a scanning area on a specimen by a primary electron beam to a position deviated from an axis extended from an electron source toward the center of an objective lens and a second deflection field setting module that sets the plural deflectors so that trajectories of signal electrons are corrected without changing the scanning area set by the first deflection field setting module. The control unit controls the plural deflectors by adding a setting value set by the second deflection field setting module to a setting value set by the first deflection field setting module.

A charged particle beam device includes a deflection unit that deflects a charged particle beam released from a charged particle source to irradiate a sample, a reflection plate that reflects secondary electrons generated from the sample, and a control unit that controls the deflection unit based on an image generated by detecting the secondary electrons reflected from the reflection plate. The deflection unit includes an electromagnetic deflection unit that electromagnetically scans with the charged particle beam by a magnetic field and an electrostatic deflection unit that electrostatically scans with the charged particle beam by an electric field. The control unit controls the electromagnetic deflection unit and the electrostatic deflection unit, superimposes an electromagnetic deflection vector generated by the electromagnetic scanning and an electrostatic deflection vector generated by the electrostatic scanning, and controls at least a trajectory of the charged particle beam.

The charged particle beam device includes a charged particle beam source which emits a primary charged particle beam, an objective lens which focuses the primary charged particle beam on a sample, a passage electrode which is formed of a metal material and is disposed between the charged particle beam source and a tip end of the objective lens, a detector which detects a secondary charged particle emitted from the sample, and an electrostatic field electrode which is electrically insulated from the passage electrode. The passage electrode is formed such that the primary charged particle beam passes through the inside of the passage electrode. The electrostatic field electrode is formed to cover an outer periphery of the passage electrode.

Methods and systems for acquiring transmission electron microscope video data on a rolling-shutter detector at an enhanced frame rate and without temporal distortions are described. Also described are methods to enhance the dynamic range of image and diffraction data acquired using a transmission electron microscope. The disclosed methods and systems may also be applicable to photon detection and imaging systems.

A multi-beam charged particle system and a method of operating a multi-beam charged particle system can provide improved image contrast. The multi-beam charged particle system comprises a filter element or an active array element in a detection system, which can provide improved, anisotropic image contrast. The disclosure can be applied for applications of multi-beam charged particle system, where higher requirements on beam uniformity and throughput may be relevant.

A charged particle beam device which prevents an appearance of a shading contrast due to azimuth discrimination and obtains a clear magnetic domain contrast image with a high resolution and a high throughput. The charged particle beam device includes an electron beam source; a sample stage; an objective lens configured to focus electron beams on a sample; a detector that is mounted on a charged particle beam source side with respect to the objective lens and separately detects secondary electrons emitted in azimuth angle ranges of two or more different azimuths for the same observation region; an image processing and image management device including an image processing unit configured to perform synthesis after performing shading correction and contrast adjustment on an image obtained by detecting a first emission azimuth and an image obtained by detecting a second emission azimuth; an image database; and an image display unit.

A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) system includes a plurality of electron beam sources configured to generate a primary electron beam. The SEM system includes an electron-optical column array with a plurality of electron-optical columns. An electron-optical column includes a plurality of electron-optical elements. The plurality of electron-optical elements includes a deflector layer configured to be driven via a common controller shared by at least some of the plurality of electron-optical columns and includes a trim deflector layer configured to be driven by an individual controller. The plurality of electron-optical elements is arranged to form an electron beam channel configured to direct the primary electron beam to a sample secured on a stage, which emits an electron beam in response to the primary electron beam. The electron-optical column includes an electron detector. The electron beam channel is configured to direct the electron beam to the electron detector.