An object of the present invention is to reduce the possibility that a filament is broken during observation and a re-measurement is required, to reduce the running cost of an apparatus, and to improve the operating efficiency of the apparatus. The charged particle beam apparatus according to the present invention calculates an imaging time required to generate an observation image of a sample and estimates a remaining usable time of the filament, and when the imaging time is longer than the remaining usable time, presents the fact (see FIG. 3)

According to an embodiment, a method for automated critical dimension measurement on a substrate for display manufacturing is provided. The method includes scanning a first field of view having a first size with a charged particle beam to obtain a first image having a first resolution of a first portion of the substrate for display manufacturing; determining a pattern within the first image, the pattern having a first position; scanning a second field of view with the charged particle beam to obtain a second image of a second portion of the substrate, the second field of view has a second size smaller than the first size and has a second position provided relative to the first position, the second image has a second resolution higher than the first resolution; and determining a critical dimension of a structure provided on the substrate from the second image.

A method for detecting a rare stochastic defect, the method may include searching for a rare stochastic defect in a dense pattern of a substrate, wherein the rare stochastic defect is (a) of nanometric scale, (b) appears in a functional pattern of the substrate with a defect density that is below 10.sup.−9, and (c) appears in the dense pattern with a defect density that is above 10.sup.−7; wherein the dense pattern is a dense representation of the functional pattern that differs from the functional pattern by at least one out of (a) a distance between features of the dense pattern, and (b) a width of the features of the dense pattern; and estimating the occurrence of the rare stochastic defect within the functional pattern based on an outcome of the searching.

According to various embodiments, an inspection device may include a chamber, a stage provided within the chamber, an electron emitter, a laser emitter, and a conductive probe. The stage may be configured to hold a sample. The electron emitter may be configured to emit an electron beam towards the stage, to generate a first electrical signal in the sample. The laser emitter may be configured to emit a laser beam towards the stage, to generate a second electrical signal in the sample. The conductive probe may be configured to receive from the conductive structure, at least one of the first electrical signal and the second electrical signal.

An improved system and method for inspection of a sample using a particle beam inspection apparatus, and more particularly, to systems and methods of scanning a sample with a plurality of charged particle beams. An improved method of scanning an area of a sample using N charged particle beams, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to two, and wherein the area of the sample comprises a plurality of scan sections of N consecutive scan lines, includes moving the sample in a first direction. The method also includes scanning, with a first charged particle beam of the N charged particle beams, first scan lines of at least some scan sections of the plurality of scan sections moving towards a probe spot of the first charged particle beam. The method further includes scanning, with a second charged particle beam of the N charged particle beams, second scan lines of at least some scan sections of the plurality of scan sections moving towards a probe spot of the second charged particle beam.

An adjustment-determining method includes obtaining a mathematical model relating an operating parameter of the deposition line to a quality function defined from a quality measurement of a stack of thin layers deposited by the deposition line on a transparent substrate; obtaining a value of the quality function from a value of the quality measurement measured at the outlet of the deposition line on a stack of thin layers deposited by the deposition line on a substrate while the deposition line was set so that an operating parameter had a current value; and automatically determining by the mathematical model an adjustment value for the current value of the operating parameter serving to reduce a difference that exists between the value obtained for the quality function and a target value selected for the quality function for the stack of thin layers.

A method of determining a distortion of a field of view of a scanning electron microscope is described. The method may include: providing a sample including substantially parallel lines extending in a first direction; performing scans across the field of view of the sample along respective scan-trajectories extending in a scan direction; the scan direction being substantially perpendicular to the first direction; detecting a response signal of the sample caused by the scanning of the sample; determining a distance between a first line segment of a line and a second line segment of the line, whereby each of the first line segment and the second line segment are crossed by scan trajectories, based on the response signal; performing the previous step for multiple locations within the field of view; and determining the distortion across the field of view, based on the determined distances at the multiple locations.

A method of generating power with a power generation system. Solid state generators generate a plurality of outputs. The outputs of the solid state generator modules are combined from a plurality of channels, in a combiner, using a phase optimization technique to generate an in phase combined output power.

A metrology method for use in determining one or more parameters of a three-dimensional patterned structure, the method including performing a fitting procedure between measured TEM image data of the patterned structure and simulated TEM image data of the patterned structure, determining a measured Lamellae position of at least one measured TEM image in the TEM image data from a best fit condition between the measured and simulated data, and generating output data indicative of the simulated TEM image data corresponding to the best fit condition to thereby enable determination therefrom of the one or more parameters of the structure.

A stage apparatus for a particle-beam apparatus is disclosed. A particle beam apparatus may comprise a conductive object and an object table, the object table being configured to support an object. The object table comprises a table body and a conductive coating, the conductive coating being provided on at least a portion of a surface of the table body. The conductive object is disposed proximate to the conductive coating and the table body is provided with a feature proximate to an edge portion of the conductive coating. Said feature is arranged so as to reduce an electric field strength in the vicinity of the edge portion of the conductive coating when a voltage is applied to both the conductive object and the conductive coating.