The scanning electron microscope includes: an electron source; a first deflector for deflecting a primary electron beam emitted from the electron source; a second deflector for focusing the primary electron beam deflected by the first deflector and deflecting a second electron from a sample, which is generated the focused primary electron beam, to the outside of the optical axis; a voltage applying unit for applying a negative voltage to the sample to decelerate the primary electron beam; a spectrometer for dispersing the secondary electron; a detector for detecting the secondary electron passing through the spectrometer; an electrostatic lens provided between the second deflector and the spectrometer; and a voltage control unit that controls the voltage applied to the electrostatic lens based on the negative voltage applied to the sample. The electrostatic lens allows the deflecting action to be overlapped with the converging action.

An object of the invention is to provide a positioning apparatus and a positioning control device that may perform precise positioning by suppressing relative displacement of a movable point and positioning target objects. In a positioning apparatus including a movable stage, a stage position detector that detects a position of the movable stage, a control device that performs positioning of the movable stage, a positioning target object for positioning of the movable stage, and at least one or more sensors in a structure of the positioning target object or the movable stage, the control device includes an amount of relative displacement estimation unit that estimates an amount of relative displacement of the movable stage and the positioning target object using information of the sensor and information of the stage position detector, and a unit that controls the position of the stage using information calculated by the amount of relative displacement estimation unit.

A cold field emitter for emitting an electron beam for an electron beam device is described. The emitter includes an emitter tip having a tip surface; and two or more adjacent facets formed at the tip surface and having facet boundaries, each of the facets forming a recess in the emitter tip, wherein the facets are separated. An intermediate area is provided between and around the two or more adjacent facets and the intermediate area is configured for electron emission. Further, an electron beam device, a method for operating an electron beam device and a method for producing an emitter for an electron beam device is described.

To provide a mass spectrometer capable of performing high-sensitivity measurement using water molecules. The mass spectrometer has a chamber in which a sample is disposed, an irradiation unit for emitting particles to the sample, and an extraction electrode which leads secondary ions emitted from the sample to a mass spectrometry unit, in which the irradiation unit switches a first mode of emitting primary ions for causing the secondary ions to be emitted from the sample and a second mode of emitting particles containing water molecules to be made to adhere to the sample and emits the particles to the sample.

An electron microscope specimen sample holder including a thin sheet base member with a first surface and an opposing second surface, the first surface defining a seat and support surface for a specimen holding film held by the sample holder, the base member including an aperture through the second surface exposing the holding film held by the sample holder, and including a grip engagement zone defined at least on part of the first surface arranged to engage a gripping device, and wherein at least one of the first or second surface has machine readable structures formed thereon arranged in patterns embodying data that defines at least one predetermined characteristic of the sample holder.

A sample micromotion mechanism adapted to minimize an influence of a disturbance and adjust a sample drift rapidly and with high accuracy, and designed so as to be a compact, easy-to-place sample micromotion mechanism of a side-entry type that suppresses the occurrence of the sample drift and generates/displays high-resolution monitoring images and precisely drawn patterns. A charged particle device employing the sample micromotion mechanism operates followed by deformation which causes a strain. A strain measuring unit measures such strain. The sample micromotion mechanism imparts micromotion so as to reduce the strain in accordance with the measured strain value, thereby reducing deformation of the sample micromotion mechanism.

The invention provides methods and compositions for preparation of complex specimen arrays for analysis by electron microscopy. These methods and compositions can permit high throughput screening of samples on single EM grid supports using sample volumes in the nanoliter and picoliter range.

A method for preparing plan-view transmission electron microscopy specimens is disclosed. The method employs isotropic vapor-phase etching in conjunction with one or more integrated etch-stop layers that give rise to a support membrane having a well-controlled, substantially uniform thickness. In some embodiments, the support membrane comprises an etch-stop layer that is formed using a high-precision formation process, such as atomic-layer deposition, oxidation, and the like. As a result, formation of the support membrane does not require additional processes, such as mechanical polishing or ion milling, to achieve its desired thickness. The method enables reduced specimen-preparation time, as well as simultaneous preparation of multiple specimens having large, uniformly thick areas for imaging.

When preparing a Hole-Free Phase Plates (HFPP) a preferably featureless thin film should be placed with high accuracy in the diffraction plane of the TEM, or a plane conjugate to it. Two methods for accurately placing the thin film in said plane are described. One method uses a Ronchigram of the thin film while the TEM is in imaging mode, and the magnification of the Ronchigram is tuned so that the magnification in the middle of the Ronchigram is infinite. The second method uses electrons scattered by the thin film while the TEM is in diffraction mode. When the thin film does not coincide with the diffraction plane, electrons scattered by the thin film seem to originate from another location than the cross-over of the zero beam. This is observed as a halo. The absence of the halo is proof that the thin film coincides with the diffraction plane.

A structure for grounding an extreme ultraviolet mask (EUV mask) is provided to discharge the EUV mask during the inspection by an electron beam inspection tool. The structure for grounding an EUV mask includes at least one grounding pin to contact conductive areas on the EUV mask, wherein the EUV mask may have further conductive layer on sidewalls or/and back side. The inspection quality of the EUV mask is enhanced by using the electron beam inspection system because the accumulated charging on the EUV mask is grounded. The reflective surface of the EUV mask on a continuously moving stage is scanned by using the electron beam simultaneously. The moving direction of the stage is perpendicular to the scanning direction of the electron beam.