A scanning transmission electron microscope that scans a specimen with an electron probe to acquire an image. The scanning transmission electron microscope includes: an optical system which includes a condenser lens and an objective lens; an imaging device which is arranged on a back focal plane or a plane conjugate to the back focal plane of the objective lens and which is capable of photographing a Ronchigram; and a control unit which performs adjustment of the optical system. The control unit is configured or programed to: acquire an image of a change in a Ronchigram that is attributable to a change in a relative positional relationship between the specimen and the electron probe; and determine a center of the Ronchigram based on the image of the change in the Ronchigram.

A multi-source illumination apparatus for illuminating a sample with charged particles, wherein beams, from a plurality of sources, are arranged such that a beam from at least one source intersects, at a plane of a condenser lens, with at least part of one other beam from a different one of the plurality of sources. The condenser lens is configured to separately collimate the received beams from each source. A manipulator array arrangement is configured to manipulate the collimated beams to generate one or more beams, in a single column, that include charged particles from the plurality of sources. The manipulator array arrangement includes a multi-beam generator configured to receive the plurality of substantially parallel substantially collimated beams generated by the deflector array, and generate a multibeam in dependence on the received plurality of substantially parallel substantially collimated beams, wherein the multi-beam includes a plurality of substantially collimated sub-beams.

An improved source conversion unit of a charged particle beam apparatus is disclosed. The source conversion unit comprises a first micro-structure array including a plurality of micro-structures. The plurality of micro-structures is grouped into one or more groups. Corresponding electrodes of micro-structures in one group are electrically connected and driven by a driver to influence a corresponding group of beamlets. The micro-structures in one group may be single-pole structures or multi-pole structures. The micro-structures in one group have same or substantially same radial shifts from an optical axis of the apparatus. The micro-structures in one group have same or substantially same orientation angles with respect to their radial shift directions.

A charged particle beam device for irradiating or inspecting a specimen is described. The charged particle beam device includes a charged particle beam source for generating a primary charged particle beam and a multi-aperture lens plate having a plurality of apertures for forming four or more primary. Two or more electrodes having one opening, e.g. having one opening each, for the primary charged particle beam or the four or more primary beamlets are provided. The charged particle beam device further includes a collimator for deflecting a first primary beamlet, a second primary beamlet, a third primary beamlet, and a fourth primary beamlet of the four or more primary beamlets with respect to each other. The charged particle beam device further includes an objective lens unit having three or more electrodes, each electrode having openings for the four or more primary beamlets.

A method and an apparatus for generating a particle wave carrying an electric charge is provided. The method comprises: on the basis of waveform information pre-stored in a waveform storage module, generating a corresponding digital waveform signal; the waveform information comprising amplitude and phase; on the basis of a digital-to-analog conversion module connected to the waveform storage module, converting the digital waveform signal having a pre-set phase into an analog waveform signal; on the basis of a power amplification module connected to the digital-to-analog conversion module, performing power amplification on the analog waveform signal; on the basis of a high-voltage generator connected to the power amplification module, performing high-voltage amplification on the power signal of the analog waveform signal; and by means of a quasi-continuous emission electrode connected to the high-voltage generator, emitting a charged particle wave on the basis of the analog waveform voltage signal.

Certain improvements of multi-beam raster units such as multi-beam generating units and multi-beam deflector units of a multi-beam charged particle microscopes are provided. The improvements include design, fabrication and adjustment of multi-beam raster units including apertures of specific shape and dimensions. The improvements can enable multi-beam generation and multi-beam deflection or stigmation with higher precision. The improvements can be relevant for routine applications of multi-beam charged particle microscopes, for example in semiconductor inspection and review, where high reliability and high reproducibility and low machine-to-machine deviations are desirable.

A blanking aperture array unit according to the present embodiment includes a chip configured to control a charged particle beam by blanking control of switching whether to irradiate a target with the charged particle beam; a substrate having the chip mounted thereon; a wire configured to electrically connect pads on the chip to the substrate and transmit a control signal for the blanking control from the substrate to the chip through the pads; and a conductive covering member having a first end connected to the substrate and a second end located on the chip, the covering member being provided from the first end to the second end to cover the wire while maintaining electrical insulation from the wire, and at least two end sides of the second end of the covering member are nearer a central portion of the chip than locations of the pads on the chip.

An electron beam source including a cathode, an anode, a means for deflecting an electron beam over a target surface and at least one vacuum pump, the electron beam source further including a contraction area arranged between the anode and the means for deflecting the electron beam where a hole in the contraction area is aligned with a hole in the anode with respect to the cathode, a first vacuum pump is arranged between the contraction area and the anode and a second vacuum pump is arranged above the anode, a gas inlet is provided between the contraction area and the means for deflecting the electron beam, wherein a first crossover of the electron beam is arranged between the cathode and the anode and a second crossover is arranged at or in close proximity to the contraction area.

An electron beam source including a cathode, an anode, a means for deflecting an electron beam over a target surface and at least one vacuum pump, the electron beam source further including a contraction area arranged between the anode and the means for deflecting the electron beam where a hole in the contraction area is aligned with a hole in the anode with respect to the cathode, a first vacuum pump is arranged between the contraction area and the anode and a second vacuum pump is arranged above the anode, a gas inlet is provided between the contraction area and the means for deflecting the electron beam, wherein a first crossover of the electron beam is arranged between the cathode and the anode and a second crossover is arranged at or in close proximity to the contraction area.

In a writing process in a charged-particle multi-beam apparatus, a desired pattern is written onto a target wherein said desired pattern is provided as input pattern data (INPDAT) in a vector format and processed through a pattern data processing flow. A data preprocessing system receives the input pattern data (INPDAT) and preprocesses the input pattern data independently of the writing process, preferably in advance to it, using writing parameter data provided to the data preprocessing system, and writes the intermediate pattern data (IMDAT) thus obtained to a data storage. When a writing process is carried out using the apparatus, its writing control system reads the intermediate pattern data from the data storage, converts them into pattern streaming data (SBUF), and streams the pattern streaming data to the apparatus for writing the pattern to the target.