Provided is a charged particle beam device capable of improving the accuracy of measurement and processing. The charged particle beam device includes an electrostatic chuck that adsorbs an inspection object, a voltage generation unit that generates a voltage to be supplied to the electrostatic chuck, and a state determination unit that determines a state of the inspection object. Here, the state determination unit includes a current waveform simulation unit that simulates a time-series change of an electrostatic chuck current flowing through the voltage generation unit when the electrostatic chuck normally adsorbs the inspection object, a difference integration unit that acquires an integration value of a difference between a time-series change of a simulation current generated by the current waveform simulation unit and the time-series change of the electrostatic chuck current flowing through the voltage generation unit, and a difference determination unit that determines an adsorption state of the inspection object and a shape feature of the inspection object based on the integration value of the difference.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatuses, systems, and computer-readable media related to defective pixel management in charged particle microscopy. For example, in some embodiments, a charged particle microscope support apparatus may include: first logic to identify a defective pixel region of a charged particle camera, wherein the charged particle camera cannot detect charged particle events in the defective pixel region; second logic to generate a first charged particle event indicator that identifies a first time and a first location of a first charged particle event outside the defective pixel region, wherein the first charged particle event is detected by the charged particle camera; third logic to generate a second charged particle event indicator that identifies a second time and a second location in the defective pixel region; and fourth logic to output data representative of the charged particle event indicators.

A scanning electron microscopy system that includes a primary electron beam radiation unit configured to irradiate a first pattern of a substrate having a second pattern formed in a peripheral region of the first pattern, a detection unit configured to detect back scattered electrons emitted from the substrate, an image generation unit configured to generate an electron beam image corresponding to a strength of the back scattered electrons, a designating unit configured to designate a depth measurement region in which the first pattern exists on the electron beam image, and a processing unit configured to obtain an image signal of the depth measurement region and a pattern density in the peripheral region where the second pattern exists, and to estimate a depth of the first pattern based on the obtained image signal of the depth measurement region and the pattern density in the peripheral region.

The invention provides a charged particle beam device that can accurately move a convergence point of a charged particle beam to a surface of a sample and facilitates a user to grasp a positional relation between the surface of the sample and the convergence point of the charged particle beam. The charged particle beam device according to the invention includes: an electron optics system configured to irradiate a sample table with a charged particle beam; a movable stage on which the sample table is to be placed; a sample chamber that accommodates the movable stage; a detector configured to detect a signal from a sample placed on the sample table; a camera configured to capture an image of the sample table and the sample; an extraction means configured to extract outer shape information relating to outer shapes of the sample table and the sample from the image captured by the camera; a control unit configured to control the movable stage based on the outer shape information; and a display unit configured to display an image relating to the outer shape information together with the image captured by the camera.

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.

Disclosed herein are apparatuses, systems, methods, and computer-readable media relating to area selection in charged particle microscope (CPM) imaging. For example, in some embodiments, a CPM support apparatus may include: first logic to generate a first data set associated with an area of a specimen by processing data from a first imaging round of the area by a CPM; second logic to generate predicted parameters of the area; and third logic to determine whether a second imaging round of the area is to be performed by the CPM based on the predicted parameters of the area; wherein the first logic is to, in response to a determination by the third logic that a second imaging round of the area is to be performed, generate a second data set, including measured parameters, associated with the area by processing data from a second imaging round of the area by the CPM.

Disclosed herein are CPM support systems, as well as related apparatuses, methods, computing devices, and computer-readable media. For example, in some embodiments, a charged particle microscope computational support apparatus may include: first logic to, for each angle of a plurality of angles, receive an associated image of a specimen at the angle, and generate an associated scan mask based on one or more regions-of-interest in the associated image; second logic to, for each angle of the plurality of angles, generate an associated data set of the specimen by processing data from a scan, in accordance with the associated scan mask, by a charged particle microscope of the specimen at the angle; and third logic to provide, for each angle of the plurality of angles, the associated data set of the specimen to reconstruction logic to generate a three-dimensional reconstruction of the specimen.

A method of evaluating a region of interest of a sample including: positioning the sample within in a vacuum chamber of an evaluation tool that includes a scanning electron microscope (SEM) column and a focused ion beam (FIB) column; acquiring a plurality of two-dimensional images of the region of interest by alternating a sequence of delayering the region of interest with a charged particle beam from the FIB column and imaging a surface of the region of interest with the SEM column; generating an initial three-dimensional data cube representing the region of interest by stacking the plurality of two-dimensional images on top of each other in an order in which they were acquired; identifying distortions within the initial three-dimensional data cube; and creating an updated three-dimensional data cube that includes corrections for the identified distortions.

Calibration systems, additive manufacturing systems employing the same, and methods of calibrating include a plurality of electron beam guns. One calibration system includes an imaging device positioned to capture one or more images of an impingement of electron beams emitted from the plurality of electron beam guns on a surface within a build chamber of the electron beam additive manufacturing system and an analysis component communicatively coupled to the imaging device. The analysis component is programmed to receive image data corresponding to the one or more images, determine one or more calibration parameters from the image data, and transmit one or more instructions to the plurality of electron beam guns in accordance with the one or more calibration parameters.

This invention pertains to an imaging method, the purpose of which is to reveal, over a wide range, information about a plurality of layers contained in a multilayer structure, or form an image of the revealed applicable layers. The method proposed includes: a step in which, while rotating the sample with the axis of the normal line of the sample surface as the axis of rotation, the sample is irradiated with an ion beam from a direction inclined with respect to the normal line direction, via a mask having an opening which selectively allows the passage of an ion beam and which is disposed at a position distant from the sample, thereby forming a hole with a band-shaped sloped surface that is inclined with respect to the sample surface; and a step in which a first image viewed from a direction intersecting with the sloped surface of the applicable layer is formed, on the basis of a signal obtained by irradiating, with a charged particle beam, the applicable layer contained in the band-shaped sloped surface.