A charged particle beam apparatus acquires an image that is not affected by movement of a stage at a high speed. The apparatus includes: a charged particle source for irradiating a sample with a charged particle beam; a stage on which the sample is placed; a measurement unit for measuring a movement amount of the stage; a deflector; a deflector offset control unit, which is a feedback control unit for adjusting a deflection amount of the deflector according to the movement amount of the stage; a plurality of detectors for detecting secondary charged particles emitted from the sample by irradiation of the charged particle beam; a composition ratio calculation unit that calculates composition ratios of signals output from the detectors based on the deflection amount adjusted by the feedback control unit; and an image generation unit for generating a composite image by compositing the signals using the composition ratio.

A method for particle beam-induced processing of a defect of a microlithographic photomask, including the steps of: a1) providing an image of at least a portion of the photomask, b1) determining a geometric shape of a defect in the image as a repair shape, c1) subdividing the repair shape into a number of n pixels in accordance with a first rasterization, d1) subdividing the repair shape into a number of m pixels in accordance with a second rasterization, the second rasterization emerging from a subpixel displacement of the first rasterization, e1) providing an activating particle beam and a process gas at each of the n pixels of the repair shape in accordance with the first rasterization, and f1) providing the activating particle beam and the process gas at each of the m pixels of the repair shape in accordance with the second rasterization.

A charged particle beam device scans a specimen with a charged particle beam and generates an image based on a detected signal from a detector that detects a signal generated from the specimen based on the scan performed by the charged particle beam. The charged particle beam device includes: a blanker that performs blanking of the charged particle beam; an image acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of images by controlling the blanking during the scan performed by the charged particle beam, the plurality of images including pixels corresponding to a region of the specimen that is irradiated with the charged particle beam and pixels corresponding to a region of the specimen that is not irradiated with the charged particle beam; and an integrated image generation unit that generates an integrated image by integrating the plurality of acquired images.

Provided is a technique capable of shortening observation throughput of a sample. A transfer device 2 includes a holder 24 configured to hold a mesh MS on which a sample to be analyzed using a charged particle beam device 3 is mounted, a position information acquisition function configured to acquire first information about a positional relationship between the mesh MS and the holder 24, and a position information output function configured to output the first information to the charged particle beam device 3.

A magnetic material observation method in accordance with the present invention includes: an irradiating step including irradiating a region of a sample with an excitation beam and thereby allowing a magnetic element contained in the sample to radiate a characteristic X-ray; a detecting step including detecting intensities of a right-handed circularly polarized component and a left-handed circularly polarized component contained in the characteristic X-ray; and a calculating step including calculating the difference between the intensity of the right-handed circularly polarized component and the intensity of the left-handed circularly polarized component. Reference to such a difference enables precise measurement of the direction or magnitude of magnetization without strict limitations as to the sample.

A method, non-transitory computer readable medium and an evaluation system for evaluating an intermediate product related to a three dimensional NAND memory unit. The evaluation system may include an imager and a processing circuit. The imager may be configured to obtain, via an open gap, an electron image of a portion of a structural element that belongs to an intermediate product. The structural element may include a sequence of layers that include a top layer that is followed by alternating nonconductive layers and recessed conductive layers. The imager may include electron optics configured to scan the portion of the structural element with an electron beam that is oblique to a longitudinal axis of the open gap. The processing circuit is configured to evaluate the intermediate product based on the electron image. The open gap (a) exhibits a high aspect ratio, (b) has a width of nanometric scale, and (c) is formed between structural elements of the intermediate product.

A method of determining aberrations in images obtained by a charged-particle beam tool, comprising: a) obtaining two or more images of a sample, wherein each image is obtained at a known relative difference in a measurement condition of the charged-particle beam tool; b) selecting an estimated aberration parameter for the aberrations of a probe profile representing the charged-particle beam used by the charged-particle beam tool; c) evaluating an error function indicative of the difference between the two or more images and two or more estimated images that are a function of the estimated aberration parameter and the known relative difference in the measurement condition; d) updating the estimated aberration parameter; e) performing processes c) and d) iteratively; f) determining the final aberration parameter as the estimated aberration parameter that provides the smallest value of the error function.

A charged particle beam device includes a plurality of detectors configured to detect one or more signal charged particle beams caused by irradiation on a sample with one or more primary charged particle beams, and a control system. The control system is configured to measure an intensity distribution of the one or more signal charged particle beams detected by the plurality of detectors, and correct the intensity distribution by using a correction function. The control system is configured to generate an image based on the corrected intensity distribution.

During electron beam imaging of a semiconductor wafer, the electron beam is adjusted to a first electron dose/nm.sup.2/time value below a damage threshold for an image frame grab of a site on the semiconductor wafer. Then the electron beam is adjusted to a second electron dose/nm.sup.2/time value different from the first electron dose/nm.sup.2/time value for a second image frame grab of the site. The second electron dose/nm.sup.2/time value can be above the damage threshold.

An edge detection system is provided that generates a scanning electron microscope (SEM) linescan image of a pattern structure including a feature with edges that require detection. The edge detection system includes an inverse linescan model tool that receives measured linescan information for the feature from the SEM. In response, the inverse linescan model tool provides feature geometry information that includes the position of the detected edges of the feature.