A charged-particle beam device for charged-particle crystallography of a crystalline sample comprises a charged-particle source for generating a charged-particle beam to be radiated onto a sample and a charged-particle-optical system downstream the charged-particle source, which is configured to form in a diffraction mode a substantially parallel charged-particle beam at a predefined sample position and in an imaging mode a focused charged-particle beam having a focus at the predefined sample position. The charged-particle-optical system comprises a charged-particle zoom lens system consisting of a first magnetic lens, a second magnetic lens downstream the first magnetic lens and a third magnetic lens downstream the second magnetic lens, wherein at least the second magnetic lens, preferably each one of the first, the second and the third magnetic lens has a variable focal length. The charged-particle-optical system further comprises a single beam limiting aperture with a fixed aperture diameter arranged at a fixed position between the second magnetic lens and the third magnetic lens for limiting the diameter of the charged-particle beam at the sample position. The charged-particle-optical system is configured such that the diameter of the charged-particle beam at the sample position is in a range between 100 nanometer and 1000 nanometer, in particular between 220 nanometer and 250 nanometer, in the diffraction mode, and in a range between 10 nanometer and 200 nanometer in the imaging mode.

Method of determining a local electric field and/or a local magnetic field in a sample and/or the dielectric constant of a material and/or the angle between the input and output surfaces of the sample, comprising the following steps: illumination of the sample by an electron beam in precession mode using an illumination device, generation of a diffraction pattern, determination of the offset of the disk corresponding to the transmitted beam due to the electric field and/or the magnetic field, by comparison of the diffraction pattern and a reference diffraction pattern, determination of a deflection angle of the transmitted beam, determination of the value of the local electric field and/or the local magnetic field of the sample and/or determination of the dielectric constant of materials and/or determination of the angle between the input and output surfaces of the sample.

Systems, components, and methods for generating differential phase contrast (DPC) data are described. Methods include operations for directing the beam of electrons through a material sample disposed in the microscope column, wherein interactions of the material sample and the beam of electrons produce a scattered portion of the beam of electrons. The methods include directing the scattered portion onto the energy filter, the energy filter being configured to disperse the scattered portion along a dispersal axis by energy and to direct a subset of the scattered portion toward a detector of the energy filter. The operations include generating detector data using the subset of the scattered portion incident on the detector, the detector data comprising EELS data. The operations also include generating differential phase contrast data using the detector data.

Provided is a charged particle beam apparatus capable of realizing a highly reliable insulating structure. This charged particle beam apparatus emits a charged particle beam from a charged particle beam emission device onto a sample, detects charged particles generated from the sample, and creates a sample image or processes the sample. The charged particle beam emission device is provided with a charged particle source and a shield arranged in an interior of a metal housing that is filled with an insulating gas, and an acceleration electrode arranged below the charged particle source, power being supplied to the acceleration electrode via the shield.

A low energy electron diffraction (LEED) detection module (100) includes: a first vacuum chamber for receiving diffracted electrons from a specimen (109); a larger second vacuum chamber connected to the first vacuum chamber to receive the diffracted electrons that have been transported through the first vacuum chamber; a two-dimensional electron detector disposed in the second vacuum chamber to detect the diffracted electrons; a potential shield (106) disposed generally along an inner surface of the first vacuum chamber and an inner surface of the second vacuum chamber; a magnetic lens (105) to expand a beam of the diffracted electrons that have been transported through the first vacuum chamber towards the two-dimensional electron detector; and a generally plane-shaped energy filter (103) to repel electrons having an energy lower than the probe beam (203) of electrons that impinges on the specimen (109).

Provided is a charged particle beam apparatus capable of realizing a highly reliable insulating structure. This charged particle beam apparatus emits a charged particle beam from a charged particle beam emission device onto a sample, detects charged particles generated from the sample, and creates a sample image or processes the sample. The charged particle beam emission device is provided with a charged particle source and a shield arranged in an interior of a metal housing that is filled with an insulating gas, and an acceleration electrode arranged below the charged particle source, power being supplied to the acceleration electrode via the shield.

This charged particle gun has a bolt to which a charged particle source is attached, a nut that is screwed together with the bolt and thereby holds the charged particle source, and a nut seat surface in contact with the nut. The nut includes an inclination adjustment section whereby it is possible to adjust the angle of inclination of the charged particle source with respect to the nut seat surface, and a lock section that inhibits the nut and the bolt from becoming loose when screwed together. The inner surface of the nut has a screw thread section and a non-screw thread section with a larger inner diameter than the screw thread section. The inclination adjustment section has: a first slit formed so as to pass through an area from one part of the outer surface of the nut to one part of the non-screw thread section; an inclination adjustment screw; a first part positioned between the first slit and a second surface; a second part positioned between the first slit and a first surface; and a first screw hole that is screwed together with the inclination adjustment screw and formed so as to pass through an area from the first surface to the first slit in the second part.