A system and method for the precise and uniform material removal or delayering of a large area of a sample is provided. The size of the milled area is controllable, ranging from sub-millimeter to multi-millimeter scale and the depth resolution is controllable on the nanometer scale. A controlled singularly charged ion beam is scanned across the sample surface in such a manner to normalize the ion density distribution from the sample center toward the periphery to realize uniform delayering.

According to the present invention, writing data capable of suppressing a data amount and a calculation amount in a multi charged particle beam writing apparatus is generated from design data including a figure having a curve. The present embodiment relates to a writing data generating method for generating writing data used in a multi charged particle beam writing apparatus. The method includes calculating a pair of curves each representing a curve portion of a figure included in design data, the curves each being defined by a plurality of control points, and generating the writing data by expressing a position of a second control point adjacent in a traveling direction of the curve to a first control point of the plurality of control points as a displacement from the first control point in the traveling direction of the curve and a displacement from the first control point in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction.

A vapor deposition system fixture comprises an arm, a rake, a crown gear bearing assembly, a workpiece holder, a thermocouple, and a contact ring assembly. The crown gear bearing assembly is attached to and rotatably engaged with the rake and includes stationary portion and rotating portions. The workpiece holder is configured to rotate with the rotating portion. The thermocouple is configured to rotate with the workpiece holder. The contact ring assembly comprises a housing, a cover, first and second rotating contact rings, and first and second stationary contact rings. The housing is attached to at least one of the arm and the rake. The first and second rotating contact rings are electrically connected to the thermocouple. The first and second stationary contact rings surround the rotating ring. The first and second stationary contact rings are configured to receive an electrical signal from the first and second rotating contact rings.

An inspection device includes a charged particle optical system that includes a charged particle beam source emitting a charged particle beam and plural lenses focusing the charged particle beam on a sample, a detector that detects secondary charged particles emitted by an interaction of the charged particle beam and the sample, and a calculation unit that executes auto-focusing at a time a field of view of the charged particle optical system moves over plural inspection spots, the calculation unit irradiates the charged particle beam to the sample under an optical condition that is obtained by introducing astigmatism of a predetermined specification to an optical condition that is for observing a pattern by the charged particle optical system, and executes the auto-focusing using an image formed from a signal outputted by the detector in detecting the secondary charged particles.

Disclosed are a charged particle beam apparatus and a sample processing observation method, the method including: a sample piece formation process in which a sample is irradiated with a focused ion beam such that a sample piece is cut out from the sample; a cross-section processing process in which the sample piece support holds the sample piece and a cross section thereof is irradiated with the ion beam to process the cross section; a sample piece approach movement process in which the sample piece support holds the sample piece and the sample piece is moved to a position that is closer to an electron beam column than an intersection point of beam optical axes of the ion beam and an electron beam is; and a SEM image acquisition process in which the cross section is irradiated with the electron beam to acquire the SEM image of the cross section.

A method of evaluating a region of a sample that includes a plurality of holes, wherein the method includes: taking a first image of the region by scanning the region with a first charged particle beam; evaluating the first image to determine a first center-to-center distance between first and second holes in the plurality of holes; milling a diagonal cut in an area within the region that includes the second hole at an angle such that an upper surface of the sample in the milled area where the second hole is located is recessed with respect to an upper surface of the sample where the first hole is located; thereafter, taking a second image of the region by scanning the region with the first charged particle beam; evaluating the second image to determine a second center-to-center distance between first and second holes in the plurality of holes; and comparing the second center-to-center distance to the first center-to-center distance.

To stabilize automated MS, provided is a charged particle beam apparatus, which is configured to automatically fabricate a sample piece from a sample, the charged particle beam apparatus including: a charged particle beam irradiation optical system configured to radiate a charged particle beam; a sample stage configured to move the sample that is placed on the sample stage; a sample piece transportation unit configured to hold and convey the sample piece separated and extracted from the sample; a holder fixing base configured to hold a sample piece holder to which the sample piece is transported; and a computer configured to perform control of a position with respect to a target, based on: a result of second determination about the position, which is executed depending on a result of first determination about the position; and information including an image that is obtained by irradiation with the charged particle beam.

A method of evaluating a region of a sample that includes alternating layers of different material. The method includes milling, with a focused ion beam, a portion of the sample that includes the alternating layers of different material; reducing the milling area; and repeating the milling and reducing steps multiple times during the delayering process until the process is complete.

An ion milling device of the present invention is provided with a tilt stage (8) which is disposed in a vacuum chamber (15) and has a tilt axis parallel to a first axis orthogonal to an ion beam, a drive mechanism (9, 51) which has a rotation axis and a tilt axis parallel to a second axis orthogonal to the first axis and rotates or tilts a sample (3), and a switching unit which enables switching between a state in which the ion beam is applied while the sample is rotated or swung while the tilt stage is tilted, and a state in which the ion beams is applied while the tilt stage is brought into an untilted state and the sample is swung. Consequently, the ion milling device capable of performing cross-section processing and flat processing of the sample in the same vacuum chamber is implemented.

Provided is a charged particle beam device which includes a storage unit that stores relationship information indicating a relationship between intensity or an intensity ratio of a charged particle signal obtained when a layer disposed on the sample is irradiated with the charged particle beam and a thickness of the layer; and a calculation unit that calculates the thickness of the layer as a thickness of the sample by using the relationship information and the intensity or the intensity ratio of the charged particle signal.