Provided are a thin film sample creation method and a charged particle beam apparatus capable of preventing a thin film sample piece from being damaged. The method includes a process of processing a sample by irradiating a surface of the sample with a focused ion beam (FIB) from a second direction that crosses a normal line to the surface of the sample to create a thin film sample piece and a connection portion positioned at and connected to one side of the thin film sample piece, a process of rotating the sample around the normal line, a process of connecting the thin film sample piece to a needle for holding the thin film sample piece, and a process of separating the thin film sample piece from the sample by irradiating the connection portion with a focused ion beam from a third direction that crosses the normal line.

A method is provided for smoothing a surface region of a component consisting of an electrically conductive material. The surface region of the component is coated inside a vacuum chamber, by focused electron beam(s) with a first surface energy, which brings about melting of the component material within the surface region. Before melting, the surface region is passed over at least twice by the electron beam, each time with a different focal length of the electron beam. A second surface energy is set for the electron beam, such that no melting of the component material is brought about in the surface region. Data is recorded by a number of sensors arranged inside the vacuum chamber. An actual value for the roughness is compared to a set point value. If the actual value has not reached the set point value, a value for the first surface energy is determined via comparison.

A method for depth controlled ion milling, the method may include (a) ion milling a calibrated area and a target area; wherein the ion milling comprises exposing an interior of the calibrated area to provide an exposed interior of the calibrated area; wherein the target area comprises a buried region of interest that is positioned at a certain depth; wherein the calibrated area comprises a certain layer that is positioned at the certain depth; wherein the certain layer is visually distinguishable from another layer of the calibrated area that is precedes the certain layer; (ii) monitoring a progress of the milling by viewing the exposed interior of the calibrated area; and (iii) controlling of the ion milling based on an outcome of the monitoring.

Linear fiducials including notches or chevrons with known angles relative to each other are formed such that each branch of a chevron appears in a cross-sectional face of the sample as a distinct structure. Therefore, when imaging the cross-section face during the cross-sectioning operation, the distance between the identified structures allows unique identification of the position of the cross-section plane along the Z axis. Then a direct measurement of the actual position of each slice can be calculated, allowing for dynamic repositioning to account for drift in the plane of the sample and also dynamic adjustment of the forward advancement rate of the FIB to account for variations in the sample, microscope, microscope environment, etc. that contributes to drift. An additional result of this approach is the ability to dynamically calculate the actual thickness of each acquired slice as it is acquired.

Methods and systems for creating TEM lamella using image restoration algorithms for low keV FIB images are disclosed. An example method includes irradiating a sample with an ion beam at low keV settings, generating a low keV ion beam image of the sample based on emissions resultant from irradiation by the ion beam, and then applying an image restoration model to the low keV ion beam image of the sample to generate a restored image. The sample is then localized within the restored image, and a low keV milling of the sample is performed with the ion beam based on the localized sample within the restored image.

A particle beam system for examining and processing an object includes an electron beam column and an ion beam column with a common work region, in which an object may be disposed and in which a principal axis of the electron beam column and a principal axis of the ion beam column meet at a coincidence point. The particle beam system further includes a shielding electrode that is disposable between an exit opening of the ion beam column and the coincidence point. The shielding electrode is able to be disposed closer to the coincidence point than the electron beam column.

Systems, devices, and methods for performing a non-contact electrical measurement (NCEM) on a NCEM-enabled cell included in a NCEM-enabled cell vehicle may be configured to perform NCEMs while the NCEM-enabled cell vehicle is moving. The movement may be due to vibrations in the system and/or movement of a movable stage on which the NCEM-enabled cell vehicle is positioned. Position information for an electron beam column producing the electron beam performing the NCEMs and/or for the moving stage may be used to align the electron beam with targets on the NCEM-enabled cell vehicle while it is moving.

A sample holder system includes a sample holder and a sample adjusting unit. The sample holder includes a shielding plate, a holder body, a holding portion, and a fastening mechanism. The fastening mechanism fastens the holding portion to the holder body, the fastening mechanism preventing the holding portion from swinging when the holding portion is fastened to the holder body. The sample adjusting unit includes a position adjusting jig that comes into contact with the holding portion, and a swinging mechanism that supports the position adjusting jig such that the position adjusting jig is swingable.

The particle beam irradiation apparatus includes: an irradiation unit configured to radiate a particle beam; a first detection unit configured to detect first particles; a second detection unit configured to detect second particles; an image forming unit configured to form an observation image based on a first signal obtained by the detection of the first particles, which is performed by the first detection unit, and to form an observation image based on a second signal obtained by the detection of the second particles, which is performed by the second detection unit; and a control unit configured to calculate a brightness of a first region in the formed first observation image and perform a brightness adjustment of the first detection unit based on a first target brightness as a first brightness adjustment when the brightness of the first region is different from the first target brightness.

The focused ion beam apparatus includes: an electron beam column; a focused ion beam column; a sample stage; a coordinate acquisition unit configured to acquire, when a plurality of irradiation positions to which the focused ion beam is to be applied are designated on a sample, plane coordinates of each of the irradiation positions; a movement amount calculation unit configured to calculate, based on the plane coordinates, a movement amount by which the sample stage is to be moved to a eucentric height so that the eucentric height matches an intersection position at which the electron beam and the focused ion beam match each other at each of the irradiation positions; and a sample stage movement control unit configured to move, based on the movement amount, the sample stage to the eucentric height at each of the irradiation positions.