A charged particle beam device for inspection of a specimen with an array of primary charged particle beamlets is described. The charged particle beam device includes a charged particle beam source to generate a primary charged particle beam; a multi-aperture plate having at least two openings to generate an array of charged particle beamlets having at least a first beamlet having a first resolution on the specimen and a second beamlet having a second resolution on the specimen; an aberration correction element to correct at least one of spherical aberrations and chromatic aberrations of rotational symmetric charged particle lenses; and an objective lens assembly for focusing each primary charged particle beamlet of the array of primary charged particle beamlets onto a separate location on the specimen.

A multi-beam charged particle microscope configured determines and compensates wave front aberrations. With a variation element, the wave-front aberration amplitudes are indirectly determined and transformed in normalized sensitivity units. It is possible to compensate the wave-front aberrations with a compensation element which is different from the variation element. The normalized sensitivity units can for example be determined an improved calibration method.

A method of forming a multipole device (100) for influencing an electron beam (11) is provided. The method is carried out in an electron beam apparatus (200) that comprises an aperture body (110) having at least one aperture opening (112). The method comprises directing the electron beam (11) onto two or more surface portions of the aperture body (110) on two or more sides of the at least one aperture opening (112) to generate an electron beam-induced deposition pattern (120) configured to act as a multipole in a charged state, particularly configured to act as a quadrupole, a hexapole and/or an octupole. The electron beam-induced deposition pattern (120) can be an electron beam-induced carbon or carbonaceous pattern. Further provided are methods of influencing an electron beam in an electron beam apparatus, particularly with a multipole device as described herein. Further provided is a multipole device for influencing an electron beam in an electron beam apparatus in a predetermined manner.

The present disclosure pertains to a beam deflection device capable of properly deflecting a beam. The present disclosure provides a beam deflection device for deflecting a beam inside a charged particle beam device, said beam deflection device being provided with: one or more electrostatic deflectors (207, 208) each having a pair of electrodes disposed so as to face each other across a beam path in a first direction orthogonal to the beam path; and one or more magnetic deflectors (209) each having a pair of magnetic poles disposed so as to face each other across the beam path in a second direction orthogonal to the beam path and to the first direction. When viewed from an incident direction of the beam, the one or more electrostatic deflectors and the one or more magnetic deflectors are stacked along the beam path such that the pair of electrodes at least partially overlap with the pair of magnetic poles and with a gap between the pair of magnetic poles.

A multi-beam apparatus for observing a sample with high resolution and high throughput is proposed. In the apparatus, a source-conversion unit changes a single electron source into a virtual multi-source array, a primary projection imaging system projects the array to form plural probe spots on the sample, and a condenser lens adjusts the currents of the plural probe spots. In the source-conversion unit, the image-forming means is on the upstream of the beamlet-limit means, and thereby generating less scattered electrons. The image-forming means not only forms the virtual multi-source array, but also compensates the off-axis aberrations of the plurality of probe spots.

A method for determining focal properties in a target beam field of a charged-particle multi-beam processing apparatus is presented, where the focal properties relate to aperture images formed by the beamlets at or near the target within this apparatus, such as height of focus, astigmatic length, or size of blur. By modifying an electrostatic voltage of a lens or another suitable operating parameter of the projection optics, the landing angles of the beamlets are tilted by a small tilting angle, causing a small displacement of the positions where the beamlets hit the target surface. Using the amounts of displacement and the change of landing angles a map is generated that describes a mapping from the change of landing angles to the amounts of displacement as a function of the position, for instance by using a best fit to a predefined model; this map is then used to extract the focal properties, which in turn can be used to correct for imaging errors in the processing apparatus.

A multi-beam apparatus for observing a sample with high resolution and high throughput is proposed. In the apparatus, a source-conversion unit changes a single electron source into a virtual multi-source array, a primary projection imaging system projects the array to form plural probe spots on the sample, and a condenser lens adjusts the currents of the plural probe spots. In the source-conversion unit, the image-forming means is on the upstream of the beamlet-limit means, and thereby generating less scattered electrons. The image-forming means not only forms the virtual multi-source array, but also compensates the off-axis aberrations of the plurality of probe spots.

Provided is a method of adjusting an electron-beam irradiated area in an electron beam irradiation apparatus that deflects an electron beam with a deflector to irradiate an object with the electron beam, the method including: emitting an electron beam while changing an irradiation position on an adjustment plate by controlling the deflector in accordance with an electron beam irradiation recipe, the adjustment plate detecting a current corresponding to the emitted electron beam; acquiring a current value detected from the adjustment plate; forming image data corresponding to the acquired current value; determining whether the electron-beam irradiated area is appropriate based on the formed image data; and updating the electron beam irradiation recipe when the electron-beam irradiated area is determined not to be appropriate.

An aberration corrector. The aberration corrector including a first plurality of magnetic elements, each magnetic element comprising a magnetic pole and a corresponding magnetic rod for providing a magnetic field to the magnetic pole. The first plurality of magnetic elements including at least a first magnetic element, the first magnetic element including a first magnetic pole; a first magnetic rod having a proximal end adjacent to the first magnetic pole and a distal end opposite the proximal end; the proximal end having a tip with a tip surface in a shape of a semi-spheroid; and a contact point of the tip surface contacts the first magnetic pole.

A multi-beam lens device is described, which includes: a first beam passage for a first charged particle beam formed along a first direction between a first beam inlet of the first beam passage and a first beam outlet of the first beam passage; a second beam passage for a second charged particle beam formed along a second direction between a second beam inlet of the second beam passage and a second beam outlet of the second beam passage, wherein the first direction and the second direction are inclined with respect to each other by an angle () of 5 or more such that the first beam passage approaches the second beam passage toward the first beam outlet; and a common excitation coil or a common electrode arrangement configured for focussing the first charged particle beam and the second charged particle beam. Further, a charged particle beam device as well as a method of operating a multi-beam lens device are described.