Embodiments herein provide systems and methods for multi-area selecting etching. In some embodiments, a system may include a plasma source delivering a plurality of angled ion beams to a substrate, the substrate including a plurality of devices. Each of the plurality of devices may include a first angled grating and a second angled grating. The system may further include a plurality of blocking masks positionable between the plasma source and the substrate. A first blocking mask of the plurality of blocking masks may include a first set of openings permitting the angled ion beams to pass therethrough to form the first angled gratings of each of the plurality of devices. A second blocking mask of the plurality of blocking masks may include a second set of openings permitting the angled ion beams to pass therethrough to form the second angled gratings of each of the plurality of devices.

The present disclosure provides a flexible workpiece pedestal capable of tilting a workpiece support surface. The workpiece pedestal further includes a heater mounted on the workpiece support surface. The heater includes a plurality of heating sources such as heating coils. The plurality of heating sources in the heater allows heating the workpiece at different temperatures for different zones of the workpiece. For example, the workpiece can have a central zone heated by a first heating coil, a first outer ring zone that is outside of the central zone heated by a second heating coil, a second outer ring zone that is outside of the first outer ring zone heated by a third heating coil. By using the tunable heating feature and the tilting feature of the workpiece pedestal, the present disclosure can reduce or eliminate the shadowing effect problem of the related workpiece pedestal in the art.

A device for creating and placing a lamella comprises a focused ion beam, a scanning electron microscope, a stage for placing at least two specimens enabling tilting, rotation and movement of the specimen. The device further comprises a manipulator terminated by a needle for attaching and transporting the specimen. The manipulator is positioned in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tilt of the specimen, thereby enabling easy transportation and placing of the lamella into the specimen holder for a transmission electron microscope, so-called grid. The manipulator is adjusted to rotate the needle about its own axis. Thus, it enables inverting of the lamella and its polishing over a layer of semiconductor substrate, on which a semiconductor structure is formed, in case of creating the lamella from a semiconductor device.

There is provided a method of image acquisition capable of reducing the effects of diffraction contrast. This method of image acquisition is implemented in an electron microscope for generating electron microscope images with electrons transmitted through a sample. The method starts with obtaining the plural electron microscope images while causing relative variations in the direction of incidence of an electron beam with respect to the sample. An image is generated by accumulating the plural electron microscope images.

An object of the invention is to provide a technique of capturing images at higher speed and higher magnification when acquiring continuous tilted images with an electron microscope. The electron microscope of the invention includes a first spherical receiver fixed to a column of the electron microscope and configured to slide with a spherical fulcrum provided at a tip end of a sample holder; a spherical surface part provided on the column; and a second spherical receiver provided outside the column. The spherical surface part and the second spherical receiver slide on a contact part between the spherical surface part and the second spherical receiver, and a track of the slide is along a spherical surface centered on a central axis of the first spherical receiver, so that a view shift and a focus shift from an observation position of a sample can be reduced.

The invention relates to a method of imaging a sample, said sample mounted on a sample holder in an electron microscope, the electron microscope comprising an electron source for generating a beam of energetic electrons along an optical axis and optical elements for focusing and deflecting the beam so as to irradiate the sample with a beam of electrons. The sample holder is capable of positioning and tilting the sample with respect to the electron beam. The method comprises the step of acquiring a tilt series of images by irradiating the sample with the beam of electrons, and concurrently changing a position of the sample during acquisition of the images, so that each image is acquired at an associated unique tilt angle and an associated unique position.

A focused ion beam apparatus (100) includes: a focused ion beam lens column (20); a sample table (51); a sample stage (50); a memory (6M) configured to store in advance three-dimensional data on the sample table and an irradiation axis of the focused ion beam, the three-dimensional data being associated with stage coordinates of the sample stage; a display (7); and a display controller (6A) configured to cause the display to display a virtual positional relationship between the sample table (51v) and the irradiation axis (20Av) of the focused ion beam, which is exhibited when the sample stage is operated to move the sample table to a predetermined position, based on the three-dimensional data on the sample table and the irradiation axis of the focused ion beam.

An apparatus for plasma processing that performs an etching on a workpiece, includes: a container; a gas supply system for supplying a processing gas into the container; a plasma source for exciting the processing gas; a support for holding the workpiece inside the container; an exhaust system for exhausting an internal space of the container; electrode plates provided on an inner wall of the container; insulators for electrically insulating the electrode plates from each other; a DC power supply for independently applying a DC voltage to each of the electrode plates; and a controller for controlling the gas supply system, the plasma source, and the DC power supply. The controller controls the gas supply system, the plasma source, and the DC power supply such that the DC voltage is supplied to each electrode plate during execution of the etching or after completion of the etching.

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.

A composite charged particle beam apparatus includes a first charged particle beam column that irradiates a thin sample with a first charged particle beam, a second charged particle beam column that irradiates an irradiation position of the first charged particle beam of the thin sample with a second charged particle beam, a sample holder that fixes the thin sample, and a sample stage on which the sample holder is mounted. The sample holder is able to rotate the thin sample within a surface parallel to an observation surface of the thin sample around a first rotational axis on the sample stage.