There are disclosed an aberration correction method and a charged particle beam system capable of correcting off-axis first order aberrations. The aberration correction method is for use in the charged particle beam system (100) equipped with an aberration corrector (30) which has plural stages of multipole elements (32a, 32b) and a transfer lens system (34) disposed between the multipole elements (32a, 32b). The method includes varying the excitation of the transfer lens system (34) and correcting off-axis first order aberrations.

A drift amount computing device (100) computes an amount of drift between a first image and a second image, and comprises a correlation function computing section (112) for calculating a correlation function between the first and second images, a local maximum position searching section (114) for searching a range of positions of the correlation function for local maximum positions, a local maximum position determining section (116) for assigning weights to intensities of plural local maximum positions according to the distance from the center of the correlation function, comparing the weighted intensities of the local maximum positions, and determining one of the maximum local positions which corresponds to the amount of drift, and a drift amount computing section (118).

A method for automatically imaging in an electron microscope (SEM, TEM or STEM) features in a region of interest in a lamella without prior knowledge of the features to be imaged, thereby enabling multiple electron microscope images to be obtained by stepping from the first image location without requiring the use of image recognition of individual image features. By eliminating the need for image recognition, substantial increases in image acquisition rates may be obtained.

Embodiments consistent with the disclosure herein include methods for image enhancement for a multi-beam charged-particle inspection system. Systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure include analyzing signal information representative of first and second images, wherein the first image is associated with a first beam of a set of beams and the second image is associated with a second beam of the set of beams; detecting, based on the analysis, disturbances in positioning of the first and second beams in relation to a sample; obtaining an image of the sample using the signal information of the first and second beams; and correcting the image of the sample using the identified disturbances.

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving measured linescan information describing a pattern structure of a feature, applying the received measured linescan information to an inverse linescan model that relates measured linescan information to feature geometry information, and identifying, based at least in part on the applying the received measured linescan model to the inverse linescan model, feature geometry information that describes a feature that would produce a linescan corresponding to the received measured linescan information. The method also includes determining, at least in part using the inverse linescan model, feature edge positions of the identified feature, analyzing the feature edge positions to determine errors in the manufacture of the pattern structure, and controlling a lithography tool based on the analysis of the feature edge positions.

The present invention discloses an imaging method and an apparatus for direct electron detection cameras and a computer device, and relates to the technical field of electron microscope cameras. The present invention is mainly capable of improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of an image so as to improve the detective quantum efficiency of electron. The method includes the steps of classifying clusters in an original image to obtain low SNR clusters and high SNR clusters; performing three-dimensional reconstruction by using the images corresponding to the low SNR clusters and the high SNR clusters, respectively, to obtain three-dimensional models corresponding to the low SNR clusters and the high SNR clusters, respectively; performing filtering on the image corresponding to the low SNR clusters by using the filtering function, and superimposing the image to obtain m output image corresponding to the vitrified sample.

A pitch walk inspection method includes obtaining a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image for a line and space (L/S) pattern formed by a multi-patterning technology (MPT), where L/S pattern includes a plurality of lines and spaces that are alternately arranged; detecting a main pitch of the L/S pattern in the SEM image; dividing a graph of the main pitch into graphs of component pitches, based on the MPT; performing a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on each graph of the component pitches; multiplying a phase and an intensity graph of the FFT of each of the graphs of the component pitches with each other and obtaining compensated FFT phase graphs; and calculating a pitch walk for the L/S pattern by obtaining differences between phase peak values of the compensated FFT phase graphs.

A computer-implemented method of processing image data according to the present disclosure comprises: receiving the image data, wherein the image data is scanning transmission charged-particle microscope (STCPM) image data representing a STCPM scan obtained at a first focus depth; and processing a system of equations expressing the image data as a sum of contributions from a plurality of slices of the sample at a plurality of focus depths, wherein each equation of the system of equations relates at least a portion of the image data to: at least one of a plurality of contrast transfer functions of the STCPM, each contrast transfer function of the STCPM being determined at a different respective focus depth; and at least one set of unknown objects of the STCPM, each unknown object in a set being at a different respective focus depth. The step of processing comprises solving the system of equations to obtain at least one of the plurality of unknown objects of the STCPM.

Methods for correcting one or more image aberrations in an electron microscopy image, including cryo-EM images, are provided. The method includes obtaining a plurality of electron microscope (EM) images of an internal reference grid sample having one or more known properties, the plurality of electron microscope images obtained for a plurality of optical conditions and for a plurality of coordinated beam-image shifts. The method may also include, among other features, determining an aberration correction function that predicts aberrations for every point in the imaged area using kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA).

A system and method for imaging a biological sample using a freezable fluid cell system is disclosed. The freezable fluid cell comprises a top chip, a bottom chip, and a spacer to control the thickness of a vitrified biological sample. The spacer is positioned between the top chip and the bottom chip to define a channel that is in fluid communication with an inlet port and an exit port to the freezable fluid cell system. The channel can be filled with a biological sample, vitrified, and imaged to produce high-resolution electron microscopic image.