A pattern measuring method and a pattern measuring apparatus that efficiently prevent a measurement error inherent to a device that performs beam scanning in a specific direction such as a scanning electron microscope are provided. The invention is directed to a pattern measuring method and a pattern measuring apparatus in which a first curve with respect to an edge of one side and a second curve with respect to an edge of the other side are obtained by calculating a first power spectral density with respect to the edge of one side of a pattern and a second power spectral density with respect to the edge of the other side of the pattern based upon a signal that is obtained when a charged particle beam is scanned in a direction intersecting the edge of the pattern; a difference value between the first curve and the second curve is calculated; and one of the first curve and the second curve is corrected by using the difference value.

The invention relates to a method of determining an aberration of a charged particle microscope. The method comprises a step of providing a charged particle microscope that is at least partly operable by a user. Then, a set of image data is obtained with said charged particle microscope. The image data is processed to determine an aberration of said charged particle microscope. According to the invention, said set of image data is actively obtained by a user. In particular, the image data may be obtained during normal operation of the microscope by a user, which may include navigating and/or focusing of the microscope. Thus, the set of image data is acquired by said user, and not by the controller thereof. This allows background processing of an aberration, and aberration correction during use of the charged particle microscope. The invention further relates to a charged particle microscope incorporating the method.

An electron beam device suitable for observing the bottom of a deep groove or hole with a high degree of accuracy under a large current condition includes: an electron optical system having an irradiation optical system to irradiate a first aperture with an electron beam emitted from an electron source and a reduction projection optical system to project and form an aperture image of the first aperture on a sample, detectors to detect secondary electrons emitted by irradiating the sample with the electron beam through the electron optical system. An image processing unit generates a two-dimensional image from detection signals obtained by irradiating the sample while the electron beam scans the sample two-dimensionally by scanning deflectors of the electron optical system. Further, generates a reconstructed image by deconvoluting electron beam intensity distribution information of an ideal aperture image of the first aperture from the generated two-dimensional image information.

A lensless Fourier transform holography high accuracy reconstruction method using a charged particle beam apparatus which holds a sample on a diffraction surface of a diffraction grating provided on the downstream side of a traveling direction of the charged particle beam and which is formed of a material having permeability. The charged particle beam passed through the diffraction surface is image-formed, and the formed image is detected. An opening region of the diffraction grating is smaller than an irradiation region of the charged particle beam on the diffraction grating. Image data is obtained in a state where the irradiation region of the charged particle beam diffracted with the diffraction grating is within the irradiation region of the charged particle beam transmitted through the diffraction grating. Plural holograms obtained based on the image data are Fourier transformed and an intensity distribution image is displayed and stored.

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.

Systems and methods for image enhancement are disclosed. A method for enhancing an image may include acquiring a first scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image at a first resolution. The method may also include acquiring a second SEM image at a second resolution. The method may further include providing an enhanced image by using the first SEM image as a reference to enhance the second SEM image. The enhanced image may be provided by using one or more features extracted from the first image to enhance the second SEM image, or using the first SEM image as a reference to numerically enhance the second SEM image.

Described herein are techniques for identifying biological structures using a cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). In some embodiments, first images captured at a first magnification level may be received depicting cryo-EM grid units. Using a first ML model, one or more cryo-EM grid units may be detected based on the first images. Second images of each cryo-EM grid unit captured at a second magnification level may be received and, using a second ML model, one or more apertures within the cryo-EM grid may be detected based on the second images. One or more images captured at a third magnification level of depicting at least one of ice or a biological structure suspended within each aperture may be received and a Fourier transformation may be generated. Using a third ML model, at least one image depicting the biological structure from the images may be identified based on the Fourier transformations.

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.

An electron beam device suitable for observing the bottom of a deep groove or hole with a high degree of accuracy under a large current condition includes: an electron optical system having an irradiation optical system to irradiate a first aperture with an electron beam emitted from an electron source and a reduction projection optical system to project and form an aperture image of the first aperture on a sample, detectors to detect secondary electrons emitted by irradiating the sample with the electron beam through the electron optical system. An image processing unit generates a two-dimensional image from detection signals obtained by irradiating the sample while the electron beam scans the sample two-dimensionally by scanning deflectors of the electron optical system. Further, generates a reconstructed image by deconvoluting electron beam intensity distribution information of an ideal aperture image of the first aperture from the generated two-dimensional image information.

A pattern measuring method and a pattern measuring apparatus that efficiently prevent a measurement error inherent to a device that performs beam scanning in a specific direction such as a scanning electron microscope are provided. The invention is directed to a pattern measuring method and a pattern measuring apparatus in which a first curve with respect to an edge of one side and a second curve with respect to an edge of the other side are obtained by calculating a first power spectral density with respect to the edge of one side of a pattern and a second power spectral density with respect to the edge of the other side of the pattern based upon a signal that is obtained when a charged particle beam is scanned in a direction intersecting the edge of the pattern; a difference value between the first curve and the second curve is calculated; and one of the first curve and the second curve is corrected by using the difference value.