The scanning charged particle beam microscope according to the present application is characterized in that, in acquiring an image of the FOV (field of view), interspaced beam irradiation points are set, and then, a deflector is controlled so that a charged particle beam scan is performed faster when the charged particle beam irradiates a position on the sample between each of the irradiation points than when the charged particle beam irradiates a position on the sample corresponding to each of the irradiation points (a position on the sample corresponding to each pixel detecting a signal). This allows the effects from a micro-domain electrification occurring within the FOV to be mitigated or controlled.

A charged particle beam apparatus with a charged particle source to generate a primary charged particle beam, a sample holder to hold a sample for impingement of the primary charged particle beam on the sample, a pulsed laser configured to generate a pulsed light beam for impingement onto an area on the sample, and an electrode to collect electrons emitted from the sample in a non-linear photoemission.

The present application relates to an apparatus for determining a position of at least one element on a photolithographic mask, said apparatus comprising: (a) at least one scanning particle microscope comprising a first reference object, wherein the first reference object is disposed on the scanning particle microscope in such a way that the scanning particle microscope can be used to determine a relative position of the at least one element on the photolithographic mask relative to the first reference object; and (b) at least one distance measuring device, which is embodied to determine a distance between the first reference object and a second reference object, wherein there is a relationship between the second reference object and the photolithographic mask.

A method of reducing variability of an error associated with a structure on a substrate in a lithography process is disclosed. The method includes determining, based on one or more images obtained based on a scan of the substrate by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a first error due to a SEM distortion in the image. The method also includes determining, based on the image, a second error associated with a real error of the structure, where the error associated with the structure includes the first error and the second error. A command is generated by a data processor that enables a modification of the lithography process and an associated reduction of the variability of the error based on reducing any of the first error or the second error.

To implement a calibration sample by which an incident angle can be measured with high accuracy, an electron beam adjustment method, and an electron beam apparatus using the calibration sample. To adjust an electron beam using a calibration sample, the calibration sample includes a silicon single crystal substrate 201 whose upper surface is a {110} plane, a first recess structure 202 opening in the upper surface and extending in a first direction, and a second recess structure 203 opening in the upper surface and extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, in which the first recess structure and the second recess structure each include a first side surface and a first bottom surface that intersects the first side surface, and a second side surface and a second bottom surface that intersects the second side surface, the first side surface and the second side surface are {111} planes, and the first bottom surface and the second bottom surface are crystal planes different from the {110} planes.

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 computing unit generates a to-be-used-in-computation netlist on the basis of a to-be-used-in-calculation device model corresponding to a correction sample, estimates a first application result, on the basis of the to-be-used-in-computation netlist and an optical condition, when a charged particle beam is applied to the correction sample under the optical condition, compares the first application result and a second application result based on a detection signal when the charged particle beam is applied to the correction sample under the optical condition, and corrects the optical condition when the first application result and the second application result differ from each other.

The present application relates to an apparatus for determining a position of at least one element on a photolithographic mask, said apparatus comprising: (a) at least one scanning particle microscope comprising a first reference object, wherein the first reference object is disposed on the scanning particle microscope in such a way that the scanning particle microscope can be used to determine a relative position of the at least one element on the photolithographic mask relative to the first reference object; and (b) at least one distance measuring device, which is embodied to determine a distance between the first reference object and a second reference object, wherein there is a relationship between the second reference object and the photolithographic mask.

Provided is a charged particle beam device and a charged particle beam device calibration method capable of correcting an influence of characteristic variation and noise with high accuracy. Control units execute a first calibration of correcting a characteristic variation between a plurality of channels in detectors and signal processing circuits by using a setting value of a control parameter for each of the plurality of channels in a state in which a primary electron beam is not emitted. The control units further execute a second calibration of correcting a characteristic variation between the plurality of channels in scintillators or the like by using the setting value of the control parameter for each of the plurality of channels in a state in which the primary electron beam is emitted.

A charged particle beam device capable of generating an image having uniform image quality in a field of view is provided. The charged particle beam device includes: a beam source configured to irradiate a sample with a charged particle beam; a diaphragm including an opening used for angle discrimination of secondary charged particles emitted from the sample; a first detector provided closer to the sample than the diaphragm, and configured to detect a part of the secondary charged particles; a second detector provided closer to the beam source than the diaphragm, and configured to detect secondary charged particles passing through the opening; an image generation unit configured to generate an image based on a first signal output from the first detector or a second signal output from the second detector; and a composite ratio calculation unit configured to calculate a composite ratio for each position in a field of view based on the first signal or the second signal with respect to a calibration sample that is a sample having a flat surface. The image generation unit generates a composite image by synthesizing the first signal and the second signal with respect to an observation sample using the composite ratio.