Fiducial coordinates are obtained by aligning template with region of interest extracted from a workpiece image. Image values in the region of interest are projected along a template axis and the project values evaluated to establish a fiducial location which can be used as a reference location for locating workpiece areas for ion beam milling or other processing.

An object of the invention is to correct an aberration or a defocus of an electron beam for irradiation, and control an influence on a deflector by a fluctuation in an electric field of an electrostatic lens. The invention provides a charged particle beam apparatus including a deflector that deflects a charged particle beam with which a specimen is irradiated, an objective lens that focuses the charged particle beam on the specimen, an electrostatic lens that includes a part of the objective lens and to which a voltage for correcting the aberration or the defocus of the charged particle beam is applied, and an constant electric field applying electrode that is provided between the deflector and the electrostatic lens and to which a constant voltage having a same sign with the voltage applied to the electrostatic lens is applied.

A gas generation system for an ion implantation system has a hydrogen generator configured to generate hydrogen gas within an enclosure. A chuck, such as an electrostatic chuck, supports a workpiece in an end station of the ion implantation system, and a delivery system provides the hydrogen gas to the chuck. The hydrogen gas can be provided through the chuck to a backside of the workpiece. Sensors can detect a presence of the hydrogen gas within the enclosure. A controller can control the hydrogen generator. An exhaust system can pass air through the enclosure to prevent a build-up of the hydrogen gas within the enclosure. A purge gas system provides a dilutant gas to the enclosure. An interlock system can control the hydrogen generator, delivery system, purge gas system, and exhaust system to mitigate hydrogen release based on a signal from the one or more sensors.

A deposition method is implemented in a focused ion beam system that supplies a compound gas to a specimen, and applies an ion beam to the specimen to deposit a deposition film, the deposition method including: a first deposition film-depositing step that deposits a first deposition film on the specimen using the ion beam that is defocused with respect to the specimen; and a second deposition film-depositing step that deposits a second deposition film on the first deposition film using the ion beam that is smaller in defocus amount than that used in the first deposition film-depositing step.

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for sample preparation, suitable for online or offline use with multilayer samples. Ion beam technology is leveraged to provide rapid, accurate delayering with etch stops at a succession of target layers. In one aspect, a trench is milled around a region of interest (ROI), and a conductive coating is developed on an inner sidewall. Thereby, reliable conducting paths are formed between intermediate layers within the ROI and a base layer, and stray current paths extending outside the ROI are eliminated, providing better quality etch progress monitoring, during subsequent etching, from body or scattered currents. Ion beam assisted gas etching provides rapid delayering with etch stops at target polysilicon layers. Uniform etching at deep layers can be achieved. Variations and results are disclosed.

The focused ion beam apparatus includes: an ion source configured to generate ions; a first electrostatic lens configured to accelerate and focus the ions to form an ion beam; a beam booster electrode configured to accelerate the ion beam to a higher level; one or a plurality of electrodes, which are placed in the beam booster electrode, and are configured to electrostatically deflect the ion beam; a second electrostatic lens, which is provided between the one or plurality of electrodes and a sample table, and is configured to focus the ion beam applied with a voltage; and a processing unit configured to obtain a measurement condition, and set at least one of voltages to be applied to the one or plurality of electrodes or a voltage to be applied to each of the first electrostatic lens and the second electrostatic lens, based on the obtained measurement condition.

An apparatus for preparing a sample for microscopy is provided that has a milling device that removes material from a sample in order to thin the sample. An electron beam that is directed onto the sample is present along with a detector that detects when the electron beam has reached a preselected threshold transmitted through or immediately adjacent the sample. Once the detector detects the electron beam has reached this threshold, the milling device terminates the milling process.

Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) are being utilized more often in failure analysis labs as processing nodes decrease and alternative device structures, such as three dimensional, multi-gate transistors, e.g., FinFETs (Fin Field Effect Transistors), are utilized in IC designs. However, these types of structures may confuse typical TEM sample (or “lamella”) preparation as the resulting lamella may contain multiple potentially faulty structures, making it difficult to identify the actual faulty structure. Passive voltage contrast may be used in a dual beam focused ion beam (FIB) microscope system including a scanning electron microscope (SEM) column by systematically identifying non-faulty structures and milling them from the lamella until the faulty structure is identified.

Disclosed herein is a method for cross-section processing and observation, and apparatus therefore, the method including: performing a position information obtaining process of observing the entirety of a sample by using an optical microscope or an electron microscope, and of obtaining three-dimensional position coordinate information of a particular observation target object included in the sample; performing a cross-section processing process of irradiating a particular region in which the object is present by using a focused ion beam based on the information, and of exposing a cross section of the region; performing a cross-section image obtaining process of irradiating the cross section by using an electron beam, and of obtaining a cross-section image of a predetermined size region including the object; and performing a three-dimensional image obtaining process of repeating the cross-section processing process and the cross-section image obtaining process at predetermined intervals in a predetermined direction, and of obtaining a three-dimensional image from obtained multiple cross-section images.

Shaft members which respectively protrude toward at least one beam member and the other beam member in a z-axis direction are formed in a mesh support member. A through hole for penetrating a space between a shaft end surface and an opening portion in the z-axis direction and introducing a focused ion beam toward a fine sample piece is formed in at least one shaft member.