A process for the preparation and imaging of a sample of rock from an oil and gas reservoir is provided. A sample of reservoir rock may be obtained, such as from a core sample obtained using a core sampling tool inserted in a wellbore extending into an oil and gas reservoir. A photoresist may be deposited on the surface of reservoir rock sample to form a homogenous layer. The photoresist-coated surface of the reservoir rock sample may be imaged using a focused ion beam (FIB). The photoresist protects the pores and other surface features of the rock from damage or implantation by the FIB ion beam and thus minimizes the curtain effect in the resulting images.

A substrate is alignable for ion beam milling or other inspection or processing by obtaining an electron channeling pattern (ECP) or other electron beam backscatter pattern from the substrate based on electron beam backscatter from the substrate. The ECP is a function of substrate crystal orientation and tilt angles associated with ECP pattern values at or near a maximum, minimum, or midpoint are used to determine substrate tilt. Such tilt is then compensated or eliminated using a tilt stage coupled the substrate, or by adjusting an ion beam axis. In typical examples, circuit substrate chunks are aligned for ion beam milling to reveal circuit features for evaluation of circuit processing.

A process for the preparation and imaging of a sample of rock from an oil and gas reservoir is provided. A sample of reservoir rock may be obtained, such as from a core sample obtained using a core sampling tool inserted in a wellbore extending into an oil and gas reservoir. A photoresist may be deposited on the surface of reservoir rock sample to form a homogenous layer. The photoresist-coated surface of the reservoir rock sample may be imaged using a focused ion beam (FIB). The photoresist protects the pores and other surface features of the rock from damage or implantation by the FIB ion beam and thus minimizes the curtain effect in the resulting images.

An apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices is disclosed. The apparatus includes an electron gun configured to generate an input electron beam and irradiate a sample with the input electron beam, an ion beam device configured to generate an ion beam and irradiate the sample with the ion beam, and a detector configured to detect emitted electrons from the sample. The detector includes an electron backscatter diffraction detector and detects the emitted electrons simultaneously when the sample is irradiated by the ion beam.

The present disclosure provides a method of reducing coma and chromatic aberration in a charged particle beam device for providing a beam tilt of a charged particle beam. The method includes tilting the charged particle beam with a deflection assembly consisting of two or more electrostatic deflection elements, wherein at least one deflection element of the two or more deflection elements is a post-lens deflector, while the charged particle beam is guided through an essentially coma-free z-position of an objective lens, and reducing off-axis chromatic aberrations with a magnetic deflection element, wherein tilting the charged particle beam reduces coma independent of off-axis chromatic aberrations.

With conventional optical axis adjustment, a charged particle beam will not be perpendicularly incident to a sample, affecting the measurements of a pattern being observed. Highly precise measurement and correction of a microscopic inclination angle are difficult. Therefore, in the present invention, in a state where a charged particle beam is irradiated toward a sample, a correction of the inclination of the charged particle beam toward the sample is performed on the basis of secondary electron scanning image information from a reflector plate. From the secondary electron scanning image information, a deviation vector for charged particle beam deflectors is adjusted, causing the charged particle beam to be perpendicularly incident to the sample. At least two stages of charged particle beam deflectors are provided.

An aberration measurement method for an objective lens in an electron microscope including an objective lens which focuses an electron beam that illuminates a specimen, and a detector which detects an electron beam having passed through the specimen, includes: introducing a coma aberration to the objective lens; measuring an aberration of the objective lens before introducing the coma aberration to the objective lens; measuring an aberration of the objective lens after introducing the coma aberration to the objective lens; and obtaining a position of an optical axis of the objective lens on a detector plane of the detector based on measurement results of the aberration of the objective lens before and after introducing the coma aberration.

A method of 3D-inspection of a semiconductor object inside of an inspection volume of a wafer or wafer sample comprises a 3D data processing and a step for acquiring a plurality of two-dimensional images. The acquiring step comprises a monitoring step for determining whether a two-dimensional image is in conformity with a desired property of the 3D data processing. The disclosure further comprises a method of configuring the method of 3D-inspection and a system configured to execute the method of 3D-inspection as well as the method of configuring the method of 3D-inspection.

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatus for forming gratings having a plurality of fins with different slant angles on a substrate and forming fins with different slant angles on successive substrates using angled etch systems and/or an optical device. The methods include positioning portions of substrates retained on a platen in a path of an ion beam. The substrates have a grating material disposed thereon. The ion beam is configured to contact the grating material at an ion beam angle ? relative to a surface normal of the substrates and form gratings in the grating material.

A method of determining a depth of a hole milled into a first region of a sample, comprising: positioning the sample in a processing chamber having a charged particle beam column; milling a hole in the first region of the sample using a charged particle beam generated by the charged particle beam column; identifying a first registration mark at an upper level of the milled hole; identifying a second registration mark at a lower level of the milled hole; taking a first set of images at a first tilt angle, the first set of images including a first image taken with a field of view that captures the first registration mark but not the second registration mark, and a second image taken with a field of view that captures the second registration mark but not the first registration mark; taking a second set of images at a second tilt angle, different than the first tilt angle, the second set of images including a third image taken with a field of view that captures the first registration mark but not the second registration mark, and a fourth image taken with a field of view that captures the second registration mark but not the first registration mark; using stereoscopic measurement techniques to determine the depth of the hole based on the first and second sets of images.