A method includes preparing an initial layer of a semiconductor sample., and aligning a surface area of a region of interest volume of the prepared layer with an object field of an SEM. An electron energy of an electron beam of the SEM is adjusted. The region of interest volume is probed with the SEM within the object field. X-rays emanating from the aligned region of interest volume are detected. A detection signal is post-processed to deconvolute the detection signal into structured data attributed to the sample structure within the region of interest volume. A next layer to be investigated is prepared by FIB etching and the steps preparing to post-processing are repeated until the layer by layer investigation of a superimposed volume of interest of the sample is completed.

A radiation detector 1 includes a Peltier device (electronic cooling unit) for cooling a radiation detecting element, and the heat releasing part of the Peltier device is in thermal contact with a cold finger (thermally conductive part). The cold finger is made of a material with higher thermal conductivity than that of the base, and penetrates the base. The heat from the radiation detecting element is conducted from the heat releasing part of the Peltier device to the cold finger, and is dissipated to the outside of the radiation detector through the cold finger. As such, heat is efficiently dissipated from the radiation detecting element.

A charged particle filter includes a magnetic deflector having a bore along an axis thereof passing through the magnetic deflector from a sample end to a detector end of the magnetic deflector, and through which bore charged particles pass when in use, the magnetic deflector being formed from two magnets positioned around the bore, with a gap between the two magnets, the two magnets each having a linear central section and two ends, each end forming a curved surface, the curved surface having an aspect ratio defined by a height in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap between the two magnets, and a width in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap.

A charged particle filter includes a magnetic deflector having a bore along an axis thereof passing through the magnetic deflector from a sample end to a detector end of the magnetic deflector, and through which bore charged particles pass when in use, the magnetic deflector being formed from two magnets positioned around the bore, with a gap between the two magnets, the two magnets each having a linear central section and two ends, each end forming a curved surface, the curved surface having an aspect ratio defined by a height in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap between the two magnets, and a width in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap.

Method and apparatus for analysis and display of fine grained mineral samples. A portion of the sample is illuminated with a charged particle beam. Emitted radiation is detected, and a sample emission spectrum is generated and fit with a plurality of standard emission spectra of minerals in a candidate mineral composition. A mineral composition whose emission spectrum best fits the sample emission spectrum is selected from a plurality of candidate mineral compositions. An assigned color is received for each mineral in the selected mineral composition, and the assigned colors are blended according to the proportion of each mineral in the selected mineral composition. An image pixel corresponding to the portion of the sample is rendered for display.

A charged particle filter includes a magnetic deflector having a bore along an axis thereof passing through the magnetic deflector from a sample end to a detector end of the magnetic deflector, and through which bore charged particles pass when in use, the magnetic deflector being formed from two magnets positioned around the bore, with a gap between the two magnets, the two magnets each having a linear central section and two ends, each end forming a curved surface, the curved surface having an aspect ratio defined by a height in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap between the two magnets, and a width in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap.

Systems, components, and methods for detecting characteristic signals are described. A detector includes a detector cell. The detector cell can be configured to generate an electrical signal in response to a particle incident on an active layer of the detector cell, The active layer can define an absorption surface. The detector can include a filter. The filter can include a membrane of carbon material. The filter can be disposed relative to the detector cell to shield the absorption surface from a subset of the incident particles. The subset of the incident particles can include electrons, ions, and photons. The photons can have an energy less than about 40 eV.

A charged particle filter includes a magnetic deflector having a bore along an axis thereof passing through the magnetic deflector from a sample end to a detector end of the magnetic deflector, and through which bore charged particles pass when in use, the magnetic deflector being formed from two magnets positioned around the bore, with a gap between the two magnets, the two magnets each having a linear central section and two ends, each end forming a curved surface, the curved surface having an aspect ratio defined by a height in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap between the two magnets, and a width in a range of between one tenth and ten times the gap.

An electron microscope includes an acquisition section that acquires an electron microscope image of a specimen that includes a plurality of identical patterns, and a spectrum at each pixel of the electron microscope image, and an elemental map generation section that adds up the spectrum at each pixel of each of a plurality of areas that are included in the electron microscope image and have an identical size to generate an elemental mapping image of the specimen.

The invention relates to a method of acquiring an Energy Backscattering Pattern image of a sample in a charged particle apparatus, the sample showing a flat surface, the charged particle apparatus equipped with an electron column for producing a finely focused electron beam, a position sensitive detector for detecting EBSP patterns, and a sample holder for holding and positioning the sample, the method comprising the steps of: Positioning the sample with respect to the electron beam, Directing the electron beam to an impact point on the sample, thereby causing backscattered electrons to irradiate the detector, and Acquiring the signal from the detector while the beam is kept stationary,
in which The detector is equipped to selectively detect electrons with an energy above a predefined threshold, and The signal of the electrons with an energy above said threshold is used to form an EBSP image.