A method of evaluating a region of interest of a sample including: positioning the sample within in a vacuum chamber of an evaluation tool that includes a scanning electron microscope (SEM) column and a focused ion beam (FIB) column; acquiring a plurality of two-dimensional images of the region of interest by alternating a sequence of delayering the region of interest with a charged particle beam from the FIB column and imaging a surface of the region of interest with the SEM column; generating an initial three-dimensional data cube representing the region of interest by stacking the plurality of two-dimensional images on top of each other in an order in which they were acquired; identifying distortions within the initial three-dimensional data cube; and creating an updated three-dimensional data cube that includes corrections for the identified distortions.

The invention relates to a method for ablating a material (1) from a material unit (502) and for arranging the material (1) on an object (125), the object (125) being arranged in a particle beam apparatus. Further, the invention relates to a computer program product, and to a particle beam apparatus for carrying out the method. The method comprises feeding a particle beam with charged particles onto the material (1), wherein the material (1) is arranged on the material unit (502) and/or wherein the material unit (502) is formed from the material (1), wherein the material (1) is ablatable from the material unit (502) and wherein the material (1) is arranged on the material unit (502) at a distance from the object (125).

Further, the method comprises ablating the ablatable material (1) arranged on the material unit (502) from the material unit (502) using the particle beam, and arranging the ablated material (514) on the object (125).

A method, system, and computer-readable medium for forming transmission electron microscopy sample lamellae using a focused ion beam including directing a high energy focused ion beam toward a bulk volume of material; milling away the unwanted volume of material to produce an unfinished sample lamella with one or more exposed faces having a damage layer; characterizing the removal rate of the focused ion beam; subsequent to characterizing the removal rate, directing a low energy focused ion beam toward the unfinished sample lamella for a predetermined milling time to deliver a specified dose of ions per area from the low energy focused ion beam; and milling the unfinished sample lamella with the low energy focused ion beam to remove at least a portion of the damage layer to produce the finished sample lamella including at least a portion of the feature of interest.

A method for analyzing a sample with a charged particle beam including directing the beam toward the sample surface; milling the surface to expose a second surface in the sample in which the end of the second surface distal to ion source is milled to a greater depth relative to a reference depth than the end of the first surface proximal to ion source; directing the charged particle beam toward the second surface to form one or more images of the second surface; forming images of the cross sections of the multiple adjacent features of interest by detecting the interaction of the electron beam with the second surface; assembling the images of the cross section into a three-dimensional model of one or more of the features of interest. A method for forming an improved fiducial and determining the depth of an exposed feature in a nanoscale three-dimensional structure is presented.

Provided is a focused ion beam processing apparatus including: an ion source; a sample stage a condenser lens; an aperture having a slit in a straight line shape; a projection lens and the sample stage, wherein, in a transfer mode, by Köhler illumination, with an applied voltage of the condenser lens when a focused ion beam is focused on a main surface of the projection lens scaled to be 100, the applied voltage is set to be less than 100 and greater than or equal to 80; a position of the aperture is set such that the focused ion beam is masked by the aperture with the one side of the aperture at a distance greater than 0 μm and equal to or less than 500 μm from a center of the focused ion beam; and the shape of the slit is transferred onto the sample.

The present application discloses a method for preparing a TEM sample, including the following steps: step 1: providing a thin-film pre-sample with undesirable voids; step 2: performing a first cutting with a first FIB to form the TEM sample located in the target region of the thin-film pre-sample. The first thickness is reached after the first cutting. The voids are exposed from the front surface or the back surface of the TEM sample after the first cutting; step 3: depositing a first material layer by an ALD process to fill the voids in the TEM sample; step 4: performing the second cutting with a second FIB to form the target thickness of the TEM sample in the target region of the thin-film pre-sample. The present application can reduce or eliminate ion beam cutting marks related to the voids in the thin-film pre-sample.

The dual focused ion beam and scanning electron beam system includes an electron source that generates an electron beam and an ion source that generates an ion beam. The electron beam column directs an electron beam at a normal angle relative to a top surface of the stage. An ion beam column directs the ion beam at the stage. The ion beam is at an angle relative to the electron beam. A detector receives the electron beam reflected from the wafer on the stage.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for determining a distance from a cut face of an active sample to a target plane, using data acquired from a reference sample. The active and reference samples have congruent structure, allowing reference data to be used as an index. An SEM image of the cut face is compared with the reference data to determine position within the active sample, and thereby the remaining distance to the target plane. The technique can be applied repeatedly between phases of ion beam milling until an endpoint at the target plane is reached. Consistent, accurate endpointing is achieved. The technique is suitable for preparing 5-100 nm thick lamella for TEM analysis of electronic circuits and can be used in a wide range of applications. Variations are disclosed.

Aspects of the disclosure provide a method of preparing a focused ion beam (FIB) sample and analyzing the sample in an electron microscope system. The method can include forming, over a substrate, a target film having a thickness of less than a threshold corresponding to a limit for FIB requirements, and forming a supporting film over the target film. The method can also include obtaining a FIB sample that includes a portion of the target film and a portion of the supporting film and. The method can further include analyzing the obtained portion of the target film in an electron microscope system.

An ion milling apparatus includes a pair of shielding members sandwiching a sample, and an ion source configured to irradiate the sample with an ion beam. The ion milling apparatus is configured to be capable of irradiating the sample with the ion beam in a first mode of irradiating the sample with the ion beam via one shielding member and in a second mode of irradiating the sample with the ion beam via the other shielding member.