The invention relates to a method 3D defect characterization of crystalline samples in a scanning type electron microscope. The method comprises Irradiating a sample provided on a stage, selecting one set of crystal lattice planes of the sample and orienting said set to a first Bragg condition with respect to a primary electron beam impinging on said sample, and obtaining Electron Channeling Contrast Image for an area of interest on the sample. The method is characterized by performing, at least once, the steps of orienting said selected set of crystal lattice planes to a further Bragg condition by at least tilting the sample stage with the sample by a user-selected angle about a first tilt axis, and obtaining by Electron Channeling Contrast Image for a further area of interest.

The present invention refers to a detector and a method for obtaining Kikuchi images by using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) or transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) technique. In particular, the present invention refers to a detector comprising a detector body, a detector head with a scintillation screen and a photodetector with a active surface for detecting Kikuchi patterns, and means configured to move the detector head with respect to the detector body. The method comprises obtaining a first and a second Kikuchi pattern, and moving the detector head after obtaining the first Kikuchi pattern and prior obtaining the second Kikuchi pattern.

Multi-beam scanning electron microscope inspection systems are disclosed. A multi-beam scanning electron microscope inspection system may include an electron source and a beamlet control mechanism. The beamlet control mechanism may be configured to produce a plurality of beamlets utilizing electrons provided by the electron source and deliver one of the plurality of beamlets toward a target at a time instance. The multi-beam scanning electron microscope inspection system may also include a detector configured to produce an image of the target at least partially based on electrons backscattered out of the target.

A charged particle beam device includes: a plurality of detecting units which detect charged particles diffracted by a specimen; and an intensity pattern information generating unit which generates, based on intensities of a plurality of detection signals output from the plurality of detecting units, intensity pattern information that represents the intensities of the plurality of detection signals as a pattern.

An electron microscope includes: an irradiation lens system that irradiates a specimen with an electron beam; an irradiation system deflector that deflects an electron beam incident on the specimen; a specimen tilting mechanism that tilts the specimen; an imaging lens system that forms an electron diffraction pattern or an electron microscope image by using an electron having passed through the specimen; an imaging device that acquires the electron diffraction pattern or the electron microscope image formed by the imaging lens system; and a controller that controls the irradiation system deflector and the specimen tilting mechanism. The controller performs: a process of acquiring a plurality of electron diffraction patters formed by using electron beams having different incidence angles to the specimen, the different incidence angles having been obtained by deflecting the electron beams incident on the specimen by using the irradiation system deflector; a process of calculating a tilt angle of the specimen based on the plurality of electron diffraction patterns; and a process of controlling the specimen tilting mechanism so that the specimen has the calculated tilt angle.

According to one embodiment, there is provided an analysis method by a scanning transmission electron microscope including a dark field detector that detects dark field images by irradiating a sample with electron beams and detecting electron beams that are transmitted through or scattered from the sample, and an electron beam detector that detects electron diffraction images at radiation points of the electron beams among the electron beams that are transmitted through the sample or scattered from detecting the electron beams transmitted through a hollow portion of the dark field detector. The analysis method includes scanning a plurality of the radiation points set in an attention area by sequentially radiating electron beams at preset incidence angles, and performing detection of dark field images of the attention area and detection of NBD images at each of the plurality of radiation points at the same time.

A system and method involve applying an electron beam to a sample and obtaining an image of the sample with the applied electron beam. An orientation of the sample relative to the sample's zone axis is automatically determined based on a distribution of reflections in the image. The orientation of the sample is automatically adjusted to align with the sample's zone axis based on the determined orientation.

The invention relates to an image capture assembly and method for use in an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system. An image capture assembly comprises a scintillation screen (10) including a predefined screen region (11), an image sensor (20) comprising an array of photo sensors and a lens assembly (30). The image capture assembly is configured to operate in at least a first configuration or a second configuration. In the first configuration the lens assembly (30) projects the predefined region (11) of the scintillation screen (10) onto the array and in the second configuration the lens assembly (30) projects the predefined region (11) of the scintillation screen (10) onto a sub-region (21) of the array. In each of the first and second configurations the field of view of the lens assembly (30) is the same.

A technique capable of improving the ability to observe a specimen using an electron beam in an energy region which has not been conventionally given attention is provided. This specimen observation method comprises: irradiating the specimen with an electron beam; detecting electrons to be observed which have been generated and have obtained information on the specimen by the electron beam irradiation; and generating an image of the specimen from the detected electrons to be observed. The electron beam irradiation comprises irradiating the specimen with the electron beam with a landing energy set in a transition region between a secondary emission electron region in which secondary emission electrons are detected and a mirror electron region in which mirror electrons are detected, thereby causing the secondary emission electrons and the mirror electrons to be mixed as the electrons to be observed. The detection of the electrons to be observed comprises performing the detection in a state where the secondary emission electrons and the mirror electrons are mixed. Observation and inspection can be quickly carried out for a fine foreign material and pattern of 100 nm or less.

Method of determining a local electric field and/or a local magnetic field in a sample and/or the dielectric constant of a material and/or the angle between the input and output surfaces of the sample, comprising the following steps: illumination of the sample by an electron beam in precession mode using an illumination device, generation of a diffraction pattern, determination of the offset of the disk corresponding to the transmitted beam due to the electric field and/or the magnetic field, by comparison of the diffraction pattern and a reference diffraction pattern, determination of a deflection angle of the transmitted beam, determination of the value of the local electric field and/or the local magnetic field of the sample and/or determination of the dielectric constant of materials and/or determination of the angle between the input and output surfaces of the sample.