A method and apparatus for inspecting a sample is provided. The apparatus includes a sample holder for holding the sample at a sample plane, a charged particle column for generating an array of multiple charged particle beamlets and directing the array towards the sample holder, a position sensor, and a control unit. The charged particle column includes an objective lens for focusing the charged particle beamlets of the array in an array of charged particle beam spots at or near the sample plane. The objective lens includes a magnetic lens common for all charged particle beamlets. The position sensor provides a signal which is dependent on the position of the sample. The control unit controls the position of the sample holder on the basis of the signal from the position sensor, to keep the pitch and/or orientation of the spots on the sample constant.

Devices and methods are described for performing high angle tilting tomography on samples in a liquid medium using transmission electron beam instruments.

There is provided a system and method of measuring a lateral recess in a semiconductor specimen, comprising: obtaining a first image acquired by collecting SEs emitted from the surface of the specimen, and a second image acquired by collecting BSEs scattered from an interior region of the specimen between the surface and a target second layer, the specimen scanned using an electron beam with a landing energy selected to penetrate to a depth corresponding to the target second layer; generating a first GL waveform based on the first image, and a second GL waveform based on the second image; estimating a first width of the first layers based on the first GL waveform, and a second width with respect to at least the target second layer based on the second GL; and measuring a lateral recess based on the first width and the second width.

A rock modeling method is disclosed. An effective rock property of a rock sample is determined based on a digital rock. Instead of upscaling rock properties, the digital rock is constructed by upscaling relationships and rock physics models of segmented rock materials. Relationships between different scalar, elastic, and petrophysical properties of different segmented rock materials are established at the high-resolution scale where the pore structure is resolved. These relationships are then applied to the same rock material at the macro-scale. Finally, the effective rock properties are computed using Darcy-like solver to get the final values at a representative rock volume. Embodiments allow for performing non-destructive fluid/solid substitution and other reproducible digital experiments to study control factors that affect these relationships within rocks. Accordingly, for unconventional reservoirs, organic matter porosity can be filled with organic matter (kerogen) to build a rock physics model based on kerogen maturity and pore size.

An electron beam detection apparatus for a semiconductor device and an electron beam detection assembly are disclosed, the electron beam detection apparatus including a stage, which is configured to carry and hold the semiconductor device at a top surface of the stage, and is translatable in two directions orthogonal to each other, an aiming device, configured to determine a position of the semiconductor device in a coordinate system of the electron beam detection apparatus by capturing an image of the semiconductor device, the aiming device provided with a first field of view and a first optical axis, and an electron beam detection device, configured to detect an emergent electron beam exiting the semiconductor device by projecting an electron beam to the semiconductor device, the electron beam detection device provided with a second field of view and a second optical axis which is not consistent with the first optical axis.

Method and system are disclosed for determining sample composition from spectral data acquired by a charged particle microscopy system. Chemical elements in a sample are identified by processing the spectral data with a trained neural network (NN). If the identified chemical elements not matching with a known elemental composition of the sample, the trained NN is retrained with the spectral data and the known elemental composition of the sample. The retrained NN can then be used to identify chemical elements within other samples.

In a shape measuring method a scattering intensity profile for a first electromagnetic wave is acquired for a substrate having a pattern thereon. A first expected scattering intensity profile for a first virtual structure corresponding to a first parameter group of first parameters including an attention parameter is acquired by a first simulation. A first convergence value is calculated for each of the first parameters in a first fitting process based on the scattering intensity profile and the first expected scattering intensity profile. A second expected scattering intensity profile is then acquired for a second virtual structure corresponding to a second parameter group of second parameters, which includes the attention parameter fixed to the first convergence value. A second convergence value for each of the second parameters is then calculated in a second fitting process based on the scattering intensity profile and the second expected scattering intensity profile.

An observation apparatus and method that avoids drawbacks of a Lorentz method and observes a weak scatterer or a phase object with in-focus, high resolution, and no azimuth dependency, by a Foucault method observation using a hollow-cone illumination that orbits and illuminates an incident electron beam having a predetermined inclination angle, an electron wave is converged at a position (height) of an aperture plate downstream of a sample, and a bright field condition in which a direct transmitted electron wave of the sample passes through the aperture plate, a dark field condition in which the transmitted electron wave is shielded, and a Schlieren condition in which approximately half of the transmitted wave is shielded as a boundary condition of both of the above conditions are controlled, and a spatial resolution of the observation image is controlled by selecting multiple diameters and shapes of the opening of the aperture plate.

A charged particle beam apparatus using a light guide that improves light utilization efficiency includes a detector including a scintillator for emitting light when a charged particle is incident, a light receiving element, and a light guide for guiding the light from the scintillator to the light receiving element. The light guide includes: an incident surface that faces a light emitting surface of the scintillator and to which the light emitted by the scintillator is incident; an emitting surface that is configured to emit light; and a reflecting surface that is inclined with respect to the incident surface so that the light from the incident surface is reflected toward the emitting surface. The emitting surface is smaller than the incident surface. A slope surface is provided between the incident surface and the emitting surface, faces the reflecting surface, and is inclined with respect to the incident surface.

Method and system are disclosed for determining sample composition from spectral data acquired by a charged particle microscopy system. Chemical elements in a sample are identified by processing the spectral data with a trained neural network (NN). If the identified chemical elements not matching with a known elemental composition of the sample, the trained NN is retrained with the spectral data and the known elemental composition of the sample. The retrained NN can then be used to identify chemical elements within other samples.