A thin film liquid cell suitable for transmission electron microscopy at room temperature is fabricated as follows. A thin film floating on a liquid is prepared. A droplet of the liquid with the thin film floating thereon is transferred to a support by means of a loop. The loop carries the droplet and the droplet carries the thin film during this transfer. Sufficient liquid from the droplet on the support is removed to form the thin film liquid cell.

A thin film liquid cell suitable for transmission electron microscopy at room temperature is fabricated as follows. A thin film floating on a liquid is prepared. A droplet of the liquid with the thin film floating thereon is transferred to a support by means of a loop. The loop carries the droplet and the droplet carries the thin film during this transfer. Sufficient liquid from the droplet on the support is removed to form the thin film liquid cell.

Provided is a portable XRF data screening method for heavy metal contaminated soil, relating to the technical field of heavy metal contamination test. The method includes the following steps: (1) laboratory test; (2) XRF test; and (3) calculation of a recheck interval: dividing test data into four areas by a contaminant screening value X.sub.c as a horizontal line and a correlation-derived site screening value as a vertical line to calculate the recheck interval. The method is simple and efficient, and is beneficial to saving investigation costs and shortening a project cycle.

Provided is a portable XRF data screening method for heavy metal contaminated soil, relating to the technical field of heavy metal contamination test. The method includes the following steps: (1) laboratory test; (2) XRF test; and (3) calculation of a recheck interval: dividing test data into four areas by a contaminant screening value X.sub.c as a horizontal line and a correlation-derived site screening value as a vertical line to calculate the recheck interval. The method is simple and efficient, and is beneficial to saving investigation costs and shortening a project cycle.

Imaging technology using high energy charged particles can be used to image an object of inspection such as a blast furnace. An example method of imaging a blast furnace includes performing a first moving operation by moving a first particle tracking detector and a second particle tracking detector up or down movement along a height of the blast furnace; performing a second moving operation by moving the first particle tracking detector and the second particle tracking detector clockwise or counterclockwise movement around the blast furnace; and receiving, by the first particle tracking detector, incoming charged particles; receiving, by the second particle tracking detector, outgoing charged particles transiting through the blast furnace; and producing an image of a volume of interest located in between the first particle tracking detector and the second particle tracking detector by processing electrical signals corresponding to the received incoming and outgoing charged particles.

Imaging technology using high energy charged particles can be used to image an object of inspection such as a blast furnace. An example method of imaging a blast furnace includes performing a first moving operation by moving a first particle tracking detector and a second particle tracking detector up or down movement along a height of the blast furnace; performing a second moving operation by moving the first particle tracking detector and the second particle tracking detector clockwise or counterclockwise movement around the blast furnace; and receiving, by the first particle tracking detector, incoming charged particles; receiving, by the second particle tracking detector, outgoing charged particles transiting through the blast furnace; and producing an image of a volume of interest located in between the first particle tracking detector and the second particle tracking detector by processing electrical signals corresponding to the received incoming and outgoing charged particles.

Systems and methods of providing a probe spot in multiple modes of operation of a charged-particle beam apparatus are disclosed. The method may comprise activating a charged-particle source to generate a primary charged-particle beam and selecting between a first mode and a second mode of operation of the charged-particle beam apparatus. In the flooding mode, the condenser lens may focus at least a first portion of the primary charged-particle beam passing through an aperture of the aperture plate to form a second portion of the primary charged-particle beam, and substantially all of the second portion is used to flood a surface of a sample. In the inspection mode, the condenser lens may focus a first portion of the primary charged-particle beam such that the aperture of the aperture plate blocks off peripheral charged-particles to form the second portion of the primary charged-particle beam used to inspect the sample surface.

A method of performing x-ray spectroscopy material analysis of a region of interest within a cross-section of a sample using an evaluation system that includes a focused ion beam (FIB) column, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) column, and an x-ray detector, including: forming a lamella having first and second opposing side surfaces in the sample by milling, with the FIB column, first and second trenches in the sample to expose the first and second sides surface of the lamella, respectively; depositing background material in the second trench, wherein the background material is selected such that the background material does not include any chemical elements that are expected to be within the region of interest of the sample; generating a charged particle beam with the SEM column and scanning the charged particle beam across a region of interest on the first side surface of the lamella such that the charged particle beam collides with the first side surface of the lamella at a non-vertical angle; and detecting x-rays generated while the region of interest is scanned by the charged particle beam.

A method of performing x-ray spectroscopy material analysis of a region of interest within a cross-section of a sample using an evaluation system that includes a focused ion beam (FIB) column, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) column, and an x-ray detector, including: forming a lamella having first and second opposing side surfaces in the sample by milling, with the FIB column, first and second trenches in the sample to expose the first and second sides surface of the lamella, respectively; depositing background material in the second trench, wherein the background material is selected such that the background material does not include any chemical elements that are expected to be within the region of interest of the sample; generating a charged particle beam with the SEM column and scanning the charged particle beam across a region of interest on the first side surface of the lamella such that the charged particle beam collides with the first side surface of the lamella at a non-vertical angle; and detecting x-rays generated while the region of interest is scanned by the charged particle beam.

The invention relates to a method for processing an object using a material processing device that has a particle beam apparatus. The method comprises the following steps: determining a region of interest of the object on or in a first material region of the object, ablating material from a second material region adjoining the first material region by means of an ablation device, recognizing a geometric shape of the first material region, the geometric shape having a center, ablating material from a second portion of the first material region adjoining a first portion by means of a particle beam, the first portion having a first subregion and a second subregion, the region of interest being arranged in the first subregion, recognizing a further geometric shape of the first material region, the further geometric shape having a further center at a second position, relative positioning of the object such that the first position corresponds to the second position, and ablating material from the second subregion by means of the particle beam.