The present disclosure discloses a sample fixation mechanism for a test with a nano-probe, an apparatus for a test with a nano-probe, and a sample test method. The sample fixation mechanism includes a base having a first assembly surface; a holder having a second assembly surface matched with the first assembly surface, wherein the holder further has a fixation surface opposite to the second assembly surface, and the fixation surface is configured to be adhered and fixed with the sample; a lock structure having a locked state and an unlocked state, wherein in the locked state, the lock structure is capable of fixing the holder relative to the base, and in the unlocked state, the holder may be removed from the base.

A transmission electron microscope sample holder capable of applying a magnetic field is provided. The transmission electron microscope sample holder includes a holder body and a holder head. The holder head is arranged at an end of the holder body and provided with a magnetic field generation device. The magnetic field generation device is provided with magnetic field generation end surface. The thickness of the magnetic field generation end surface is in a range of 100 nanometers to 280 micrometers. And the thickness is of a size that is parallel to a direction of an electron beam in a transmission electron microscope.

An IR radiator element (1) suitable for use as a miniature infrared emitter (micro-hotplate) in a gas sensor, IR-spectrometer or electron microscope. The micro-hotplate comprises a plate (2) supported by multiple support arms (4). The plate and arms are fabricated as a MEMS device comprising a single contiguous piece of electrically-conducting refractory ceramic such as hafnium carbide (HfC) or tantalum hafnium carbide (TaHfC). Each of the arms (4), in addition to providing structural cantilever support for the plate (2), acts as a heating element for the plate (2). The plate (2) is heated by applying a voltage across the arms (4). The arms (4) may also be shaped to absorb thermomechanical stress which arises during the heating and cooling of the arms and plate. The plate, which may have an area of less than 0.05 mm.sup.2 and a thickness of between 1% and 10% of the largest dimension of the plate (2), for example, can be heated to 4,000 K or more and cooled again with a duty cycle of as little 0.5 ms, thereby permitting pulsed operation at frequencies of up to 2 kHz. Its small size (10-200 μm) and low power consumption (e.g. 10-100 mW) make the micro-hotplate suitable for use in cryogenic applications, in miniaturized devices or in battery-powered devices such as mobile phones.

An electrical device for electrically measuring a sample during electron microscope imaging includes: a chip through which a slit is defined, the chip having at least one peripheral edge, the slit having an open end at the at least one peripheral edge; an electrically conductive first contact on the chip; and an electrically conductive second contact on the chip; wherein the slit is at least partially positioned between the first contacts and second contact. An electrically conductive first wire may extend along the chip electrically connected to the first contact; and an electrically conductive second wire may extend along the chip electrically connected to the second contact. The first wire and second wire may diverge from each other in extending along the chip away from the slit.

A structure for grounding an extreme ultraviolet mask (EUV mask) is provided to discharge the EUV mask during the inspection by an electron beam inspection tool. The structure for grounding an EUV mask includes at least one grounding pin to contact conductive areas on the EUV mask, wherein the EUV mask may have further conductive layer on sidewalls or/and back side. The inspection quality of the EU mask is enhanced by using the electron beam inspection system because the accumulated charging on the EUV mask is grounded. The reflective surface of the EUV mask on a continuously moving stage is scanned by using the electron beam simultaneously. The moving direction of the stage is perpendicular to the scanning direction of the electron beam.

A MEMS hotplate is used as a test substrate for characterizing a temperature-dependent fabrication process. According to a variant, an array of MEMS hotplates is used to provide multiple test substrates which can be simultaneously heated to different temperatures to provide multiple different temperature-dependent characterizations of the process.

A system for positioning a sample in a charged particle apparatus (CPA) or an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) system includes a sample carrier coupled to a stage inside the vacuum chamber of the CPA or XPS system. The system allows transferring of the sample carrier among multiple CPAs, XPS systems and glove boxes in inert gas or in vacuum. The sample carrier is releasably coupled with the stage in the vacuum chamber of the CPA or the XPS. Multiple electrodes in a sample area of the sample carrier are electrically connectable with the stage by multiple spring contacts between the sample carrier and the stage.

A dielectric microscopic observation is possible, which suppresses image flow regardless of scanning speed. There are provided a sample chamber 120 holding a sample 200 between a first insulating layer 121 on which a conductive layer 211 to be irradiated with a charged particle beam is laminated and a second insulating layer 122, an amplifier 141 that amplifies a potential change that occurs at an interface between the first insulating layer and the sample as the conductive layer is irradiated with the charged particle beam, and outputs the amplified result as a measurement signal, a main control unit 142 that converts the measurement signal from the amplifier into image data, and corrects the image data with a deconvolution filter 302 to generate corrected image data, a display unit 144 including an observation image display unit 501 and a filter adjustment unit 502 that displays setting information of the deconvolution filter, and an information processing device that displays the corrected image data on the observation image display unit, and when the setting information of the deconvolution filter displayed in the filter adjustment unit is changed, adjusts the deconvolution filter according to the changed setting information.

An analysis system, an analysis method and a sample holder make it possible to analyse a battery via a particle beam system, for example to record images of the battery via the particle beam system, while the battery is arranged in a vacuum chamber of the particle beam system and is manipulated according to a multiplicity of different parameter value sets in the vacuum chamber. By way of example, the battery is kept at a predefined temperature, a predefined pressure is exerted on the battery, and the battery is electrically charged and discharged according to a loading scheme and at the same time images of the battery are recorded via the particle beam system.

In some embodiments, a system for measuring magnetic fields produced within a microscope comprising an electromagnetic lens includes a sensor support element configured to be mounted to a distal end of an elongated support member that is configured to be inserted into the microscope, and a magnetic field sensor supported by the sensor support element, the magnetic field sensor being configured to sense magnetic fields at a position within the electron microscope at which specimens are imaged during operation of the microscope.