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

Disclosed herein are CPM support systems, as well as related apparatuses, methods, computing devices, and computer-readable media. For example, in some embodiments, a charged particle microscope computational support apparatus may include: first logic to, for each angle of a plurality of angles, receive an associated image of a specimen at the angle, and generate an associated scan mask based on one or more regions-of-interest in the associated image; second logic to, for each angle of the plurality of angles, generate an associated data set of the specimen by processing data from a scan, in accordance with the associated scan mask, by a charged particle microscope of the specimen at the angle; and third logic to provide, for each angle of the plurality of angles, the associated data set of the specimen to reconstruction logic to generate a three-dimensional reconstruction of the specimen.

Methods include holding a sample with a movement stage configured to rotate the sample about a rotation axis, directing an imaging beam to a first sample location with the sample at a first rotational position about the rotation axis and detecting a first transmitted imaging beam image, rotating the sample using the movement stage about the rotation axis to a second rotational position, and directing the imaging beam to a second sample location by deflecting the imaging beam in relation to an optical axis of the imaging beam and detecting a second transmitted imaging beam image, wherein the second sample location is spaced apart from the first sample location at least at least in relation to the optical axis. Related systems and apparatus are also disclosed.

A method for in-situ joint nanoscale three-dimensional imaging and chemical analysis of a sample. A single charged particle beam device is used for generating a sequence of two-dimensional nanoscale images of the sample, and for sputtering secondary ions from the sample, which are analysed using a secondary ion mass spectrometry device. The two-dimensional images are combined into a three-dimensional volume representation of the sample, the data of which is combined with the results of the chemical analysis.

Provided is a charged particle beam system capable of preventing the data acquisition time from increasing. A control method for the system is also provided. The charged particle beam system includes: a beam blanker for blanking a charged particle beam; a sample stage on which a sample is tiltably held and thus can assume a tilt angle; a blanking controller for controlling the blanking of the charged particle beam and causing a pulsed beam having a duty ratio to be directed at the sample; and a tilt controller for controlling the tilt angle of the sample. The blanking controller sets the duty ratio of the pulsed beam based on the tilt angle of the sample.

A method for in-situ joint nanoscale three-dimensional imaging and chemical analysis of a sample. A single charged particle beam device is used for generating a sequence of two-dimensional nanoscale images of the sample, and for sputtering secondary ions from the sample. which are analysed using a secondary ion mass spectrometry device. The two-dimensional images are combined into a three-dimensional volume representation of the sample, the data of which is combined with the results of the chemical analysis.

A method, a non-transitory computer readable medium and a three-dimensional evaluation system for providing three dimensional information regarding structural elements of a specimen. The method can include illuminating the structural elements with electron beams of different incidence angles, where the electron beams pass through the structural elements and the structural elements are of nanometric dimensions; detecting forward scattered electrons that are scattered from the structural elements to provide detected forward scattered electrons; and generating the three dimensional information regarding structural elements based at least on the detected forward scattered electrons.

A method generates a crystalline orientation map of a surface portion of a sample. A crystalline orientation map represents crystalline orientations at a plurality of sample locations of the surface portion. The method comprises recording an image of the surface portion including a central location using particles of a charged particle beam directed to the surface portion and backscattering from the surface portion for each of a plurality of different orientation settings. Each of the orientation settings is defined by an azimuthal angle and an elevation angle under which the charged particle beam is incident onto the central location during the recording of the respective image. The method also includes generating the crystalline orientation map based on the recorded images.

Provided is a method of computing precise disparity using a stereo matching method based on developed census transform with an adaptive support weight method in area based stereo matching. The method includes a step of setting an adaptive support weight window centered on a specific point of a left image and setting adaptive support weight windows with the same size with respect to one point positioned within a maximum disparity prediction value about a specific point of the left image in a right image.

A three-dimensional image reconstruction method associated with the present invention comprises the steps of: obtaining a first transmission electron microscope image of a sample containing the membrane proteins present within a lipid membrane, the image having been taken by illuminating an electron beam on the sample from a direction tilted relative to a line normal to the membrane surface of the lipid membrane (step S10); obtaining a second transmission electron microscope image of the sample taken by illuminating the electron beam on the sample perpendicularly to the membrane surface of the lipid membrane (step S12); identifying orientations of the membrane proteins of the first transmission electron microscope image on a basis of the second transmission electron microscope image (step S14); and analyzing a three-dimensional structure of the membrane proteins from the first transmission electron microscope image on a basis of information about the identified orientations of the membrane proteins (step S18).