Prior to execution of primary correction, a first centering process, an in-advance correction of a particular aberration, and a second centering process are executed stepwise. In the first centering process and the second centering process, a ronchigram center is identified based on a ronchigram variation image, and is matched with an imaging center. In the in-advance correction and the post correction of the particular aberration, a particular aberration value is estimated based on a ronchigram, and the particular aberration is corrected based on the particular aberration value.

A pattern according to an embodiment includes first and second line patterns, each of the first and second line patterns extends in a direction intersecting a <111> direction and has a side surface, the side surface has at least one {111} crystal plane, the side surface of the first line pattern has a first roughness, and the side surface of the second line pattern has a second roughness larger than the first roughness.

The present disclosure relates to the determination of a pattern height of a pattern, which has been produced with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in a resist film. The determination is performed by using an electron beam (e-beam) system, in particular, by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In this respect, the disclosure provides a device for determining the pattern height, wherein the device comprising a processor. The processor is configured to obtain a SEM image of the pattern from an SEM. Further, the processor is configured to determine a contrast value related to the pattern based on the obtained SEM image. Subsequently, the processor is configured to determine the pattern height based on calibration data and the determined contrast value.

A reference-standard device (20) for calibration of measurements of length, comprising a substrate (10) that includes a surface (10a) having at least one calibration pattern (11). According to the invention, this pattern comprises a plurality of nanometric structures (14), said nanometric structures (14) having one and the same section in the plane of said surface and having the same nanometric dimensions, in particular less than 50 nm, said nanometric structures (14) being arranged at a distance from one another by a constant pitch of nanometric length, in particular less than 50 nm, in at least one direction, said nanometric structures (14) being arranged within spatial regions (12) delimited in one or more directions in the plane of the substrate (10), said nanometric structures (14) being obtained via application to said substrate (10) of a process of nanostructuring (100) by means of a mask of block copolymers in order to make calibrations of measurements of length of the order of nanometres.

A detection and correction method for an electron beam system are provided. The method includes emitting an electron beam towards a specimen; modulating a beam current of the electron beam to obtain a beam signal. The method further includes detecting, using an electron detector, secondary and/or backscattered electrons emitted by the specimen to obtain electron data, wherein the electron data defines a detection signal. The method further includes determining, using a processor, a phase shift between the beam signal and the detection signal. The method further includes filtering, using the processor, the detection signal based on the phase shift.

A charged particle beam apparatus with a charged particle source to generate a primary charged particle beam, a sample holder to hold a sample for impingement of the primary charged particle beam on the sample, a pulsed laser configured to generate a pulsed light beam for impingement onto an area on the sample, and an electrode to collect electrons emitted from the sample in a non-linear photoemission.

Embodiments may include methods, systems, and apparatuses for correcting a response function of an electron beam tool. The correcting may include modulating an electron beam parameter having a frequency; emitting an electron beam based on the electron beam parameter towards a specimen, thereby scattering electrons, wherein the electron beam is described by a source wave function having a source phase and a landing angle; detecting a portion of the scattered electrons at an electron detector, thereby yielding electron data including an electron wave function having an electron phase and an electron landing angle; determining, using a processor, a phase delay between the source phase and the electron phase, thereby yielding a latency; and correcting, using the processor, the response function of the electron beam tool using the latency and a difference between the source wave function and the electron wave function.

An improved charged particle beam inspection apparatus, and more particularly, a particle beam inspection apparatus including an improved alignment mechanism is disclosed. An improved charged particle beam inspection apparatus may include a second electron detection device to generate one or more images of one or more beam spots of the plurality of secondary electron beams during the alignment mode. The beam spot image may be used to determine the alignment characteristics of one or more of the plurality of secondary electron beams and adjust a configuration of a secondary electron projection system.

A charged particle beam scanning module, a charged particle beam device, and a computer that can correct an INL error in a DAC circuit in real time. The charged particle beam scanning module includes a scanning controller configured to output a scanning digital signal of a charged particle beam, a DAC circuit configured to convert the scanning digital signal into a scanning analog signal and output the scanning analog signal, and an ADC circuit configured to convert the scanning analog signal into an evaluation digital signal. A sampling frequency at which the DAC circuit samples the scanning digital signal is a first frequency, and a sampling frequency at which the ADC circuit samples the scanning analog signal is a second frequency smaller than the first frequency. The scanning controller determines an output characteristic of the DAC circuit by evaluating the scanning digital signal and the evaluation digital signal.

Provided is a method for adjusting a field-of-view of a charged particle microscope device, in which reference data for a sample is set, a plurality of regions of interest are set for the reference data, a rough sampling coordinate group is set for each of the plurality of regions of interest, the sample is irradiated with charged particles based on the sampling coordinate group to obtain a corresponding pixel value group, a plurality of reconstructed images corresponding to the plurality of regions of interest are generated based on the pixel value group, a correspondence relationship among the plurality of regions of interest is estimated based on the plurality of reconstructed images, and the plurality of regions of interest are adjusted based on the correspondence relationship. Here, the sampling coordinate group is set based on the reference data.