A multi-beam pattern definition device for use in a particle-beam processing or inspection apparatus, which is irradiated with a beam of electrically charged particles and allows passage of the beam through a plurality of apertures to form corresponding beamlets, comprises an aperture array device in which said apertures are realized according to several sets of apertures arranged in respective aperture arrangements, and an absorber array device having a plurality of openings configured for the passage of at least a subset of beamlets that are formed by the apertures. The absorber array device comprises a plurality of openings corresponding to one of the aperture arrangements of the aperture array device, whereas it includes a charged-particle absorbing structure comprising absorbing regions surrounded by elevated regions and configured to absorb charged particles impinging thereupon at locations corresponding to apertures of the other aperture arrangements of the aperture array device, effectively confining the effects of irradiated particles and electric charge therein.

An ion implanter includes: a plurality of devices which are disposed along a beamline along which an ion beam is transported; a plurality of neutron ray measuring instruments which are disposed at a plurality of positions in the vicinity of the beamline and measure neutron rays which are generated at a plurality of locations of the beamline due to collision of a high-energy ion beam; and a control device which monitors at least one of the plurality of devices, based on a measurement value in at least one of the plurality of neutron ray measuring instruments.

A particle beam system includes: a multi-beam particle source configured to generate a multiplicity of particle beams; an imaging optical unit configured to image an object plane in particle-optical fashion into an image plane and direct the multiplicity of particle beams on the image plane; and a field generating arrangement configured to generate electric and/or magnetic deflection fields of adjustable strength in regions close to the object plane. The particle beams are deflected in operation by the deflection fields through deflection angles that depend on the strength of the deflection fields.

An improved source conversion unit of a charged particle beam apparatus is disclosed. The source conversion unit comprises a first micro-structure array including a plurality of micro-structures. The plurality of micro-structures is grouped into one or more groups. Corresponding electrodes of micro-structures in one group are electrically connected and driven by a driver to influence a corresponding group of beamlets. The micro-structures in one group may be single-pole structures or multi-pole structures. The micro-structures in one group have same or substantially same radial shifts from an optical axis of the apparatus. The micro-structures in one group have same or substantially same orientation angles with respect to their radial shift directions.

A method and an apparatus for generating a particle wave carrying an electric charge is provided. The method comprises: on the basis of waveform information pre-stored in a waveform storage module, generating a corresponding digital waveform signal; the waveform information comprising amplitude and phase; on the basis of a digital-to-analog conversion module connected to the waveform storage module, converting the digital waveform signal having a pre-set phase into an analog waveform signal; on the basis of a power amplification module connected to the digital-to-analog conversion module, performing power amplification on the analog waveform signal; on the basis of a high-voltage generator connected to the power amplification module, performing high-voltage amplification on the power signal of the analog waveform signal; and by means of a quasi-continuous emission electrode connected to the high-voltage generator, emitting a charged particle wave on the basis of the analog waveform voltage signal.

Certain improvements of multi-beam raster units such as multi-beam generating units and multi-beam deflector units of a multi-beam charged particle microscopes are provided. The improvements include design, fabrication and adjustment of multi-beam raster units including apertures of specific shape and dimensions. The improvements can enable multi-beam generation and multi-beam deflection or stigmation with higher precision. The improvements can be relevant for routine applications of multi-beam charged particle microscopes, for example in semiconductor inspection and review, where high reliability and high reproducibility and low machine-to-machine deviations are desirable.

A blanking aperture array unit according to the present embodiment includes a chip configured to control a charged particle beam by blanking control of switching whether to irradiate a target with the charged particle beam; a substrate having the chip mounted thereon; a wire configured to electrically connect pads on the chip to the substrate and transmit a control signal for the blanking control from the substrate to the chip through the pads; and a conductive covering member having a first end connected to the substrate and a second end located on the chip, the covering member being provided from the first end to the second end to cover the wire while maintaining electrical insulation from the wire, and at least two end sides of the second end of the covering member are nearer a central portion of the chip than locations of the pads on the chip.

In one embodiment, a multi charged particle beam writing method includes forming a multi charged particle beam with which a substrate serving as a writing target is irradiated, deflecting the multi charged particle beam to a position with a predetermined deflection offset added so that deflection voltages respectively applied to a plurality of electrodes of an electrostatic positioning deflector does not include a state where all the deflection voltages are zero, and irradiating the substrate with the multi charged particle beam. A positive common voltage is added to the deflection voltages which are applied to the respective electrodes of the electrostatic positioning deflector.

A difference between a calculated amount of drift and an actual amount of drift is reduced. According to one aspect of the present invention, a charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a deflector adjusting an irradiation position of the charged particle beam with respect to a substrate placed on a stage, a shot data generator generating shot data from writing data, the shot data including a shot position and beam ON and OFF times for each shot, a drift corrector referring to a plurality of pieces of the generated shot data, calculating an amount of drift of the irradiation position of the charged particle beam with which the substrate is irradiated, and generating correction information for correcting an irradiation position deviation based on the amount of drift, a deflection controller controlling a deflection amount achieved by the deflector based on the shot data and the correction information, and a dummy irradiation instructor instructing execution of dummy irradiation in a writing process to irradiate with the charged particle beam in a predetermined irradiation amount at a position different from the substrate on the stage.

The invention relates to a particle beam device (100) for imaging, analyzing and/or processing an object (114). The particle beam device (100) comprises a first particle beam generator (300) for generating a first particle beam, wherein the first particle beam generator (300) has a first generator beam axis (301), wherein an optical axis (OA) of the particle beam device (100) and the first generator beam axis (301) are identical; a second particle beam generator (400) for generating a second particle beam, wherein the second particle beam generator (400) has a second generator beam axis (401), wherein the optical axis (OA) and the second generator beam axis (401) are arranged at an angle being different from 0° and 180°; a deflection unit (500) for deflecting the second particle beam from the second generator beam axis (401) to the optical axis (OA) and along the optical axis (OA), wherein the deflection unit (500) has a first opening (501) and a second opening (502) being different from the first opening (501), wherein the optical axis (OA) runs through the first opening (501), wherein the second generator beam axis (401) runs through the second opening (502); an objective lens (107) for focusing the first particle beam or the second particle beam onto the object (114), wherein the optical axis (OA) runs through the objective lens (107); and at least one detector (116, 121, 122) for detecting interaction particles and/or interaction radiation.