Abstract:
A method of performing spectroscopy in a Transmission Charged-Particle Microscope comprising: - A specimen holder, for holding a specimen; - A source, for producing a beam of charged particles; - An illuminator, for directing said beam so as to irradiate the specimen; - An imaging system, for directing a flux of charged particles transmitted through the specimen onto a spectroscopic apparatus comprising a dispersing device for dispersing said flux into an energy-resolved array of spectral sub-beams, which method comprises the following steps: - Using an adjustable aperture device to admit a first portion of said array to a detector, while blocking a second portion of said array; - Providing a radiation sensor in said flux upstream of said aperture device; - Using said sensor to perform localized radiation sensing in a selected region of said second portion of the array, simultaneous with detection of said first portion by said detector; - Using a sensing result from said sensor to adjust a detection result from said detector.
Abstract:
A scanning charged particle beam device (1) configured to image a specimen (8) is described. The scanning charged particle beam device includes a source (2) of charged particles, a condenser lens (220, 950) for influencing the charged particles, an aperture plate (5) having at least two aperture openings (5A-5E) to generate at least two primary beamlets (4A, 4E) of charged particles, at least two deflectors (6A-6E) configured to individually deflect the at least two primary beamlets of charged particles so that each primary beamlet appears to come from a different source (2A-2C) , wherein the at least two deflectors are multi-pole deflectors (26a-26E) with an order of poles of 8 or higher, a multi-pole deflector (438) with an order of poles of 8 or higher, an objective lens (10) configured to focus the at least two primary beamlets onto the specimen, wherein the objective lens is a retarding field compound lens, a beam separator (13, 413, 414, 215) configured to separate the at least two primary beamlets from at least two signal beamlets, a beam bender (423, 479) , or a deflector or a mirror configured to deflect the at least two signal beamlets, wherein the beam bender is selected from the group consisting of: a hemispherical beam bender and a beam bender having at least two curved electrodes, and at least two detector elements (9A-9E) configured to individually measure the at least two signal beamlets.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method for determining at least one parameter related to charged particles emitted from a particle emitting sample (11), e.g. a parameter related to the energies, the start directions, the start positions or the spin of the particles. The method comprises the steps of guiding a beam of charged particles into an entrance of a measurement region by means of a lens system (13), and detecting positions of the particles indicative of said at least one parameter within the measurement region. Furthermore, the method comprises the steps of deflecting the particle beam at least twice in the same coordinate direction before entrance of the particle beam into the measurement region. Thereby, both the position and the direction of the particle beam at the entrance (8) of the measurement region (3) can be controlled in a way that to some extent eliminates the need for physical manipulation of the sample (11). This in turn allows the sample to be efficiently cooled such that the energy resolution in energy measurements can be improved.
Abstract:
A multi-element electrostatic chicane energy filter (300) , with the addition of electrostatic quadrupole and hexapole excitations to the dipole elements (302, 304, 306, 308). A charged particle energy filter according to the present invention with a combination of dipole, quadrupole, and hexapole elements capable of producing a line focus at an aperture (310) reduces space-charge effects and aperture damage. A preferred embodiment allows the filter to act as a conjugate blanking system. The energy filter is capable of narrowing the energy spread to result in a smaller beam.
Abstract:
The invention relates to an apparatus (20) for structuring solid surfaces (18) using ion beams (141) from an ion beam spectrum (14), wherein the ion beam spectrum (14) has ions having different charge states and different masses. The apparatus (20) comprises an assembly (21) for generating the ion beam spectrum (14) with a cathode (1), a plurality of drift tube sections (21, 22, 23) and a collector (4) and also an arrangement (5) of ion extraction and focusing lenses on a common beam axis (15), which is surrounded by a permanent magnet system (3). Moreover, the apparatus (20) has, in addition to a collimator diaphragm (6) and a mass separating diaphragm (8), a Wien filter (7), a deflector (9, 10) and an objective (11), wherein the Wien filter (7) is formed from an electrode arrangement (70) having two segments (71, 72) and a two-pole magnet arrangement (30, 31). In the Wien filter (7), a first magnet (30) is fixedly arranged with a pole shoe (37) directed towards the beam axis (15) and embodied in convergent fashion within an iron yoke (35). A second magnet (31) lying opposite the first magnet (30) is mounted on the edge side with a first pole shoe part (34) embodied in movable fashion on the iron yoke (35) and is provided with a fixedly arranged second pole shoe part (36) directed towards the beam axis (15) and embodied in convergent fashion.
Abstract:
Image blurring of a mass spectrum image obtained by the signal intensity for each mass/charge ratio from the obtained two-dimensional mass spectrum is reduced by image restoration using a blurring function. The blurring function expresses a two dimensional distribution of transferred energy related to the distance from a point of primary ion incidence limited by a region exceeding desorption energy of a molecule.