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US 12,362,135 B2Granted
Method and system for automatic zone axis alignment
AssigneeFEI Company
InventorsJohn J. Flanagan, Nathaniel Kurtz, Ashley Tilson, Phillip Parker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Automatic alignment of the zone axis of a sample and a charged particle beam is achieved based on a diffraction pattern of the sample. An area corresponding to the Laue circle is segmented using a trained network. The sample is aligned with the charged particle beam by tilting the sample with a zone axis tilt determined based on the segmented area.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- directing a charged particle beam towards a sample;
- acquiring a diffraction pattern of the sample;
- using a trained network, segmenting the diffraction pattern and generating a segmented area of the diffraction pattern corresponding to a Laue circle;
- and
- determining a zone axis tilt based on the segmented area.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- directing a convergent charged particle beam towards a sample;
- acquiring a diffraction pattern of the sample;
- using a trained network, segmenting the diffraction pattern and generating a first segmented area in the diffraction pattern corresponding to a Laue circle and a second segmented area in the diffraction pattern corresponding to a direct beam;
- and
- determining a zone axis tilt based on the first segmented area and the second segmented area.
2 more elements
A system for imaging a sample, comprising:
- a source for generating a charged particle beam;
- a sample holder for tilting the sample;
- a detector;
- and
- a controller with instructions stored in a non-transitory memory, the controller is configured to:
- direct the charged particle beam towards the sample;
- acquire a diffraction pattern of the sample;
- using a trained network, segment the diffraction pattern and generate a segmented area of the diffraction pattern corresponding to a Laue circle;
- and
- determine a zone axis tilt based on the segmented area.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.