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US 12,542,252 B1Granted
Method of operating a particle beam system, particle beam system, non-transitory storage medium and program
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
InventorsBjörn Gamm, Rainer Arnold
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of operating a particle beam system comprises positioning a sample at a given distance away from a lens focusing a particle beam; performing a measurement for each selected energization of a plurality of measurement energizations, wherein each measurement comprises recording a value derived from a reading of an electron detector, while the lens is energized with a selected measurement energization; and analyzing a dependency of the recorded values from the plurality of measurement energizations. Herein analyzing is based on a dependency of the number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time from the distance of the sample from the lens and from the energization of the lens.
Claims14
A particle beam system, comprising:
- a particle beam source configured to generate a particle beam;
- a lens configured to focus the particle beam in a focal plane, the lens comprising a front electrode closest to the focal plane, the front electrode having an aperture configured to be traversed by the particle beam, a distance between the front electrode and the focal plane being a working distance, an energization of the lens being adjustable to adjust the working distance;
- a sample holder configured to hold a sample a distance from the lens;
- an electron detector arranged, when seen along a beam path of the particle beam, between the particle beam source and the front electrode such that electrons originating from the sample and having traversed the aperture of the front electrode are incident on the electron detector, the electron detector being configured to generate readings representing a number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time, the number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time depending on the distance of the sample from the lens and the energization of the lens while the sample is irradiated by a same current of the particle beam;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- position the sample on the sample holder such that the sample is arranged the distance away from the lens;
- perform a measurement for each selected measurement energization of a plurality of measurement energizations, wherein each measurement comprises recording a value derived from a reading of the electron detector while the lens is energized with the selected measurement energization;
- and
- analyze a dependency of the recorded values from the plurality of measurement energizations based on the dependency of the number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time from the distance of the sample from the lens and from the energization of the lens.
7 more elements
A particle beam system, comprising:
- a particle beam source configured to generate a particle beam;
- a lens configured to focus the particle beam in a focal plane, the lens comprising a front electrode closest to the focal plane, the front electrode having an aperture configured to be traversed by the particle beam, a distance between the front electrode and the focal plane being a working distance, an energization of the lens being adjustable to adjust the working distance;
- a sample holder configured to hold a sample a distance from the lens;
- an electron detector arranged, when seen along a beam path of the particle beam, between the particle beam source and the front electrode such that electrons originating from the sample and having traversed the aperture of the front electrode are incident on the electron detector, the electron detector being configured to generate readings representing a number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time, the number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time depending on the distance of the sample from the lens and the energization of the lens while the sample is irradiated by a same current of the particle beam;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- energize the lens with an energization to focus the particle beam in a plane at a working distance from the lens;
- perform a measurement for each selected position of a plurality of measurement positions of the sample, wherein each measurement comprises recording a value derived from a reading of the electron detector while the sample is located at the selected position;
- and
- analyze a dependency of the recorded values from the plurality of measurement positions of the sample based on the dependency of the recorded values is based on the dependency of the number of electrons incident on the electron detector per unit time from the distance of the sample from the lens and from the energization of the lens.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.