Charged particle beam device for inspecting or structuring a specimen

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the desired region (68) is the volume taken by the charged particle beam (7) and/or the region where the charged particle beam (7) impinges onto the specimen (3).

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the charged particle beam device (1) provides a vacuum (38) with a pressure lower than 1×10−3 mbar and preferably lower than 1×10−4 mbar.

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the inner cross section area, A, of each tube (14) varies along the tube length, L, by less than a factor of 4, preferably by less than 20% and even more preferred by less than 10% compared to the cross section area, A, at the outlet (32) of the tube (14).

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the inner cross section area, A, at the outlet (32) of each tube (14) of the plurality of tubes (15;

• 22) is smaller than 50,000 μm2, preferably smaller than 1000 μm2 and even more preferred smaller than 10 μm2.

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the inlets (34) of the tubes (14) are positioned within a dispensing pressure chamber (13) and preferably within a common dispensing pressure chamber (13).

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the at least ten tubes (14) are oriented essentially in parallel to each other.

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the tubes (14) of the plurality of tubes (15;

• 22) are arranged as a bundle of tubes.

The charged particle beam device according to any of the previous claims, whereby the inner cross section, A, of each tube (14) of the plurality of tubes (15;

• 22) is characterized by a characteristic diameter, D.

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby, during normal operation, the peaking-ratio of the gas (12) at the outlet of each tube (32) of the plurality of tubes (15;

• 22) is larger than two, preferably larger than five and even more preferred larger than 20.

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby, during normal operation, the pressure at the inlet (36) of each tube (14) is smaller than 10 mbar, preferably smaller than 1 mbar and even more preferred smaller than 0,1 mbar.

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the beam optical system (16) comprises a final focus lens (18) to focus the charged particle beam (7) onto the specimen (3).

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the beam optical system (16) comprises a reference electrode (56) to generate an electric field to accelerate the ionized gas (12) towards the specimen (3).

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the gas (12) is a neutral gas when passing through the tubes (14).

The charged particle beam device (1) according to any of the previous claims, whereby the at least ten tubes (14;

• 15;
• 22) are positioned in the vicinity of the specimen (3).