Charged particle microscope with special aperture plate

A method of using a Charged Particle Microscope, comprising the following steps:

• providing a specimen on a specimen holder;
• directing a beam of charged particles from a source through an illuminator so as to irradiate the specimen;
• using a detector to detect a flux of radiation emanating from the specimen in response to said irradiation,
• disposing an aperture plate comprising an aperture region in a path of the beam, to define a geometry of the beam prior to its impingement upon the specimen, said aperture region comprising a distribution of a plurality of holes, each of which is smaller than a diameter of the beam incident on the aperture plate.

A method for using an aperture plate in a charged particle microscope, comprising:

• providing a specimen on a specimen holder;
• directing a beam of charged particles from a source through an illuminator so as to irradiate the specimen;
• positioning an aperture plate in the path of the beam, said plate having a plurality of apertures, each of which is smaller than a diameter of the beam incident on the aperture plate;
• detecting radiation resulting from the interaction of the charged particle beam and the specimen;
• forming an image of the specimen using information from the detected radiation, said image having convoluted specimen-related information and particle optics-related information;
• and
• mathematically deconvoluting the specimen-related information and particle optics-related information.