Method for sample orientation for tem lamella preparation

An apparatus, comprising:

• a tilt stage;
• a specimen mount coupled to the tilt stage and situated to secure a specimen;
• a charged particle beam (CPB) source situated to direct a charged particle beam to the specimen;
• a CPB detector situated to receive portions of the CPB backscattered from the specimen;
• and
• a controller coupled to at least one of the tilt stage or the CPB source so as to vary an angle of incidence of the CPB with respect to the specimen, and determine a tilt of the specimen based on the backscattered portions of the CPB associated with the angles of incidence.

One or more computer readable media having defined therein processor-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

• directing an electron beam to a substrate so as to be incident to the substrate at a plurality of plurality of angles of incidence and obtaining associated backscattered electron beam intensities;
• processing the backscattered electron beam intensities to produce an electron channeling pattern (ECP);
• and
• based on the ECP, aligning the substrate with respect to an ion beam axis.