Charged particle device and charged particle apparatus

Abstract

A charged particle device for projecting a multi-beam of charged particles towards a sample. The device includes a plurality of sources configured to emit a respective source beam of charged particles along a respective path of a beam grid, including a plurality of charged particle beams, toward the sample. The device further includes one or more elements in which an array of apertures is defined. The one or more elements respectively including a plurality of beam areas assigned to an individual source beam. The one or more elements is configured to operate on the charged particle beams in the beam grids of the individual source beam. Each element is separated from an adjoining element by a spacer, the spacer having at least one aperture positioned to correspond to the position of at least two beam areas.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.