Shield arrangement for electron-optical module

Abstract

A charged particle-optical module for a charged particle-optical device configured to direct a charged particle beam along a beam path towards a sample location, the charged particle-optical module comprising: a stack comprising charged particle-optical plates arranged across the beam path and configured to operate on the charged particle beam; and a shield arrangement comprising an upbeam electrostatic shield arranged across the beam path upbeam of the charged particle-optical plates; and a downbeam electrostatic shield arranged across the beam path downbeam of the charged particle-optical plates, wherein the shield arrangement is configured to deter electrical breakdown between the charged particle-optical module and a component external to the charged particle-optical module and/or to confine an electrostatic field within the charged particle-optical module, the electrostatic field for example generated in operation of the charged particle-optical plates on the charged particle beam along the beam path.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.