Method of examining a sample in a charged-particle microscope

A charged-particle microscope of a scanning transmission type, comprising:

• a sample holder, for holding a sample;
• a source, for producing a beam of charged particles;
• an illuminator, for directing said beam so as to irradiate said sample;
• a detector, for detecting a flux of charged particles traversing the sample in response to said irradiation;
• scanning means, for causing said beam to make a scanning motion relative to a surface of the sample;
• a controller, for recording an output of said detector as a function of scan position, resulting in accumulation of a charged-particle image of the sample,
• characterized in that:
• said detector comprises a plurality of detection segments;
• said controller is embodied to perform the following additional actions:
• combine signals from different segments of the detector so as to produce a vector output from the detector at each scan position, and compile this data to yield a vector field;
• mathematically process said vector field by subjecting it to a two-dimensional integration operation, thereby producing an integrated vector field image.