Abstract: The invention relates to a method for analyzing an analogue signal comprising randomly spaced events having an event height. The method includes irradiating a sample with a focused beam of energetic electrons, detecting emission from the sample in response to such irradiation, and converting an analog signal of the emissions to a stationary time signal. The method further includes determining an estimated noise contribution for the stationary time signal, and determining an estimated event height of an event based on the stationary time signal and the estimated noise contribution for the stationary time signal, and determining, based on the estimated event height, an energy of the emission detected by the detector. This method is particularly useful for X-ray detectors, such as Silicon Drift Detectors, used in a SEM. By estimating the noise contribution to the signal, the step height is estimated with improved accuracy.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of imaging a sample, said sample mounted on a sample holder in an electron microscope, the electron microscope comprising an electron source for generating a beam of energetic electrons along an optical axis and optical elements for focusing and deflecting the beam so as to irradiate the sample with a beam of electrons. The sample holder is capable of positioning and tilting the sample with respect to the electron beam. The method comprises the step of acquiring a tilt series of images by irradiating the sample with the beam of electrons, and concurrently changing a position of the sample during acquisition of the images, so that each image is acquired at an associated unique tilt angle and an associated unique position.

Abstract: A method of imaging a specimen in a Scanning Transmission Charged Particle Microscope, comprising the following steps: Providing the specimen on a specimen holder; Providing a beam of charged particles that is directed from a source through an illuminator so as to irradiate the specimen; Providing a segmented detector for detecting a flux of charged particles traversing the specimen; Causing said beam to scan across a surface of the specimen, and combining signals from different segments of the detector so as to produce a vector output from the detector at each scan position, said vector output having components Dx, Dy along respective X, Y coordinate axes, specifically comprising: Performing a relatively coarse pre-scan of the specimen, along a pre-scan trajectory; At selected positions pi on said pre-scan trajectory, analyzing said components Dx, Dy and also a scalar intensity sensor value Ds; Using said analysis of Dx, Dy and Ds to classify a specimen composition at each position pi into one of a grou

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for analyzing an analogue signal comprising randomly spaced events having an event height. The method includes irradiating a sample with a focused beam of energetic electrons, detecting emission from the sample in response to such irradiation, and converting an analog signal of the emissions to a stationary time signal. The method further includes determining an estimated noise contribution for the stationary time signal, and determining an estimated event height of an event based on the stationary time signal and the estimated noise contribution for the stationary time signal, and determining, based on the estimated event height, an energy of the emission detected by the detector. This method is particularly useful for X-ray detectors, such as Silicon Drift Detectors, used in a SEM. By estimating the noise contribution to the signal, the step height is estimated with improved accuracy.

Abstract: A method of imaging a specimen in a Scanning Transmission Charged Particle Microscope, comprising the following steps: Providing the specimen on a specimen holder; Providing a beam of charged particles that is directed from a source through an illuminator so as to irradiate the specimen; Providing a segmented detector for detecting a flux of charged particles traversing the specimen; Causing said beam to scan across a surface of the specimen, and combining signals from different segments of the detector so as to produce a vector output from the detector at each scan position, said vector output having components Dx, Dy along respective X, Y coordinate axes, specifically comprising: Performing a relatively coarse pre-scan of the specimen, along a pre-scan trajectory; At selected positions pi on said pre-scan trajectory, analyzing said components Dx, Dy and also a scalar intensity sensor value Ds; Using said analysis of Dx, Dy and Ds to classify a specimen composition at each position pi into one of a grou

Abstract: A system for analyzing an analogue signal comprising randomly spaced events, the event having an event height, comprises: Converting the signal to a series of samples S(t), with t the moment of sampling, thereby forming a sampled, discrete time signal, Detecting the presence of an event, the event detected at t=T, Estimating the event height Using a model (412, FIG. 5) to estimate a noise contribution N(t) for t=(T??1) to t=(T+?2), the noise contribution derived from samples S(t) with t?(T??1) and/or samples S(t) with t?(T+?2), with ?1 and ?2 predetermined or preset time periods having a value such that the event has a negligible contribution to samples taken before (T??1) or after (T+?2), Estimating the event height E by integrating the series of samples from (T??1) to (T+?2) minus the noise contribution for said samples, E=?t=(T??1)t=(T+?2)S(t)??t=(T??1)t=(T+?2)N(t)=?t=(T??1)t=(T+?2)[S(t)?N(t)].

Abstract: When detecting particulate radiation, such as electrons, with a pixelated detector, a cloud of electron/hole pairs is formed in the detector. Using the signal caused by this cloud of electron/hole pairs, a position of the impact is estimated. When the size of the cloud is comparable to the pixel size, or much smaller, the estimated position shows a strong bias to the center of the pixel and the corners, as well to the middle of the borders. This hinders forming an image with super-resolution. By shifting the position or by attributing the electron to several sub-pixels this bias can be countered, resulting in a more truthful representation.

Abstract: A method of using a Transmission Charged Particle Microscope, comprising: Providing a specimen on a specimen holder; Using an illumination system to direct a beam of charged particles from a source onto said specimen; Using an imaging system to direct charged particles that are transmitted through the specimen onto a detector, further comprising the following actions: In an acquisition step, lasting a time interval T, using said detector in particle counting mode to register spatiotemporal data relating to individual particle detection incidences, and to output said spatiotemporal data in raw form, without assembly into an image frame; In a subsequent rendering step, assembling a final image from said spatiotemporal data, while performing a mathematical correction operation.

Abstract: When detecting particulate radiation, such as electrons, with a pixelated detector, a cloud of electron/hole pairs is formed in the detector. Using the signal caused by this cloud of electron/hole pairs, a position of the impact is estimated. When the size of the cloud is comparable to the pixel size, or much smaller, the estimated position shows a strong bias to the center of the pixel and the corners, as well to the middle of the borders. This hinders forming an image with super-resolution. By shifting the position or by attributing the electron to several sub-pixels this bias can be countered, resulting in a more truthful representation.

Abstract: A method of using a charged particle microscope comprising a source; a specimen holder, for holding a specimen; an illuminator, for irradiating the specimen; a detector; and a controller, for controlling at least some aspects of the microscope's operation. The method comprises the steps of using the detector to acquire a series of component images of a part of the specimen; then successively quantizing each component image and storing it in a memory; recording a quantization error per pixel for each quantized component image, and keeping a running tally of cumulative quantization errors per pixel for the quantized component images; when quantizing a next component image, choosing a quantization polarity for each pixel that will avoid further increasing the total quantization error for each pixel. Finally, combining the component images to assemble a composite image.

Abstract: A method of imaging a specimen using ptychography includes directing a charged-particle beam from a source through an illuminator so as to traverse the specimen and land upon a detector, detecting a flux of radiation emanating from the specimen with the detector, calculating at least one property of a charged-particle wavefront exiting the specimen based on using an output of the detector in combination with applying a mathematical reconstruction technique, wherein the at least one property comprises a phase of the wavefront, and wherein applying the mathematical construction technique comprises directly reconstructing the phase of the wavefront to determine a reconstructed phase of the wavefront. An associated apparatus is also described.

Abstract: A method of imaging a specimen using ptychography includes directing a charged-particle beam from a source through an illuminator so as to traverse the specimen and land upon a detector, detecting a flux of radiation emanating from the specimen with the detector, calculating at least one property of a charged-particle wavefront exiting the specimen based on using an output of the detector in combination with applying a mathematical reconstruction technique, wherein the at least one property comprises a phase of the wavefront, and wherein applying the mathematical construction technique comprises directly reconstructing the phase of the wavefront to determine a reconstructed phase of the wavefront. An associated apparatus is also described.

Abstract: When detecting particulate radiation, such as electrons, with a pixelated detector, a cloud of electron/hole pairs is formed in the detector. Using the signal caused by this cloud of electron/hole pairs a position of the impact is estimated. When the size of the cloud is comparable to the pixel size, or much smaller, the estimated position shows a strong bias to the center of the pixel and the corners, as well to the middle of the borders. This hinders forming an image with super-resolution. By shifting the position or by attributing the electron to several sub-pixels this bias can be countered, resulting in a more truthful representation.

Abstract: A system for analyzing an analogue signal comprising randomly spaced events, the event having an event height, comprises: Converting the signal to a series of samples S(t), with t the moment of sampling, thereby forming a sampled, discrete time signal, Detecting the presence of an event, the event detected at t=T, Estimating the event height, Using a model (412, FIG. 5) to estimate a noise contribution N(t) for t=(T??1) to t=(T+?2), the noise contribution derived from samples S(t) with t?(T??1) and/or samples S(t) with t?(T+?2), with ?1 and ?2 predetermined or preset time periods having a value such that the event has a negligible contribution to samples taken before (T??1) or after (T+?2), Estimating the event height E by integrating the series of samples from (T??1) to (T+?2) minus the noise contribution for said samples, E=?t=(T??1)t=(T+?2)S(t)??t=(T??1)t=(T+?2)N(t)=?t=(T??1)t=(T+?2)[S(t)?N(t)].

Abstract: A method of investigating a wavefront of a charged-particle beam that is directed from a source through an illuminator so as to traverse a sample plane and land upon a detector, an output of the detector being used in combination with a mathematical reconstruction technique so as to calculate at least one of phase information and amplitude information for the wavefront at a pre-defined location along its path to the detector, in which method: Said beam is caused to traverse a particle-optical lens system disposed between said sample plane and said detector; At a selected location in the path from said source to said detector, a modulator is used to locally produce a given modulation of the wavefront; In a series of measurement sessions, different such modulations are employed, and the associated detector outputs are collectively used in said mathematical reconstruction.

Abstract: A method of investigating a wavefront of a charged-particle beam that is directed from a source through an illuminator so as to traverse a sample plane and land upon a detector, an output of the detector being used in combination with a mathematical reconstruction technique so as to calculate at least one of phase information and amplitude information for the wavefront at a pre-defined location along its path to the detector, in which method: Said beam is caused to traverse a particle-optical lens system disposed between said sample plane and said detector; At a selected location in the path from said source to said detector, a modulator is used to locally produce a given modulation of the wavefront; In a series of measurement sessions, different such modulations are employed, and the associated detector outputs are collectively used in said mathematical reconstruction.

Abstract: To avoid reset noise in a CMOS chip for direct particle counting, it is known to use Correlative Double Sampling: for each signal value, the pixel is sampled twice: once directly after reset and once after an integration time. The signal is then determined by subtracting the reset value from the later acquired value, and the pixel is reset again. In some embodiments of the invention, the pixel is reset only after a large number of read-outs. Applicants realized that typically a large number of events, typically approximately 10, are needed to cause a full pixel. By either resetting after a large number of images, or when one pixel of the image shows a signal above a predetermined value (for example 0.8 × the full-well capacity), the image speed can be almost doubled compared to the prior art method, using a reset after acquiring a signal.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of preparing and imaging a sample using a particle-optical apparatus, equipped with an electron column and an ion beam column, a camera system, a manipulator. The method comprises the steps of deriving a first ptychographic image of the sample from a first electron image, thinning the sample, and forming a second ptychographic image of the sample. In an embodiment of the invention the seed image used for the second image is the first ptychographic image. In another embodiment the second ptychographic image is the image of the layer removed during the thinning. In another embodiment the inner potential of the sample is determined and dopant concentrations are determined.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of preparing and imaging a sample using a particle-optical apparatus, equipped with an electron column and an ion beam column, a camera system, a manipulator. The method comprising comprises the steps of deriving a first ptychographic image of the sample from a first electron image, thinning the sample, and forming a second ptychographic image of the sample. In an embodiment of the invention the seed image used for the second image is the first ptychografic image. In another embodiment the second ptychographic image is the image of the layer removed during the thinning. In another embodiment the inner potential of the sample is determined and dopant concentrations are determined.