IP Library Granted Patent US 12676279
Granted Patent B2
US 12676279 · App. 18/559,439 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Electron microscope

Inventors: Michiko Suzuki (Tokyo, JP); Yudai Kubo (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
H01J37/153H01J37/143H01J37/28H01J2237/1534
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12676279
App. No.
18/559,439
Granted
Jul 7, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An object of the invention is to efficiently execute aberration correction in an electron microscope including an aberration corrector that corrects aberration using a multipole lens. The electron microscope according to the invention includes an aberration corrector that includes first and second multipole lenses, a transfer lens, and an adjustment lens, in which the first multipole lens is configured to correct third-order spherical aberration by adjusting a lens current, and third-order spherical aberration and fifth-order spherical aberration are collectively corrected by adjusting a transfer lens current while changing an adjustment lens current (refer to FIG. 6 ).

Claims (37)

1 . An electron microscope that observes a sample using an electron beam, the electron microscope comprising:

an electron optical system including an objective lens configured to scan by the electron beam;

an aberration corrector configured to correct an aberration of a lens of the electron optical system; and

a control unit configured to control the aberration corrector, wherein

the aberration corrector includes

first and second multipole lenses configured to generate a magnetic field for correcting a spherical aberration of the lens,

a transfer lens configured to cause the electron beam to propagate to the objective lens, and

an adjustment lens disposed between the transfer lens and the objective lens,

the transfer lens is configured to correct fifth-order spherical aberration using a transfer lens current applied to the transfer lens,

the first multipole lens is configured to correct third-order spherical aberration using a multipole lens current applied to the first multipole lens, and

the control unit corrects the third-order spherical aberration by adjusting the transfer lens current to correct the fifth-order spherical aberration while changing an adjustment lens current applied to the adjustment lens.

2 . The electron microscope according to claim 1 , wherein

the control unit corrects the third-order spherical aberration by adjusting the transfer lens current to correct the fifth-order spherical aberration without adjusting the multipole lens current.

3 . The electron microscope according to claim 1 , wherein

the control unit corrects the fifth-order spherical aberration by changing the transfer lens current until the fifth-order spherical aberration is equal to or less than a threshold at the adjustment lens current, and

when the third-order spherical aberration is not within a threshold at the transfer lens current after correcting the fifth-order spherical aberration, the control unit redetermines the adjustment lens current by changing the adjustment lens current and changes the transfer lens current until the fifth-order spherical aberration is equal to or less than a threshold at the redetermined adjustment lens current.

4 . The electron microscope according to claim 3 , wherein

the control unit determines the adjustment lens current based on a correlation between the multipole lens current and the adjustment lens current, and

the control unit corrects the fifth-order spherical aberration by changing the transfer lens current until the fifth-order spherical aberration is equal to or less than a threshold at the determined adjustment lens current.

5 . The electron microscope according to claim 4 , wherein

the electron microscope further includes a storage unit configured to store data describing the correlation,

the correlation describes a relationship between the multipole lens current and the adjustment lens current where the third-order spherical aberration is correctable, and

the control unit corrects the fifth-order spherical aberration at the adjustment lens current where the third-order spherical aberration is correctable by determining the adjustment lens current based on the correlation.

6 . The electron microscope according to claim 1 , wherein

the control unit corrects each of the aberrations at a first acceleration voltage, and

the control unit corrects the fifth-order spherical aberration and the third-order spherical aberration at a second acceleration voltage different from the first acceleration voltage without readjusting the multipole lens current that is adjusted to correct each of the aberrations at the first acceleration voltage.

7 . The electron microscope according to claim 6 , wherein

the second acceleration voltage is lower than the first acceleration voltage.

8 . The electron microscope according to claim 6 , further comprising:

a storage unit configured to store data describing a correlation between the multipole lens current and the adjustment lens current, wherein

the correlation describes a relationship between the multipole lens current and the adjustment lens current where the third-order spherical aberration is correctable, and

the control unit corrects the fifth-order spherical aberration at the adjustment lens current where the third-order spherical aberration is correctable without readjusting the multipole lens current by determining the adjustment lens current corresponding to the multipole lens current that is adjusted to correct each of the aberrations at the first acceleration voltage based on the correlation.

9 . The electron microscope according to claim 1 , wherein

the first multipole lens and the second multipole lens are configured as a magnetic lens that focuses the electron beam using a magnetic field, and

at least one of the first multipole lens or the second multipole lens generates the magnetic field using only a permanent magnet.

10 . The electron microscope according to claim 1 , wherein

the first and second multipole lenses are electromagnetic lenses configured to generate a hexapole field.