Patent ID: 11929232
Assignee: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 8:
9. A method comprising:
providing a charged particle beam through an adjustable gun aperture and an adjustable column aperture;
adjusting the adjustable gun aperture to a first aperture size configured to pass the charged particle beam at a first current level;
controlling a charged particle beam system in a first mode to defocus the charged particle beam and flood a region of a sample with charged particles of the charged particle beam, wherein the charged particle beam is incident on the sample at the first current level;
after flooding the region of the sample, adjusting the adjustable gun aperture to a second aperture size configured to pass the charged particle beam at a second current level, wherein the first current level is greater than the second current level;
adjusting the adjustable column aperture to a third aperture size configured to pass the charged particle beam at a third current level, wherein the second current level is greater than the third current level;
controlling the charged particle beam system in a second mode to focus the charged particle beam to a part of the region of the sample to inspect the part of the region of the sample, wherein the charged particle beam is incident on the sample at the third current level; and
moving the sample and repeating operations above to inspect other regions of the sample.