Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:a. a charged particle source configured to emit charged particles;b. at least one particle optical element configured to form a charged particle beam of charged particles emitted by the charged particle source;c. an objective lens configured to generate a charged particle probe from the charged particle beam, the objective lens defining a particle optical axis;d. a first electrostatic deflection element arranged—in a direction of propagation of charged particles emitted by the charged particle source—downstream of the objective lens, the first electrostatic deflection element configured to deflect the charged particle beam in a direction perpendicular to the charged particle optical axis; ande. an electrically conductive shielding element with an opening configured so that the charged particle beam can pass through the opening, the electrically conductive shielding element being arranged—in the direction of propagation of charged particles emitted by the charged particle source—downstream of the first electrostatic deflection element. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first electrostatic deflection element comprises electrodes having a capacity with respect to each other and with respect further components of the apparatus adjacent to the electrodes of less than 50 pF. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the objective lens has a source side directed to the charged particle source and a probe side opposite to the source side, and wherein the objective lens comprises an electrostatic immersion lens configured to reduce a kinetic energy of charged particles when passing through the objective lens from the source side to the probe side to a kinetic end energy of less than or equal to 5 keV. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the objective lens further comprises a magnetic lens. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a gas feeding system with one or more tubes, each of the one or more tubes having a terminating end, wherein the terminating end of each of the one or more tubes is positioned between the objective lens and the electrically conductive shielding element. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the gas feeding system is designed to feed a reaction gas that is capable of causing a chemical reaction with a sample in the apparatus after excitation by the charged particle beam. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a control system configured to control the gas feeding system and the first electrostatic deflection element so that, after a reaction gas is supplied to the sample, the sample can be scanned at specified positions by the charged particle beam. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured so that the sample is scanned by the charged particle beam so that a position at which the charged particle beam impinges on the sample is kept constant for a selectable dwell time and thereafter is scanned to another position on the sample within a time period of less than 100 ns. 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance d1between the first electrostatic deflection element and the electrically conductive shielding element is in the range of 10 μm<d1<2.5 mm. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the electrically conductive shielding element has a linear opening dimension of less than 100 μm. 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance d2 between the electrically conductive shielding element and a probe plane in which the probe is generated by the objective lens is less than 50 μm. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first electrostatic deflection element has an inner opening of a size not to obstruct the charged particle beam in a field of view with a diameter of d3<100 μm. 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first electrostatic deflection element has an inner opening with a diameter d4 in a range of 0.05 mm<d4<5 mm. 14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first electrostatic deflection element comprises a plurality of electrodes separated by slits having a width w of 50 μm<w<3 mm. 15. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second electrostatic deflection element arranged on a source side of the objective lens. 16. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a deflection control configured to control deflection voltages applied to the first and the second electrostatic deflection elements so that the beam of charged particles is angularly deflected while a position of the charged particle probe in a probe plane, in which the probe is generated by the objective lens, is maintained fixed. 17. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a blocking element arranged between the first deflection element and a surface of a sample, the blocking element being configured to at least partly block the beam of charged particles when the beam of charged particles is deflected. 18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first electrostatic deflection is selected from the group consisting of a dipole, a quadrupole, a hexapole, an octopole and a decapole. 19. A method comprising:a. directing a primary beam of charged particles onto a surface of a sample, the primary beam of charged particles passing through, in relative order, an objective lens, an electrostatic deflection element and an electrically conductive shielding element before reaching the surface of the sample; andb. deflecting the primary beam of charged particles with the electrostatic deflection element onto a plurality of positions on the surface of the sample with a minimum dwell time of 100 nanoseconds or less at each of the positions on the surface of the sample. 20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first electrostatic deflection element has a deflection bandwidth of at least 10 MHz.