Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An apparatus for inspecting a sample of a specimen by means of an electron beam comprising:a vacuum chamber;an ion beam device for generating an ion beam for etching a sample from the specimen within said vacuum chamber;an electron beam device having a scanning unit for scanning the electron beam across said specimen within said vacuum chamber, the electron beam device having a first detector positioned to detect electrons that are released from the specimen in a backward direction with respect to the direction of the electron beam and a second detector positioned to detect electrons that are released from the sample of the specimen in a forward direction with respect to the direction of the electron beam; andseparation means within the vacuum chamber to separate the sample from the specimen for inspection of the sample by means of the second detector. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electron beam device includes a focusing lens to focus the electron beam onto at least one of the specimen and the sample. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the separation means includes a specimen holder to hold the specimen. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the specimen holder is capable of moving the specimen away from an inspection position. 5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the specimen holder is capable of tilting the specimen with respect to the electron beam. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the separation means includes a sample holder to hold the sample. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sample holder is capable of holding the sample by means of at least one of an electrostatic force and a capillary force. 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sample holder is capable of moving the sample into an inspection position. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:a support structure positioned to hold the sample at a position between the scanning unit and the second detector. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electron beam device comprises an electron beam column. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the electron beam column is substantially parallel to the ion beam column. 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the electron beam column is connected to a tilting mechanism to tilt the electron beam column with respect to the ion beam column. 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the ion beam column has optical components to change the landing angle of the ion beam on the specimen. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sample holder is connectable to a voltage source to adjust the landing energy of the electron beam on the sample. 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first detector and the second detector utilizes a scintillator and a light guide. 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first detector and the second detector is a non-imaging detector. 17. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the distance between the focusing lens and the second detector is less than 50 cm. 18. A method for inspecting a sample of a specimen by means of an electron beam comprising:a) providing an apparatus having a vacuum chamber, an ion beam device to generate an ion beam and an electron beam device to generate an electron beam;b) introducing the specimen into the vacuum chamber;c) irradiating the specimen in the vacuum chamber by means of the electron beam while detecting electrons released from the specimen in a backward direction with respect to the direction of the electron beam;d) etching the sample out of the specimen in the vacuum chamber by means of the ion beam and separating the specimen and the sample by separating means comprising a specimen holder and a sample holder; ande) irradiating the sample of the specimen in the vacuum chamber by means of the electron beam while detecting electrons released from the sample in a forward direction with respect to the direction of the electron beam. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein during step e), the electron beam is scanned across the sample. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein during steps c) to e), a vacuum is maintained in the vacuum chamber. 21. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the sample holder and the specimen holder is moved to separate the sample from the specimen. 22. The method of claim 18, wherein the sample holder is moved to position the sample into the electron beam. 23. The method of claim 18, wherein the sample is positioned by the sample holder under vacuum conditions. 24. The method of claim 18, wherein the sample holder holds the sample by means of at least one of an electrostatic force and a capillary force.