Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A charged particle apparatus equipped with a charged particle source for emitting a beam of charged particles, downstream of said beam followed by condenser optics, followed by a sample position, followed by an objective lens, followed by imaging optics, and followed by a detector system, in which, between the objective lens and the detector system, a first stigmator is positioned for reducing astigmatism when imaging a sample on the detector system and a second stigmator is positioned for reducing astigmatism when the diffraction plane is imaged on the detector system, characterized in that a third stigmator is positioned between the objective lens and the detector system, as a result of which a third degree of freedom is created for reducing the linear distortion. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the three stigmators are positioned between the objective lens and the imaging optics, as a result of which the excitation of the stigmators need not be changed when the settings of the imaging optics are changed. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, the apparatus equipped with a controller with a user interface, the user interface showing controls for controlling the stigmators, the controls controlling the stigmators in such a manner that image astigmatism, diffraction astigmatism and linear distortion are associated with independent controls. 4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the apparatus is a Transmission Electron Microscope or a Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope. 5. Method of using the apparatus of claim 1, the method comprising exciting the first stigmator to reduce astigmatism when imaging the sample and exciting the second stigmator to reduce astigmatism when imaging the diffraction plane, characterized in that the method comprises exciting the third stigmator to reduce the linear distortion. 6. A charged particle apparatus, comprising:a charged particle source for emitting a beam of charged particles;a sample holder for holding a sample and positioning the sample with respect to the beam of charged particles;a first stigmator positioned for reducing astigmatism when imaging the sample;a second stigmator positioned for reducing astigmatism when imaging the diffraction plane; anda third stigmator positioned for reducing linear distortion. 7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising an objective lens for forming an image and one or more projector lenses to magnify the image. 8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the three stigmators are positioned between the objective lens and the one or more projector lenses, as a result of which the excitation of the stigmators need not be changed when the settings of the imaging optics are changed. 9. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a controller with a user interface, the user interface having controls for controlling the stigmators, the controls controlling the stigmators in such a manner that image astigmatism, diffraction astigmatism and linear distortion comprise independent controls. 10. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the apparatus is a Transmission Electron Microscope or a Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope. 11. The apparatus of claim 10 in which the charged particle source provides a beam of electrons with an adjustable energy of between 50 keV and 400 keV. 12. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the three stigmators are configured to avoid ohmic heating and the associated drift of the apparatus. 13. A method of operating the charged particle beam apparatus of claim 6, comprising:forming a beam of charged particles;positioning the first stigmator such that when in imaging mode, the first stigmator affects astigmatism but does not affect the linear distortion;positioning the second stigmator such that when in diffraction mode, the second stigmator affects astigmatism but does not affect the linear distortion;positioning the third stigmator such that the third stigmator mainly affects the linear distortion and only slightly affects the astigmatism in imaging mode and diffraction mode;exciting the first stigmator to reduce the astigmatism in imaging mode;exciting the second stigmator to reduce the astigmatism in diffraction mode; andexciting the third stigmator to reduce the linear distortion. 14. The method of claim 13 in which no changes in excitation are needed when changing from imaging mode to diffraction mode or from diffraction mode to imaging mode.