Patent ID: 7671333

Claim:
A particle-optical apparatus for imaging a thin sample using a beam of particles and for imaging the sample with light, the apparatus comprising a particle source for producing a beam of particles along a particle-optical axis, a plurality of particle-optical lenses arranged round the particle-optical axis for manipulating said beam of particles, each particle-optical lens having at least two pole faces, a sample manipulator for positioning the sample on the particle-optical axis and between the pole faces of one of the particle-optical lenses, said sample manipulator capable of tilting the sample with respect to the particle-optical axis, a detector for detecting particles transmitted through the sample, and a light-optical microscope, characterized in that the light-optical microscope is equipped to image the sample while the sample is positioned substantially on the particle-optical axis and tilted such that the sample faces the light-optical microscope, the light-optical microscope is a scanning light-optical microscope, equipped to illuminate the sample with a point of light, the point of light formed by a focussing unit, the light-optical microscope equipped to scan the point over the sample, and at least the focussing unit is retractably mounted so as to free space between the pole pieces when the sample is imaged using the beam of particles.