Patent ID: 8232523

Claim:
A method of investigating a sample using Scanning Electron Microscopy, comprising the following steps: irradiating a surface (S) of the sample using a probing electron beam in a plurality (N) of measurement sessions, each measurement session having an associated beam parameter (P) value that is chosen from a range of such values and that differs between measurement sessions; detecting stimulated radiation emitted by the sample during each measurement session, associating a measurand (M) therewith and noting a value of the measurand for each measurement session, thus allowing compilation of a data set (D) of data pairs (P i , M i ), where 1≦i≦N; employing a statistical Blind Source Separation technique to automatically process the data set (D) and spatially resolve the data set into a result set (R) of imaging pairs (Q k , L k ), in which an imaging quantity (Q) having a value Q k is associated with a discrete depth level L k referenced to the surface S.