MULTI-BEAM PARTICLE BEAM SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATING A MULTI-BEAM PARTICLE BEAM SYSTEM - Patent application

Abstract

The present invention provides a multi-beam particle beam system that operates with multiple particle beams, and a method for operating a multi-beam particle beam system. [Solution] A method for operating a multi-beam particle beam system includes the steps of generating multiple particle beams such that each particle beam passes through a multipole element that is intact or defective, focusing the particle beams onto a predetermined plane, determining excitation for deflection elements of the multipole elements, exciting the deflection elements of the intact multipole elements with the determined excitation, modifying the determined excitation for deflection elements of the defective multipole elements and exciting the deflection elements of the defective multipole elements with the modified excitation, wherein the modifying step includes adding a correction excitation to the determined excitation, and the correction excitation is the same for all deflection elements of the defective multipole elements.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a multi-beam particle beam system operating with multiple particle beams, and to a method of operating a multi-beam particle beam system. [Background technology]

[0002] US 2015 / 0348738 A1 discloses a multi-beam particle beam system that uses multiple multi-aperture plates to split a particle beam into multiple particle beams and affect each of the multiple particle beams by applying an electric field. For example, a ring electrode is used at an opening in the multi-aperture plate through which the particle beam passes to apply an electrostatic field that focuses the particle beam, and electrodes distributed around the opening in a circumferential direction to apply a dipole or quadrupole field to act as a beam deflector or astigmatism corrector for the particle beam.

[0003] For this purpose, it is necessary to provide a configurable voltage to a large number of electrodes attached to the openings in the multi-aperture plate to affect the particle beam. As there is a desire to increase the number of particle beams that a multi-beam particle beam system can operate with, it is necessary to provide voltage to a large number of electrodes in the multi-aperture plate.

[0004] Multi-aperture plates, the openings in which the electrodes are provided, are complex components whose manufacture entails significant costs. Errors that inevitably occur during manufacture result in one or more defective electrodes, so that the voltage of the electrodes cannot be adjusted to the desired value during operation. If only one electrode out of many electrodes of a multi-aperture plate is defective, this usually means that the entire multi-aperture plate is defective and cannot be used. Furthermore, defects occurring in individual electrodes of a multi-aperture plate during operation result in the need to replace the entire multi-aperture plate. It is clearly necessary here to accept a removal rate of the manufacture of multi-aperture plates, which is considered very high, and a failure probability, which is considered very high during the operation of the multi-aperture plate. A possible way out of this situation is the development of more reliable manufacturing methods for multi-aperture plates, which are becoming more complex. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] It is therefore an object of the invention to propose a multi-beam particle beam system and a method for the operation of a multi-beam particle beam system which reduces the requirements placed on the manufacturing method of a multi-aperture plate with regard to defects of the individual electrodes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of operating a multi-beam particle beam system includes generating multiple particle beams in such a way that each particle beam of the multiple particle beams traverses a multipole element, each multipole element having a plurality of deflection elements circumferentially distributed around a center of the multipole element, each of the multipole elements being either intact or defective.

[0007] The multiple particle beams can be generated in a variety of ways. For example, the particle beam can be generated using a particle emitter directed at a multi-aperture plate having multiple openings to generate the multiple particle beams in the beam path downstream of the multi-aperture plate. Additionally, multiple particle emitters can be provided, each particle emitter generating one of the multiple particle beams.

[0008] A particle beam system typically includes a particle-optical unit that directs multiple particle beams to an object and focuses these particle beams thereon. The particle-optical unit does not need to be defect-free and may be subject to aberrations. One aberration, for example, is astigmatism, the effect of which, for any given multi-particle beam among the multiple particle beams forming the beam bundle, depends on the position of the particle beam within the beam bundle.

[0009] In order to at least partially compensate for the effects of the aberrations on the individual particle beams, a multipole element is provided with one of the particle beams passing through each multipole element. In operation, the deflection elements of the multipole element, which are distributed circumferentially around the center of the multipole element, are excited in order to generate a field that influences the particle beam passing through the multipole element by deflecting the individual particles of the particle beam. The field that influences the particle beam can be an electric field and / or a magnetic field. The deflection elements may thus comprise electrodes that generate an electric field and coils that generate a magnetic field. As a result, the deflection elements can be excited in such a way that the focusing of each particle beam in a predetermined plane satisfies at least one predetermined criterion. The predetermined plane can be, for example, the surface of the object to which the particle beam is directed. The predetermined criterion can, for example, require that each particle beam is focused in a predetermined plane such that the cross section of the particle beam in the predetermined plane is as small as possible or has a predetermined value, or that the cross-sectional shape has a deviation from a circular shape that is less than a limit value. Other criteria are also possible.

[0010] An exemplary multipole element has two electrodes, which are arranged opposite each other with respect to the center of the multipole element, and can be excited in such a way that the multipole element acts on the particle beam passing through it like a beam deflector that deflects the particle beam by an angle that is settable via excitation. A further exemplary multipole element has four electrodes, which are arranged circumferentially around the center of the multipole element, and can be excited in such a way that the multipole element acts on the particle beam passing through it like a beam deflector that deflects the particle beam by an angle that is settable via excitation, and in such a way that the multipole element acts on the particle beam passing through it like a beam deflector that deflects the particle beam in a direction that is settable via excitation, or like an astigmatism corrector that astigmatically affects the particle beam with an intensity that is settable via excitation. A further exemplary multipole element has eight electrodes arranged circumferentially around the center of the multipole element and can be excited in such a way that the multipole element acts on a particle beam passing through it like an astigmatism corrector that astigmatically affects the particle beam with a settable intensity and direction via excitation.

[0011] To excite the deflection elements during operation of the particle beam system, a controller may be provided that supplies excitation to the deflection elements. The excitation may be conveyed from the controller to the individual deflection elements via electrical wires. If the deflection elements are electrodes, the electrical wires are electrically conductive connections suitable for conveying the voltage supplied by the controller to each electrode. If the deflection elements are coils, the electrical wires are electrically conductive connections capable of conveying the current required for excitation between the coils.

[0012] During the manufacture of the multi-aperture plate or during its operation, faults may occur that result in the individual multipole elements being defective rather than defect-free. For example, a single deflection element of a multipole element may be defective such that it cannot be excited as desired during operation. For example, an electric wire leading to the relevant deflection element may have a line interruption. For example, an electrode forming the deflection element in question may have an insulation defect, so that this electrode is conductively connected to the multi-aperture plate or to another electrode, and therefore the desired voltage cannot be deduced. For example, a coil forming a given deflection element may have a line interruption or a short circuit, so that a current flow with the desired intensity through this coil is not possible.

[0013] The method further includes a step of determining excitation for deflection elements of the multipole element to affect the particle beam passing through the multipole element, the step of determining excitation for each deflection element of the multipole element to affect the particle beam passing through the multipole element in a desired manner.

[0014] Additionally, the method may include exciting a deflection element of the multipole element that is defect-free with a decision excitation.

[0015] In order to excite the deflection elements of the multipole element during operation in such a way as to favorably affect the individual particle beams, it is necessary to determine the excitation required for this. According to an exemplary embodiment, for this purpose, a variable is determined for each of the multipole elements, which represents the desired influence of the particle beam passing through the multipole element. The at least one variable can, for example, include the range of beam astigmatism that the particle beam exhibits when the particle beam is incident on the object. The excitation of the individual deflection elements of the multipole element, which is in the form of an astigmatism corrector and through which this particle beam passes, can then be determined in such a way that, when exciting the deflection elements of the astigmatism corrector with the determined excitation, the effect of the deflection elements on the particle beam passing through the astigmatism corrector is such that the effect of the deflection elements on the particle beam passing through the astigmatism corrector is achieved that is represented by the at least one variable.

[0016] The excitation of the deflection elements of each multipole element can be determined in particular such that the average value of the excitation of the multipole elements has the same value for all multipole elements. This average value can be calculated as the arithmetic average of the excitation of the deflection elements of the multipole elements. For example, if the deflection elements are electrodes, the step of determining the excitation comprises a step of determining a voltage and the step of exciting the deflection elements comprises a step of applying the determined voltage to the electrodes. The average value of the excitation is then given by the average value of the voltages applied to the electrodes. If this average value is the same for all multipole elements operated, for example, as astigmatism correctors, the effect of the individual multipole elements or astigmatism correctors differs only in terms of the deflection and stigmatism effect on the individual particle beams, but not in terms of the focusing effect on the particle beams.

[0017] The deflection elements of the defect-free multipole element can then be excited with the excitation determined as described above.

[0018] Furthermore, the method may include modifying a deterministic excitation for a deflection element of at least one of the defective multipole elements and exciting an electrode of the defective multipole element with the modified excitation.

[0019] If a multipole element is defective, it is not possible to excite the deflection element of the defective multipole element with the excitation determined as described above. Due to defects of individual deflection elements, it may not be possible to excite this deflection element with the excitation that has been determined for this deflection element, for example. In this case, the pre-determined excitation is modified in order to actually excite the deflection element of the multipole element with a modified excitation and still achieve an effect on the particle beam passing through the defective multipole element that at least partially achieves the initial purpose of the effect on the particle beam (for example compensation of beam astigmatism). The modification of the excitation of the deflection element of the defective multipole element takes into account, for example, the fact that the excitation of one of the deflection elements is not freely settable but rather specified.

[0020] According to an exemplary embodiment, the step of modifying the decision excitation includes determining a correction excitation to excite the defective deflection element such that the excitation is equal to the designated excitation. For example, to calculate the correction excitation, a correction excitation to be added to the decision excitation of the defective deflection element can be determined, the correction excitation being of the same order of magnitude as the difference between the designated excitation and the decision excitation.

[0021] According to an exemplary embodiment, modifying the decision excitation for a deflection element of a multipole element includes adding a correction excitation to the decision excitation.

[0022] According to a further exemplary embodiment, the corrective excitation can be the same for all deflection elements of the defective multipole element.

[0023] According to a further exemplary embodiment, the corrective excitation is the same for all deflection elements of a given defective multipole element, but the corrective excitation can be different for different defective multipole elements.

[0024] According to an exemplary embodiment, a correction excitation may be calculated as the difference between the specified excitation of the defective deflection element and the excitation of the deflection element determined as described above.

[0025] For example, the deflection element of the defective multipole element can be excited with the corrective excitation if the corrective excitation of the defective deflection element coincides with the excitation specified based on the defect. In particular, in this way, the multipole element operated as, for example, an astigmatism corrector can be excited in such a way that it gives the desired stigmatism or deflection effect on the particle beam passing through the defective multipole element in almost the same way as a defect-free astigmatism corrector. Here, the multipole element excited with the corrective excitation can give an additional effect on the particle beam passing through the multipole element that a defect-free multipole element excited with a deterministic excitation does not give. However, in some cases, when using a multi-aperture plate with a defective multipole element, the multibeam particle beam system can be successfully operated with the defective multipole element, despite the additional effect.

[0026] In particular, by adding the same corrective excitation to the total excitation of the multipole element, only the focusing effect of the multipole element on the particle beam is substantially changed, but not the deflection or stigmatism effects. Moreover, the inventors have found that the changes in focusing that typically occur here are often negligible in practice, while the deflection and stigmatism effects, which usually change significantly with relatively small changes in excitation, remain substantially unchanged.

[0027] Therefore, it is also possible to use a multi-aperture plate having a multipole element with a specific defect for a multi-beam particle beam system, which is why a specific manufacturing error of the multi-aperture plate results in a usable multi-aperture plate and is not removed. Thus, the removal rate occurring during the manufacturing of the multi-aperture plate can be reduced. If a defect occurs during the operation of the multi-beam particle beam system, the excitation of the deflection element of the multipole element of the multi-aperture plate can be further modified in such a way that the above-mentioned corrective excitation is provided to the deflection element of the currently defective multipole element. Thus, even after a defect occurs in the multipole element of the multi-aperture plate, the operation of the multi-beam particle beam system can be continued and there is no need to replace the multi-aperture plate.

[0028] According to a further embodiment of the invention, a multi-beam particle beam system includes a plurality of multi-aperture plates each having a number of openings, and at least one controllable deflection element is provided at a first subset of the openings in each of the plurality of multi-aperture plates, the plurality of multi-aperture plates being arranged in sequence in the beam path. A multi-beam particle source is provided for generating a number of particle beams in such a way that each particle beam passes successively through the plurality of multi-aperture plates via an opening.

[0029] The at least one deflection element may comprise electrodes connected to a voltage source for supplying a settable voltage to the electrodes, for example to generate an electric field or modify an existing electric field having a deflecting effect on particles of the particle beam passing through the aperture. Furthermore, the at least one deflection element may comprise a coil connected to a current source for supplying a settable current to the coil, for example to generate a magnetic field or modify an existing magnetic field having a deflecting effect on particles of the particle beam passing through the aperture.

[0030] For example, just one deflection element can be provided at the aperture, which deflects the particles of the particle beam passing through the aperture in such a way that it provides a focusing or defocusing effect on the particle beam. Furthermore, for example, two deflection elements may be provided at the aperture, which deflect the particles of the particle beam passing through the aperture in such a way that it provides a deflection effect in addition to a focusing or defocusing effect on the particle beam. Furthermore, for example, four deflection elements can be provided at the aperture, which deflect the particles of the particle beam passing through the aperture in such a way that it provides a focusing or defocusing effect and a deflection effect on the particle beam and in such a way that the orientation is settable. Furthermore, for example, eight deflection elements can be provided at the aperture, which deflect the particles of the particle beam passing through the aperture in such a way that it provides a focusing or defocusing effect and a deflection or stigmatism effect on the particle beam and in such a way that the orientation is settable.

[0031] According to an exemplary embodiment, a first subset of openings in the plurality of multi-aperture plates are arranged in such a way that each particle beam passes through exactly one opening in the plurality of multi-aperture plates in which at least one controllable deflection element is provided.

[0032] The multiple multi-aperture plates may have the same configuration to the extent that the number and arrangement of the openings of the multi-aperture plates are the same, whereby in particular each particle beam of the multiple particle beams may pass through an opening in a first multi-aperture plate of the multiple multi-aperture plates, then through an opening in a second multi-aperture plate of the multiple multi-aperture plates, and correspondingly through an opening in a further multi-aperture plate if the number of the multiple multi-aperture plates is more than two. The multiple multi-aperture plates are different in that for the same arrangement of openings in the multiple multi-aperture plates, the respective arrangements of openings with controllable deflection elements are different. In each of the multiple multi-aperture plates, the number of openings with controllable deflection elements is less than the number of particle beams.

[0033] The multiple multi-aperture plates simultaneously have an effect on multiple particle beams that corresponds to the effect of a conventional multi-aperture plate having at least one deflection element at each opening through which the particle beam passes. Due to the smaller number of controllable deflection elements per multi-aperture plate compared to conventional multi-aperture plates, the requirements for supplying excitation to the deflection elements of the multi-aperture plate are lower. In any case, this can simplify the manufacture of the multiple multi-aperture plates, allow a larger number of openings through which the particle beam passes, and allow a higher density of openings through which the particle beam passes.

[0034] According to an exemplary embodiment, a second subset of apertures not included in the first subset and having at least one deflection element is provided in at least one of the multiple multi-aperture plates. The excitation of this at least one deflection element is, however, specified and cannot be set independently. This allows, for example, all apertures in the multiple multi-aperture plates to be manufactured by the same manufacturing method as far as the manufacturing of the deflection elements is concerned. However, the apertures of the first and second subsets differ in that the deflection elements of the apertures of the second subset cannot be excited, for example by the absence of a supply line for supplying an excitation to the deflection elements of the apertures of the second subset.

[0035] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a multi-beam particle beam system having a multi-aperture plate with openings and at least one electrode provided as a deflection element includes determining at least one deflection element that is defective and applying a high voltage pulse to the defective deflection element to correct the defect.

[0036] A multi-aperture plate for a multi-beam particle beam system is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) with a dense network of conductor tracks with structure sizes in the micrometer range. Typically, a multi-aperture plate includes a substrate made of doped silicon, which is a conductive material. SiO acts as an insulator. 2 A layer of SiO 2 An aluminum layer is applied to the layer and structured by means of a lithographic method to form conductor tracks, which are used, for example, to supply a potential or a current to deflection elements arranged in the openings in the multi-aperture plate. To perform this function, the conductor tracks should not be interrupted and, moreover, they should not be in contact with the conductive substrate.

[0037] Finished multi-aperture plates have sometimes been shown to have shorts between the conductor tracks and the conductive substrate. One cause is the insulating SiO 2 The insulating SiO layer is very thin and therefore has a finite resistance. The resulting current flow between the conductor tracks and the substrate can be so large that it overloads the voltage or current source that provides the excitation that must be supplied to the deflection elements. 2 The layer may not be uniformly thin, but rather may be very thin in some local areas for manufacturing reasons: the behaviour of the electrical resistance between the conductor tracks and the substrate in these areas is assumed to have the properties of a Schottky contact.

[0038] The inventors have found that the application of a short high voltage pulse to a defective conductor track makes it possible to eliminate a short circuit between the conductor track and the substrate. The inventors have found that the current generated by the short high voltage pulse between the conductor track and the substrate heats up the defect and causes the insulating SiO 2 The size of the insulating SiO 2 It is assumed that the layer becomes sufficiently insulating again. Here, application of a voltage from the range between 1 kV and 10 kV for a time between 0.01 ms and 5.0 ms, in particular between 0.1 ms and 1.0 ms, has proven advantageous.

[0039] According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the multi-beam particle beam system comprises at least one multi-aperture plate with a number of openings, the at least one controllable deflection element being provided at each of the openings in the at least one multi-aperture plate, and a voltage supply system configured to supply a settable excitation to the deflection elements of the at least one multi-aperture plate via a supply line. This means that during operation of the multi-beam particle beam system, a settable excitation can be supplied from the voltage supply system to each deflection element of the at least one multi-aperture plate. The openings in the multi-aperture plate can be assigned to a number of groups of openings, each opening included in one group of openings not included in another group of the groups of openings. This means that the groups under consideration do not include a common opening or that the groups are disjoint. This possible division of the openings into groups applies to a number of openings in the multi-aperture plate, but not necessarily to all openings in the multi-aperture plate. For example, the division into groups applies to more than half of the openings in the multi-aperture plate.

[0040] According to an exemplary embodiment, all apertures of any given group of apertures each have at least one deflection element connected to a given supply line, such that the deflection elements of multiple apertures of the same group are connected together to this given supply line.

[0041] In a conventional multi-beam particle beam system, all deflection elements of all apertures in a multi-aperture plate can be supplied with excitations that can be set independently of each other. This ensures that each particle beam passing through an aperture in a multi-aperture plate can be influenced by the electric and / or magnetic fields provided by the deflection elements in the exact manner desired or required for this particle beam. The inventors have found that in practice it is necessary to supply the same or similar excitations to many deflection elements in order to influence the particle beam with respect to compensating imaging aberrations of other optical elements in the beam path of the particle beam. In particular, the inventors have found that when an aperture has multiple deflection elements, for example to astigmatically influence the particle beam passing through the aperture, adjacent apertures receive the same or similar excitation patterns in order to influence the particle beam passing through the adjacent aperture as desired.

[0042] The above embodiment thus provides a common supply line to be applied to the deflection elements of different apertures belonging to the same group. The deflection elements connected to the common supply line are thus supplied with the same excitation, which means that the excitation of these deflection elements can no longer be set independently of each other. However, in return, the number of supply lines used to supply excitation to the deflection elements of the apertures in the multi-aperture plate can be significantly reduced. Nevertheless, the deflection elements can be excited almost ideally as desired, since the groups of apertures can be selected in such a way that the same excitation can be supplied to at least some deflection elements of the apertures of the same group.

[0043] According to an exemplary embodiment, the multiple apertures of any given group each have an aperture as the nearest neighbor that also belongs to this given group of apertures. This means that in the plane of the multi-aperture plate, closely adjacent apertures belong to a common group. This is based on the consideration that mutually adjacent apertures in the multi-aperture plate require similar excitation for the deflection element in order to affect the particle beam passing through this aperture, for example with regard to compensating imaging aberrations of the optical unit through which the particle beam passes. According to an exemplary embodiment, the multiple apertures belonging to the same group of apertures range between 2.0 and 3.0, the arithmetic mean over all groups of apertures in the multi-aperture plate.

[0044] According to an exemplary embodiment, the openings of any given group, and in particular the openings of all groups of openings, have the same number of deflection elements (e.g., eight deflection elements) distributed circumferentially around the openings. [Initial claim 1] 1. A method of operating a multi-beam particle beam system, comprising: generating a plurality of particle beams such that each particle beam of the multiple particle beams passes through a multipole element, each multipole element having a plurality of deflection elements circumferentially distributed around a center of the multipole element, each of the multipole elements being defect-free or defective; focusing the particle beam onto a predetermined plane; determining an excitation for the deflection elements of the multipole elements to affect the particle beam passing through the multipole elements, the excitation for the deflection elements of each of the multipole elements being determined such that the focusing of each of the particle beams in the predetermined plane satisfies a predetermined criterion; exciting the deflection elements of the multipole element that are defect-free with the determined excitation; modifying the determined excitation for the deflection element of at least one of the multipole elements that is defective, and exciting the deflection element of the defective multipole element with the modified excitation; Including, A method, wherein the modifying includes adding a corrective excitation to the determined excitation, the corrective excitation being the same for all deflection elements of the defective multipole element. [Original claim 2] The method according to claim 1, wherein the defective multipole element has a defective deflection element, the excitation of which is not configurable and is a specified excitation defined by a defect, and the correcting comprises determining the correction excitation such that the excitation at which the defective deflection element should be excited is equal to the specified excitation. [Original claim 3] the deflection element is an electrode, determining the excitation includes determining a voltage; The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein exciting the electrodes comprises applying the voltage to the electrodes. [Original claim 4] The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising inspecting the multipole elements and determining non-defective and defective multipole elements based on the inspection. [Original claim 5] The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising evaluating a provided data set and determining non-defective and defective multipole elements based on said evaluation of said provided data set. [Original claim 6] 6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising determining for each of said multipole elements a variable representative of a desired effect of said particle beam passing through said multipole element. [Original claim 7] The method according to claim 6, initially, wherein determining the excitation for the deflection elements of the multipole element is performed such that when the deflection elements of the multipole element are excited with the determined excitation, the effect of the deflection elements on the particle beam passing through the multipole element achieves the influence of the particle beam represented by the variable. [Original claim 8] The method according to claim 6 or 7, initially, wherein the variables include at least one astigmatism of the particle beam to be compensated. [Original claim 9] a plurality of multi-aperture plates, each having a number of apertures, wherein at least one controllable deflection element is provided at a first subset of the apertures in each of the plurality of multi-aperture plates, the plurality of multi-aperture plates being sequentially positioned in the beam path; a multi-beam particle source for generating a number of particle beams in such a way that each particle beam passes successively through the plurality of multi-aperture plates via the aperture; Including, a first subset of the openings in the plurality of multi-aperture plates arranged in such a way that each particle beam passes through exactly one opening in the plurality of multi-aperture plates for which the at least one controllable deflection element is provided. [Original claim 10] 10. The particle beam system originally described in claim 9, further comprising a controller configured to excite the at least one controllable deflection element with a configurable excitation. [Original claim 11] 11. A particle beam system as initially described in claim 9 or 10, wherein in a second subset of the openings in at least one multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates, at least one deflection element is provided for which the excitation is designated and not configurable. [Original claim 12] Particle beam system according to any one of claims 9 to 11 initially, wherein the at least one controllable deflection element comprises at least one electrode electrically conductively connected to a voltage supply system. [Original claim 13] A multi-beam particle beam system, particularly in combination with a multi-beam particle beam system as initially claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12, comprising at least one multi-aperture plate having a number of openings, wherein at least one controllable deflection element is provided at each of the openings in the at least one multi-aperture plate; a voltage supply system configured to supply a configurable excitation to the deflection element via a supply line; Including, The openings in the multi-aperture plate may be assigned to a plurality of groups of openings; each opening included in one of the groups of openings is not included in any other of the groups of openings; 11. A multi-beam particle beam system, wherein all of said apertures of any given group of apertures each have at least one deflection element connected to a given supply line such that a plurality of deflection elements are connected together to the given supply line. [Original claim 14] 14. The multi-beam particle beam system initially described in claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of apertures in any given one of the plurality of groups has an aperture as a nearest neighbor that also belongs to the given group of apertures. [Original claim 15] 15. A multi-beam particle beam system as originally claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein each said aperture comprises a number of identical deflection elements distributed circumferentially around said aperture. [Original claim 16] 16. The multi-beam particle beam system originally described in claim 15, wherein each of the apertures has eight deflection elements. [Original claim 17] 17. A multi-beam particle beam system as originally claimed in any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the number of apertures belonging to the same group of apertures is, on arithmetic average across all groups, between 2 and 3. [Original claim 18] a multi-beam particle source that generates multiple particle beams such that each particle beam passes through one of the apertures of the multi-aperture plate; a particle source that generates particles that partially pass through the openings in the multi-aperture plate during operation of the multi-beam particle beam system; a plurality of lenses disposed in a beam path of the particles upstream or downstream of the multi-aperture plate; Further comprising: 18. A multi-beam particle beam system as originally claimed in any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the deflection elements of the apertures in the multi-aperture plate are connected to the supply lines, and the voltage supply system is configured such that the deflection elements of each aperture influence the particle beam passing through the aperture in such a way as to compensate for field astigmatism being produced by the plurality of lenses.

[0045] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0046] [Figure 1] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a multi-beam particle beam system. [Diagram 2] 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an apparatus composed of multiple multi-aperture plates. [Diagram 3] 3 shows a plan view of the exemplary first multi-aperture plate in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 3 shows a plan view of the second multi-aperture plate from FIG. 2; [Diagram 5] 5 shows a schematic plan view of a variation of the multi-aperture plate of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. [Figure 6] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a defect-free multipole element excited with the determined excitation. [Figure 7] 7 shows a schematic diagram of a defect multipole element excited with the determined excitation of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] 8 shows a schematic diagram of the defect multipole element of FIG. 7 excited with a modified excitation. [Figure 9] 1 shows a flow chart illustrating a method of operating a multi-beam particle beam system. [Figure 10] 1 shows a schematic diagram of the beam astigmatism to be corrected for multiple openings in a multi-aperture plate. [Figure 11] 1 shows a representation of the electrical circuitry that supplies excitation to the deflection elements of the different apertures via a common supply line. [Figure 12] 11 shows a schematic diagram corresponding to FIG. 10 of the division of openings into groups in a multi-aperture plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0047] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multi-beam particle beam system 1 operating with multiple particle beams. The multi-beam particle beam system 1 generates multiple particle beams that are incident on an object to be inspected in order to generate electrons therein that originate from the object and are subsequently detected. The multi-beam particle beam system 1 is of the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) type, which uses multiple primary electron beams 3 that are incident on positions 5 on the surface of the object 7 and generate multiple electron beam spots therein. The object 7 to be inspected can be of any desired type and can include, for example, semiconductor wafers, biological samples, and configurations of small elements. The surface of the object 7 is placed in an object plane 101 of an objective lens 102 of an objective lens system 100.

[0048] Enlarged detail I1 in Fig. 1 shows a plan view of an object plane 101 with a regular rectangular field 103 of incidence positions 5 formed in the plane 101. In Fig. 1 the number of incidence positions is 25, forming a 5x5 field 103. 25 incidence positions is small for reasons of simplified illustration. In practice the number of beams or incidence positions can be chosen to be much larger, for example 20x30, 100x100, etc.

[0049] In the illustrated embodiment, the field 103 of incidence locations 5 is a substantially regular rectangular field with a constant spacing P1 between adjacent incidence locations. Exemplary values ​​of spacing P1 are 1 micrometer, 10 micrometers, and 40 micrometers. However, the field 103 can also have other symmetries, for example hexagonal symmetry.

[0050] The diameter of the beam spot formed in the object plane 101 is small. Exemplary values ​​for this diameter are 1 nanometer, 5 nanometers, 100 nanometers and 200 nanometers. The focusing of the particle beam 3 to form the beam spot 5 is performed by the objective lens system 100.

[0051] Particles striking the object generate electrons which originate from the surface of the object 7. The electrons originating from the surface of the object 7 are shaped by an objective lens 102 to form an electron beam 9. The inspection system 1 provides an electron beam path 11 for feeding the multiple electron beams 9 to a detection system 200. The detection system 200 includes an electron optical unit having a projection lens arrangement 205 which directs the electron beams 9 onto a multiple detector 209.

[0052] 1 shows a plan view of a plane 211 in which there are individual detection areas where the electron beam 9 is incident at positions 213. The incident positions 213 are in a field 217 with a regular spacing P2 from one another. Exemplary values ​​for the spacing P2 are 10 micrometers, 100 micrometers and 200 micrometers.

[0053] A primary electron beam 3 is generated with a beam generating device 300 including at least one electron source 301, at least one collimating lens 303, a multi-aperture plate arrangement 305, and a field lens 307. The electron source 301 generates a diverging electron beam 309, which is collimated by the collimating lens 303 to form a beam 311, which illuminates the multi-aperture plate arrangement 305.

[0054] Detail I3 in FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the multi-aperture plate device 305. The multi-aperture plate device 305 includes a multi-aperture plate 313 having a plurality of apertures 315 formed therein. The midpoints 317 of the apertures 315 are located in a field 319 corresponding to the field 103 formed by the beam spots 5 at the object plane 101. The spacing P3 between the midpoints 317 of the apertures 315 can have exemplary values ​​of 5 micrometers, 100 micrometers, and 200 micrometers. The diameter D of the apertures 315 is smaller than the spacing P3 between the midpoints of the apertures. Exemplary values ​​of the diameter D are 0.2×P3, 0.4×P3, and 0.8×P3.

[0055] Electrons of illumination beam 311 pass through aperture 315 and form electron beam 3. Electrons of illumination beam 311 that are incident on plate 313 are absorbed by plate 313 and do not contribute to the formation of electron beam 3.

[0056] The multi-aperture plate device 305 can focus the electron beam 3 in such a way as to form a beam focal spot 323 at a plane 325. The diameter of the focal spot 323 can be, for example, 10 nanometers, 100 nanometers, and 1 micrometer.

[0057] The field lens 307 and the objective lens 102 provide a first imaging particle-optical unit which images a plane 325 that forms a focal point at the object plane 101 so as to form a field of incidence positions 5 or beam spots 103 thereon at the surface of the object 7.

[0058] The objective lens 102 and the projection lens arrangement 205 provide a second imaging particle-optical unit which images the object plane 101 to the detection plane 211. Thus, the objective lens 102 is a lens that is part of both the first and the second particle-optical unit, while the field lens 307 belongs only to the first particle-optical unit and the projection lens arrangement 205 belongs only to the second particle-optical unit.

[0059] The beam switch 400 is disposed in the beam path of the first particle-optical unit between the multi-aperture plate arrangement 305 and the objective lens system 100. Furthermore, the beam switch 400 is part of the second particle-optical unit in the beam path between the objective lens system 100 and the detection system 200.

[0060] Further information regarding such multi-beam particle beam systems and components used therein (such as, for example, particle sources, multi-aperture plates, and lenses) can be taken from WO 2005 / 024881, WO 2007 / 028595, WO 2007 / 028596 and WO 2007 / 060017 A2, as well as from DE 10 2013 016 113 A1, DE 10 2013 014 976 A1 and DE 10 2014 008 083 A1, the disclosure content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0061] 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a multi-aperture plate assembly 305. The multi-aperture plate assembly 305 includes the above-mentioned multi-aperture plate 313 having openings 315 that are used to form multiple particle beams 3 from an illumination particle beam 311. Furthermore, the multi-aperture plate arrangement 305 includes a number of further multi-aperture plates. The number of the plurality of further multi-aperture plates is two.

[0062] The two further multi-aperture plates are a first multi-aperture plate 331 having an astigmatism corrector 333, and a second multi-aperture plate 335 having an astigmatism corrector 337. The multi-aperture plate 331 is positioned in the beam path downstream of the multi-aperture plate 313, and the multi-aperture plate 335 is positioned in the beam path downstream of the multi-aperture plate 331. Each of the multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 has a number of openings 339 through which the particle beam formed in the beam path downstream of the multi-aperture plate 313 passes. For this purpose, the centres of the apertures 315 in the multi-aperture plate 313, the centres of the apertures 339 in the multi-aperture plate 331 and the centres of the apertures 339 in the multi-aperture plate 335 are located along a beam axis 341 for each particle beam, so that the particle beam passes successively through the apertures 315 in the multi-aperture plate 313, the apertures 339 in the multi-aperture plate 331 and the apertures 339 in the multi-aperture plate 335. In Fig. 2, the particle beams 311 illuminating the multi-aperture plate 313 are parallel beams, so that the beam axis 341 is directed orthogonal to the multi-aperture plate 331. However, the particle beams can also be converging or diverging beams, meaning that the beam axes 341 are not all directed orthogonal to the multi-aperture plate 313.

[0063] The astigmatism corrector 333 of the first multi-aperture plate 331 and the astigmatism corrector 337 of the second multi-aperture plate 335 are each formed by eight deflection elements 334 circumferentially distributed around the aperture 339 .

[0064] Not all of the multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 are provided with the astigmatism correctors 333 and 337, respectively. Thus, a deflection element 334 is not provided at each of the openings 339 of the multi-aperture plates 331 and 335. Rather, a deflection element 334 is provided at a first subset of the openings 339 of the first multi-aperture plate 331 and at a first subset of the openings 339 of the second multi-aperture plate 335. The subsets of the openings 339 of the multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 provided with the deflection element 334 are provided so as to satisfy the following criteria: Each particle beam passing through the openings 339 of the first multi-aperture plate 331 and the second multi-aperture plate 335 passes through exactly one opening 339 provided with the deflection element 334.

[0065] FIG. 3 shows a plan view of a first multi-aperture plate 331 with an astigmatism corrector 333, and FIG. 4 shows a plan view of a second multi-aperture plate 335 with an astigmatism corrector 337. It can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the first and second multi-aperture plates 331, 335 each have 61 openings 339 arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Both multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 have openings 339 with deflection elements 334 arranged circumferentially distributed around the respective openings 339. However, both multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 also have openings 339 with no deflection elements 334 arranged therein. A line 345 in FIG. 3 surrounds a subset of openings 339 in the first multi-aperture plate 331 with deflection elements 334 arranged therein. This first subset of apertures 339 are 19 apertures 339 of the first multi-aperture plate 331 that are centrally located in the hexagonal pattern of apertures 339. A line 347 in Figure 3 encircles all apertures 339 of the first multi-aperture plate 331. The apertures 339 located outside of the line 345 and inside the line 347 form a second subset of apertures 339 that do not have a deflection element 334. The apertures 339 of the second subset of apertures 339 of the first multi-aperture plate 331 are located at the edges of the hexagonal arrangement of apertures 339.

[0066] Furthermore, lines 345 and 347 are shown in Fig. 4. However, in this case the openings 339 belonging to a first subset of openings 339 carrying deflection elements 334 are arranged outside the line 345 and inside the line 347, while the second subset, having openings 339 without deflection elements 334, is located inside the line 345. It is clear that the arrangement of the first and second subsets of openings 339 in the first multi-aperture plate 331 is complementary to the arrangement of the first and second subsets of the second multi-aperture plate 335, which means that the condition is fulfilled that each particle beam passes through exactly one opening in the two multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 carrying deflection elements 334.

[0067] To supply the deflection elements 334 with a configurable excitation provided by a supply circuit 351, each of the two multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 comprises supply lines 349. Only a few of the supply lines 349 are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. If the deflection elements 334 are electrodes generating an electric field, the supply circuit 351 is a voltage supply means. If the deflection elements 334 are coils generating a magnetic field, the supply circuit 351 is a current supply means. To supply the deflection elements 334 with an appropriate excitation, the supply circuit 351 is controlled by a controller 353. The number of supply lines 349 required to excite the deflection elements 334 is a multiple of the number of apertures 339 of the first subset. However, since the number of openings 339 in the first subset of each multi-aperture plate 331 or 335 is less than the total number of openings 339 in each multi-aperture plate 331 or 335, the number of supply lines 349 that must be provided in one of the two multi-aperture plates 331 and 335 is significantly smaller than in a conventional multi-aperture plate in which all openings 339 have controllable deflection elements.

[0068] According to an exemplary embodiment (not shown), which is a modification of the multi-aperture plate arrangement 305 described with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4, a deflection element 334 is provided in all apertures 339. In particular, a deflection element 334 is also provided in apertures 339 of a second subset of the apertures 339 of the plurality of multi-aperture plates 331, 335. However, the deflection element 334 of the second subset of apertures 339 is not controllable in this modified exemplary embodiment, since this deflection element is not connected to a voltage or current source 351 via a line connection 349.

[0069] FIG. 5 shows a further modification of the multi-aperture plate arrangement 305 described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, which differs from the multi-aperture plate arrangement of FIGS. 2 to 4 in the way in which the first and second subsets of apertures are arranged on the multi-aperture plate. FIG. 5 shows a plan view of a first multi-aperture plate 331 with an astigmatism corrector 333. Lines 361 in FIG. 5 each surround a group of apertures 339 of a first subset of apertures 339 in which a controllable deflection element 334 is provided, while a second subset of apertures 339 not surrounded by lines 361 does not have a controllable deflection element. The groups surrounded by the lines are arranged as an arrow-like or boomerang-like figure. A related second multi-aperture plate 335 (not shown) has an arrangement of the apertures 339 of the first subset that is complementary to the first subset shown in FIG. 5.

[0070] In the embodiment described with reference to figures 2 to 5, eight deflection elements are provided in each of the apertures, so that the multipole element formed thereby can be operated as an astigmatism corrector. The described principle of providing a number of multi-aperture plates in turn in the beam path in such a way that each particle beam passes through exactly one aperture having at least one deflection element, while the other apertures through which this particle beam passes do not have this at least one controllable deflection element, can also be applied to deflection elements or apertures having, for example, two or four deflection elements distributed circumferentially around a centre.

[0071] 6 is a schematic plan view of deflection elements 334 distributed circumferentially around the center 371 of an aperture in a multi-aperture plate. The deflection elements 334 together form an astigmatism corrector 333 for targeted compensation of the beam astigmatism of the particle beam passing through the aperture. For this purpose, the deflection elements are excited with an excitation determined to compensate the beam astigmatism as much as possible. In the illustrated example, the deflection elements are electrodes and the excitation that is determined for the compensation is a voltage V supplied to the individual electrodes 334. 1 , V 2 , … V 8 It is.

[0072] 7 is an illustration of a deflection element 334 corresponding to FIG. 6, but in this case the deflection element designated 334' is defective. For example, the supply line to this deflection element 334' may be cut off, or the deflection element 334' may be connected to ground or the like. 1 , V 2 , … V 8 , the deflection element 334′ is biased by a voltage V 4 On the other hand, due to the defect, this electrode is V in Figure 7. err As a result, it is not possible to achieve sufficient compensation for the aberrations of the particle beam passing through the aperture.

[0073] FIG. 8 is an illustration of the deflection element 334 of FIG. 7 having a defective deflection element 334′. However, the deflection element in FIG. 8 is excited with an excitation that is modified compared to FIG. 7 or FIG. 6. The modified excitation is determined by adding a correction excitation to the pre-determined excitation of FIG. 6. In particular, the voltage V 1 +dV, V 2 +dV, …V 8 +dV is applied to electrode 334, where the corrective excitation dV is the same for all deflection elements. 4 +dV=V err ) is satisfied.

[0074] The correction voltage to be supplied to the defect electrode 334' is equal to the voltage assumed by the defect electrode due to the defect, so that the deflection element can actually be excited with the correction excitation. Moreover, the difference in the excitation between the individual deflection elements is the same as the difference between the excitations at the deflection elements of a defect-free deflection element (see FIG. 6). Since these differences are the same, in particular the beam astigmatism of the particle beam passing through the defect astigmatism corrector 333 can be compensated in exactly the same way as with the defect-free astigmatism corrector. The average value of the correction voltage applied to the electrodes 334 of the defect astigmatism corrector 333 in FIG. 8 is higher by a value dV than the average value of the determined voltage applied to the electrodes 334 of the defect-free astigmatism corrector 333 in FIG. 6. The correction excitation therefore gives the additional effect of a focusing lens for the beam passing through the defect astigmatism corrector 333 of FIG. 8 compared to the beam passing through the defect-free astigmatism corrector 333 of FIG. 6. In some cases, this additional effect may have a detrimental effect on the beam, but may be tolerated as it is outweighed by the beneficial effect of compensating for beam astigmatism despite the defect astigmatism corrector.

[0075] A method of operating a particle beam device is described below with reference to the flow chart shown in Fig. 9. First, in step S1, any occurring beam astigmatism of a number of particle beams operated by the multi-beam particle beam system is determined. This determination can be performed on the basis of measurements performed on the multi-beam particle beam system. However, it can also be performed on the basis of information stored in a database, for example.

[0076] In step S3, the voltages to be applied to the electrodes of the astigmatism corrector to compensate for the beam astigmatism are determined.

[0077] In step S5 it is determined which astigmatism correctors are defect-free and which are defective. This determination can again be performed by measurements on the multi-beam particle beam system. Furthermore, the defect-free and defective astigmatism correctors are known and the relevant information may be available in a database, which means that the determination in step S5 can be performed by evaluating this information. The database can for example be kept outside the multi-beam particle beam system, in a control means of the multi-beam particle beam system or in a memory arranged in or on the multi-aperture plate with the astigmatism correctors.

[0078] The voltage determined in step S3 is applied in step S7 to the astigmatism correctors identified in step S5 as being defect-free astigmatism correctors.

[0079] For those astigmatism correctors identified in step S5 as defective astigmatism correctors, a corrected voltage is determined in step S9 by adding a correction voltage to the voltage determined in step S3.

[0080] The correction voltage determined in step S9 is applied to the defect astigmatism corrector in step S11.

[0081] After steps S7 and S11 have been performed, appropriate voltages are applied to both the defect-free astigmatism corrector electrodes and the defect astigmatism corrector electrodes to appropriately affect the particle beam passing through the astigmatism corrector in step S13. The multi-beam particle beam system is then ready for use so that a task can be performed with the multi-beam particle beam system in step S15.

[0082] In the embodiment described with reference to Figures 6 to 9, the multipole element has eight deflection elements and is operated as an astigmatism corrector, but the principles described in the step of correcting the determined excitation may also be generally applied to a multipole element having at least two deflection elements circumferentially distributed around a center.

[0083] Furthermore, in the embodiments described with reference to figures 2 to 9, the deflection elements of the multipole element are electrodes excited by application of a voltage generating an electric field, deflecting particles of the particle beam passing through the multipole element, however, the determined excitation correction may also be applied to the multipole element, the deflection elements being coils excited by application of a current generating a magnetic field, deflecting particles of the particle beam passing through the multipole element.

[0084] Fig. 10 shows a field of 91 vectors 361. Each of the vectors 361 represents the effect of a particle beam passing through an opening in the multi-aperture plate 331. This effect is an astigmatic effect, and the vectors 361 represent the intensity of the astigmatic effect by the length of the vector and the direction of the astigmatic effect by the direction of the vector. In the illustration of Fig. 10, the ends of the vectors are located at the centre of each opening in the multi-aperture plate. It is clear that the openings in the described multi-aperture plate 331 are arranged in a hexagonal pattern.

[0085] Each of the apertures in the multi-aperture plate 331 includes eight deflection elements distributed circumferentially around the aperture. A configurable excitation can be supplied to the deflection elements in order to impart a quadrupole electric and / or magnetic field at the aperture with a strength and orientation such that an astigmatism effect on the particle beam passing through the aperture occurs that is configurable in terms of strength and orientation.

[0086] It is apparent from Fig. 10 that the vectors 361 have many different intensities and different orientations. However, it is also apparent that mutually adjacent vectors often have intensities and orientations that are not significantly different from each other. For this reason, in the embodiments described herein, the same excitation pattern is often supplied to the deflection elements of mutually adjacent apertures by using a common supply line for the deflection elements of mutually adjacent apertures.

[0087] A circuit for supplying excitation to the deflection elements of different apertures via a common supply line is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 11. Fig. 11 shows two astigmatism correctors 333 each having eight deflection elements 343 arranged circumferentially around the center 371 of the aperture in the multi-aperture plate 331. The total number of deflection elements 343 of the two astigmatism correctors 333 is therefore 16. These 16 deflection elements 343 are supplied with excitation from the voltage supply system 351 via only eight supply lines 363. The supply lines 363 can be formed on the surface of the multi-aperture plate.

[0088] When supplying excitation via a common supply line 363, the different supply lines necessarily further need to cross each other and be insulated from each other. This is possible, for example, by forming the supply lines in two conductive layers on the substrate of the multi-aperture plate, the conductive layers being insulated from each other and a conductive connection being able to be made between the two layers.

[0089] FIG. 12 is an illustration of the field of vectors 361 corresponding to FIG. 10 and further illustrates the allocation of the apertures in the multi-aperture plate 331 to groups 365 of apertures. The apertures do not belong to two different groups 365. Not all apertures need to belong to a group 365. For example, the seven apertures located near the center of the multi-aperture plate 331 do not belong to any of the groups 365. The division of the apertures into groups 365 is selected such that the vectors 361 of the apertures in the same group 365 do not differ significantly from each other in terms of vector length and vector orientation. Two or three apertures are each included in a group 365. Since the vectors 361 of each group 365 do not differ significantly from each other in terms of vector length and vector orientation, provision is made to supply excitation to the deflection elements of the apertures of each group via a common supply line to the deflection elements 343 of the two aperture groups, as shown in FIG. 11. As a result, each aperture in a given group 365 can affect most, but not all, of the particle beam passing through the aperture in an ideally desired manner, as represented by the field of vector 361 in FIG.

[0090] As shown by the example of Fig. 12, it has been shown that the division of the openings in the multi-aperture plate into groups can be maintained in many situations of using a multi-beam particle beam system. The situations of using a multi-beam particle beam system can differ, for example, in terms of the kinetic energy of the particle beam passing through the openings in the multi-aperture plate or directed to an object by an optical unit arranged in the beam path downstream of the multi-aperture plate. For several different kinetic energies, the same division of the openings in the multi-aperture plate into groups, as shown by the example of Fig. 12, results in good results in terms of the ability to influence the particle beam. This means that it is possible to specify the supply of excitation to the deflection elements of the multi-aperture plate via a common supply line during the manufacture of the multi-aperture plate, integrate the multi-aperture plate into the multi-beam particle beam system, and then understand the use of the multi-beam particle beam system in various usage situations.

Claims

1. 1. A multi-beam particle beam system, comprising: a multi-beam particle source configured to generate a plurality of particle beams; a plurality of multi-aperture plates, the multi-beam particle source and the plurality of multi-aperture plates being configured to focus the plurality of particle beams in a manner to form a beam focus at a plane; Including, Each multi-aperture plate includes a plurality of openings; the plurality of multi-aperture plates and the plurality of openings of the plurality of multi-aperture plates are arranged such that each particle beam of the plurality of particle beams traverses one opening of the plurality of openings of each multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates, and each opening of the plurality of openings of each multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates is traversed by one particle beam of the plurality of particle beams; each multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates having a first subset of apertures of the plurality of apertures of the multi-aperture plate; a plurality of controllable deflection elements are provided at each aperture of the plurality of apertures of the first subset of each multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates; each particle beam of the plurality of particle beams, when traversing the plurality of apertures of the plurality of multi-aperture plates, traverses one aperture included in the first subset of one multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates on which the controllable deflection element is provided; the plurality of controllable deflection elements provided at the aperture can be controlled to provide a quadrupole electric and / or magnetic field; Multi-beam particle beam system.

2. 10. The particle beam system of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to excite the at least one controllable deflection element with a configurable excitation.

3. at least one multi-aperture plate of the plurality of multi-aperture plates has a second subset of openings of the plurality of openings of the multi-aperture plate; at least one set deflection element is provided for each aperture of the second subset of the plurality of apertures; The energization of the at least one set deflection element is fixed. A particle beam system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. Particle beam system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one controllable deflection element (10) comprises at least one electrode (12) electrically connected to a voltage supply system (14).

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