Method and apparatus for slice and view sample imaging

An apparatus for observing a feature using dual charged particle beams, comprising: a focused ion beam column configured to generate, focus, and direct a focused ion beam;nan electron beam column configured to generate, focus, and direct an electron beam;one or more processors; anda computer-readable storage medium coupled to at least one of the one or more processors, the computer-readable storage medium comprising first executable instructions and second executable instructions,wherein the first executable instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to direct the focused ion beam to mill a trench in a surface of a substrate, the trench exposing a vertical wall having an area around a feature to be observed, andwherein the second executable instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:ndirect the electron beam to capture a first electron beam image of the vertical wall while the electron beam column is maintained at a first angle of incidence relative to a longitudinal axis of the electron beam column;change the angle of incidence between the longitudinal axis and the vertical wall from the first angle of incidence to a second angle of incidence;direct the electron beam to capture a second electron beam image of the wall while the electron beam column is maintained at the second angle of incidence; andapproximate a topography of the vertical wall based on differences between the first electron beam image and the second electron beam image.

A method of processing a sample by slice and view processing with a dual beam system, comprising:nexposing a vertical wall of a trench formed in a surface of a sample by removing a first slice of material from the sample using an etching beam;capturing a first image of the vertical wall by interrogating the vertical wall with an interrogating beam while the vertical wall is at a first orientation relative to the interrogating beam;reorienting the vertical wall relative to the interrogating beam;capturing a second image of the vertical wall by interrogating the vertical wall with the interrogating beam while the vertical wall is at a second orientation relative to the interrogating beam, wherein first distances in the first image between a reference point and surface points on the vertical wall are different than second distances in the second image between the reference point and the surface points;determining elevations of the surface points using the first distances and the second distances; andfitting a curve to a topography of the vertical wall using the elevations.

A particle beam system for slice and view processing a volume of a sample having a feature to be observed, comprising:nan etching beam column configured to emit an etching beam;an interrogating beam column configured to emit an interrogating beam;one or more processors; anda computer-readable storage medium coupled to at least one of the one or more processors, the computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to direct the etching beam to sequentially remove slices of the sample across a thickness of the volume, the removal of each slice exposing a surface of the sample, and, for each surface exposed:direct the interrogating beam to capture a first image of the surface exposed while maintaining a first angle of incidence between a longitudinal axis of the interrogating beam column and the surface exposed and a second image of the surface exposed while maintaining a second angle of incidence between the longitudinal axis and the surface exposed, andrecord first positions of pairs of points in the first image and second positions of the pairs of points in the second image, wherein each of the pairs of points comprises a point on the surface exposed and a reference point.