System and method for simultaneous detection of secondary electrons and light in a charged particle beam system
First Claim
1. A charged particle system, comprising:
- a charged particle optical column for directing a charged particle beam onto a sample;
a secondary electron detector for collecting secondary electrons emitted from the sample upon impact of the charged particle beam;
a light detector for detecting light emitted by the sample; and
an electrically conductive mirror, the mirror configured to;
reflect toward the light detector the light emitted from the sample; and
provide an electric field to deflect the secondary electrons from the sample into the secondary electron detector.
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Abstract
A method and system for the imaging and localization of fluorescent markers such as fluorescent proteins or quantum dots within biological samples is disclosed. The use of recombinant genetics technology to insert “reporter” genes into many species is well established. In particular, green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) and their genetically-modified variants ranging from blue to yellow, are easily spliced into many genomes at the sites of genes of interest (GoIs), where the GFPs are expressed with no apparent effect on the functioning of the proteins of interest (PoIs) coded for by the GoIs. One goal of biologists is more precise localization of PoIs within cells. The invention is a method and system for enabling more rapid and precise PoI localization using charged particle beam-induced damage to GFPs. Multiple embodiments of systems for implementing the method are presented, along with an image processing method relatively immune to high statistical noise levels.
34 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A charged particle system, comprising:
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a charged particle optical column for directing a charged particle beam onto a sample; a secondary electron detector for collecting secondary electrons emitted from the sample upon impact of the charged particle beam; a light detector for detecting light emitted by the sample; and an electrically conductive mirror, the mirror configured to; reflect toward the light detector the light emitted from the sample; and provide an electric field to deflect the secondary electrons from the sample into the secondary electron detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A charged particle system, comprising:
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a charged particle beam source for generating charged particles; a charged particle beam optical column for focusing a beam of charged particles from the charged particle beam source onto a sample; a sample stage for holding a sample in a sample position, a sample plane through the sample position dividing space into a region above the sample plane including the charged particle beam source and a region below the sample plane; a secondary electron detector for collecting secondary electrons emitted from the sample due to the impact of the charged particle beam with the sample, the secondary electron detector positioned above the sample plane; a light detector for detecting light emitted by the sample upon impact of the charged particle beam; and an electrically conductive mirror positioned above the sample plane, the mirror configured to deflect light emitted by the sample onto the light detector without the light passing completely through the sample, and to deflect secondary particles from the sample. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for examining a sample, comprising the steps of:
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directing a charged particle beam in a pattern onto the sample surface, the charged particle impacting the sample in a region; detecting light emitted from the region, the light from the sample being reflected by an electrically conductive first mirror toward a detector, the first mirror having an opening therein for passage of the charged particle beam; moving the charged particle beam across the surface of the sample in a pattern; deflecting away from the first mirror and towards the detector charged particles from the sample caused by the impact of the charged particle beam on the sample; and determining from the detected light the composition of the sample. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification