Stage assembly, particle-optical apparatus comprising such a stage assembly, and method of treating a sample in such an apparatus

摘要

A particle-optical apparatus comprising:- A first source, for generating a first irradiating beam along a first axis;- A second source, for generating a second irradiating beam along a second axis that intersects the first axis at a beam intersection point, the first and second axes defining a beam plane,- A stage assembly (3) for positioning a sample in the vicinity of the beam intersection point, provided with:- A sample table to which the sample can be mounted;- A set of actuators, arranged so as to effect translation of the sample table along directions substantially parallel to an X-axis perpendicular to the beam plane, a Y-axis parallel to the beam plane, and a Z-axis parallel to the beam plane, said X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis being mutually orthogonal and passing through the beam intersection point,wherein the set of actuators is further arranged to effect:- rotation of the sample table about a rotation axis substantially parallel to the Z-axis, and;- rotation of the sample table about a flip axis substantially perpendicular to the Z-axis,whereby the flip axis can itself be rotated about the rotation axis.