| CPC G01N 21/03 (2013.01) [G01N 21/718 (2013.01); G01N 23/2251 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |

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1. A method of creating a trench with an intended trench depth in a sample by ablating material from the sample using a particle beam created by a particle beam system, the method comprising:
defining a particle beam system setting which is a setting of the particle beam system used to implement an ablation unit step with the particle beam;
using the defined particle beam system setting on a calibration sample to acquire calibration data records;
determining a regression curve based on the acquired calibration data records, wherein the regression curve is defined based on a parameter that characterizes the ablation unit step;
determining an implementation number based on the determined regression curve and the intended trench depth; and
creating a trench in the sample by repeatedly implementing the ablation unit step with the defined particle beam system setting in accordance with the determined implementation number.
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