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

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 (21) 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.